


Chronicles of Earth's Defenders

by Zoness



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cameos, Character(s) of Color, Drama & Romance, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Illustrations, Large Cast, Light Angst, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), Multi, Romance, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Some Humor, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2018-09-26 16:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 145
Words: 628,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9911375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoness/pseuds/Zoness
Summary: Wary of his role as Earth's sole defender and without Dragon Balls Trunks hopes to train a new team of fighters to help him battle future threats. But Future Earth's reduced population emboldens the remnants of Frieza's forces who set out to finish the old mission to clear the planet of life. From stories of the past an unlikely warrior might just be brought to Trunks' side and an extinct warrior race might rise again to defend Earth or to doom it. Friends will be made and lost, allies will become enemies and enemies will become allies as the saga of Earth's new Defenders continues to unfold.





	1. A New Begining

**Author's Note:**

> Note: While it is not actual canon and I am aware that it is not actual canon, this story subscribes to the theory that the "Arcosians of Arcoss" that the Saiyans meet in King Kai's story in the English dub are Frieza's race. I like it better than just calling them the Frieza clan. Frieza's clan is his clan, but Arcosian is their species. For simplicity I'm referring to Appule's race as Appullatiens, take that as advance sampling and warning of my sense of humor.

**Episode One**

**'A New Beginning'**

 

Darkness and peace. Wrapped in warmth, cradled on a soft surface the warrior tossed and turned fitfully as the sweet serenity of sleep was pierced by a loud noise like the shriek of so many demons.

His eyes twitched at the seemingly incessant beeping, and he stirred from his bed.

The alarm clock on his nightstand woke him, and the young warrior yawned widely as he sat up and turned it off.

Today was a big day of course, and he couldn't be late.

He quickly hopped out of his bed and gathered up his clothes, which he'd laid out the night before. Gray pants, black shirt, and blue jacket, all of them recently mended from the wear and tear of battle. He dressed, but his gaze lingered on his sword.

For a long time it had been a part of him and he wouldn't have even considered leaving it behind, but now it felt unnecessary.

The Androids were gone, and he was powerful enough to defend the Earth without it. Still, he decided he ought to wear it and let the people see their defender as a warrior, even if the fighting was over.

Trunks examined himself in the mirror, and decided he looked pretty good.

Well . . . all right at least.

He took a deep breath to steady himself and opened the door to his room just as his mother was about to knock.

"Mom?" Trunks didn't try to hide his surprise, "What are you doing?"

"Making sure my son is prepared. This is a big day. You're not nervous, are you?" Bulma asked as she inspected him.

"I am a little." Trunks admitted.

"That's okay, it's understandable." She told him, then added, "I'm so proud of you, Trunks."

"Well this was your idea." Trunks said, feeling his cheeks blush.

"And you're smart enough to go along with it." his mother joked.

At least he was pretty sure she was joking.

The restoration of the damage the Androids had done was nearing its conclusion, the cities had been rebuilt and though the lives lost couldn't be restored without the Dragon Balls humans were a resilient breed.

But there was still one thing missing, at least according to his mother.

Surviving martial artists had been searching for the golden warrior who had killed the Androids and many had ended up at Capsule Corp.

There had been just a few at first. Some had wanted to train with him, others had come to challenge him once it became apparent that the heir to the Capsule Corporation was actually a talented fighter. Finally his mother had come to him with an idea, and after some convincing Trunks had agreed to let what was left of the world know that he was the one who had destroyed the Androids.

Now martial artists had come in droves. Trunks could sense their energy, he could sense their spirit and he knew that not one in ten of them were up to the challenge he was about to present them.

Trunks was trained by Gohan, he was the son of the Prince of Saiyans, he was the defender of humanity. He had slain Frieza in the past and the Androids in the present, but as his mother so often reminded him he was alone. If anything happened to him . . .

One last thing was needed before the Earth would truly be put back together. He took another deep breath and stood up as straight as possible. "All right mom," Trunks said as he exhaled slowly, "let's find a new crop of warriors to train. Let's remake Earth's defenders."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Darkness and peace. Wrapped in warmth, cradled on a soft surface the warrior tossed and turned fitfully as the sweet serenity of sleep was pierced by a loud noise like the screams of so many victims.

His eyes twitched at the seemingly incessant beeping, and he stirred from his bed.

The chime of his red lensed scouter's communicator woke him, and the Arcosian warrior reached out to retrieve it and place it over his circular ear.

"Commander?" Genora's grating voice rang through his skull.

"You'd better have a good reason for waking me." He grumbled.

"Y-yes, Commander," Genora stammered, "The captain wants you on the bridge."

"Have we reached our target?"

"Yes, sir! We're in orbit now."

The Arcosian warrior nodded to himself and hopped out of his bed. He took his battle armor from the table where he'd left it and slipped it on. It was a sky blue breastplate with brass colored thigh and shoulder pads.

"On my way." He said, switching the scouter's communicator off. He headed for the door, which obediently slid open to allow him to leave.

It wouldn't be a long walk to the bridge, but he used the time to reflect on how, in the time of the great Frieza he'd never have had to lead a troop of weak warriors on a planetary extermination mission.

The Planet Trade Organization had fallen behind since the loss of its upper leadership, and while the Arcosians had been a valued class almost as good as nobility before now they were almost all pressed into service to fill the back-orders that had been piling up.

So many paying customers were wondering when their new planets would be available for migration. It was the job of the Commander and scores of others like him to clear those planets now.

That didn't mean he had to enjoy it. Killing weak aliens day after day, exterminating entire species so that even weaker aliens could take their planets.

The large doors to the bridge opened and the commander marched in, seeing his strike force assembled and ready. Their light blue and silver armor marked them as his elite team, five in all.

Two humanoids, Ganmo with orange skin and Prage with purple, as well as a pair of Appullatiens Ayappa and Avaug both with slimy yellow skin, though Avaug had pink spots. The final member of the squad was Damson, whose species had never been divulged, though the Commander knew him to be its sole survivor after the Galactic Trade Army had cleansed his home world for sale.

Damson was large and reptilian owning a thick heavy spiked tail and armored plates going down his back like a shell. On his head was a bony horned frill and his snout ended in a sharp beak, his arms seemed somewhat short for his body and his fingers were short two-digit affairs with a long spiked thumb on each hand to match the long sharp spikes that jutted from his knees.

Behind his force were two score of typical soldiers dressed in navy blue and brown battle armor, some with energy blasters others without. They were arrayed in squads of ten with a Lieutenant in royal blue and brown armor.

Their average power level was only five hundred but their officers sported power levels up to three thousand. Of course the Commander's elite force was much stronger. With an average of thirty thousand and Damson pushing forty they could almost rival the Ginyu Force of old, if the records of their power levels were accurate anyway.

The Commander himself was as strong as Captain Ginyu, he knew that for certain. Unfortunately no individual had yet reached Lord Frieza's power level, though the Twins who ruled the clan now were said to have reached it when their power levels were combined no one was allowed to scan them and the Commander strongly suspected it was a lie.

Captain Kalt, the ship's commanding officer and a fellow Arcosian stood on the bridge with his hands clasped behind his back staring out the circular window at the planet they orbited. His power level was only forty thousand himself, about average for an Arcosian. It was his breeding and tactics that made him an officer, not his strength.

It was a blue and green world, utterly insignificant except for the fact that it was the property of the Planetary Trade Organization and its ape-descended lifeforms just didn't know it yet. Their world had been bought and paid for, and they simply had the indecency to still be on it.

"You took your time, nephew." The captain said calmly.

"What's the rush?" The commander asked.

"Our quota, Commander." The Captain answered, turning to face him. Captain Kalt had pale off-white skin and a teal carapace. His dome had a somewhat silver hue and his long horns gradually curved downwards. The bands under his eyes were the same silver color as his dome, but he had no visible lips or mouth. Instead his carapace covered his face like a surgeon's mask.

Not like the Commander's light blue skin and black bands and lips. The Commander's own carapace was a light gray color, almost white. His dome was the same icy blue as his battle armor, and his horns jutted upward in what he was told was a striking resemblance to King Cold. Both the Captain and Commander shared the same red eyes.

The same eyes as Lord Frieza.

They were of the same clan after all, so some similarities made sense of course. Their race's natural ability for transformation played a part as well. Though no living Arcosian had locked away as many forms with as varied strength as Lord Frieza.

Of course it was hard to know for certain. It was now well established that scouters of those decades had been inaccurate and unreliable. Records claimed Lord Frieza's power level had been an absolutely unrealistic sixty million after all, with some rumors placing it at double that.

Luckily scouters were more reliable now. Lord Frieza had been strong, of that there was no doubt. But the idea that anyone could have a power level in excess of one million was laughable and impossible.

But however strong Lord Frieza had been unfortunately with an entire galaxy to control the planets in need to extermination for recolonization by paying customers was a long and troublesome list. It was so long that the Galactic Trade Army was still cleansing worlds the Saiyans had been expected to clear decades ago.

Like the world their ship hovered in orbit over now. It didn't look like much and the Commander shrugged with indifference before asking, "Where are the highest power levels concentrated?"

"The largest continent at its center." Genora, the green Appullatien who worked the ship's controls with her identical counterparts Gareno and Orenga answered.

"Highest power level only registers as Eight thousand." Gareno added.

The Commander scowled and folded his arms. "That's it? You didn't even need to wake me up."

"Eight thousand is still greater than any of my Lieutenants, Commander. Besides, I want this planet cleared in forty eight hours." The Captain said tersely. "You will see to it, Commander; I will not be late for our rendezvous with Alpha Station, nor will I be very pleased if General Boreal's vessel has arrived before ours."

"Right, so that's what it is. No fear then, I don't want the General looking down on us any more than you do." The Commander scoffed again and turned a jaundiced eye to his squad. "First one to the biggest power level gets to kill it."

They all groaned. They all wanted what might be the only real sport on the planet, but none of them were half as fast as their Commander. He smiled companionably at them and said, "I'll give you a ten second head start."

It seemed to appease them, even the slowest of them, Damson snorted and smashed his fists together in hopeful anticipation.

"I want this planet clear in forty eight hours, no later. But let me tell you, for every hour we finish ahead of schedule I will allow you an hour of short leave once we reach the station."

"Bring us in to land, Genora." Captain Kalt said, taking the command chair. "All squads . . . carry out planetary extermination."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the next episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks makes his announcement and finds someone he thought was long dead, and Kalt's crew launch their attack only to find the natives have some surprises in store for them._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually something of an old story, I had the idea for it when I first saw a Dragon Ball Heroes video, and I've been writing it in earnest since around the time Xenoverse one came out, Xenoverse also provided the basic character images. I wanted to finish the finish the first "season" before putting any of the story out there, make sure I could stick with it and that the ideas didn't peter out on me. It's also posted on Fanfiction.net, but that site doesn't allow you to post images, which I'll be adding to the work gradually. Because of its age there are certain things from say Super you might want to see in here that aren't going to be in here but that I am trying to work into season two, yes Mai is one of them.


	2. The Golden Warrior

**Episode Two**

**'The Golden Warrior'**

 

Trunks looked out on the faces of over a hundred martial artists. He hadn't known there were so many left in the world, most had tried their luck and failed in killing the Androids.

They'd been driven by bravery, stupidity, or sometimes just desperation. But the fact that these fighters had survived didn't mean they lacked any of those traits themselves. Several of them would simply have known they were outclassed and avoided the Androids.

Trunks smiled wryly. It was something he hadn't always managed to do.

"It's all ready, sir." Thyme said, handing Trunks a clip board with a written speech prepared.

"You'll do great." Basil added, handing him a microphone.

With the restoration of the cities had come a sort of restoration to life in Capsule Corp. His mother had found two new assistants in Basil and Thyme, a short stout woman with green hair and red eyes and a tall wiry thin man with red hair and green eyes respectively. They were both brilliant minds, but Trunks knew they'd dropped the rocket science to help prepare the events of the day.

It almost made him feel bad knowing that he'd almost certainly ignore the speech they'd cooked up for him.

He looked out at the faces of all the martial artists assembled and was truly struck by their diversity. They were old and young, female and male, human and animal and a wide variety of races and breeds.

Some looked like they were soldiers, or police officers, and that surprised Trunks. As if she were reading his mind his mother commented, "Once word got out more people started showing up. The number must have doubled overnight."

"That just means more we have to sort through." Trunks said with a frown.

"That was the idea," Bulma told him, "I didn't think Goku would end up being Earth's mightiest hero, for all you know that old man over there could become your greatest pupil. We need as many candidates as possible, we shouldn't overlook anyone with potential."

"Yeah, you're right." Trunks said, but it all still bothered him. How would he train these people?

He'd have to start by finding out who the strongest were and then seeing who could be taught the important basics of flight and energy blasts and even then . . .

He cleared his throat and tapped the microphone. He half expected it to make a deafening feedback noise, but it didn't. He held up the clipboard awkwardly for a moment then quickly corrected himself.

He shook his head and tried to look at the crowd in a new light.

These weren't just a lot of chaff he'd heave to sift through, these were brave men and women, many of whom had come to learn from the greatest living martial artist.

He should respect them for that, and look at them not as a crowd of strangers but as a collection of people he hoped to get to know.

_I should probably be saying some of this to them,_ he thought and quickly he stammered out, "Uh h-hello. I-I'm Trunks Briefs, and I'm the one who killed the Androids. I'm the one you all call the golden warrior."

The crowd didn't start booing him or shouting in surprise at his youth. Instead there was an overwhelming wave of applause and cheering. Trunks knew he was blushing, but the support gave him enough confidence to carry on. "I know some of you came here to train under me, and if I could train all of you I would, but I just don't have that kind of time yet. I know some of you came to challenge me, but to be honest . . ." He tried to look for a delicate way to phrase it when someone from the crowd shouted the answer for him.

"You're too far beyond any of us!"

A ripple of laughter traveled through the crowd, some of it uncomfortable. Trunks chuckled a little in spite of himself and nodded, "Pretty much. But I'm hoping to change that."

Trunks wasn't sure how much about Earth's previous batch of defenders he should divulge to the crowd, he checked the speech and said, "It's our hope that a small group of you can be selected to respond to future threats, such as the Androids or anything else that might pose a danger to the Earth. In short, I am looking for defenders of the planet. This could be a lifelong commitment, and not one to embark upon for the sake of wealth or fame. Those of you who are still willing should apply with our assistants and we can begin testing as early as tomorrow. To anyone else, I'm sorry to waste your time."

_There, no need for a long-winded speech._ Trunks thought to himself.

There was an almost immediate rush, though not everyone was trying to swarm Thyme, Basil and the other Capsule Corp. employees who had volunteered to help with the registration process.

More than a few thought that if Trunks just fought them he'd know they should be chosen. Trunks was less certain.

"You're a swordsman, right? That must be how you did it, let me learn your technique!"

"Just fight me and you'll see I'm the best here!"

"I can be your apprentice, believe it!" A kid with spiky blond hair shouted.

Trunks eyed a boulder in the distance. He raised the microphone to his mouth with one hand and and pointed the other towards the rock. "You want to jump to the front of the line?" He asked the crowd.

With a blast of yellow light Trunks shot a hole through the center of the rock. "Show me you can do that, and your name's on the list."

There was a lot of awed silence. Bulma seemed like she was about to say something when Trunks felt a spike of energy.

There was a flash of blue light and the boulder was completely destroyed. The crowd stared in shock at the elderly man who had been standing in their midst.

Trunks stared in amazement at the bearded old man sporting a yellow shirt and a sharp pair of sunglasses.

"Master Roshi!" Bulma cried in surprise.

"Does that mean I get to skip the registration?" Roshi asked and Trunks couldn't restrain the smile that spread across his face.

"Are you kidding? Consider yourself grandfathered into the new team, Master."

"Grandfathered, you say? I'd watch my mouth if I were you, young'un." Roshi chuckled. The crowd parted in a mixture of amazement and fear to let him pass.

Trunks breathed a sigh of relief. _Training might not be so bad now,_ he thought.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto watched the battle for the planet on the ship's view screens, paying close attention to the flow of the fight.

"What is Lieutenant Cereza doing?" Uncle Kalt demanded. "Genora, tell him to exterminate that village!"

"Cereza, stop wasting time!" Genora snapped.

"You're welcome to come out here and take them on for yourselves, fish brain!" The Appullatien lieutenant snarled and Karuto watched him avoid an energy blast from one of the natives.

"The Captain has ordered you to stop wasting your time." Genora snarled back, then added under her breath, "fish brain."

Karuto could see on the view screen that the red colored lieutenant went rigid in fear, and actually got blasted by a second energy blast because of it.

He shook it off and began blasting indiscriminately, "Clear this village right now, no excuses!" He shouted to his task force and the soldiers put greater effort into the fight, but Karuto could see it wasn't going to be easy.

"That village had an average power level of one hundred, they shouldn't be a threat to Cereza's team." Uncle Kalt scoffed, and Karuto realized he was talking to him.

"Do you know why they're having trouble, little one?"

Karuto gulped, unhappy with being in the spotlight. He felt as if the entire bridge crew was watching him and he answered, "They can hide their power levels."

"A troublesome talent." Captain Kalt agreed. "It's become quite the problem across the board. It's no wonder the Saiyans failed to conquer this planet for us."

Karuto nodded, though he really didn't know what a Saiyan was. He understood they were an evil race that had caused their clan a great deal of trouble and even killed cousin Frieza who had apparently been the most powerful Arcosian ever.

But it was okay, because the Saiyans were extinct now. Or so the legends said, but Karuto's parents had often threatened him with tales of Golden Saiyan Warriors if he misbehaved. The little Arcosian felt almost intimidated being on a ship whose specific mission was to cleanse worlds the Saiyans had failed to clear.

"But if these people were strong enough to beat the Saiyans why aren't they strong enough to beat our soldiers?" Karuto asked.

The Captain smiled patiently and said, "It was a long time ago they might have had strong champions then like the one your cousin killed when the attack started. The majority of them should be quite weak, but our records show that the Saiyans Lord Frieza sent here were only low class youngsters. Children like yourself, dear boy."

"I'm not a child!" Karuto said quickly, "Papa says I'm a big boy cuz I get to go on a mission!"

Uncle Kalt rolled his eyes but patiently said, "Yes, very much so. But you're here on an apprenticeship under your loving uncle just as your cousin was before you. Just like him I'm going to make you a real Arcosian warrior. Part of that is recognizing that sometimes you can't trust a scouter, sometimes your victims will be tricky little monsters and hide their power levels even if they don't know you're scanning them."

"Is that why the Saiyans only sent children here?" Karuto asked.

"Maybe. Maybe they would have sent children even if we'd warned them that the power levels might be wrong. We Arcosians love our children but the Saiyans did not. They sent their children off to conquer worlds even before we annexed them and if those children weren't strong enough to survive they would never be welcomed back to the Saiyan home world. Many of the planets on our list have been worlds where low level teams or children were sent and we suspect that many of them yielded far stronger natives than the Saiyans expected."

"That's sad." Karuto said, imagining Saiyan children coming to worlds like this one and being overwhelmed by the natives knowing that they had to win or they couldn't even go home. Karuto couldn't even imagine needing to prove himself like that, his parents would have loved him even if he'd been weak.

The Saiyans sure sounded like evil monsters and even though Karuto was sorry for the children who had lost their lives alone and far from home he was glad that such an evil race was gone forever. He was glad brave Arcosians had outlasted their enemies, even if it'd cost the life of their clan's leaders, Lord Frieza and King Cold.

But Karuto knew that he'd be as strong as Lord Frieza someday, he and his cousin were both really strong even though they were young. He watched the many view screens and found the one that was keeping track of his cousin's elite team. They were rushing to assist Cereza's team and Karuto hoped they made it in time. He knew his cousin would take those sneaky aliens down in no time.

"It may be sad, but that's life." Kalt said coldly, and he noticed where Karuto's gaze was and his eyes smiled a dangerous smile. "Genora, tell Cereza that I want that village cleared _before_ reinforcements arrive or he'll regret it."

Genora frowned in confusion, "Sir, the elites will be there in minutes."

"Yes, and Cereza will have to work hard if he wants to avoid my punishment." Uncle Kalt said with that sinister smile that spread to the rest of the bridge crew.

Genora giggled wickedly and said, "Lieutenant Cereza, reinforcements are en route, but the Captain has warned that if that village isn't cleared before they arrive you'll be subject to . . . disciplinary action. Good luck, fish brain."

Karuto saw the Lieutenant's eyes widen in fear and he heard the bridge crew laugh with mirth at it, but he didn't join in. He looked at his uncle to see if the Captain was joking.

"Another thing you'll need to learn, little warrior," Uncle Kalt smiled, "is that your minions will serve you better if they know there's no room for weakness."

He was smiling, but it wasn't a silly or happy smile so Karuto knew he probably wasn't joking. The little Arcosian nodded and just hoped his cousin's force moved a little slower. He felt sorry for the poor Lieutenant, it wasn't his fault that the scouters had been wrong.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Roshi explores West City and finds some promising recruits, Trunks feels more confident in his plan, and Captain Kalt teaches his crew an important lesson._

 

Our first Character Image: Chillax  
  


Note: Chillax' coloration makes me think of Frost, although his colors were chosen because they were my favorites, not because of Frost. Still it'd be interesting for them to meet someday. Fun Fact: Chillax's name was originally going to be a running gag of only ever being said at times when it would be mistaken for a suggestion rather than an introduction, as such he'd spend the entire story with most characters having no idea what his actual name was. I decided against this of course, it made some conversations too awkward.


	3. The Hermit's Arrival

**Episode Three**

**'The Hermit's Arrival'**

 

**Earlier that morning . . .**  
Roshi was glad to arrive in West City; he'd thought he might never see it again.

Not that he wasn't eager to return home soon if for no other reason than to be sure that Oolong and Puar didn't eat him out of house and home, but he knew he needed to be here in West City.

He knew when he heard that a 'golden warrior' had destroyed the androids that it had to be Bulma's son, and he knew when the 'golden warrior' had called martial artists to West City and Capsule Corporation's headquarters that he was looking to rebuild Earth's Special Forces.

And Roshi knew he had to help in whatever way he could. Out of a debt to humanity as a whole, or simply to wash away the shame of not fighting the androids even knowing that he couldn't possibly win . . .

Roshi thought about seeing Trunks and Bulma again after so long and decided, _I should bring a cake._

The city had been nearly completely rebuilt, as the home of Capsule Corp. HQ it had been the center of a great deal of the rebuilding effort funded by the corporation.

While the city's population had suffered during the Android's rampage it had seen a great many new residents arrive from their various hiding places. It might be the most populated city on earth now, Roshi thought.

So he had a far easier time finding a bakery than he'd expected. One rather nice building with a large sign that looked like a chocolate cake almost seemed to jump out at him.

The old turtle hermit headed right over, seeing several police officers crowded around the place. _Usually a good sign,_ the old man thought to himself.

He walked in and enjoyed the scent of fresh bread. There were several cakes on display and many police officers forming a long line.

Roshi waited in line and watched as the team of bakers worked. Especially a stocky young woman with short brown hair held under a net. He watched her as she worked not for the usual reasons he stared at women—or at least not exclusively for the usual reasons he stared at women—as the line gradually moved forward.

While others worked quickly enough she worked with blazing speed and with a surety of someone experienced beyond what her years would likely have allowed. More than that, she had a definite technique and she made a real show of tossing doe in the air, catching it on the pan or striking holes in the donuts.

It was something of a show, and the audience—the police officers—enjoyed it immensely.

_And here I thought they were just living up to stereotypes._ Roshi thought to himself as his turn arrived.

The plump woman at the register, obviously an older relative of the younger artisan baker, her mother perhaps, smiled pleasantly at him and asked, "What can I do for you?"

Roshi dug out his dusty old wallet and said, "I'd like a cake . . . something nice, something you give a friend you haven't seen in a long time."

"Oh? Well sure, we have a large selection of cakes. Is there any flavor you'd like?"

Roshi considered, but found himself a bit distracted by the younger woman's showmanship. "Oh I suppose chocolate is always a safe bet, don't you think?"

"It's pretty popular," the plump woman agreed, "Our chocolate cake with rich vanilla frosting is a local favorite, even though we've only been open a month."

"Well let's go with lady's choice!" Roshi decided, "I'll take a vanilla frosted chocolate cake."

"Good choice sir." The plump woman smiled, "Anavill? Bring a nice fresh one!"

The stocky younger woman stopped toying with the donuts and dashed into a back room, emerging with a white box tied with brown string. She handed the box to her mother and went back to her dough, all of it taking less than a minute.

"Quite a graceful girl. Has she had any martial arts training?" Roshi asked.

The plump woman smiled, "Oh, well yes actually. Our Ana had a few classes at the dojo down the road, but she's only a beginner. Classes were canceled today so her teacher could be at the Golden Warrior's announcement."

Roshi smiled and said, "If you ask me, thats where she should be too. She's got real potential you know, and I'm a man who knows a thing or two about martial artists."

"You think so?" Anavill said, turning to regard Roshi though still catching her dough on the pan.

"Maybe on your break, sweetie." Her mother said with a smile, and Roshi paid for his cake and left.

He decided to take the long way to Capsule Corp. and enjoy the sights of the rebuilt city. After about an hour he'd made it about halfway to his destination when he heard the sounds of a scuffle in a nearby alleyway.

He stopped and looked down they alley to see a trio of tough looking kids crowded around a smaller boy.

The fighting was obviously one-sided, just not in favor of the side most people might have expected.

The smaller boy avoided most of the attacks and took any that landed without seeming too bothered.

He wasn't making much attempt to hit back, instead it seemed more like he was letting them wear themselves down, occasionally redirecting them with a surprising fluidity.

Master Roshi wouldn't just stand around and watch young men trying to beat each other senseless, so he took a seat on the lid of a trashcan that seemed clean enough and watched the show unfold. He was ready to act if necessary, but he felt like there was no need for him to intervene. The three larger aggressors were making no headway with their would-be victim, instead they were just running out of breath and looking foolish.

Eventually the thugs were worn out, the biggest of them was bent over hands on his knees panting and the other two were being a lot more weary. One of the two still trying to attack tried a wild swing which would have missed even if the smaller boy didn't dodge out of the way and let the thug behind him run into the blow.

Roshi couldn't help but laugh then and all four boys looked at him in surprise.

"Oh don't let me interrupt!" The old hermit chortled, "Go ahead boys, finish up."

"We're done here." The biggest thug grunted, "You get to live another day, Schip. But this ain't over."

"It is for today." The younger boy, presumably Schip said, popping his neck.

He was making a good show of it, but Roshi could tell he was a little worn out too. The old man used his staff to tap the lid of the trashcan next to the one he was sitting on and said, "Got a minute, young'un?"

"I guess . . ." Schip said, coming over but not sitting.

Roshi smiled, "How long have you been practicing martial arts?"

"Martial what now?" Schip shrugged, "Not ever."

"Not ever?" Roshi raised an eyebrow. He supposed it was possible, the boy's technique hadn't been familiar but it seemed a little too practiced and planned to be just wild movements in the heat of battle.

"Not ever." The boy confirmed.

"You're a good fighter." Roshi said.

"I'm still alive." Schip said evasively.

"Run into the Androids?"

"No, not personally. No one ever did and lived. I mean except the golden warrior."

"Know about the Golden Warrior, eh?" Roshi asked. "What do you think?"

"He's a hero!" Schip said. "He saved the world, old man, have you been living under a rock?"

"No, just in a submarine!" Roshi laughed, but neither Schip nor the three thugs catching their breath in the alley joined in. He rubbed his bearded chin and asked, "When's the last time you ate anything?"

He almost expected Schip to say 'not ever' and would almost have believed it but the boy just shrugged. "A few days, I guess."

Roshi smiled and handed him the box from Anavill's bakery. "I got this for a friend, but you look like you need it more."

Schip looked dubious, as if he thought it might be some kind of trick but after a while he rushed in and snatched the box. He opened it up and his eyes went wide.

"You're just giving me this, mister?"

"Yep." Roshi nodded.

Schip hesitated, then looked over his shoulder at the three bigger kids glaring at his back. He said, "Alright, Mace. You too, Dill and Alum. We can share, tomorrow don't give me such a hard time."

"Seriously?" One of the thugs gawked. The largest one seemed to hesitate, the other two watched him and didn't move to accept the offer until he finally nodded.

Roshi nodded as well, watching with satisfaction as the four boys shared the cake, ignoring dirty hands and lack of utensils. It wouldn't last long between them. "Did you know the Golden Warrior lives in the Capsule Corp. headquarters building in this city? You should go there, Schip."

"Why?" Schip asked.

"Because you're a good fighter, of course!"

Roshi left the hungry boys to finish off the no doubt delicious cake and continued on his way, finally arriving at the Capsule Corp. building.

He smiled, he could feel the power and energy from so many martial artists crowding around the place. He began to move into the crowd when a pair of large rough looking men stopped him.

One was brunette and wore a white gi and the other was blond and wore a red gi. They both looked pretty beat up, the blond held out a hand and said, "Hold it old man. For your own safety you really shouldn't be here."

"Oh yeah?" Roshi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Martial Artists from all over the world are here, a lot of them are aggressive." The brunette said, folding his arms. "Everyone's waiting for the Golden Warrior's speech today and with the way things are there could be a riot."

"Well I'm glad you're concerned for my safety but I'll be just fine!" Roshi laughed. It did look like these two strapping young fighters had taken quite the beating fairly recently.

"I don't think you understand," the blond said, "you're in danger if you stick around here."

"Not as much danger as you're in if you don't get to steppin', boys!"

A sharp female voice rang out and sent both men cowering away in a rush. A slender woman of average height stepped through the crowd. She had pink hair and wore a tight black and pink outfit, which would have been more than enough to get Roshi's attention on its own, but there was something else interesting about her as well.

"Well well, they sure ran off in a hurry." Roshi said.

"Yeah, I guess they didn't fancy getting their butts kicked by a girl twice in one day. Let me guess, thought you were too old to be here, right? Never mind them, they thought I was too ladylike to be here, showed 'em what was what. Can't stand meddlesome people like that, think they know what's best for everyone."

"Handled 'em yourself, eh?" Roshi asked.

"Of course. Don't tell me you think I'm too ladylike too." The woman scoffed.

Roshi just grinned and gazed appreciatively at her figure behind his black sunglasses.

"I wouldn't say you're too ladylike for anything at all. So tell me, does 'perfection' have another name?"

"Paragon' maybe? But if you're talking about me it's Pastel, and at your age you should be ashamed." The young woman laughed.

Roshi was about to make a really witty comeback when the crowd's excitement rose and he felt Trunks' approach.

He could feel Trunks just by the overwhelming power he radiated, even though Roshi could tell the young man was trying to keep it down, there was simply too much to be contained.

At least in comparison to all these people.

Roshi had no trouble recognizing Trunks, even though he'd last seen him as a baby. He frowned as he watched the nervous young man. He seemed a little older than Roshi would have expected, but stressful living could do that. Still the old man's smile returned when Trunks said, "Uh h-hello. I-I'm Trunks Briefs, and I'm the one who killed the Androids. I'm the one you all call the golden warrior."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Have you eaten yet?" Trunks asked as he led Master Roshi into the Capsule Corp. headquarters, "I sort of skipped breakfast to make the early morning announcement."

"And I skipped it to listen." Master Roshi chuckled. Bulma led them both to the cafeteria, they'd left Basil and Thyme behind to help with the fighter registration.

The newly rebuilt Capsule Corp. cafeteria was built to accommodate maybe twenty scientists and engineers and the kitchens weren't really fully staffed yet.

But the staff they had had managed to put together a reasonable enough breakfast. Eggs and rice with a bowl of fruit at the center of the table. Trunks and Roshi both sat and trays were rapidly brought to them by the staff, eager to impress. His mother had already eaten breakfast, but she sat with them and enjoyed a cup of coffee anyway.

"I was surprised to see you, Master Roshi." Bulma said, taking a sip of her coffee. "To be honest, I sort of thought . . ."

"The Androids had got me?" Master Roshi supplied and Bulma nodded. He lowered his gaze and admitted, "Part of me wished they had. There was nothing I could do to stop them, but I wanted to try."

"You would have been no match for them." Bulma reassured him.

"That may be, but that doesn't make it any easier to hide away in a submarine while two metal monstrosities murder millions." Master Roshi said. He looked to Trunks and said, "When I heard that the son of Bulma Briefs had been the one to destroy the Androids I wasn't completely surprised, but when I learned he was calling for the world's greatest martial artists I figured you were planning on training a new batch of warriors. Thought I could help with that!"

"I'm grateful for the help," Trunks said honestly, "I had no idea how I'd manage to train anyone!"

Roshi nodded, "I can help, I've already noticed a few in the mob who've got some potential. How were you planning to decide who to train?"

"A tournament," Bulma answered. "Televised, it'll help improve the public morale. The winners will receive a cash reward from Capsule Corporation, and we'll evaluate the performance of everyone involved."

"That sounds like a big time consuming affair." Master Roshi said.

"Yes, but it should give us a chance to really get a feel for these fighters and their abilities." Trunks said. "Anyone can get lucky in a tournament fight, and selfish monsters can be strong fighters. We want people with skill as well as luck, and we want people who'll put the people before themselves, just like the old fighters did."

Roshi stroked his beard thoughtfully, prompting Trunks to ask, "Do you uh . . . have any suggestions?"

"I think that'd be fine, it's a good way to find strong fighters. But you also want good students who're willing to learn. Some of the top fighters in that crowd think they know it all already."

"I noticed." Trunks nodded.

"But I think you two might have humbled them a bit." His mother said with a laugh.

"Well maybe a bit!" Master Roshi laughed along with Bulma.

Trunks smiled, "I hope I didn't discourage anyone."

"I wouldn't worry about it, like I said I spoke to a lot of them and I know most of them already know you're stronger than they'll ever be."

"That's not what we want though," Trunks admitted, "it's fine that I'm the strongest now but if there's anyone out there that could surpass me I hope they do."

Trunks felt a little embarrassed when his mother and Master Roshi fell silent. They looked at him for a moment, and finally his mother said, "Gohan left you big shoes to fill, Trunks. But you're Earth's greatest guardian now. It's pretty unlikely that anyone out there can surpass you when you've been training for so long."

"Saiyans have a tendency to get stronger faster, and at least if Gohan and yourself are anything to go by Half-Saiyans are no different." Master Roshi said. "Not many humans will be able to approach your level, let alone match it. The truth is you're probably going to be training a support crew instead of replacements."

Trunks nodded slowly, "I know . . . but I won't be around forever, and I feel like threats to the earth aren't going to just stop."

"They probably won't." His mother told him, "But you know I have some ideas about what to do to help with that."

"What do you have in mind?" Roshi asked.

"Actually I'm hoping to find some means of contacting New Namek. Knowing that they supplied the alternate time line Earth with a new Guardian makes me think we should try to do the same thing here."

"When the time machine builds up enough power again I plan to try going back and finding out."

"I can see if my sister Baba and her crystal ball can help with that, but how will you reach New Namek if you do learn its location?"

"In a ship of course. Just like the one Goku used to reach planet Namek." Bulma answered.

"Now that the world is getting back on its feet we're hoping to build a new ship." Trunks elaborated. "That's another reason I'm hoping to have a crew of fighters ready, if I have to leave Earth for months at a time I . . . sort of want to know the planet will still be here when I get back."

It was a joke, but nobody laughed.

Trunks finished his food and looked at Master Roshi. He asked, "You said said you had some good candidates in mind?"

"A few." Master Roshi confirmed. "I'll see if I can't track them down for you after breakfast."

"That'd be great." Trunks nodded.

His mother smiled and said, "I can't think of a luckier break than you showing up on day one, Master Roshi."

"Neither can I. Thank you for coming." Trunks said gratefully.

Master Roshi smiled slightly, "Don't sell yourself short, young'un. You're on the right track looking for fighters and not necessarily just taking the winners of this tournament. I'll help as much as I can, but I think even if I weren't here you'd have been able to work things out."

Trunks smiled, "Thanks. I hope you're right."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Lieutenant Cereza was shaking in his boots as the captain surveyed the survivors of the planet's population.

Six individuals, each with a power level over one thousand. They'd been deadly opponents and the crew had suffered losses as a result.

So now Captain Kalt was going to make them an offer they couldn't refuse.

"We're not completely uncivilized. You all proved yourselves powerful warriors and the Galactic Trade Army is in need of powerful warriors. You caused my crew to take losses, it seems only fair that you . . . enlist."

The species were muscular and very rotund. They reminded Cereza of Lord Frieza's old henchman Dodoria, but they lacked the spikes and pink skin, instead having short stubby horns on their heads and a more gray shade of skin and apelike faces.

"What makes you think we'd ever serve you?" One of them demanded.

"Survival." The Captain said simply. "Serve me and you survive. Think of it: your race's existence preserved through you. You, the one last chance your people have of ever returning, no matter how obscure that opportunity may be. You're hardly a breeding population, but where there's life there's hope, and I am offering you hope."

The gray alien who had spoken up before did so again and said, "All right, we'll serve you."

"Ah not so fast." Captain Kalt smiled his predatory smile. "I only have five openings in my crew."

A sinister laugh passed through the assembled warriors, even Cereza laughed. These gray primitives had given him a bit of a rough time but now they were almost extinct and he knew what the Captain was going to demand next.

"I'm afraid there's only room for five of you on the ship. One of you . . . can't come along."

The spokesman alien seemed taken aback, all six looked at one another in terror.

"H-how will you decide who stays behind?" Another of them asked.

"I won't." Captain Kalt said with a wicked smile. "You will. I'm going to turn around and count to ten. Decide democratically if you like, but when I reach ten and turn back around I expect to see just five of you still living. If there are still six of you alive then I'll kill all six of you. Now . . . one . . ."

The gray aliens were shocked and quickly two of them fell upon the spokesman who fought back fiercely.

The crew laughed at the sport and enjoyed the show and when the Captain said "Eight" the spokesman managed to knock one of his comrade's heads back harshly, snapping its neck.

Cereza laughed and checked the fighters' power levels on his scouter. It was a respectable three thousand, as high as Cereza's own, the speaker's power level had spiked at four thousand though it was diminishing now.

The Captain reached ten and turned around. "Splendid!" He said with a laugh, "I'm glad you worked that out. Well then welcome to the family. We have strict but very fair rules, you'll learn them soon enough. They're not complicated, keep your uniform clean, your quarters tidy, and . . ." The captain's cold gaze fell on Cereza, "never . . . disappoint . . . _me_."

Cereza swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Lieutenant Cereza . . . how many men did we lose on this world?"

"F-four?" The Appullatien answered nervously.

"And how many openings did I say this crew had?"

"F-f-five?" Cereza squeaked.

Captain Kalt smiled, "Well then I ask you again, how many men did we lose on this world?"

Cereza's mind raced looking for a way to survive this situation. His teeth were chattering too badly to properly speak an answer to the question. He managed to take a step back, maybe he could run and hide? Maybe he could go into exile? The Captain was a good ten paces away, he might be able to run away fast enough.

It hadn't been his fault, the ship's scouters had been wrong, it wasn't his fault that the natives were stronger than they looked.

And it wouldn't be fair to kill him, he was still stronger than most of the rest of— _That's it!_ He thought desperately.

He stretched his hand out and with power born mostly of his desperation put everything he had into a blast that took the head off of one of the weakest members of the crew.

There was a stunned silence from all assembled, then finally Captain Kalt threw his head back and laughed.

The rest of the crew laughed too.

Cereza allowed himself to relax a bit and laugh as well.

Then he closed his eyes to blink and felt something hit him hard in the chest and knock the wind out of him. When his eyes opened the Captain was no longer standing ten paces away.

But his hand was sticking out of the Lieutenant's chest.

Cereza looked down in terror and tried to scream in pain and fear but all that escaped his mouth as a wet gurgle.

Captain Kalt said, "Another good rule of thumb is not to kill anyone without my permission, no matter how amusing it might be. I think that concludes orientation, someone bring me a wet washcloth?"

He roughly removed his arm from Cereza's chest cavity and the Appullatien fell to the ground to die alone on the grass of an alien world far from home, the last thing his dying mind would register was the laughter of comrades he'd fought alongside for a lifetime.

None of it mattered to him as he lay there dead. While it wouldn't help the doomed Cereza, there was at least one member of the crew on whom the sadness of the situation was not lost amidst the cruel laughter. Whether the Captain had truly intended it or not, a lesson had been learned.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the next episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Master Roshi introduces Trunks to some of his future students, while others look forward to proving themselves to the heroic warrior._

 

_Character Image 2: Anavill_  
  


_Note: Anavill was meant to seem . . . normal. Like she could have been any old person standing in the background of a Dragon Ball episode. A "civilian" if you like, hence her name being inspired by Vanilla. Fun Fact: Her hair was going to be white but it was too . . . wild._


	4. First Steps

**Episode Four**

**'First Steps'**

 

The Capsule Corp. cafeteria was practically an interview room, Trunks thought as he and his mother greeted Master Roshi and three others being led in by Basil and Thyme.

"It's only been ten minutes," He told Master Roshi, "you got back _much_ faster than I expected."

"When you get to my age you learn a few shortcuts!" Master Roshi said.

"He sent us to find them." Thyme said dryly. "They'd already signed up so we just had to call their names."

"Spoilers, Thyme!" Basil giggled, and Master Roshi chuckled.

"Guess the secret's out! Well then Trunks, let me introduce you!"

"Yes, please." Trunks said, and smiled warmly to hide his nervousness as Master Roshi introduced him to the three warriors he'd brought back with him.

He was introduced to each in turn by the ancient Master, Anavill a stocky young woman in her teens with spiky brown hair and brown eyes behind thick glasses. She wore a pink t-shirt under a off white tank top and matching shorts, Trunks wouldn't have expected her to be a martial artist at first glance but he supposed most people probably thought the same about him.

 _Well we cant all run around in martial arts gis, or Saiyan battle armor._ Trunks thought.

The second warrior was a slimmer woman with pink hair and a sharp looking black and pink jumpsuit. Her skin had an exceptionally pink hue to it as well, and Trunks couldn't help wondering if that was somehow artificial. She had stylish pink framed sunglasses with black lenses that hid her eyes though Trunks wouldn't have been surprised if they were pink too. Master Roshi said her name was Pastel.

Where Anavill could have been any youth walking down the street Pastel looked like some sort of a stunt driver and Trunks wasn't surprised to learn that that was, in fact, exactly what she was.

"It actually saved me from the Androids once if you can believe it," She'd told him, "flipped my car and had to roll to safety to get away from them. Blew up the car, guess they figured I was still in it because they didn't bother to keep looking."

 _Maybe she can help pilot the space ship if things work out,_ Trunks thought to himself.

The last one, Schip, was maybe fourteen or fifteen. His outfit was a ragged and torn school jacket and pants that were clearly from a different school's uniform. He had dusky brown skin and a lean look to him and unkempt curly black hair. He looked as if he'd been on the wrong end of a beating fairly recently, but Trunks understood that impromptu sparring sessions had been common among the visiting martial artists.

Though it would turn out Master Roshi said, "Saw him in a brawl with three older boys. Took the hits like a brick wall, the ones he didn't dodge anyway, but never trained a day in his life."

It wasn't too unusual for a martial artists to be able to handle a superior number of opponents, but Trunks thought, _this kid doesn't look like he's eaten in over a week, if he could still take a hit in this condition and with no training . . ._

Master Roshi told him, "You'll find more, but I think they're going to be a good start for you."

"Well then I'm glad to meet you." Trunks told them, and bowed slightly. "Did Master Roshi tell you what we're expecting?"

"We filled them in." Basil piped in helpfully.

"You want us to devote our lives to protecting mankind?" Anavill asked for clarification and Trunks nodded.

"And in exchange you'll teach us your techniques, right?" Pastel added with a cocked eyebrow.

"That's right." Trunks said, though he didn't add that he'd be teaching them his techniques so that they _could_ be the defenders of humanity, not in exchange for it.

"Is it true you can fly?" Anavill asked with something approaching urgency.

Trunks blushed, "Uh . . . well yes."

"Then I'm in!" Anavill and Schip said simultaneously. Pastel smirked and brushed some strands of pink hair away from her dark sunglasses.

"Can you show us how to use those light blasts you two were doing this morning? Like the Androids used to do?"

"That's the goal." Trunks told her.

"Then I'm in too." Pastel said.

Trunks nodded with relief and his smile became a little more genuine. He turned to Basil and Thyme who were regarding the newcomers with a certain degree of reluctance. "In that case can you two show our new recruits to their accommodations?"

"I suppose if there's nothing more important for us to do." Thyme sighed.

"Like science stuff." Basil added, though Trunks could tell she was joking.

Thyme might have been too, but he was far too deadpan for Trunks to ever be certain, and the two engineers were still fairly new additions to Capsule Corp., Trunks wasn't really used to them yet.

"I'll owe you both." He offered, just in case they really did feel slighted.

"Owe us what?" Thyme asked, looking suddenly interested.

"Our paychecks I expect." Basil quipped.

"You're getting _paid?"_ Thyme mumbled as the group headed off.

"You mean that's it? Interview over, we've got the job?" Pastel asked in surprise.

"Uh . . . yeah." Trunks said, feeling a little surprised in return. "I mean since Master Roshi is vouching for you and all."

"Oh my gosh, I need to tell my mom!" Anavill cried, but she said it so quickly it sounded more like a single word than a full sentence.

Their excitement made him smile again. "Once you've been showed around take the rest of the day to tell anyone you need to, I'll talk to you all this evening. I'm glad you're all here." He told them. Basil and Thyme led the small group out, Master Roshi went along too leaving Trunks and his mother alone in the cafeteria.

"They sure don't look like the old team." His mother commented.

"I won't disagree there, but at least they're eager." Trunks said. He lowered his gaze and mumbled, "I hope I don't disappoint them."

"It's going to be all right, Trunks." His mother reassured him.

"How can you be so sure?" Trunks asked.

"Because I'm a mother." She answered and he couldn't help but frown at that.

"Okay. I was hoping for something a little more concrete than that."

"When you're a parent you'll understand." Bulma said, patting his shoulder gently.

"I _feel_ like a parent," Trunks admitted. "Three fighters already, two of them even younger than me and none of them is even as strong as Master Roshi. There are no Dragon Balls, if I get these people killed . . ."

"There's no reason to think that'll happen, Trunks."His mother told him. "But you know you can't let any of them sense these doubts in you."

Trunks leaned against a nearby wall and said, "If it were just me I wouldn't be worried, you know."

"I know." Bulma nodded, "But there could come a day when you need the help. And don't count them out just because they're not as strong as Master Roshi. He might not look like it, but he's pretty strong for an old geezer, and they haven't even begun to train under you two yet."

Trunks forced an insincere smile and said, "Yeah . . . I know."

His mother clearly wasn't fooled but she let the matter drop, at least for the time being. "We'll see what sort of additions you get when the tournaments are done. You just make sure you've got the confidence to lead them. Remember, you're the Golden Warrior, you're the savior of this world Trunks."

"Yeah . . ." He said.

 _But I'm not Goku,_ the young warrior thought to himself. _I'm not Father . . . if someone or something as strong as Perfect Cell shows up . . ._

Did Goku ever feel this sort of doubt? Had Gohan?

"The day's still young," His mother said, finishing her second cup of coffee, "try and cheer up, sweetie. I'll be down in the lab if you need me."

Trunks nodded. "I'll do my best mom, thanks. I think I'll just take a quick fly to clear my head."

"Good idea," Bulma told him, then smiled, "Make sure and let everyone see you do it, you saw how quickly the power of flight got those other two on your side."

Trunks smiled, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't need to show off to get fighters to join him.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The Command Model Arcosian ship was divided into three decks. The lowest deck contained the ship's engines and landing legs when in flight, the second deck contained crew quarters, cleanliness facilities, and a lounge to keep the crew of up to a hundred occupied in their off hours. The crew quarters on ships like theirs were usually rather spartan owing to the need to house a large number of troops in a relatively small space and general disinterest in the living conditions for said crew.

The crew quarters were designed to squeeze twenty soldiers into a single room with an only slightly larger room attached for two lower officers to share with only the captain having a properly sized private cabin. There were four crew cabins, four officer rooms, the lounge, the Captain's cabin and what was referred to as the "guest suite."

There was no brig because the PTO didn't take prisoners but the "guest suite" was where new recruits could be safely kept until they learned their place in the universe. It wasn't very large or comfortable, barely large enough to contain the five Iwatians.

But that was partially due to their size. In any event with only half the maximum crew for their long journey Captain Kalt's vessel had slightly more comfortable quarters and while the Lieutenants still shared rooms—or two of them did, Cereza's former roommate would be enjoying solitude until they reached Alpha Station and took on a replacement—the other two officer's quarters had been set aside for the Commander and Karuto to have their own personal quarters as befitted Arcosian officers.

The top deck contained the bridge and control room, the sickbay, the galley and a training room, which is where the Commander and his elites spent most of their time.

The Commander entered the training room and smiled approvingly at his five teammates already going through their drills, but was actually surprised to see Karuto there as well.

The older Arcosian youth found the youngster to be a bit of a nuisance and hadn't thought too highly of him. They were cousins separated by several years and the Commander had initially judged Karuto too childish to be on a long voyage like theirs.

And over the months in space Karuto had done nothing to change his opinion, though this was certainly a surprise. The Commander had never seen Karuto actually attempt to practice his drills. On the contrary he hadn't even realized Karuto _knew_ the basics.

"Commander!" Ayappa said, snapping to attention and saluting him. The others followed suit a little sluggishly.

The Arcosian nodded and said, "Carry on, you guys know better than to be that formal with me."

"Well . . . I mean in front of other officers . . ."Prage shrugged, eyes darting towards Karuto.

The Commander laughed, "Oh is that it? Don't worry, he's a kid."

The squad chuckled slightly and returned to their training routine, the Commander approached Damson, and the armored saurian answered his unasked question in a low whisper, "He was here practicing even before we got here, Chief."

"How's he doing?"

"He's fine, power level is a bit runty for one of your kind if you don't mind my saying."

He did mind a bit, but only because Karuto was his cousin, "He's only a child, he'll get stronger."

"Of course." Damson said with a clack of his beak. "Was only calling it like it is, Chief."

The young Arcosian gave the much larger alien a light punch to the forearm since he couldn't reach his shoulder and walked over to his smaller cousin with arms clasped behind his back trying to look imposing and official. The others continued or went back to their drills but he knew they'd be watching them from the sides of their eyes.

"Karuto. I didn't know you even knew what this room was for." The Commander said.

"Of course I know!" Karuto said, "Genora gave me the tour months ago, Chillax!"

"Of course. And it took you months to find the place, huh?" The Commander teased.

Karuto ignored him and kept practicing for a moment before finally answering, "I should have been here more, but papa gave me so much study work."

"I'll bet. But that's all finished now?"

"Um . . . well I mean I still have more studies . . . but they're boring and I wanted to do this instead."

"What brought on this sudden interest in the martial?" Chillax asked, "I assumed you'd be the egg head type."

Karuto made an angry face, like Kalt he didn't have a visible mouth but his large purple eyes were expressive. "I can't disappoint Uncle!"

"Who cares about him?" The Commander scoffed. "You should be more worried about disappointing yourself."

"I _can't_ disappoint me, I already think I'm great!" Karuto said, stopping his drills to cock his head to the side quizzically at Chillax.

The Commander rolled his red eyes and said, "Fine, but you won't get stronger from training if you do it for the wrong reasons. If it's just to make Uncle Kalt happy you're wasting your time. You've got to do it because _you_ want to be better."

"It's just . . . it wasn't fair, you know." Karuto said.

"What wasn't fair?" Chillax asked.

"Cereza. I just want to be good enough not to end up like Cereza." Karuto told him.

"You are literally nine times stronger than Cereza was." Chillax said, "Besides if Uncle were ever desperate enough to send _you_ into battle he'd send you with me to make sure you came back."

" _Would_ you make sure I come back?" Karuto asked.

"What kind of question is that?" The Commander scoffed.

"You don't like me." Karuto pointed out. It surprised the older Arcosian, but he really couldn't argue with it so he just shrugged.

"You're family. I'd make sure."

"Well I'd make sure you come back too." Karuto said and went back to his drills.

"I'm literally six and a half times stronger than you." Chillax teased.

"Yeah, but you're family. I'd make sure." Karuto said.

The Commander shook his head and turned back to his squad, "All right then, double effort team. If the brat shows you up it'll be laps around the next _planet_."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The grassy garden field around the Capsule Corporation was filled with martial artists, some of them sparring most of them gathered in groups and discussing the day's events.

Rhyce hadn't imagined there could be so many strong fighters in the world. She and her older brother Gurein had been the best fighters in their home village and if the Androids had ever found them they would have tried to fight them, but neither of them had ever seen the sort of power the golden warrior or the old man had displayed.

They stood with a group of martial artists near the place where the stone had been before it was blasted arguing over how the blasts could have been achieved.

"Explosives set up beforehand." One fighter said, "it proves nothing."

"Why would they lie about it?" Another asked.

"To make us think we're inferior of course!" Yet another voice chimed in and the first fighter nodded in agreement.

"Maybe that kid's the golden warrior everyone talks about, maybe he isn't, but if one of us nameless nobodies had beat him today?"

"What?" Rhyce ventured to asked.

The first speaker didn't really seem to have an answer to elaborate, maybe she'd hoped that everyone would just agree with her. She was very thin and tall, unlike Rhyce who was fairly short and while slim at the waist still a little thick in the limbs. That woman had pasty pale skin, not like Rhyce and Gurein's brown skin tone and her hair was black where theirs was more of a light gray.

Finally the third fighter answered, "It'd prove they're frauds. There's no way one guy took down both those Androids. You might not have ever seen them, but I was in Pepper City relief effort, I saw the destruction those _things_ were capable of leaving in their wake."

He was a tall muscular guy, like Gurein. His head was shaved, and he wore a black gi with a symbol that she couldn't read.

"Frauds?" Rhyce scoffed. "I don't see any reason to suspect that."

"Well then I've got a bridge I'd love to sell you, sugar." The black haired woman said rudely, and some of the others in their crowd laughed but Rhyce took a challenging step towards her, fists clenched.

She hated being laughed at. She fell into a fighting stance and said, "Well if you think you're better than them you shouldn't have any trouble with me."

"Don't be barbaric." The woman scoffed, "You don't throw punches just because people don't agree with you. That's pathetic."

She didn't seem intimidated, just annoyed. Rhyce scowled, "Yeah well you don't doubt people just because of how they look," she retorted but she knew the other woman was right.

In her home village fighting to prove herself had been practically second nature to Rhyce, especially being the younger sister of the village's greatest fighter and the daughter of the greatest fighter before him. She'd always had to take on other fighters who thought that she'd be a good warm-up for some future fight with her brother, or who simply doubted the ability of such a small young woman. Their father had been the greatest fighter but he'd gone off to fight the androids years ago and never come back.

Luckily the Androids never found their village, but Rhyce knew that she and Gurein weren't as good as their father, and if he'd been killed by the Androids they would have been too. It _was_ hard to think just one person could beat them, but Rhyce hoped it was true and she hoped she could learn from such a fighter.

"It's true that you shouldn't pick fights carelessly," Gurein spoke up, "and it's true that you shouldn't underestimate any fighter no matter how they appear. The only thing we can do is wait and observe, if this Trunks destroyed the Androids he'll be worth training under."

"If that's _really_ what he's offering. Who would just give that kind of power away? And who knows what kind of hoops we'll have to jump through just for the chance at it." The black haired woman said, and Rhyce noticed she showed her brother greater respect, which naturally irritated her.

"As I said, we can only wait and observe." Gurein shrugged.

The conversation carried on in different directions and their large concentration broke up a bit. Rhyce was glad to see the taller scrawnier woman leave. She asked her brother, "Do you believe Trunks destroyed the Androids?"

"Yes." Gurein told her. "I believe it easily. Couldn't you feel the power that radiated from him before that light flash he used? It was the same as the power from that old man when he destroyed the rest of the boulder."

Rhyce nodded. She'd felt it, but she didn't want to say so in front of a crowd, they might think she was crazy. "Do you think he can teach us that?"

"If we're worthy, I think it's what he wants. Just as our father trained us to protect our village I think that this Trunks sees the whole Earth as his village, he wants help to protect it."

"That's a great deal of projection, big brother." Rhyce pointed out.

"I don't think so." Gurein said. "He had the same sort of air as father. He's a protector, and he's not cocky. He knows death can come for him as surely as it can come for anyone. What then? More years of fear and destruction like the ones we've passed under the Androids? And what if he needs help someday? You heard what he said, he wants to train students, but as you know not every student can or will take to every technique."

Rhyce frowned, but finally nodded her agreement. "Okay, I guess I can see that. Do you think we'll be able to train under him?"

"I don't know." Gurein answered. "Maybe he doesn't even want to train people, maybe he just wants the strongest fighters."

"But you just said-"

"Yes." Gurein said gently, "I _think_ he wants to train warriors, perhaps he wants warriors already trained like that old man. Perhaps he's hoping for both. What I think we need to remember is that we are just two individuals in a large group of talented people. Even if we aren't good enough to train with the golden warrior we have a rare opportunity to learn what we can from maybe a hundred or more different fighters and maybe just as many styles. No matter what happens, little sister, this is a grand opportunity and I am grateful for it."

Rhyce smiled. "I guess when you put it like that I am too."

She imagined herself as a defender of Earth itself and thought that even if her brother was wrong and Trunks didn't think of all of Earth as his village she certainly could. If there was anything she'd learned from spending the past few days with such a large collection of people it was that no matter how dissimilar people seemed in the end they were all still people.

There was a roar of excitement and surprise from the gathered crowd when suddenly Trunks flew through the air away from the Capsule Corp. building, everyone who saw it was amazed and Rhyce was no exception. Still she couldn't help shouting just loudly enough for the scrawny woman from before to hear, "Gee, I wonder how he faked _that_!"

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Capsule Corp. and Trunks receive an unexpected royal_ _visitor, and a new student. Meanwhile, young Karuto learns that one of the Saiyans who attacked Planet Goulder in the past may have escaped._

_Character Image 3: Schip_  


_Note: Though the resemblance is about as good as I could get it to be on Xenoverse, he should actually be scrawnier, and his hair slightly different. I envisioned him as more of a younger darker skinned Spike from Cowboy Bebop as far as appearance goes._


	5. Hail to the King

**Episode Five**

**'Hail to the King'**

 

As Trunks had expected the afternoon at Capsule Corp. was no less busy than the morning had been, though a quick leisurely flight around the city had helped clear his head.

Much of the crowd had dispersed either to get something for lunch, return to their homes or just to train in preparation for the tournament, Trunks couldn't be sure. Still despite the thinning of the martial artist crowd there were still a lot of people waiting at Capsule Corp. headquarters when he returned from his flight. Most were reporters but a rather impressive looking hover limousine told Trunks that someone very important had arrived even before he made his landing on a high balcony.

The balcony was outside of one of the building's executive lounges, it was a place that his mother often entertained guests and the two armed guards standing by the doors suggested that that was what was happening now.

They didn't seem alarmed by Trunks' presence, one even opened the door for him. "Welcome back, Mister Briefs. The King is waiting for you inside."

_The King_? Trunks blinked in surprise.

He went in and saw his mother sitting and talking with a familiar blue furred face.

Not familiar in the sense that Trunks had ever met him before of course, but familiar in the sense that he had seen pictures of the King since he was a small child. Even when he'd saved humanity from the Androids he'd never rated a personal visit from the King before.

The blue furred dog-man and his mother sat on couches around a coffee table with fruit and refreshments laid out. The King had a pair of bodyguards in the orange blue and black uniforms of the royal army.

"Y-your majesty!" Trunks bowed quickly.

The King waved a paw and laughed, "No need for that, Golden Warrior. I should be the one bowing to you! You saved the world after all, and your mother tells me you're a good and honest man. I should have come here sooner, I'm sorry it took this to get me to pay you a visit."

"W-well . . ." Trunks gulped.

"But I must confess, I have some concerns about your announcement and that is what brings me here today." The King said and Trunks raised his head in surprise.

"Concerns, your majesty?"

The King nodded. "News has spread pretty quickly about your plans to make a team of fighters, these Earth Defenders, I had to clear my whole schedule and come straight here."

"Okay . . ." Trunks frowned.

But the King smiled a friendly honest looking smile, "The thing is the people have the Royal Army to protect them. It seems like an Earth's Defense Force might confuse matters."

Trunks was surprised. He looked to his mother but her expression revealed nothing. "What exactly are you saying, your majesty?"

"Well I understand that the Royal Army wasn't able to do much about the Androids, and it is still being rebuilt really. But it just seems to me that a group of defenders should be part of the military, not some batch of super powered vigilantes or . . . corporate owned mercenary group, if you'll excuse my saying it."

"I'll excuse it, but I don't think you understand what we're doing here." Trunks said. "This isn't some private army, it's . . . more like a coalition of talented individuals."

"Individuals as talented as the Androids?" The King asked.

Trunks shrugged, "When we're done with them even more so, hopefully. We have to prepare for whatever threat comes next."

The King nodded. "I understand that, after all the defense shelter we've been building is designed specifically to keep the people of his city safe if there's ever another attack on the level of the Androids. But you see this is my concern . . . the Androids were greater than the entire Royal army, though it pains me to admit it. If your fighters are greater than they were that would give you more power than any man in the world."

Trunks frowned, and his mother spoke up.

"Trunks already has more power than any man in the world, your majesty. As I've told you, he's a good and honest man."

The King smiled, "I don't doubt it. But my advisors, the people . . . they are more concerned. Some bond needs to exist between this force and the military if it's to be a public force. If it were to be a private team it might have been possible for me to look the other way but having a public tournament to find fighters to make the most powerful warriors on Earth? This concerns me now."

Trunks frowned, "I can understand, but we needed to get the word out and we can't be bound by royal rules, we have to be the Defenders of Earth. We can't be involved in political matters."

"And I trust you on that count." The King said quietly, "After all, any man who could defeat the Androids can easily overthrow me if he wants to, and I am not certain the people would object. _I_ believe in you, young man. But I am the state, I am the people, I am my advisors, I need to take into account all their concerns at least and try to find a way to reassure them."

"So . . . what are you asking?" Trunks asked.

"Capsule Corp. is funding a great deal of the restoration effort." The King said. "Funding a tournament, and an elite team of fighters on top of it all?"

"We can afford it." Bulma said confidently.

"I've no doubt. But allow me to assist you all the same, otherwise it seems as if the corporation's wealth is greater than the government's, which may be true but doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in the government." The King said, "Let the Crown fund part of the tournament, let the tournament be a joint effort between yourselves and myself. It benefits the people after all and lets my advisors see that you're not some rogue group, and we can make an offer for a position in the Royal Guard to any fighters who do well but don't join your team."

"And it'll improve your public favor." Bulma nodded. "That seems fair enough."

Trunks nodded in agreement.

"I do have one more . . . shall we say, recommendation?" The King said and Trunks decided to sit down next to his mother across from the King.

"Go ahead." Trunks said.

The King tilted his head to indicate the blond woman with pale blue eyes and light skin standing behind him. "I think you'll find that Lieutenant Soda here a capable fighter. She was very active in helping people evade the Androids, and she even managed to save my life. Moreover having a member of the Royal Army would serve to show a strong link between our two forces."

_And give you the chance to have her teach those fighters you recruit from the tournament everything I'll show her._ Trunks frowned. He looked at the Lieutenant and tried to get a sense of her strength, but it was difficult. She _was_ stronger than the average human, he could tell that much.

He said, "I can offer to train her . . . but I can't make any guarantees. Not everyone will actually take to the training."

"You won't have to worry," the King said confidently, "she's a talented martial artist and a trained soldier. I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes your most talented pupil."

_We can only hope._ Trunks thought. "Then I'll let her stay on if that's what it takes to reassure you," Trunks said, "but I have to stress that if these techniques become too widespread it could do a lot more to damage the peace than just two Androids. I have to urge you to be very conservative with these techniques."

"Lieutenant?" The King asked, and Soda stepped forward standing sharply at attention before them.

She saluted and said, "Sir, I assure you his majesty has no intentions of doing anything more than keeping a military presence in this organization. I have promised beforehand not to reveal anything I learn under your training to anyone unless it provides a direct threat to the government I serve or the people it serves."

The King smiled and waved a hand so that Soda ended her salute and stepped back to where she'd been standing behind him. Trunks nodded his acceptance and the King said, "You see young man I'm on your side. I know the power you wield will be used for good, but it will make my advisors and others feel more comfortable to believe we have some measure of understanding and control over it. Of course I know we could never hope for that, your own good nature is what we need to put our faith in. But surely you can understand how frightening that is, surely you can understand why even a token gesture would ease a great deal of stress."

Trunks nodded, "Yes your majesty, and I promise I'll do whatever I can to keep you all in the loop. Earth's Defenders existed a long time before me, and I'm hoping they'll be around a long time after me."

_I'm hoping the_ Earth _is around for a long time after me._ Trunks thought.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Anavill had to admit to being surprised, "So we're going to have roommates?" She asked, noticing that the room Basil and Thyme were showing the group of them had a bunk bed. The Capsule Corp. building was huge and she knew most of the staff didn't actually live there so that there were bedrooms at all had surprised her but that they were designed for multiple people surprised her more for some reason.

She wasn't entirely sure why, but it made her nervous thinking of sharing her living space with another person for however long this training took. Of course when they'd been on the run from the Androids years ago she and her parents had had to take whatever space was available and often share with strangers all just hoping to survive but ever since then it'd just seemed like the world was so much more . . . open and empty.

What if she ended up with the _one_ roommate who wouldn't like her? Or worse what if they _all_ didn't like her?

She glanced at Pastel, who had been friendly enough so far. Would _she_ like her? Would they get along?

"Oh sure." Basil said, answering the question. Anavill liked her at least, she was very bright. In the sort of sunny personality way that was. Obviously the intellectual way too, after all she for Capsule Corp. The woman seemed to run on pure coffee though.

She carried on and said, "Even Thyme and I have to share. I mean not with each other, obviously, no coed arrangements here."

"Oh, so you live here too?" Anavill asked.

"Have to, we're essential and there's not a lot of other places close by enough." Basil said. "Well, I guess most of the staff gets by. Staying here is just us and the chef Asiago. Oh and I mean obviously the Briefs family, it is their place and all. Anyway it keeps me close to my work, lot of late nights here."

"What kind of stuff do you do here?" Pastel asked.

Basil looked left and right as if she were making sure no one else were around and whispered "You know the space time continuum and stuff?" She got a sinister glee in her eyes and said, "I _mess_ with it _so_ _badly_! Working on a time machine that can carry a whole group to and from the past, gotta make sure it doesn't just create an alternate dimension though, I mean assuming the alternate dimension doesn't already exist it's crazy stuff. Last time they used the machine they just made a whole alternate Earth, we can't be doing that all over the place, right? But I mean everything that's happened has already happened, we can't change our own time line so obviously we can't change our own time! I mean I could end up destroying the fabric of reality as we know it, it's really, _really_ cool."

"Yeah . . . yeah it sure sounds that way." Pastel said cautiously.

Anavill smiled and Schip shifted uncomfortably.

"What about you?" Anavill asked Thyme.

Thyme sighed and seemed about to answer but Basil did it for him. "Thyme's working on defying the laws of gravity so you guys can train in like a hundred times earth's natural gravity and stuff. But he's gotta make sure he doesn't do anything stupid that like screws up our whole planet's gravity and or turns us into a species of pancake people."

They all must have looked pretty alarmed at that because Thyme said, "Really it's not that hard, the boss—uh I mean Bulma already worked out the technologies. We're just working to adapt them."

They must not have looked reassured enough because he added, "She checks over all our work and everything! Like a school teacher, even uses a red pen."

"Uh-huh . . . so is anyone else getting the feeling we've just signed on to be super villain henchmen?" Pastel asked.

"No, don't be silly. Super _hero_ henchmen." Schip told her.

Pastel laughed, it was a good-natured laugh, not a sarcastic or rude one and she said, "Fair enough."

"Think of yourselves more like sidekicks than henchmen." Master Roshi suggested. "Or super heroes in training."

"Anyway," Thyme said, "since there's just you recruits for now you can all have your own rooms but we might need to move you or set you up with roommates later so be ready for that."

"Nah no point," Pastel said, "Ana and I are both girls, Schip and Roshi are both guys, we can split up that way and whoever comes later comes later."

Anavill was surprised, "You don't want your own room?"

"What, do you snore?" Pastel asked and Anavill shrugged.

"I don't _think_ so . . ."

Pastel shrugged back at her, "And I don't care. Besides if we're supposed to fight together we should get to know each other, right? This way we start off right with at least a little bit of stability, you know where you're supposed to be you know what space is _yours_ and that can help center you. Besides, I hate having to repack."

"Okay then," Basil shrugged, "Makes things easier I guess. In that case why don't you girls take this room and Schip can take the room all the way down on the other side of the hall. There's six rooms in this wing in total, but just two bathrooms. I guess we can designate one men's and one women's."

"I think that was the point when this wing was built." Thyme said. He explained, "It's actually fairly new. This got added in when the building was . . . well, rebuilt. And we're always adding new things underground."

"Which we know kind of supports the evil villain's lair theory thrown out earlier but you're just going to have to trust us!" Basil said cheerfully. She took a sip of her coffee then added, "Also there might be a ghost!"

They were quiet for a moment before finally Pastel asked, "Wait, like do you mean for real or are you just messing with us?"

"She's messing with you." Thyme sighed.

"You believe in ghosts?" Schip asked, he sounded more intrigued than skeptical or critical.

"I just found out people can fly and shoot laser beams, these two are talking about time machines and artificial gravity, we're off the map of weirdness at this point if the woman tells me there's actual ghosts I'm not going to doubt it." Pastel told him.

"She's messing with you." Thyme repeated.

"But there _are_ definitely ghosts." Master Roshi assured her.

"Well why would you have to tell me something like that?" Pastel complained.

"I give up." Thyme sighed and simply left.

Basil watched him go then leaned towards them and whispered, "Totally _wasn't_ messing with you . . . sleep tight!"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto had been pouring over the ship's records on the Saiyans ever since Uncle Kalt had told him about their failed missions.

Their ship was one of two clearing worlds the Saiyans had failed on, but from what the records showed many of the planets that Saiyans were sent to were actually words that didn't actually need to be cleared.

Some of them were just sent to worlds that they couldn't possibly survive. Others had been sent to planets where some of Cousin Frieza's army had been waiting to ambush them.

It made Karuto sad because he thought of the Saiyan children that had been sent out to some of those worlds and he wondered how evil the Saiyans must have been in order to deserve such a fate.

The little Arcosian knew that they must have been very evil because there was no attempt to hide the ambushes or traps laid for them, no attempt to make them sound more heroic and he knew that Cousin Frieza wouldn't have done such things if the Saiyans weren't a legitimate threat.

And yet the records showed their King and strongest warrior barely had a power level over ten thousand . . . if the history was accurate that meant that Cousin Frieza would have been able to wipe out every Saiyan by himself on a lazy afternoon.

Why would he have ever feared them?

_He didn't._ Karuto supposed.

If the Saiyans had been feared they would never have been annexed by Cousin Frieza's Galactic Trade Army in the first place. It was probably that they'd been too wild and evil to keep around and too weak for Cousin Frieza to need to personally fight off if he had an Empire to run.

But when he wasn't doing early morning drills to keep his power level from dipping, or doing his school work Karuto had been hard at work reading over the files and observing the various blocks of information. He wanted to know all about these horrible monsters.

Besides, there wasn't anything better to do on the ship. He looked forward to the day when they reached Alpha Station, they'd unload most of their new recruits—to keep them from plotting anything, his Cousin had told him—and take on more fighters before reembarking on their mission and clearing their next batch of worlds.

They'd replace Cereza with some other lieutenant and hopefully he'd know better than to disappoint Uncle Kalt . . .

"You spend a lot of time at those computers," a deep rumbling voice said. Karuto glanced over his shoulder to see the rotund form of Konpeito, the leader of the new recruits.

Karuto shrugged and said, "I'm researching our mission."

Konpeito was likely going to stay on with the crew, he was the strongest of his captured people and he'd been mostly agreeable towards Uncle Kalt so far.

And it wasn't that Karuto disliked him, simply that he was uncomfortable around the large alien. Konpeito had taken too quickly to his role as a soldier despite his claim to have been quite old and content with his old lifestyle. Perhaps he was trying to set a good example for the other four, but Karuto found his instincts told him not to trust the stony-skinned alien, who had been let out of the guest suite early due to exemplary behavior.

Still a thought did occur to him and he asked, "How old are you?"

"Oh some twenty winters." Konpeito said, scratching his chin as if in thought. Was he lying about that? _Maybe he doesn't understand why I'd ask._ Karuto supposed.

The little Arcosian counted the winter cycle of Konpeito's world to what the Arcosians considered years and nodded, "Okay so you're about sixty years old. You would have been alive the last time monsters in armor like ours came, right?" Karuto asked, indicating his own green and gray armor. He had a sea green carapace with a dark gray dome and his armor matched it with sea green breastplate and dark gray shoulder pads.

Konpeito nodded, "Of course. I was there when the sky demons came before."

"You were fighting a race called the Saiyans," Karuto said, "Can you tell me about it? What happened to them? What they were like?"

"I suppose," Konpeito said, looking confused. He lowered his gaze and took a seat at one of the open computer consoles and said, "It was a long time ago. I was a young hunter then, very strong."

His simian face scrunched up in recollection and he said, "I remember . . . the stars fell when the demons came. Five stars fell from the skies, we thought the heavens were weeping at our weakness. We thought they had sent the demons to punish us. When we defeated them we thought we had been judged worthy of life. When one star rose up again, we thought that it was heaven taking back its judgment."

Karuto's eyes widened in shock. "One of them rose again?" The little Arcosian almost screamed.

"Yes. Do you want to hear this story or not?" Konpeito asked a little harshly.

"No, I want to know about the rising star!" Karuto said, turning back to his records.

Had one of the Saiyans escaped?

He looked at the record, the list of Saiyan names . . .

Kumber, Cauliflora, Leek, Turles, Rhubara.

None of those were the names of the known Saiyan survivors. Could there be _more_ out there?

_It was an entire species, Cousin Frieza might have missed one or two . . ._ Karuto realized. The little Arcosian hesitated, then he frowned at Konpeito and meekly asked, "Uh . . . do you know what happened?"

"What, you mean do I know what happened to the Demons?" Konpeito scoffed, "I told you I did, didn't I?"

Karuto bowed slightly. He wouldn't have done it if they hadn't been alone in the lab, Arcosians were only supposed to bow to other Arcosians but he knew that Konpeito wouldn't know about that rule yet.

"Please, if you can tell me in greater detail tell me everything. If one of those, uh, demons got away we need to know so we can hunt it down."

"I thought you didn't want to hear the story?"

"I do now. Did your people kill all of the other four or did you kill them all and one of the pods just . . . left?"

Konpeito folded his thick arms and said, "As I was saying . . . we thought their arrival was the heavens weeping at our weakness . . ."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Konpeito tells Karuto of the night that the stars fell, and of the Demon he battled with and Kalt's vessel arrives at Alpha Station._

 

_Character Image 4: Pastel_

_Note: Pastel was a fun character to design, her fascination with cars came about from my utter lack of interest in them. I wanted to make sure each character had something about them that I related to but also something I didn't in the hopes of both broadening my own horizons and giving others something to like about them and connect to._


	6. Oozaru Rampage

**Episode Six**

**'Oozaru Rampage!'**

 

The night sky was beautiful and black, storm clouds obscured the stars and the pale green moon above. Konpeito sat at the mouth of a cave with the others who had sought refuge from the storm.

It was clearing now and they would return to their evening hunt. There were two separate hunting parties from two different villages sharing the cave, none of them enjoyed the harsh rains.

There was no fire, it only attracted the larger predators. The hunters sought out fair game to bring back to their village, but they had no illusions of being safe in the woods at night. Luckily the caves were naturally warm so no fire was needed. Konpeito suspected their ancestors enjoyed the caves for that reason but living in villages protected by strong walls had kept them far safer.

In addition to providing shelter from the storm the cave was a good opportunity to hear stories from their neighbors, meet new friends or check up on old rivals.

Konpeito watched as the pale green moon emerged and the storm clouds receded. The hunter smiled and turned to the cave's inhabitants, "Storm's cleared. Resume the hunt?"

Hunt leaders from both villages trundled over to the cave entrance and peered out. The leader from the other village shuddered and called back, "Stay in, it's still too wet and cold."

The leader of Konpeito's hunt, a grizzled elder named Bingtang seemed about to say the same when one of the younger hunters cried, "What's that?"

Both leaders peered out and looked around, "What? Where?" Bingtang asked.

"The moon!" Konpeito realized, looking up at it.

Five shooting stars lanced across the moon like streaks of white against the soft green. They danced for a moment, moving together in a V formation until one of them broke away suddenly.

It tumbled towards the ground in a blaze of flame as the other four struck off for some distant place. Konpeito heard many cries of astonishment as the star slammed into the forest not far from them.

There was an explosion and flames, Konpeito turned to the elders helplessly hoping that they would know what to do but both just stared in open mouth shock.

For a time nothing happened, and then there was a roar like nothing Konpeito had ever heard in the forest before. The hunter felt fear griping both hearts and almost refused when Bingtang shouted, "We have to go!"

"But the sky falls!" One of the other village's young hunters cried.

"The forest burns!" Another added.

Bingtang snarled, "If those flames are left unchecked our villages can be caught in the flames!"

Konpeito frowned when the roar sounded again.

"That's no knife tail." Konpeito warned the elder.

The elder of the other village put a hand on Bingtang's shoulder and said, "My hunters and I will support you, cousin. Take heart young ones, nothing will threaten our numbers."

Konpeito shuddered when the roar sounded a third time, but knew the elders were right.

The flames had to be stopped and no predator would threaten so many Iwatian hunters. Even if the deadly knife tails did emerge they would have the numbers to stop them.

Still . . . "Knife tails will be attracted to the light of the flames." Konpeito warned the elders.

"Nothing will threaten our numbers." Bingtang repeated the other elder's words.

Konpeito took a deep breath, shuddered then nodded and stepped out into the night.

The Iwatian hunters gripped their spears and ran into the night. They had excellent night vision, but they didn't need it with the fires of the trees.

The blood chilling roar sounded again, Konpeito ran on at the head of the party. The young hunter saw something ahead that was unlike anything ever witnessed in the forests of their world.

It was massive and covered in fur. It had a long snout full of sharp teeth and huge hands with black claws.

It saw them. Konpeito wasn't sure how it knew to look, but it saw them. Its massive red eyes seemed to lock with Konpeito's and the hunter's strides stopped.

The beast roared, it opened its mouth and a beam of blinding light began to build in its mouth.

Bingtang knocked the younger hunter aside in time to avoid a knife tail that was charging for the big beast.

The knife tail was a large six legged monster with hooves on its four back legs, and sharp pincers on its front two legs. It had a long whip-tail that ended in a sharp bony knife. Like the Iwatians it had a hard exoskeleton covered in hardened nubs, and its small porcine head was perched on a downward sloped neck to make feeding easier. It liked feeding on Iwatians.

Just one might not have been a threat to so many hunters, but they were pack hunters known to travel in groups of up to a dozen. They were dangerous and surprisingly stealthy for something as large as a hut. Even the hunters' ability to sense life energy didn't always work with the knife tails until it was too late.

But there was no missing the sheer volume of energy from the blast of heat that devastated the monster, its size proving irrelevant as it simply disintegrated.

"The fires!" Bingtang ordered, "Put out the fires!"

Bingtang led by example, thrusting one thick arm towards a burning tree. A strong wind seemed to blow the flames into Bingtang's outstretched hands. Konpeito began to do the same.

The screech of knife tails rang in the forest answered by the roar of the big beast.

Konpeito saw the monster lift one of the knife tails by its tail and hurl it impossibly far.

The hunter turned to Bingtang and asked the elder, "What do we do about that thing when the flames are gone?"

Bingtang didn't have an answer, Konpeito wasn't really surprised. The big beast was all but sporting with the knife tail monsters.

It seemed to have a thick black and purple carapace that the blades of the knife tails weren't able to pierce. Konpeito saw it sweep one of the monsters away with its long thick furry tail.

"At least it seems interested in the knife tails," Konpeito mumbled quietly and wondered what it could be.

Was it some predator of theirs? Was that why it had started so many fires? There was so much of the deep forests that the Iwatians didn't know or explore, could this just be a part of their world they had never encountered before?

Or had it come because of the falling star? Was it some ancient evil woken by a tear of the gods fallen to ground?

Konpeito might never know, all that the young hunter could do was focus on sucking up the flames. Doing so made the Iwatians feel more energized, more alive and it made the whole world seem to speed up as the heat energy they stored supercharged them.

The battle of giants raged in the background as Konpeito and the other hunters worked to put an end to the flames, a goal not aided by the monster's tendency to create more with its mouth blasts.

But with over two score hunters working they did start to make progress and as the flames of the fires died down the remaining knife tails seemed to be rethinking their battle with the great furred beast.

Konpeito had been separated from Bingtang and was still putting out fires when the fighting began to come to an end.

Most of the knife tails had either fled or been destroyed but there was one left that seemed determined to slay or be slain itself.

The fires were almost gone but an eerie blue glow was illuminating the damaged portion of the forest.

Konpeito watched as the huge furred beast battled the final knife tail. Konpeito was full of energy from absorbing so much heat and fire and the young hunter knew there would be no stopping something that hunted and killed knife tails once it finished with its prey.

And Konpeito knew it would try to kill them next.

So the hunter turned on the big beast and blasted it with every ounce of stored up fire energy.

The blast hit the big beast and it lurched forward. Konpeito thought it must be slain until it turned around, pure rage in its eyes. It roared with fury and then fell to its knees.

But it was not Konpeito's blast that had wounded it. The Iwatian hunter could see the surviving knife tail had bitten down on the beast's tail.

The big beast swept its arm back, roaring in pain as the knife tail bit down harder.

It swept its bladed tail out and cut into the beast's palm. Konpeito saw disgusting red blood as the greater monster howled in pain and rage.

Their eyes met again and this time Konpeito saw what could have been surprise. The hunter felt a strange satisfaction.

_Not so scary now, are you?_

The knife tail hacked into the beast's tail, severing it.

"Bring it down!" Bingtang roared, Konpeito ducked as several heat blasts tore into the two monsters, vaporizing both the big beast and the Knife Tail.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"You killed them both?" Karuto asked.

"Well . . ." Konpeito hesitated.

"You fought with a Saiyan monster and killed it?" the little master demanded.

Konpeito shuddered a negative response, "We thought so at the time, but the blasts weren't enough to slay that demon. Still at first when the smoke cleared all we saw was a blue light coming from a crater in the ground."

"The pod's landing spot," the tiny alien overlord said to itself, "the blue light was probably one of those artificial moons they make, my papa told me about that once, they use them to transform into the Oozaru, that's the big beast you mentioned. Though it's odd that it happened in the crater, usually they launch them into the sky."

Konpeito said, "I didn't know that. But I don't know what it has to do with anything . . . my lord."

"Nothing I suppose." Karuto admitted. "It's just weird. So what happened next?"

Konpeito was about to continue the story when a larger overlord stood in the doorway and said, "Next we dock with Alpha Station, little cousin."

This one was the one they called the Commander, it was the second in command if Konpeito was correct and it was strong. Stronger than even the big beast had been despite being a fraction of its size. Konpeito bowed to this new overlord as Karuto said, "The new recruit was just telling me about the Saiyan attack on that world we conquered."

"We? Who's 'we', you weren't there." The Commander smirked. Despite being the same species it had a mouth with black colored lips and matching bands going from its eyes to its chin, unlike Karuto who seemed to have a chitinous mask over its face like the one they called the Captain.

It made their expressions difficult to read, assuming that Konpeito could accurately read alien expressions at all. Even so, though the Commander's words were rude its expression seemed playful, and Karuto didn't seem upset. The expression was less playful when the Commander turned to Konpeito and said, "As for you soldier, no shore leave but you will be getting off. You and your kind will be escorted to the reeducation level by Damson. He's my second and _his_ shore leave doesn't begin until you're delivered so I wouldn't make him wait if I were you."

The Iwatian nodded to the Commander who in turn folded its arms, turned to Karuto and said, "Captain Kalt wants us ready to disembark. He thinks you'll want to know the _Frieza's Fist_ is docked with the station."

The tiny Arcosian raced out of the room crying in excitement, "Daddy's ship! Daddy's ship!"

The Commander smirked and left as well leaving Konpeito to trundle out of the room alone.

The Iwatian elder thought of that time so long ago, thought of the demons that had tore a path of destruction across the world. It had been devastating but it hadn't exterminated their race the way that these other demons had.

So why had master Karuto seemed so . . . anxious about them?

_Reeducation eh?_ Konpeito thought, stepping into the corridor and heading for the exit to find Damson and the other survivors waiting.

_You'll soon find this old knife tail has no trouble learning new tricks. And I'll learn soon enough why you thought the Sky Demons were a threat to you when they're so much weaker. Once I know that, I'll make you pay for what you did, even if it takes my last breath._

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The roar of the crowd was almost deafening as the first day of the Golden Warrior Martial Arts Tournament neared a close. Due to the sheer number of competitors even after qualifiers it hadn't been realistic to finish the tournament in a single day. Because the object was to find the best students rather than just the strongest overall fighter they had began the tournament with more than double the usual entries and after three elimination rounds the crowd of entries was thinning but it had been a long day and they would still need tomorrow to finish up.

Luckily one of the first orders of business for the restoration of West City had been to build a sports and entertainment arena. Roshi had been told it was important for public morale, but it had worked out nicely for their purposes.

"If there's anything that makes me think of the old team more than a Martial Arts Tournament I can't imagine what it would be." Bulma sighed wistfully.

"They certainly bring back memories." Master Roshi agreed as he watched the fighters in the arena ring. "Of course I don't recall always getting to sit in such lavish seats. What do you think, Trunks?" Roshi asked, nudging the youngster who was watching the fights intensely.

"The Royal Box is quite nice." Trunks said without looking away from the two fighters in the arena, "It was very kind of the King to let us use it, but I wonder where he is. I thought he'd be here."

"He's probably runnin' the country." Roshi suggested.

"Do you see any standouts?" Bulma asked them.

"I think I've seen a few." Trunks said.

"You're not thinking of that kid with the spiky black hair are you?" Master Roshi asked.

Trunks finally looked away from the fight in confusion, "What? Which one? That's almost half the fighters in this tournament!"

Master Roshi smiled and Trunks realized that getting him to look away had been the joke. He smiled and stifled a chuckle before turning back to the fight, "Well I know I'm being a bit intense about it but it's important."

"It is, but you should try to seem more relaxed." Master Roshi said. "For example this fight the blond guy, what's his name again? Bacon? There's no need to show that much interest, he's got it in the bag."

"It's Bocan, and I know." Trunks said, "But he doesn't just end the fight. Why is that?"

Bulma watched the fight for a moment before suggesting, "Maybe because he doesn't want to hit a woman?"

"No, that girl Rhyce has come this far in the tournament and Bocan knows he can't advance any further unless he's willing to hit a girl." Trunks said.

"He's not finishing it because he knows he's won." Master Roshi said simply. "He knows he'll move on to the next round but he's giving her a chance to show you what she can do before he knocks her out of the contest."

"He didn't do that with his other two opponents," Bulma pointed out, "I remember he beat them quickly."

"They were both entirely the wrong kind of fighter." Trunks told her and Roshi was glad to hear him say it, "Rhyce isn't though, she's fast and strong but can definitely still stand to learn a thing or two. She's not full of herself."

"And she's not backing down against a superior opponent, she's trying to play his confidence against him and get him to make a mistake." Master Roshi said. Trunks nodded and Roshi decided to test him a bit, "I think Rhyce would be a good pick, but Bocan might be too overconfident."

"I don't know," Trunks said, "he's confident but he's not selfish. He wants her to give the best showing she can, and he recognizes her potential. That's a good trait and the fact that he's already an accomplished fighter doesn't mean he's not going to be able to learn anything."

Roshi nodded, "I thought so too, I was just testing you."

"Yeah right." Bulma teased.

Trunks smiled and said, "I know."

"So both their names?" Bulma asked.

"They're definitely worth considering." Trunks said.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Gurein sighed as he watched his sister battle. Rhyce had never known how or when to back down from a fight. It was obvious that Bocan had her beat, he was nearly a foot taller than her and had a far superior reach with both his arms and legs, he was faster and he was more experienced.

Rhyce had struggled through both of her earlier fights but Bocan had taken out both his previous opponents with one blow meaning that he had lots of energy left for this third round battle.

Gurein didn't like to think that his sister would be eliminated in round three, he knew Rhyce probably hated the idea even more than he did, but she'd been unlucky to run into a fighter like this so quickly.

"You shouldn't worry about her," A gentle voice from behind told him, "she's giving a very good showing you know."

Gurein turned around to regard a fairly short well muscled fighter with a shaved head and cleft chin. He wore thick glasses and rather casual street clothes, not really the sort he'd expect to see on a fighter in a tournament.

"I can't help but worry about her." Gurein admitted.

"Of that I have no doubt. She's your sister, isn't she?" The fighter asked and Gurein nodded. The smaller man said, "Just remember what they told us at the start of the tournament: losing doesn't disqualify you from becoming one of Master Trunks' students. You just have to give a good account of yourself and I'd say she's done that. If I were a mentor I'd train her anyway."

Gurein frowned. He'd watched Rhyce fight hundreds of times, to him her flaws were obvious and he knew the reason for each one. She was swinging too hard because she was getting tired and wanted to 'make it count', she couldn't help telegraphing her kicks because she was angry.

He regarded the stranger again and asked, "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Kodva." The shorter man said, "I'm going to be your fourth round fight tomorrow."

_Ah, that explains the outfit; he's already changed out of his proper clothing,_ Gurein reasoned. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise, and good luck to you tomorrow, win or lose." Kodva said. He tilted his head towards the arena, "You know I fought Bocan before in a different tournament. He doesn't toy with his opponents unless he likes them. You know, thinks they're actually a good fight."

"You think that's what he's doing?" Gurein asked.

"I know it is, he toyed with _me_ and let me tell you I was a _good_ fight." Kodva smiled.

Gurein smiled back in spite of himself and his worry for his sister's chances, "I guess I'll see tomorrow. Still, he defeated his other opponents so quickly it almost seems like he's just mocking my sister."

Kodva put his hands in his pockets and said, "Well I don't know him that well personally so maybe he is. But he definitely never struck me that way, he's a gifted fighter I think he just tries to prolong fights against worthwhile opponents. He'll usually let them run until the last few seconds then finish them the way he finished those first two: in one blow."

Gurein sighed. _I might have to fight him in the finals tomorrow,_ he realized. He asked Kodva, "Have you ever seen Bocan lose?"

"Once." Kodva said with a bright smile, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses, "It was really early after the Androids were defeated when the underground martial arts circuit he fought in was daring to rear its head again. I wasn't a competitor yet, I was just one of the monks that helped organize it. Back then he used to give opponents that impressed him one free shot."

Gurein snorted, "I'm guessing someone taught him the folly of that."

"A woman named Pastel," Kodva said, "she knocked him clear out of the ring with a single punch. He stopped giving out the free hits after that."

Gurein managed a smile at that, he turned back just in time to see Bocan suddenly strike.

He sprang forward as Rhyce tried a high kick. The taller fighter caught her foot and pushed it upwards to knock her off balance.

Rhyce fell backwards but kicked out with her other leg, for a moment she was standing on her hands with her back turned to him as she tried to bring her legs down again, but that was when Bocan struck kicking her in the back and sending her tumbling out of the ring.

The crowd went wild and Gurein shook his head and sighed. The announcer declared Bocan the winner and Gurein expected his sister to throw a tantrum or at the very least threaten her opponent but to his surprise Rhyce sprang up, dusted herself off, forced an awkward bow to her opponent and came back without a word.

"Are you all right?" Gurein asked.

"I don't know . . . I just hope I did good enough." Rhyce told him. "Once I realized he was just toying with me I tried to show off everything I had, I just hope it was enough."

"Ah. That's why you didn't back down." Gurein said smiling.

"Of course! I'm not fighting for prize money or even to win, I'm fighting to become Master Trunks' student!" Rhyce told him, "Did you forget, big brother?"

Gurein was relieved, "No, not at all." He told her. "I just thought you'd lose your temper."

"I did that too for a bit," Rhyce admitted, "I kept thinking I might land a good hit if I could get him into some kind of false sense of security and then surprise him, you know? But he was always one step ahead and it _did_ make me mad. But I tried to keep my eye on the prize and that made it a little easier. I just hope it was enough.

"Me too." Gurein told her, he regarded Bocan as the tall man came came back to the waiting area and the two next combatants rushed out for their turn. With long shaggy blond hair and a somewhat scraggy beard Bocan actually made Gurein think of a young lion.

He smiled at them and said to Rhyce, "It was a good fight. I hope we get the chance to do it again sometime."

"Oh any time anywhere, you just name the place!" Rhyce scowled at him.

"I'm thinking Capsule Corp. HQ once we're training under Master Trunks. Good luck." Bocan said.

Gurein nodded to him, Kodva waved but Rhyce just scoffed and was about to say something that was probably horribly rude but Gurein lightly patted her head and she glowered for a moment before saying, "Good luck to you too, I hope you do well."

"Very good." Gurein told her.

His sister gave him an extremely irritated look for a moment then hissed, "Avenge me!"

Gurein rolled his eyes, "We'll see."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Captain Kalt and his nephews attend a meeting of many high ranking members of the Clan, including Admiral Frigus who gives them a new and unexpected assignment._

 

_Character Image 5: Basil_

_Note: Basil was meant to look a bit eccentric but I can't decide if she looks like a delinquent prep-school student or a disheveled restaurant server._


	7. Target Set

**Episode Seven**

**'Target Set'**

 

The Commander folded his arms and leaned against the wall listening as more senior Arcosians discussed strategy. Captain Kalt was pleased to have beaten General Boreal's ship to the station until Admiral Frigus had admitted that he had directed Boreal to strike another two targets before the rendezvous.

"With all due respect, Admiral-" Captain Kalt began but Frigus cut him off.

"Never mind respect, be frank."

"Well then by King Cold's jock strap where do you get off giving one of my mission planets to Boreal?" Captain Kalt roared, taking a step forward and almost tripping over his white cape, which he only ever wore to formal events or meetings with higher brass.

The Admiral's purple eyes narrowed, "General Boreal's ship has over two hundred fighters aboard, and the clients were growing impatient. They paid well for Han Dolt but the rats were so numerous I decided numbers would suit better than quality fighters. As compensation I have given you one of General Boreal's worlds."

"And which one would that be? Planet Vort, home of the universe's most comfortable couch?" Captain Kalt was practically shrieking.

"Earth." Frigus answered simply.

"Earth?" Captain Kalt hesitated. "But . . . I mean . . . _Earth_ , Admiral?"

Karuto seemed about to ask a question but Chillax put a hand on his cousin's shoulder and shook his head.

 _Practically the whole Clan is here, don't embarrass the family!_ The young Arcosian warrior thought, wishing his cousin would understand.

Karuto rolled his eyes and asked it anyway, "Isn't that where the last of the Saiyans are hiding? Isn't that where we lost contact with Lord Frieza and King Cold? Why are you sending us there, uncle Frigus?"

Frigus folded his pale blue arms and said, "I wouldn't send you there if it were that dangerous." Captain Kalt relaxed visibly before the Admiral's violet gaze shot back to him, "Our probes report that something has happened on Earth, the population has been devastated, they're at a fraction of what they were when Lord Frieza was lost and there were no Saiyans detected by the probes."

"Where did they go?" The Commander dared to ask.

"Probably killed by whatever decimated the population." Captain Kalt said with a wicked smile.

"Devastated, Captain, not decimated." Frigus said with poorly disguised irritation, "If the population were decimated only a tenth of it would be destroyed, instead less than a tenth of it is left."

Captain Kalt blushed but no one seemed to think any less of him for such a simple mistake, besides they were all eagerly talking about finally getting revenge on Earth.

The Saiyans were gone . . .

The room was full of Arcosians and every one of them was pleased to know that Lord Frieza's murderers were slain. Whatever had happened to them it was wonderful news.

"What about half Saiyan scum?" Captain Kalt asked.

"The probe turned up just one result, but its power level was only five. It wouldn't matter if it were suppressed, nothing strong enough to be a threat to you or Commander Chillax's elites could hide its power level _that_ well, Captain. That's why I want you to go there personally and exterminate the humans."

 _More like nepotism. After all Karuto and I are the sons of Frostbite and Frostburn respectively. If we had been apprenticed to Boreal instead of Kalt it'd be the General heading towards Earth at maximum burn instead of us._ The Commander thought, and felt a bit of gratitude for Karuto's presence on the crew at that moment. Together they were a strong political bet.

It also explained delaying General Boreal's arrival by a few days: General Boreal would not take the news well and the Commander didn't doubt that Frigus would have to hear about the General's displeasure at great length. _But what kind of maneuvering is going on, I wonder._ The young Commander thought, _General Boreal is one of the strongest of our kind, far stronger than Admiral Frigus, stronger than me. Only the twins are stronger than he is, and who knows for how long._

Rumor had it the General had been going out of his way, not only drilling to keep his skills sharp but according to rumor even _training_ to improve them so that he could be worthy of the task of conquering Earth. To have his dream torn from his grasp might well result in a violent temper tantrum.

 _Are you counting on being Frostburn's mate to protect you if he's too angry?_ Chillax wondered, eying the Admiral suspiciously.

Frostbite and Frostburn were the clan's two heads. Frostbite's mate the Chief Scientist Glaceon was Kalt's brother and that had put Karuto under the Captain's tutelage. Frostburn was mated to Frigus and had given him a great deal of control over the fleet, but Frostburn considered Boreal to be one of the clan's great prides, while Frostbite thought he was too brutish and his tactics too savage leaving scorched worlds in his wake that only technically fulfilled their contract.

Frostbite, and Chillax as well preferred Kalt's more precise technique of simply eradicating the sapient populace and selling the world with wildlife intact; buyer beware.

But the twins never quarreled openly, they did it by proxy and Boreal and Kalt were considered to represent two separate factions in the Clan, one enjoying the protection of Frostbite and the other the protection of Frostburn. What could Frigus be doing by supporting Kalt's faction this way? With a power level of two hundred thousand Frigus wouldn't stand a chance against Boreal if it came to blows, especially if Boreal really was getting stronger from training.

Chillax wondered though, while Frostbite didn't like or particularly trust Boreal there _were_ rumors that the General's rising strength had caught the more capricious twin's eye in just the sort of manner that might see Frigus sabotage Boreal to keep his position.

In more ways than one.

 _No, not Earth._ Chillax thought. _It's too important, father would never risk such a place over some kind of . . . romantic drama._

Never mind that Earth was technically a backwater world, or that everything on it was weak. The name of the planet had struck fear into the heart of the Frieza Clan and all Arcosians for years. Now it was time to erase that fear forever, that was what made it important. There was a definite buzz in the room, one Arcosian the Commander didn't recognize said, "We should all be there! Admiral, the whole fleet should go to Earth!"  
"No." Frigus said firmly, "Not when there's still the rest of the Galaxy to conquer and sell and the Galactic Patrol breathing down our necks. The time may have come for Earth but it's still just one world, we have many others to work on."

"But it's the final resting place of Lord Frieza!" Another Arcosian protested.

"I'm sure our clients won't object to you vacationing there someday to pay your respects. But remember, Earth is just another backwater waiting for its new owners. So try not to break it too badly, Captain Kalt."

The Commander and Captain Kalt both saluted. After a moment Karuto, who was there but playing at a computer terminal realized he should too, and snapped to attention. The room full of their people gave them a round of applause, some laughed at the little one's innocent disinterest. The Commander heard Kalt whisper, "I wish Boreal were here after all. I would have loved to see his face . . ."

"You and me both." The Commander admitted.

Boreal might be stronger than Kalt and the Commander put together, might even be twice as strong as that if the rumors were true, but it wouldn't be the _Black Ice_ that would erase their clan's shame.

"You're all dismissed," Frigus said, "Except for you, Commander. I'd like a word."

The Commander shuddered and couldn't help but scowl as Kalt and the others cleared out. Once again, Karuto, utterly disinterested in the events took a moment to realize what was happening and shuffled out after Kalt, nearly stepping on his cape.

"How is your service under Captain Kalt?" Admiral Frigus asked.

"I consider it acceptable, Admiral."

"Your power level was one hundred thousand when you began. You've gotten much stronger." Frigus said.

"Still not as strong as Cooly." The Commander said, surprised by how much hatred his voice revealed.

Frigus frowned. "Your brother is older, Chillax, you're still young. You haven't reached your full potential yet."

"Half brother. And maybe he just has better genes." Chillax scoffed.

Frigus laughed. "Yes, his father was much stronger than me . . . but I outsmarted him in the end, and with any luck you've inherited my superior intellect."

Chillax folded his arms. "Are we all caught up now?"

"Why are you upset with me?" Frigus asked. "Because I apprenticed you to Kalt instead of Boreal?"

Chillax hesitated, then shook his head. "No. I'm over that. Kalt is a better teacher than Boreal."

"Then what is it?" Frigus asked. "Doesn't the mission to Earth make you happy?"

"Is that what it's about?" Chillax laughed, "You gave Earth to Kalt to make _me_ happy?" The Commander folded his arms again and scoffed. "Don't make me laugh."

"I didn't do it to make you happy, but I hoped it would anyway. I thought perhaps it would even see some gratitude from you." Frigus said evenly.

"It's exciting." Chillax admitted.

"I suppose that will have to do."

"What do you want from me?" Chillax asked. "Really."

"I am your father. I gave you life . . . but I was only half of the equation. You _do_ have another parent. A parent you never write to."

Chillax laughed, "Oh I see . . . well, tell our illustrious leader that that trend will continue. The Twins might rule the clan, but they don't rule me in my downtime, and I don't want to be treated special because I can write a letter and get whatever I want. I never asked to be Frostburn's son."

"But you _are_ Frostburn's son." Frigus said firmly.

"And yet I'm mopping up low level backwaters, clearing the Saiyan back-orders, going places so unimportant they've waited more than fifty years. Meanwhile my dear brother fights on the front lines, destroying civilizations and Galactic Patrolmen, fighting fights _worth_ fighting against foes worth facing!"

Frigus remained quiet for a moment, then said, "And you're going to Earth."

"Now that the threat is gone. Now that the Saiyans are finally extinct. Now that it's _safe_." Chillax scowled.

"Well maybe someday you'll get what you want. Maybe someday you'll fight someone strong enough to challenge you apart from another Arcosian. Maybe you'll end up like Lord Frieza, dead on some unknown backwater. Strength isn't everything, Chillax. Neither is intellect. You need to know how to make friends, you need to know how to play the game. You are the son of one of our Clan's rulers, you have so much political power! You could have anything you want but you deprive yourself because you think you have to earn it. None of us _earns_ anything, we _take_ what we want with whatever means we have. You need to learn that."

"So if I write letters I can have whatever I want?" Chillax scoffed.

"It couldn't hurt. Don't you think Cooly writes letters?"

"To boast of his victories!" Chillax snarled, "I know, he sends them to me too! I'll write when I have something _worth_ writing about!"

The Admiral sighed. He clasped his hands behind his back, but his tail was twitching back and forth, a sure sign of irritation.

"I do not understand you. You say you want to earn everything you receive, yet you jealously hate those who have earned more. You say you want more, you want better, but you refuse to show the respect necessary to receive it and you're slow to recognize or show gratitude for the great things you _are_ given. Nothing you're given makes you happy, you only see what others have and say 'I want that instead' like a spoiled child. Is that all you are?"

"No!" Chillax shouted angrily, "I'm not!"

"Then what are you?" Frigus demanded.

Chillax tried to restrain himself, tried to refuse to answer.

Then he couldn't hold back his anger or his tears. He roared, "I'm a warrior without a war! I don't want to kill weaklings, I don't want to give even weaker people their worlds! I want to do better things, I want to fight real threats to our people! I want to conquer worlds because they deserve to be conquered not because it's a business! I want to see the galaxy, not burn it! I want to surpass you all and make things the way they were when _we_ ruled the stars! I want to change things, not die under the weight of stagnation! I want to _be_ Frieza, not chase his shadow, I want to make the decisions not follow stupid orders!"

"Well if that's what you want maybe you'd better get around to 'earning' it. All by yourself since you don't want any help or favors. Just what do you think you deserve, my son? Because that," Frigus pointed out the window into the emptiness of space, "is what the universe owes you. Absolute void. Family is everything. Clan is everything. Serve the clan, my son, and you can be part of something great. Or choose to reject it and find yourself as lonely as one of those stars twinkling in the distance. You might shine brightly, but really you're no different than every other speck of light in the void."

"Can I go now?" Chillax asked with a sigh and the Admiral nodded.

"You'll get what's coming to you eventually. Hopefully you'll understand before it's too late."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The training of the new Earth Defense Force was moving apace, at least if Trunks said so himself. Capsule Corp.'s indoor gymnasium was a wreck and they'd been forced to start practicing on the yard out front. It got a bit of press attention at first but being friends with the King had had some unexpected advantages once Soda had reported that the reporters were getting in the way of effective training.

They weren't very fast, but the new defenders had mastered short flights, and Trunks was glad to see that Soda wasn't slowing any of them down at all when it came to martial arts skill. On the contrary she and Bocan, the winner of the martial arts tournament were easily the two strongest in the group. Pastel and Anavill were a close third and fourth and Trunks had quickly found that the other recruits, two fringe village youths named Gurein and Rhyce along with a former monk named Kodva and the young street urchin Schip were all solid additions.

Trunks could literally feel the increase in their power, after just two weeks they were all easily twice as strong as they had been when they first arrived. Any doubts he'd had about any of them were absolutely gone, he'd even taken to sparring with them. All of them at once. It was a good method of teaching them to work together against powerful foes and of really measuring their skills for himself.

It'd also had the unexpected benefit of dispelling any lingering doubts about his own skill level. The tabloids had alleged that he wasn't really the Golden Warrior and that he'd staged some sort of elaborate hoax to get Capsule Corp. more attention. Trunks didn't know how many people believed that nonsense, but he knew his students knew better.

"I think the sparring with you is accelerating them faster than anything else," Master Roshi was saying as training ended that day.

Trunks smiled, "It's fun too. I'm getting to watch them improve by leaps and bounds. But I wouldn't discount that milk delivery thing you've got them doing, it's a solid exercise."

"Master Briefs?" Soda asked, approaching him. "Do you have a moment to talk about the training?"

Trunks could see she'd already finished her sparring match with Bocan, and since he was cleaning up it seemed she'd won. He nodded and said, "Sure, what is it?"

He was relieved that Soda had been a good addition to the team and her advice was more than welcome.

"This unit functions very well as large group." Soda said, standing at parade rest. Trunks had told her she didn't have to do that, but he suspected now that it was actually just more comfortable to her.

"I agree, the eight of you work well together." Trunks said.

"Which is why I think we should split into two teams." Soda said. "In the field we won't always have the benefit of fighting as a big group, sometimes the unit must split up to achieve its objective."

"I was thinking that too," Trunks said and was a little pleased to see Master Roshi nod approvingly. "So how would you split the teams?"

"How would _you,_ sir?" She asked him.

Trunks considered for a moment as he watched the warriors practicing in the sunlit yard, "I think I'd put you and Bocan on each. You're about even and the others look up to you. Also a little friendly competition might help to keep either of you from growing complacent."

"Interesting, rivalries can bring out the best in people when they're not bringing out the worst. Who else?" Roshi asked.

Trunks tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Schip and Rhyce are the youngest and they're the weakest so I think they should keep working together. I'd put them and Kodva on Soda's team and the rest on Bocan's team."

"Oh, really?" Roshi mused, scratching his bearded chin. "That's not the way I would have gone."

"How would you have gone, Master?" Soda asked.

"Boys on one team girls on the other. Then I'd take over training the ladies. More fun that way, if you know what I mean!" Roshi said with a chuckle.

Trunks laughed, "Come on, be serious."

"I'm being serious." Roshi said, joining in Trunks' laughter, "I didn't say my way'd be efficient, just fun!"

"If you'll pardon my saying so, I believe your roster is closer to what I would have had in mind, Master Briefs." Soda said. "I don't believe gender segregation during training is going to do anyone any good."

"Well I don't think a battle of the sexes is a thing we need right now," Trunks smiled, "besides Anavill and Gurein are sturdy defenders where Bocan and Pastel are furious attackers, they'd create a good balance."

"Bocan is also very focused on personal skill level," Soda pointed out, "in exercises he's content to let me take command, though the others do look to him for advice. I think it would be good to teach him to be a leader."

"Yes," Trunks said, nodding, "And your team makes sense because as a military officer you know how to lead a squad. You can help the younger fighters while they catch up, and Kodva isn't so strong that he'd just leave the kids in the dust the way Anavill or Pastel would."

"Yes sir, I'll do my best, sir." Soda nodded.

"It's a good line up, I think it'll work out well," Roshi agreed as Basil came running out of the main building waving a case over her head.

"Boss! Boss!" She cried, "Quick, before you dismiss everyone, your mom's finished her big surprise!"

Basil was running fast and carrying a large chest, she nearly ran into just about everyone in her rush to get to Trunks, and he wasn't entirely sure it wasn't just her weird sense of humor at work again because it wasn't as if the chest was blocking her field of vision.

Still he couldn't quite blame her for the excitement. He was excited too, he knew what was in that case. Basil brought the chest over to him and said, "She said it wasn't easy, so you should be careful with them."

"I will, thank my mother . . . and watch where you're going in the future."

Basil waved a dismissive hand, "I'm an engineer, we have reflexes like a cat!"

"But not nine lives." Trunks pointed out. "Next time they could be practicing blasts."

The green haired woman grinned, "Well not yet," she agreed, "I'll watch myself in the future, boss."

"You don't have to call me boss." Trunks told her, opening the case she'd brought as she left. Roshi and the defenders gathered around him as he pulled several small capsules out. There were only ten medium-sized capsules inside the large chest, which explained how Basil had been able to run so quickly with it. Still Trunks did think, _a bit over the top, don't you think, Mom? A briefcase would have done the job, maybe even a lunch-box._

Well maybe his mother's sense of humor was on display too . . .

Trunks smiled at his team and said, "I've got something for you all. You might not like it at first, but it's going to make training more effective."

"What'cha got?" Bocan asked. He was a tall man with long wild dirty blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a yellow and black martial arts gi when he trained, but Trunks was about to change that.

He tossed him a capsule and said, "Your new uniforms, people." He tossed each of them a capsule with their own name on it.

Bocan was the first to be given his capsule, but Pastel was the first to use hers. The blond fighter gave an impressed whistle, "It'll never stop amazing me. Capsule Corp.: the place where you have boxes full of pills full of boxes. It's as magic as any of this energy forming stuff we've been doing."

"Just because you grew up without capsules doesn't make them magic." Pastel said as she crouched down and opened the box her capsule had revealed as the others started to use theirs as well.

Trunks folded his arms and smiled expectantly.

Pastel frowned, "You want me to wear a skin tight body suit? You're kidding right?"

"Skin tight?" Anavill complained, looking down at her baggy clothes.

"They're not _exactly_ skin tight . . ." Trunks said.

"What's this thing? A bulletproof vest?" Soda asked, pulling out the chest-piece.

It was armor like the one the Bulma of the past had made for Trunks and the other fighters when they'd fought the Androids and Cell. It'd taken his mother a long time to replicate and improve on the design.

"It's battle armor," Trunks explained, "and this particular version is weighted, though you'll receive non-weighted versions too. This should make training more effective, and if there is a crisis you'll want some protection."

He had to admit he'd thought the suits would get a more positive reaction.

"I get it, it's like a Super Hero outfit!" Schip said excitedly, then he tried to lift the armor, "Ugh! It's heavy though!"

"How much do they weigh?" Soda asked.

"It's different for each of you," Trunks said, "but it weighs enough to make you stronger. Kodva, Pastel, Bocan, you all train with weights anyway, don't you?"

"Sure do." Pastel nodded, "I'll keep using my boots and gloves too, these one's feel lighter."

"Really?" Trunks hadn't really expected that, "well that's fine I guess. But what do you guys think?"

"That I wish Pastel had mentioned she was wearing weighted gloves before I let her hit me." Schip said.

"Did you die, Steel Bones? Besides, I'd 'a hit you _harder_ without them!" Pastel smirked.

"These are good." Soda told Trunks, "I'm sure they'll help and it's good to establish uniformity in the unit. But you don't need our approval, we'll wear them. Right?"

She raised an eyebrow at everyone else. Anavill sighed resignedly but Bocan, Schip and Rhyce were all nodding vigorously.

"We're gonna look like super heroes!" Schip said excitedly.

"You're going to _be_ super heroes!" Trunks assured him, "I'm watching you improve and I believe now more than ever that you will become Earth's new Defense Force, and no matter what happens we'll be ready to meet any threat that might be coming our way!"

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Earth's Defenders discuss which team might be the strongest, and Kalt's ship prepares to get underway while Karuto learns more about the Saiyan warriors of the past._

 

 _Character Image 6: Thyme_  


_Notes: He's not supposed to have the scouter until season 2, but I hated the screencap I took of him in glasses._


	8. Red vs Blue

**Episode Eight**

**'Red vs Blue'**

 

"Do you think Earth will be warm?" Damson asked.

"What? I don't know actually." Chillax admitted.

"This ship is always too cold." Damson muttered.

"Do you think it'll be hard to control our flight?" Prage asked.

"I don't think we've ever been assigned to a world with such light gravity, one leap might send us into outer space." Ayappa agreed.

The Commander's eyes narrowed as he drilled with his elites. "I have no idea."

"You've studied this planet, haven't you?" Avaug asked. "I mean you've been reading up on it in the consoles since long before it was ever assigned to us."

Chillax sighed. "Yeah but . . . I was reading up on what we knew about its fighters, which wasn't a lot. They all got pretty strong considering their planet had low gravity, I never understood how. But they stood up to the Saiyans at least, and Lord Frieza in the end."

"Wasn't it the Saiyans that defeated Lord Frieza?" Damson wondered.

"Yes but with the support of the earthlings." The Commander sighed. "Honestly I'd be on guard with them. Just like with the Iwatians, I think they'll have some surprises for us. Remember, there was something about that planet that made the Saiyans join with the humans, we can't be too careful."

"Well we have got you with us." Ganmo pointed out. "We should be okay no matter what surprises they try to pull, especially if their only Saiyan left has a power level of five."

"That's the kind of thinking that'll get you killed." Chillax warned him. "Never trust a Saiyan's power level reading, not even a Half-Saiyan. Five might be too weak to hide anything that could threaten you but once it powers up who knows what it'll look like."

"S-sorry sir."

"Just remember, I won't always be there, I won't even always be the strongest person around. So make sure you can trust in your own strength too. Don't underestimate the Earthlings."

"Yes sir!" The five of them shouted.

Chillax nodded and continued his drills. Still the Commander couldn't blame his squad for wondering what would be waiting for them when they reached the most dangerous planet in the universe . . .

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Bocan scratched the back of his head as he eyed his team. He didn't like it at all.

He wasn't the sort who liked to boss others around and worst of all it seemed like Master Trunks and Master Roshi had given him the best students for his squad.

"Um . . . so . . . we should really try to work out . . . um . . ." Bocan began, but trailed off helplessly. Pastel snickered and Anavill shifted uncomfortably. Gurein just stood there stoically, but Bocan could feel the judgment in those eyes . . . at least he felt like he could.

"Bocan, c'mere a second." Master Roshi called him over and Bocan rushed to his side glad for the excuse to stop addressing his squad for the first time.

"Yes, Master?"

Master Roshi smiled and stroked his beard. "You wouldn't be nervous, would you?"

"What? O'course I am!" Bocan gawked.

The old master laughed. "Hah! I thought I'd have to fight you a bit to get that confession."

"Why would I hide it? I'm a solo fighter, not a team leader. What am I supposed to do?"

"Try to worry less." Master Roshi suggested.

"But sir, you and Master Trunks assigned me all the best students, how am I supposed to lead them?"

Master Roshi leaned on his staff and said, "Try leading by example. You've been doing that so far, haven't you? So just keep at it, young'un. We chose you to lead because you're so talented and you can see talent in others."

"Okay . . ." Bocan said, "but . . . I mean they're gonna expect me to be a good leader and I've never even been a leader before. These guys don't need me."

"Then your job as leader should be easy." Master Roshi pointed out.

"But how can I lead by example? I never work with others really, I've never had a team."

Master Roshi sighed, "Start by worrying less, like I said. Lead by example, show them that the training isn't hard."

"It _is_ pretty hard." Bocan pointed out.

"But don't let 'em know that!" Master Roshi whispered, "Let 'em look up to you, let 'em see that you can do it and they'll know they can too. Lead by example, and encourage them, work together with them."

Bocan nodded slightly, and Master Roshi barked loudly, "Alright students! Let's get started!"

Bocan returned to his squad and said, "All right, don't worry you guys, we can do this!"

"No kidding." Pastel said and tilted her head in a manner that strongly suggested she was rolling her eyes behind those stylish shades. "We're pretty much the advanced class, aren't we?"

Bocan scoffed, "What? No. Don't be ridiculous."

"We're not?" Anavill sounded surprised.

"Would the advanced class get an inexperienced leader while the remedial class gets an experienced military officer?" Bocan offered. He folded his arms and said, "Yeah, I didn't think so y'all. Don't think for a moment that the classes are unbalanced."

"This is hardly an encouraging leadership speech." Anavill pointed out.

"Ain't it though?" Bocan asked. "I'm not saying you're not all awesome, but we've still got things to learn, even me."

Pastel cracked her knuckles, "Well then let's get started."

"I said that a while ago!" Master Roshi pointed out.

Bocan blushed and spun around, he saluted smartly. Roshi tilted his head to the side in a manner that strongly implied he was rolling his eyes behind those stylish shades.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Red team's got kind of an advantage." Schip said as he stared at his breakfast.

Rhyce scoffed. She didn't necessarily disagree, but she wouldn't admit to any doubts. "Say's you. Remember though, Bocan's not used to being a team leader, he usually lets Soda call the shots when we're working together."

"Yeah, that's true." Schip said, "but still Red Team's stronger."

"Strength isn't everything in a fight." Rhyce assured him. She wasn't completely certain that Schip was younger than her, but she took what she imagined was a big sisterly tone anyway. "My brother's stronger than me physically, but I can still get the better of him when we spar because I'm faster and I'm smart. Besides, didn't you fight stronger people all the time?"

"Well not if I could avoid it." Schip said, "kids who go looking for fights ended up dead. Kids who ran from every fight ended up dead. Surviving on the streets was about finding the balance between fight and flight. Know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em, you know?"

"Right," Rhyce said, though actually she didn't know what the heck Schip was talking about. Was he quoting something? It was all nonsense to her, but she didn't care enough to want to let him elaborate.

She knew that the two of them were behind the rest, but unlike Schip who was feeling disheartened she refused to be disappointed in the team rosters.

"Master Trunks said it would change as everyone's skills improved at different rates, besides we're working with Soda so that counts for a lot."

"Glad you think so." The older woman said, taking a seat at the cafeteria table next to Rhyce. "I talked to Master Briefs and Master Roshi, they assured me they're aware of the imbalance in the teams. Unfortunately it seems they're just okay with letting Red Team be doomed to take second best in everything."

Rhyce smiled, "See, Schip?"

"I guess." The probably-younger kid sighed.

"It won't matter. The teams aren't really meant to compete against each other anyway." Rhyce said, "it's just to help us get used to working in smaller groups."

"But why are we working in smaller groups?" Schip wondered, "We're still not strong enough to make Trunks even break a sweat when he spars with us!"

"No." Rhyce agreed. "Kind of scary, isn't it? Can you imagine ever seeing him really go all out?"

"I don't think it's likely." Kodva said, taking a seat at their table next to Schip and across from Soda, "the man's practically a demigod. He hasn't even had to use his golden warrior technique yet."

"Do you think he'll teach us that?" Schip asked.

"He'll teach us everything he can." Soda answered, "It's up to us to be worthy and able to learn everything we can. So stop feeling down just because you're not improving as fast as everyone else. You're a kid, they've been Martial Artists for years longer than you."

Schip nodded and Rhyce felt a bit of comfort she hadn't known she'd needed too.

"We've got plenty of time to catch up, Schip." Rhyce said.

"Do we?" Kodva asked. "How can we know?"

"What do you mean?" Rhyce asked him.

The older man rubbed his shaved head and said, "Well what made Master Briefs decide to train new defenders now and not, say, right after the Androids were first destroyed?"

"I imagine he was waiting for society to get back on its feet." Soda said easily.

"Yes I thought so too . . . but it almost feels as if he's in a rush to teach us. So I've been wondering lately if he knows something we don't, perhaps some danger is coming? I've spoken to those assistants of his, the tall man and the short woman? They say they're helping his mother work on a space ship of some sort and that's why we see so little of her."

"So . . . what, you think aliens are invading?" Schip asked, though he didn't sound as dismissive of the idea as Rhyce would have expected.

"Surely that's a job for the regular military." Soda said.

"Do you remember how effective the regular military was the last time aliens invaded?" Kodva asked with a wry grin.

Soda frowned, "I wasn't alive then, but I've heard the stories . . . the Saiyans, wasn't it?"

"What were they?" Rhyce asked.

"Terrifying." Kodva answered. "I was only a little boy, but I remember. Only two of them came, and it only took one to wipe out the royal army at the time. It was televised at first until they destroyed the news crews."

"So you think he's worried more Saiyans will show up?" Rhyce asked.

"I think he's worried _something_ will show up." Kodva said. "I think we owe it to him to take those concerns seriously as well. No matter how hard this gets I think we need to try to keep up."

Rhyce nodded, "I'll do my best." She said.

"We all will," Soda said, patting her shoulder, "But don't worry. I doubt aliens are on their way any time soon."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The ship would be getting underway soon. Uncle Kalt couldn't wait and even the opportunity to rub his success in his rival's face wasn't enough to keep him from Earth apparently. Karuto hoped General Boreal wouldn't be too sad.

They'd taken on two new squads and unloaded the new recruits except for Konpeito. Now there were almost sixty fighters on-board not counting Uncle Kalt and Karuto himself.

"We'll reach Earth in three months," Karuto told Konpeito, "will that be enough time for you to tell me all about the Saiyans coming to your planet?"

"I think so." The big creature frowned, "but why do you want to know? I've been through the reeducation process and I know that the Saiyans were never any threat to you, Lord Karuto."

"Well maybe not anymore if something happened to the ones on Earth," Karuto agreed, "but it was Saiyans that killed Cousin Frieza."

"Yes . . . how did they manage something like that?" Konpeito wondered idly.

Karuto shrugged, "Dunno, but can you tell me more of the story?"

Konpeito frowned, "Must I?"

"Why wouldn't you?" Karuto asked.

Konpeito hesitated, then answered, "Have you ever lost someone? As young as you are, I do not think you've ever seen someone important to you die."

"Well no, but Cousin Frieza died and that was really bad for all of us. Papa says that made it harder for us to live the lives we were accustomed to, lives of safety and privilege. Now we have to fight to keep everything our ancestors made." The little Arcosian answered.

"That's not the same." Konpeito said. "Your race lost its easy life, but I lost my race."

"So?" Karuto asked. "Why does that make it hard to tell a story?"

"Because to tell you the story I have to remember them. My entire race is dead."

"There are five of you left." Karuto reminded the large alien.

Konpeito sighed. "We are the last of our kind. After us there will never be any more."

"You could have kids." Karuto shrugged.

"I _had_ children." Konpeito said coldly, then shook his head, "Even if there could be more, what a lonely existence . . . and one of servitude."

"Yes . . ." Karuto waited patiently for the large alien to remember what 'servitude' meant.

"You're only a child yourself. You can't understand." Konpeito sighed.

"Nope! So you might as well do what I want." Karuto said simply, smiling triumphantly.

Konpeito glowered, "Very well . . . but I don't see the point. By the sound of it the Saiyans are as dead a race as mine, your fear of them is pointless."

"It's not fear." Karuto said. "It's fascination."

Konpeito folded his large arms and sighed. "Very well . . . where did I leave off?"

"You had just killed the first Saiyan."

"No . . . we weren't there yet." Konpeito said.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Konpeito frowned, looking down at the strange creature lying on the ground. It had the same hard carapace as the giant monster, but it was far smaller.

It seemed to be alive, it was taking shallow breaths. It had smooth looking skin in different colored patches. It had black and purple hooves and forearms, they matched its carapace. Its fingers were a sort of ashen tan color and from shoulder to elbow and hip to knee its skin matched. Its rump and legs from knee to hoof were black like its long mane of hair.

Konpeito didn't fail to notice the short bloody stump at its rear. But the Iwatian wasn't certain what that meant. This creature had lost its tail . . . like the giant monster?

They had similarities, but this creature was minuscule and not covered in fur. They were clearly related but not the same.

Konpeito poked it gently and it made a pathetic groaning noise.

"It's alive, whatever it is." Bingtang said.

"What should we do with it?" Konpeito asked.

"I don't know." Bingtang admitted.

"Kill it?" One of the other hunters suggested.

"It seems connected to the great beast, it might be wise." Bingtang said.

"Or it might be wiser to abstain." Konpeito pointed out. "If it's connected to the great beast killing it might anger the great beast. That beast was slaying knife tails, elder. If we anger it and it comes for our village . . ."

"Do you think it is that intelligent?" Bingtang asked.

"I think so." Konpeito said, "I looked into its eyes. I saw a strange intelligence . . . savage but smart."

"What do you recommend?" Bingtang asked.

Konpeito felt embarrassment, the young hunter felt every pair of eyes and ears watching and listening.

Konpeito swallowed with difficulty and then said, "Perhaps if we tend to its hurts and release it back to the wild?"

"No, no, if we take it back to the village that might just attract the giant beast to us." Bingtang said.

"That's a good point." Konpeito said.

"So what should we do? Just . . . leave it?" The other elder asked.

Konpeito was starting to feel like that might be the best idea.

Then the small creature stirred, groaning in pain it struggled to get to its knees, then collapsed again.

It was too pathetic. Konpeito picked it up and carried it gently, "If we leave it here it will die and the great beast might think us responsible. I will take care of it."

"What will you do with it?" The other Elder asked.

"Care for it until we can release it," Konpeito explained, "my mate is the finest healer in the land, we can tend to it and maybe learn more about it, maybe learn more of the great monster as well."

"Maybe," Bingtang said, "but I won't let that thing in my village."

"Neither would I," Konpeito admitted, "the risk would be too great. Please, great Elder, have some of our hunters lead my mate, Korizato to the cave we were taking shelter in. We will care for the creature there, it's near to its forest home and with the local knife tail pack destroyed it should be safe as well."

"This is a good plan . . . we will send food and supplies to you too." Bingtang said with a light smile.

"If the supplies arrive one day and the cave is empty you'll know we were eaten by something." Konpeito smiled back.

The hunter headed back to the cave carrying the strange creature carefully. "What ever you are, you're too pathetic to simply kill in cold blood."

Konpeito didn't realize then how deceptive appearances could be.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Saiyan attempts to escape and fails, Konpeito grows tired of hearing the same answers to every question; but things seem to turn around once the "demon" learns about the sacred tree of the Iwatian people as_ _Karuto hears more of Konpeito's story on the next illuminating episode!_

 

_Character Image 7: Rhyce_  


_Note: Rhyce is a pretty open book as the story goes on, she isn't the sort who has a lot of secrets or anything like that. She was meant to be as casually frank as Kartuo, but due to her age it's meant to be less excusable._


	9. Little Demon

**Episode Nine**

**'Little Demon'**

 

Karuto stared incredulously, "Are you serious? You tried to nurse a Saiyan back to life because it was cute?"

"Hardly." Konpeito scoffed. "The demon was not cute to my eyes, but pathetic. It felt wrong to kill something so helpless."

"Luckily my kind don't suffer those kinds of mad delusions." Karuto laughed. "What happened? And who is Korizato? I didn't know you had a mate!"

"I don't." Konpeito almost snarled, "Your kind saw to that! Korizato was a great healer and a wonderful mate, neither of which were of much use when your . . . your . . . _slaves_ attacked our village!"

Karuto frowned. "Oh. I get it now." He could just imagine how his parents might feel if one of them died . . .

The little Arcosian bowed his head slightly, "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking . . . will you continue the story anyway?"

"What else do you need to know? Kor . . . Korizato and I took care of the Saiyan in the cave . . . we didn't know what it was . . . I killed it once I knew." Konpeito said suddenly.

Karuto raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And did you get its name first?"

"No. I don't know anything else."

"Do you really not?" Karuto asked, glowering now. "Do you really know nothing, or are you just not willing to tell me?"

Konpeito glared, "Does it matter whether I remember nothing or whether there's nothing left to tell?"

Karuto frowned, "Listen to me . . . you might hate my kind but the Saiyans were wiping out entire species before we ever met them. They're worse than we are, we spare the strongest to join us but the Saiyans kill everything, every living thing. Even if the one that escaped your planet seemed weak it would be stronger now. So please . . . it could be out there right now killing and killing."

"How is that different from you? From me, now?" Konpeito asked.

Karuto remembered what his uncle and cousin would always tell him and used that to try to impress upon Konpeito the differences that were so obvious to him. "We have a mission, a purpose, we don't just fight for fun and even those of us who enjoy fighting don't just kill for the sake of it. We are driven by our trade, our Empire. The Saiyans will let powerful enemies hurt weaker people so that they can have a good fight, we don't tolerate powerful enemies at all. We are law, the Saiyans are anarchy. You may not like us, but if you knew Saiyans you'd _hate_ them."

"I do hate them." Konpeito said softly.

"Then tell me everything." Karuto insisted.

Konpeito sighed. "But what will it help?"

"I don't know." Karuto admitted. "Tell me anyway."

Konpeito stared for a moment, as if he were trying to decide whether or not Karuto were serious, then finally nodded slowly. "Very well, little lord . . ."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The nights after the forest fire brought many strange rumors. A star with a strange blue glow would shine at night, and the dawn would bring black smoke on the horizons of some villages only for those villages to go silent soon after. The blue star was some new omen of death, some some said it could even be seen in the day. Many were fleeing their villages, and those brave few who would visit a village the star had shone on were rumored to find nothing but destroyed homes and mangled bodies being feasted on by the carrion crawlers. It was said those brave hunters who ventured into destroyed villages fled without even putting the fallen to rest in the soil.

But all this news was brought to Konpeito and Korizato in the cave with their ward, they weren't hearing the tales firsthand so it was difficult to ask questions of anyone who might know. Most of those who fled their villages didn't stop, they kept fleeing. Konpeito didn't know where they planned to go. Maybe they didn't either.

And the hunter knew the strange creature knew something. It claimed it didn't, it claimed not to remember where it was from or even who it was, but every time a hunter from the village brought them supplies and new rumors Konpeito didn't miss the fact that the young creature listened with rapt attention, and would ask Kori where these villages were relative to them.

Did it feel some call of the wild? Were these stories connected to it?

Konpeito remembered the blue glow that night they had seen the great beast . . .

The small creature didn't seem to like being inside the cave, and Konpeito could understand that. He would often go for walks with it, though it had attempted to escape once before the hunter's ability to sense its life energy coupled with the fact that the Iwatian was far stronger and faster than the small creature made the escape attempts futile.

Konpeito might have let it answer the call of the wild if not for the suspicion that it knew something about the disappearing villages though.

It had run to the crater near where the fires hard started. Konpeito had watched it silently, stalking it as if it were prey.

The hunter leaped into a tree and perched, wanting to see what the strange creature did.

It jumped down and seemed to be looking through the dirt. Konpeito knew that his fellow hunters had fund strange metal shards in the crater and taken them away days ago, were the shards of importance to the little monster?

"Scouter . . ." it mumbled, "where's the scouter?"

Konpeito leaped down from the tree and asked, "What's the scouter?"

The little monster looked up in surprise, and smiled what it probably imagined was a disarming smile.

"Oh . . . I don't remember."

"I'm sure." Konpeito smiled dryly.

"Followed me, huh? How did you do that?"

"I'm a hunter." Konpeito said, "sensing the life energy of my quarry is a skill I've mastered since my youth. I simply hunted you."

The little monster leaped out of the crater in a single bound. "So you can sense power?"

"If I know what I'm hunting, yes." Konpeito said. "What are you doing? Tell me the truth."

"Why do you think I'd lie?"

"What's the scouter?" Konpeito asked again.

The little monster frowned. It put its hands on its narrow hips and said, "It's . . . a thing I lost. I need it."

"Why?" Konpeito asked.

"Does it matter?" The monster asked.

"Would it do me or Kori any harm?" Konpeito asked sternly.

"No. Not the scouter itself, no." The monster said, avoiding eye contact. "But it would help me."

"Help you to do what?" Konpeito asked.

The monster lowered is gaze and mumbled, "I don't-"

"Let me guess: remember? Try harder! You've been telling us that since you first opened your eyes." Konpeito scolded. "You're like a lying child. After everything Kori has done for you you're going to tell me you just came here looking for something you can't remember that will help you to do something you can't remember? I'm sorry, I don't believe that."

The strange little monster frowned. It looked at the ground and said, "It doesn't matter. I probably destroyed it on accident."

"Then let's go back to the cave." Konpeito said.

There was some noticeable hesitation, but in the end the little creature followed the hunter back to the cave. Korizato greeted them warmly and Konpeito acted as if the little excursion had never happened but kept a much sharper eye on the strange creature after that.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The young hunter knew that the creature was lying and so when the supplies came the next day with news of still more attacks Konpeito, like the little creature paid closer attention.

"They're headed towards us." Kori said finally. "The string of disappearing villages."

"Yes." Konpeito said.

"Do you think it has anything to do with the great beast you saw the other night?" Kori asked.

"Yes." Konpeito repeated. "I think it does, and I think our little ward here knows more than it's letting on."

"Yes . . ." Kori said. "Curious. You know, I told it about the tree this morning."

"You did?" Konpeito asked in surprise. "Why?"

"I thought if I told it something it would tell me something." Kori shrugged.

"Did it?" Konpeito smirked.

"Yes." Kori answered simply. "It told me it wanted to see the tree. When I told it what the fruit did it said it wanted to taste the fruit."

Konpeito laughed, "Every child wants that. Imagine a monster believing juvi stories."

"I think it is a juvenile, actually." Kori said. "Or maybe an adolescent. Either way it seems to really enjoy stories."

"You don't say." Konpeito yawned and leaned against the warm cave wall. "Well you certainly seem better than me at getting it to speak, my love."

Kori laughed, "Yes, it says such fascinating things. Do you know, it's very eager to regrow its tail."

"To do what?" Konpeito raised an eyebrow.

"Its tail. It says its tail should regrow, it's waiting for it." Kori smiled, "It'd be a curious case indeed. I've never heard of creatures regenerating parts of themselves like that."

Somehow that was when it clicked for Konpeito. The hunter turned on the little monster as it stared at the moon by the cave mouth and grabbed it roughly by the scruff of the neck. "The night I found you there was a blue glow, a light. It's the star everyone's seeing, isn't it?"

The little monster looked confused, Korizato put a hand on Konpeito's shoulder.

"Easy my love, don't hurt the poor thing."

"Don't you see? It's dangerous!" Konpeito insisted.

"Yes, of course it is." Kori said soothingly, "but it isn't hurting us. So we shouldn't hurt it. We're taking care of it, remember?"

Konpeito glared, the little monster glared back.

"Please Kon, a gentler hand is needed with this one." Kori whispered.

Konpeito put the creature down and said, "Apologies, small one. I lost my temper . . ."

"I frighten you." The monster reasoned and in spite of the situation and the possibility of seeming weak in front of Kori, Konpeito nodded.

The little creature lowered its gaze and brushed its disheveled black hair out of its face. "Okay . . . yes. At least I think so. The night you found me, there would have been a . . . star, as you call it."

"Why?" Konpeito asked.

The monster hesitated and said, "Will you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"No." Konpeito said bluntly. "Tell me anyway."

The little monster hesitated. "If you see anyone like me and they ask you a question will you promise not to tell _them_ at least?"

"Fine." Konpeito said, remembering Kori's suspicion that the little monster was only a juvenile.

The little monster whispered in an almost conspiratorial tone, "I . . . was scared. I woke up in the dark underground . . . in a . . ." the monster turned to the cave mouth and looked outside, Konpeito felt enough compassion to gently put a heavy hand on the creature's shoulder.

In the days they'd spent with it Kori had discovered that the creature did not like being too far into the cave's interior, and even preferred to sleep at the mouth where it was far colder than in the warm cavern. Kori suspected that the creature suffered from some sort of spacial sickness.

"I must have panicked. I . . . called on the star because I wasn't thinking clearly." The creature said sounding sad for a moment, and then it shouted angrily, "Now I've ruined everything for myself! Somehow I destroyed my pod and lost my scouter, probably destroyed it too and without it I'm lost and I can't even contact—I mean not that it matters, even if I could if my tail doesn't grow back soon I'm just the same as any of you, just prey to the Oozaru!"

"Oozaru? Is that the name of the great beast?" Kori asked.

The creature looked surprised, as if it had said something it shouldn't have and Konpeito, acting on instinct said, "You've already said it. What more harm can it do? Tell us and we might be able to help you."

The little monster nodded, "Okay . . . yes. Oozaru is the great beast you saw the night you found me."

"Oh this is fascinating!" Kori squealed with delight, "Is that the name of a particular creature or of a species? What is your relationship to them, and why did you think it would help you get out of . . . where ever you were? What's this scouter, are you and this Oozaru part of some sort of a symbiotic relationship or is it more of a equenosian and rider relationship?"

The little monster seemed too puzzled to answer as Kori went into full scholar mode. Konpeito frowned, "You called on the star?"

"Yes."

"How?" Konpeito asked.

"Why?" Kori asked.

The little creature turned back to look at them, it seemed nervous and it said, "Well . . . Oozaru comes with the star. I don't really remember everything—really!" It said, as if it suspected Konpeito would interrupt, "but I think in my panic I thought the Oozaru would. . . free me."

Konpeito sensed a hint of deceit in the creature's words. The hunter asked, "Is it the Oozaru destroying the other villages?"

"Yes." The answer was simple and blunt. It made Konpeito angry to hear it.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Konpeito growled.

"Wouldn't you blame me? Or else ask me how to stop it?" The creature asked.

Kori leaned forward, though in an eager manner rather than a threatening one, _"Can_ you control the Oozaru?"

"No. Not even if I . . ." The creature hesitated and then its tone changed entirely. "I mean . . . I could _try_ . . .but . . . I would need . . . you know . . . my tail."

"I've never heard of tails regrowing." Kori said, "I don't know how to help with that. But if you had your tail, you could control the Oozaru?"

"No." The creature shrugged. "I'm not . . . I mean they say the royal family can . . ."

That was gibberish to Konpeito, the hunter asked, "What are you trying to tell us, little one? No lies."

The creature was quiet for a moment, then averted its gaze when it spoke.

Konpeito should have known then but the hunter had so little experience with dissembling in the past.

"If I can get my tail back, I can call the star and . . . bring out the Oozaru. But without my tail, even if I called the star nothing would happen, or if an Oozaru did appear it would just destroy me too. If you can help me regrow my tail I promise I will call the star and you won't have anything to worry about after that."

Kori smiled, and maybe that was why Konpeito didn't act on the building feeling of mistrust.

The hunter only said, "All right . . . what do you think would help?"

"Food, and lots of it! But not the stuff your hunters have been bringing . . . I need more fresh meat and . . ." The creature hesitated again, then looked at Kori, "I don't know, maybe some fruit?"

"Well . . . what do you think, Kon?" Kori asked.

Konpeito glowered, "Will the star or the beast come after you?"

"I hope not." The little creature answered. "Like I said, as I am now I'm just prey to the Oozaru, with my tail it'd be a different story. Without my scouter I can't tell you for sure, but by the sound of things . . . well how many villages are there between you and the last one to be destroyed?"

"A dozen or so." Kori said sadly.

"Then we've got a dozen or so nights to get my tail back." The little creature shrugged.

"Will that be enough?" Kori asked.

"I don't know. I've never lost my tail before." The little creature shrugged. "It's actually . . . kind of random."

Konpeito sighed, "All right . . . we'll take you home tonight."

"Home?" The creature seemed surprised.

"To our village. I'll explain the situation to the elder, in the morning I'll take you hunting, you won't find fresher meat than that." Konpeito answered. "Our people will do everything in their power to help you get your tail back."

"Good!" The little demon said, its eyes practically aglow with an eager light, "You won't regret this, once my tail is back I promise I'll call the star and bring the Oozaru and you won't have to worry about anything else for the rest of your lives!"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto frowned at Konpeito. "The Oozaru is what the Saiyans call their great ape form." The little Arcosian said.

"So we'd soon learn." Konpeito said sourly.

"It's a form that increases their power tenfold." Karuto said, finding his tone had become consoling.

"So we'd soon learn." Konpeito repeated.

"I'm sorry." Karuto said softly.

"So was I." Konpeito whispered.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Bulma and her assistants put the finishing touches on the gravity control room and the new Time Machine, but Basil of all people is starting to have concerns. Can Bulma put her mind at ease?_

 

_Character Image 8: Gurein_  


_Note: Gurein, like the rest will be getting a Xenoverse 2 upgrade in the future to give him a full and proper Mohawk. He and Rhyce having silver hair is part of a character design I've always been highly favoritive toward, I'm sure it has a name but I don't care to browse TV Tropes long enough to find it._


	10. Talking Tech

**Episode Ten**

**'Talking Tech'**

 

The Lounge at Capsule Corporation was filled with smoke and the muffled sounds of training coming from outside. Trunks' teams were working as hard as ever though some of them were still getting used to training in weighted clothes and armor.

Bulma wanted to have the next phase of their training ready by the time they mastered weighted clothes and flight, however . . .

"Well the machine is installed but . . ." Thyme was saying, but Bulma raised a hand to silence him. She took a long drag on her cigarette and exhaled more smoke into the room, looked over the blueprints for the new training facility.

"You can't get the machine running properly." Bulma guessed.

"Yes ma'am. I don't know what kind of crazy magic you and your father managed with this gravity device but I can't replicate it here."

"But the one on the space ship should work?" Bulma asked.

"Yes ma'am," Thyme said again. "There we're not having to contend with Earth's natural gravity though there's a danger of the generator causing the pod to crush in on itself like a Styrofoam ball at the bottom of the ocean."

"A pleasant thought considering my son and his team are hoping to use that ship once we locate New Namek." Bulma said. She put out her cigarette and took out a red pen. She felt like a teacher making corrections on her student's homework, but she could already see a few of the spots where the mistakes had popped up.

"I'm doing the best I can," Thyme told her, "I understand the urgency-"

"You do, do you?" Bulma interrupted, and sighed. "That's the problem here. You have this _perceived_ urgency. I don't want the job done fast, I want it done right. If it takes you a whole year get it done right take that year and get it done right." She pointed at some of the mathematical corrections she had made, "You wouldn't have made most of these mistakes if you weren't rushing."

Thyme frowned, "But what about the training of Earth's defenders?" He asked. "Wouldn't a gravity control room speed them along?"

"It would, which is why we want it." Bulma explained. "But we're not in a rush just yet. It's true Trunks could get stronger in this room but right now his trainees are too weak. Two or three times Earth's gravity for a few minutes might be taxing enough."

"How did the concept of this even come around?" Thyme asked.

"Oh . . ." Bulma smiled, reminiscing, "I guess I never told you and Basil. Well Trunks' father and an old family friend of ours came from a planet with ten times Earth's gravity. Turns out it can make a huge difference in training. But that doesn't mean just anyone can do it. They'll need to build themselves up to it."

"Moving past the fact that Master Trunks is half alien," Thyme said, taking Bulma's pen and correcting one of his own mistakes, "doesn't that mean we should get the machine up and running all the sooner? If using it is a gradual process won't the fighters want to start as soon as they can?"

"Sure, but with something as dangerous as this we can't just do a rushed job." Bulma told him.

She stood back and admired the changes to the blueprints.

"But Ma'am . . . don't we want to make sure the warriors are prepared?" Thyme asked.

"Of course, but prepared for when we send Trunks to New Namek. We don't even know where New Namek is yet. Until then Earth has my son, and nothing is going to be strong enough to stop him."

Bulma said it but she didn't really believe it. She'd thought nothing would be strong enough to stop Goku, then she thought nothing would be strong enough to stop Vegeta.

In the end she'd lost them both, her childhood friend to a now treatable disease and her husband to the despicable Androids.

She learned to expect the impossible, and that there was always some unexpected threat on the horizon.

She didn't know when or how but she knew something was on its way to Earth, something was going to happen and if Trunks wasn't prepared he'd fail.

They didn't have the support network that Goku had had. They wouldn't have Senzu beans, they wouldn't have dragon balls until Trunks could bring a new Guardian back from New Namek.

And even with a gravity machine Bulma suspected it would be years before the new fighters were anywhere near the level Krillin, Tien or Yamcha had been at in the end.

But she couldn't let her assistants realize she had these kinds of doubts. "Just get it right, Thyme. Don't rush. Work on the ship some more if you need to. After all if we can get that up and running the team can train in the ship. Besides, we have nothing to worry about, even if we do find New Namek it isn't as if Trunks needs to rush off."

Thyme nodded. "Yes ma'am. I'll do my best."

"Good." Bulma smiled. "I'll go see how Basil is doing."

"Yes ma'am. I won't let you down." Thyme said, rolling up the blueprints and leaving the lounge too, no doubt to get back to work."

Bulma sighed and went down into her her own lab where Basil would be working on the time technology.

She didn't want to seem misanthropic, but truthfully . . . Trunks wouldn't be enough and a bunch of fighters who'd spent most of their lives either not training or training the wrong way weren't going to be much help.

As it was now the time machine wouldn't be able to do much to help but Bulma had an idea or two.

She stepped through the automatic door which sighed which emitted a satisfied sigh. Basil was standing over a desk covered in emptied coffee mugs and crumpled up papers. Bulma approached and asked Basil, "How's the new machine coming?"

"Not amazing." Basil admitted. "But I've got an easier job than Thyme. After all I only need to replicate this technology on a larger scale, you built this with a few spare parts I have the full might of Capsule Corporation behind me."

Bulma frowned, "Then why isn't it going well?"

Basil turned to face Bulma, a cup of coffee in a shaking hand, "Well boss, imagine that our time and the past are different continents, yeah? Well if we bring people from the other time here they're here. Not on their continent."

"Yes . . . are we about to discuss immigration?"

Basil ignored the question and began speaking very rapidly, "So that's what we've got going on right now, it's been proven that it works but the time stream gets ruptured, right? Or at least we're tunneling through to some other dimension instead of actually going back in time right? So we go back in time, grab people, bring them here, they're gone from their time, see?"

"But it's a time machine, we can bring them back to the same moment they left."

"Sure, sure, it only costs them the months or years of their personal lives and if we did want to send them back so that their time and their personal time would align for all we know that would just create _another_ alternate time line, right? The flow of time and all that." Basil took a sip of her coffee and Bulma tried to interrupt but Basil swallowed and began chattering again.

"But like I said two continents yeah? So every time we go back and grab someone we're making a new continent, Trunks could come back every time because it was just set to return here but for all we know there's some alternate time line where he never came back, there's some alternate time line for them where he never went back again to help with the Androids, right? So every time we send someone back or bring someone here we make a new continent, the Earth is mostly covered by water but eventually you're going to have so many continents and that you run out of ocean not to mention inconvenience all the whales."

"I don't care about whales." Bulma said as Basil took a sip. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm getting at this!" Basil said, showing Bulma a piece of paper. "If we keep making new continents, even if we just keep making new islands eventually we will fill up the ocean until there is no ocean then every time we make a new continent we're going to destroy another one, and another one, we'll cause more and more disruptions."

"That's just math, Basil!" Bulma snapped.

"The universe is math, boss!" Basil implored.

"But near as anyone can tell time is infinite, you can't run out of it even if every trip did make an alternate universe, and we don't know that they do, who's to say it matters?"

"Don't you see? Changing the past creates a new time line, it creates a new dimension, it creates a new continent. This is an insane power born of our greatest desperation and used in those circumstances but now without that I can't see the ethical justification of it. If we really wanted to it'd probably be less damaging to take everyone from our time to this other continent—er this other time line where things are better and the world's population was never devastated. But since we want to live in our own time and try to rebuild-"

Bulma shook her head and held up a hand. She decided to light a new cigarette, and Basil took a few steps back to avoid the smoke. "Basil, if you don't settle down I'm going to sedate you. So in simple terms you're telling me that time travel is more dangerous the more often we use it and we just got lucky?"

"No . . . wait, yes." Basil said, blinking a few times and seeming to count in her head. Finally she said, "It's more dangerous the more we change the past. The more alternate time lines we make the more likely we are to encounter problems. Not problems like being your own mother or father, which wouldn't be possible anyway unless it was already possible, I mean for you personally, I suppose you could go back in time and still have the one night stand the kid just wouldn't be you and-"

She was going to give herself a heart attack, Bulma thought. She took a puff of her cigarette and asked, "Just what are you planning on using my time machine for, Basil? This isn't the kind of ambition you've ever mentioned."

"What? Not that, don't be absurd!" Basil scoffed and finished her cup of coffee. "Look I'm just saying I think we can . . . you know, make fewer continents. Use this technology with fewer risks."

"So . . ."

"We can use it without changing things."

"No we can't, that doesn't make any sense. Just using it changes things."

"Butterfly wings and stuff boss, if we make a big change it makes a new time line but if we just make a little one something no one would notice maybe it won't make so many waves." Basil explained. "I mean we have this thing, as a joke we could make a list of the worst dictators and go back and have Trunks take 'em all out, right? But what happens to the world we leave behind? Who rises up to take their place? Now if we swoop in right before that dictator would have died anyway and whack him for fun and nobody sees it then . . . you know, less of an issue."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Bulma groaned.

Basil stared at her in silence for a moment, then just shrugged.

Bulma sighed. "Great." She said. "So you're not saying anything. And your progress designing the mark two?"

"It's _been_ done." Basil coughed. "But look, going back to continents . . ."

"Do we have to?" Bulma asked.

"No. But say we do, boss. Going back to continents, right? So if you think of years as coordinates it should be theoretically possible to go to a different place in our continent. Instead of taking people from their time, take people from ours."

"So . . . take Goku or Vegeta from a time right before they died in our own time?" Bulma asked, feeling just a little hopeful.

If they could bring their own dimension's Vegeta or Goku back . . . not just as brief reinforcements but as permanent residents to help Trunks, defend earth and more importantly—

"No," Basil said, dashing Bulma's budding dreams, "I'm sorry boss, but we know that won't work because it didn't happen. We'd have a record of that, right? Besides they were weaker then anyway, so they can't be relied on to help Master Trunks if he does need reinforcements from another time."

"Then what _are_ you saying?" Bulma asked a little sharply.

It was only for a moment, but for that moment it seemed like maybe she could have truly set things back to normal instead of simply trying to manage the damage that had already been dealt. _Back to Dragon Balls,_ she thought to herself.

Basil frowned, "The time machine saved us once. But it didn't _change_ our past, it just made an alternate dimension we need to worry about now. Using it again could do the same thing, but it won't change our course, our course is going to flow like a river. We won't see changes to our own time because we can't change our own past, it's already happened."

"Okay . . ." Bulma said, taking an exceptionally tolerant breath. "And?"

"Whatever we do in the future has already happened in the past. That's the best way to think of it." Basil said simply. "So if I can find our coordinates I can make sure we don't make new continents, I can use coordinates on our own continent."

Bulma waved a dismissive hand, "That's a fine side project, Basil but it doesn't matter. Making changes to our own time line doesn't matter. You said you've perfected the mark two time machine?"

Basil sighed and nodded. "Yeah, boss. A time machine built for a crew. Now Trunks can bring back up to five people to help him out if he needs it . . . only takes a month to charge, should only take us two months to build."

"So three months." Bulma said with some relief. "In three months we can get reinforcements from the other continent—I mean from the other time line if we need them. Do you think you can help Thyme with the training room and the ship?"

Basil frowned and went over to the coffee pot, "The training room still? Slacker, just like the time machine the tech is already made and the hard part is done, right? Yeah, I can save his butt, but I don't advise it, I think it's better if you let me continue my research on this instead of moving on. I really think we can use this technology in a far safer way."

Bulma sighed, "You've done your part, Basil. You're hyped up on caffeine so you're not thinking clearly. Your job is done, it doesn't matter if we make more alternate time lines, we won't use the time machine carelessly. It's a last resort, so don't worry about it. Besides, we're months away from using it."

Basil sighed and nodded. "Okay, I'll work on the training room and the ship, but I'd like to have the data from this project to at least work on it in my spare time."

Bulma took a puff of her cigarette and nodded, "All right, I won't police your spare time. And like I said, it's a fine side project."

"Yeah . . . yeah . . . I'll have the build-boys get started on the time machine, boss. Then I'll take a nap, maybe when I wake up Thyme will have had enough time to stop embarrassing himself and have some of the work done."

"He's not doing too badly." Bulma smiled, "He's just been worrying about the wrong things, kind of like you."

"Mm. But I got finished." Basil pointed out.

"True." Bulma granted. "Are you sure you're going to be able to get to sleep after so many cups of coffee?"

"Huh? Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem. Talk to you later boss . . . but . . ."

Bulma raised an eyebrow, "But what?"

"Your project is to find New Namek, right? But . . . when you do . . . what are you going to do?"

"Hopefully bring back some Namekians to protect Earth, one to become our Guardian and create Dragon Balls. I just know we'd be safer with their help than without it."

Basil nodded and said, "So why do we need a space ship if we have a time machine?"

Bulma folded her arms, "I don't understand."

"You don't care what time line our help comes from . . . so why do we need a space ship?" Basil asked. "With the time machine can't Trunks just go back in time, ask them where New Namek is then use one of their space ships to reach it and bring someone back then use the time machine to come back? Maybe the time machine can travel far enough in space to reach New Namek itself and just take some Namekians straight from the source."

"It's an idea, but I don't know that it can travel that far." Bulma shrugged, "I don't want my son stranded in the middle of outer space in a time machine that'll take ages to recharge and enough oxygen to last him a few hours."

"No . . . that'd be pretty bad." Basil agreed, then yawned. "I'll see what I can do. In my spare time that is."

"Well just get some sleep." Bulma sighed. Basil looked at all the empty coffee cups on her desk and just laughed.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Unexpected problems start to arise within the ranks of the Earth's Defense Force, Karuto learns more about Goulder but the young Arcosian's patience is running out and he's starting to want real answers._

 

_Character Image 9: Kodva_  


_Fun Fact: Kodva's name influence should be obvious, originally it was also going to be the reason for his calm demeanor but that was in the very early stages of character design when a drunken monk sounded like a good idea._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter actually got some criticism for making it seem as if I am claiming Trunks creates a new universe every time he uses the time machine, but that was not the intent. If I'm being honest it's partially an in-joke and set up for the reason the story will treat Tree of Might as something that happened without it actually being something that happens in the "prime" timeline. However one thing I feel must be emphasized is that Basil isn't declaring facts as it is, I hate it when characters know things just because we the fans know them. She is theorizing because she doesn't know and Bulma is being dismissive because she doesn't agree.


	11. Bees and Birds

**Episode Eleven**

**'Bees and Birds'**

 

The red and blue teams had their rooms on either side of the restrooms in the hall so Anavill saw most everybody in the halls. The two men and two women on each team had been assigned as each other's roommates, so Pastel and Anavill hadn't had to move at all but that did mean that hers and Schip's rooms were as far from each other as possible . . . which her mother would probably have approved of.

Anavill had been nervous about having to share space with members of the opposite sex, but it hadn't been that bad. She was still an awkward teenager of course, and she certainly felt a certain fascination around boys but she definitely lacked the experience and tact necessary to interact with them without being too obvious.

Not that she had time for boys strictly speaking. She wanted to be a martial artist par excellence, she wanted to be the very best she could be so that her family would never have to run in fear again. If ever Androids reared their ugly heads again Anavill wanted to be there and be ready to take them out.

Training was time consuming, when they weren't physically training they were usually studying manuals or trying to focus their ki. So it wasn't like she had time for boys . . . except the two hours of downtime between dinner and bed, and the twenty or so minutes in the morning before training started.

So at first she and Schip just sort of always seemed to be heading down at the same time but as it turned out she really enjoyed spending that time with him. It wasn't like she _planned_ on liking him, that wasn't what she was there for.

But since she did and there really didn't seem to be any rules against it . . .

She opened the door to her room and stepped out. She knew in her gut that he was doing the same thing, she could feel his familiar energy.

"Hey, good job yesterday." Anavill told Schip when he emerged from the room he and Kodva shared. He smiled at her, "I mean we're going to pay you back for it today, but I hope you enjoyed your moment in the sun."

Schip laughed, "Hey when it comes to straight up fighting no one's contesting that your Reds are the tougher team. But when you give us an exercise that needs tactics and cooperation we Blues have you beat."

Anavill laughed too, "Yeah . . . that's too bad. I wish the Red team got along better."

"You'll get there," Schip said, "I mean Bocan and Pastel are nice to everyone else, right? So I'm sure they'll start being nice to each other too eventually. They can't fight all the time."

"You'd be surprised." Anavill said, "Remember I've been sharing a room with Pastel all this time, she can be a stubborn woman."

Schip shrugged, "Well they're your team."

"Yeah . . . they'll just have to work it out I guess. How about your team? Does everyone get along?"

"Most of the time." Schip said. "Rhyce is a little hot-headed but she's never pointlessly belligerent like a lot of people I used to know. Kodva is one of the most Zen guys I've ever met, and Lieutenant Soda is pretty good at leading by example instead of just being bossy, she never goes full drill sergeant on us like I thought she would so she's easy to get along with."

"Wow. Lucky. I guess I would say Gurein is actually pretty Zen too, I guess that's why he and Kodva hang out so much. Actually it's pretty amazing that the only people who can't get along are Bocan and Pastel. Mostly we're all so different you'd think there'd be more conflicts."

"I think it's the way Master Roshi and Master Trunks chose us, I mean if they just wanted tough fighters they wouldn't have picked us, we weren't even in the tournament." Schip pointed out.

"True. I guess they know what they're doing." Anavill said as they neared the elevator. The new training room was in the basement where the gravity machine had been set up. The place was lined with the same sort of material as their armor so it was surprisingly flexible against wall punches or fighters being thrown and more resistant to energy blasts.

Or so she'd been told. The two of them got into the elevator together, the doors sighed as they closed.

"Have you found out why the doors sigh yet?" Schip asked.

"Not really. Chef Asiago, he said Basil did it but no one knows why." Anavill said.

The elevator stopped and even before the doors opened Anavill could hear Pastel and Bocan arguing. She sighed and Ship told her, "Good luck."

"Thanks." Anavill sighed as the door opened. She revived her morale, at least as far as anyone could see and said, "Well it's time to take back that win you Blues got yesterday!"

"We won't go down easily." Schip said with a smirk.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Dodge!"

The shout rang out through the training room a half a second before Pastel went flying—not of her own volition—across it and towards a wall, which she would have slammed into had Roshi not intervened and caught her.

Trunks distinctly saw the old man squeeze her butt, but she was too busy shoving him away and getting on her feet to seem to notice. "What was that? You were supposed to punch but you don't punch with your feet, idiot!"

"You expected the punch, but I didn't hide the kick. I told you to dodge, not brace." Bocan scolded and Pastel glared at him as if she meant to stare him down but he just stared right back. Trunks sighed, watching the two of them argue for what had to be the twelfth time that training session.

"You're not the boss of me!" Pastel snapped. "You're barely any better than I am!"

"I'm your team leader," Bocan said with barely more calm than Pastel was managing, "and no matter the margin I _am_ better than you. The problem is you think you know it all already!"

"No, I don't." Pastel said, and Trunks had to admit she was being honest. She was a good student and very willing to learn. Unless it was Bocan trying to teach her anything, then she was stubborn and refused to take anything said to her as anything less than an unforgivable insult and a challenge to her capability.

"I respect real teachers, not prize fighters." Pastel said, folding her arms.

"It shouldn't matter why I fight, I'm helping you to get better!" Bocan scowled. "You want to lose another exercise to Soda's squad?"

"Hey . . . leave me out of this." Trunks heard Soda mutter, though not loudly enough to break into the argument. He shrugged consolingly at her and she smiled as if to say 'these two again'.

To which Trunks could only agree. Soda and Bocan had been clashing more and more frequently over the past month. Bocan had indeed taken being a team leader to heart and was pushing his team to become better fighters, and Trunks was very glad to see that.

However when it came to Pastel . . . it just seemed like she couldn't bring herself to listen to anything Bocan told her, and it seemed like being ignored by someone he considered a subordinate made Bocan all the more determined to show her that his teachings had value by heaping them on her whenever he could.

As a result their team's cohesion had started to suffer, though Trunks hadn't noticed it until they lost the last training exercise to Soda's team. A scavenger hunt using flight and sensing small energy emitting items that his mother had designed to help them with sensing power. Because Red Team hadn't worked together very well they took half a day to find all seven of their targets, whereas Soda's team managed it under an hour.

"Alright, that's enough." Trunks interrupted, "Why don't you two separate for a while?"

"What are we, five?" Pastel demanded, then seemed to realize who she was snapping at and added a hasty, "Uh, sir."

"No, but if you keep acting like you are I'll put you in the corner." Trunks warned.

"I'm sorry, teach," Bocan said, bowing slightly, "I'm just trying to help her improve."

"She _is_ improving, Bocan." Trunks said, "But you're right to try and help her where you can. Pastel, you really _should_ be watching your opponent's whole body during a fight."

"This wasn't a fight, we-"

"Were practicing bracing, I know." Trunks said, raising a hand. "Bocan, what inspired you to change the training routine?"

"She was bracing just fine, she can brace for days but an opponent isn't going to just keep doing the same thing if it isn't working. Pasty's got fighting down to a routine, she's losing her improv and fighting needs improvisation. I wanted to help her." Bocan shrugged.

"And you wanted to make trouble." Pastel accused.

"You got proof?" Bocan scoffed, "Reading minds now?"

"Enough!" Trunks said. "Take a break. Everyone. Get something to drink, be back here in fifteen minutes."

The group bowed and began to disperse, but Trunks waved to Soda. "Eh . . . listen, can I talk to you real quick?" He asked.

"I don't know, can you, sir?" Soda raised an eyebrow. "I'm not your superior, I'm your subordinate."

"And this isn't the military." Trunks said, and Soda nodded acceptance. "Listen, the teams are well balanced, but . . . Pastel and Bocan just aren't able to get along. It was annoying before but now it's becoming a problem."

"Yeah, I know." Soda sighed. "I wish they'd just get it over with, but I guess you can't rush this sort of thing."

_Get it over with?_ Trunks wondered. "I'd like to avoid them fighting actually."

"I think that's just how they are." Soda told him. "I mean some people just sort of have that . . . belligerence when it comes to these things."

"What?" Trunks blinked.

"I mean we could try shoving them both into a cardboard box. I understand that works with cats." Soda said with a smile.

"I don't want them to kill each other." Trunks said with exasperation.

Soda smirked, "Yeah, I guess that could happen too, but . . ." She hesitated and raised her eyebrow again, "Wait, we're having two different conversations, aren't we?"

"It might explain why I'm totally lost." Trunks said.

The blond soldier laughed, "Oh . . . you poor innocent boy."

"Try not to patronize your teacher." Trunks reminded her and she raised her hands in surrender.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. Sometimes I just forget how sheltered you were."

"None of us were sheltered." Trunks told her.

"Not from the horrors of the world, no," Soda said, "But clearly you're lacking in certain . . . shall we say 'worldly understandings,' sir."

Trunks frowned, "I . . . what?"

Soda smiled, "Look . . . let's just say there's more than one reason for those two to want to cause each other grief, and it's not just about being competitive. Bocan probably _is_ bothered by my team beating his in that last exercise but he knows it had nothing to do with them not being good fighters too."

"So you don't agree that we need to separate them?" Trunks asked.

"If this were the military I'd say yes, but like you said this isn't so it's sort of up to you, I guess. I can probably trade Kodva for Pastel if it's important to you."

"Why not Rhyce or Schip?" Trunks asked.

"Rhyce's brother is on that team, and while there'd be less childish bickering about it Schip and Anavill wouldn't work for the same reason Pastel and Bocan aren't." Soda shrugged.

Trunks was baffled, he felt like he'd been getting to know everyone pretty well but he didn't even realize Schip and Anavill weren't getting along. On the contrary it seemed like they were always spending all of their free time together. Trunks had sort of suspected that they were . . .

"Wait, you mean Pastel and Bocan are . . ."

Soda smiled, "Caught on then? I suppose I can take Bocan's place in his squad. Or you could just divide us by gender. I know I said that wouldn't be as good idea before, but I made the mistake of forgetting what can happen when you have a small group of single, reasonably attractive active people with similar interests spend all their time together for a prolonged period."

Trunks sighed and shook his head. "I don't think that was a problem for the old team . . . well, maybe for some of them, but I . . . well I hadn't expected this."

"Well we're only human, right?" Soda shrugged. "Bees and birds and all that sort of thing. It's pretty normal really."

Trunks sighed. "Well . . . I guess if that's all it is it's not so bad. But I hope they can focus on training. I guess I should have a talk with them . . ." Trunks considered how awkward that could be.

"If you think that's best, sir. But can I ask a question?" Soda asked.

"Sure. What is it?" Trunks asked.

Soda frowned at him and seemed to hesitate, then she asked, "Why are you talking to me about this instead of Master Roshi?"

Trunks shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it didn't occur to me. Besides, Roshi just took off with the rest of them."

"I would have too if you hadn't called me over." Soda said.

Trunk thought for a moment. It was a little weird he'd thought to turn to Soda rather than Roshi . . . _Well she's part of the teams and she has experience with squads it made sense right?_ Trunks thought.

"Well . . . he probably didn't think it'd be important. I think he's a little more aware of their situation than you were." Soda told him.

"Oh perfect!" Trunks said with relief, "I'll just have _him_ talk to them."

_Awkward moment averted._ Now it would be Roshi's problem.

"So should I let my team know that fraternization isn't okay?"

_Awkward moment not averted._ Trunks realized. "Um . . . I don't think it's a problem unless it starts to interfere with training the way it is with Bocan and Pastel. If they can keep it under control I can look the other way."

"Fair enough." Soda nodded, "I'll let everyone know."

Trunks nodded, "Thanks, and I'll go find Master Roshi. You go ahead and catch up with the others."

"Sure, I'll see if I can find a cardboard box on the way, you know just in case."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"It was a good hunt today." Bingtang said with a content smile as the hunting party packed a variety of game back to the village on their shoulders.

"Yeah I guess. We didn't find any of those . . . knife tail things, though." The little monster observed.

Konpeito laughed, "You don't want to find one of them."

"Korizato said they're a constant danger but they haven't shown up once. Just my usual bad luck."

"Bad luck for you is good luck for us." Bingtang agreed. "Very good luck, we have not seen a knife tail at all since you've started coming with us."

"Well why not?" The puny monster complained.

"Predators will avoid areas where more dangerous predators hunt," Konpeito said, "perhaps the knife tails avoid you because they know you wish to eat them."

"They can't know that until I've done it." The monster scoffed.

The Iwatians never ate knife tail meat so it had surprised Konpeito to find that it was the little monster's favorite meal. It was just another connection between it and the Oozaru, Konpeito had thought at the time. After all, hadn't the Oozaru been battling a large pack of the beasts? Perhaps it meant to obtain them as food, or to feed the smaller creature, who had still neglected to reveal its own name so Konpeito had taken to calling it "little Oozaru" which did not seem to unduly displease it.

To the Iwatians it had always seemed wrong, immoral even to consume the flesh of something that would happily consume theirs, but Konpeito supposed that for the little monster that just wasn't an issue.

"So tell me more about this sacred tree." The little monster said as they walked back to the village at the head of a hunting party. Konpeito and Bingtang walked side by side, and the small demon rode on Konpeito's shoulders, holding onto the hunter's horns in the manner that little ones often rode on their parent's shoulders.

Konpeito sighed. "Of course. You know it seems to exercise an unhealthy fascination in your mind."

"Well why shouldn't it?"

"Because it's only a legend." Konpeito answered patiently.

"It's not a legend." Bingtang clarified, "the tree exists and remains. Our greatest and oldest elders go there to learn the healing arts, there are no finer healers in all the world. But the tree itself hasn't produced fruit for centuries."

"Well when will it make more fruit?" The little monster demanded.

"It has not for some time." Bingtang said. "We don't know where it came from, one day a star fell from the sky and the next day the tree had grown. At the time it is said that it took all the nutrition in the soil to feed it, and it produced fruit fit for gods. Our great elders ate the fruit and lived longer, our great hunters ate the fruit and became stronger."

"How much stronger?" The little monster asked.

"Well it isn't as if we have any measurements. Besides, strength is not a number." Bingtang said. The little monster rolled its eyes.

"It is if you have a scouter." It mumbled.

"And you do not." Konpeito reminded it, shuffling a bit to jostle it. Not enough to knock it from its riding position, but enough that it would know it was being reprimanded. "Show respect to the Elder, little Oozaru."

Bingtang had dealt with many children before however, and seemed to agree with Korizato that the little monster was just a juvenile. The elder had taken quite a shine to the creature.

So had most of the hunters really, Little Oozaru seemed to bond easily with people other than Konpeito.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto gave Konpeito a doubtful look. Konpeito shrugged, "Well . . . maybe I was starting to feel a bit of fondness for it."

"You keep dancing around the issue of its gender," Karuto pointed out. "Was it male or female?"

"I don't understand." Konpeito shrugged.

Karuto sighed, "Well what about this tree and its fruit?"

"That's part of the story." Konpeito explained. "I thought you wanted to hear this story."

"But I don't want you to forget our job. I need to know the Saiyan's identity."

"Why?" Konpeito asked. "What does it matter?"

"Because there are four known survivors of the planet Vegeta, and none of them were sent to your planet. If one of those pods escaped it means that there is a fifth Saiyan fugitive loose on the cosmos."

Konpeito sighed, "And if Little Oozaru has been loose on the cosmos all this time they haven't caused you any trouble, or you'd know for sure who they are and where they went."

"That . . . is true." Karuto conceded. The little Arcosian considered for a moment . . . why did he want to know so badly?

Karuto wondered idly if he just wanted to be able to find a living Saiyan, to see the monster in the flesh. Could there really be one out there they didn't know about?

One weak enough to be handled . . . like an animal in a zoo.

"Well . . . I guess . . ." Karuto frowned. "Continue with the story." The little Arcosian decided with a wave of his hand.

"Of course." Konpeito sighed.  
"But tell me about the tree." Karuto added.

"The tree?"

"The tree that makes people stronger! With its fruit? Did the Saiyan get any of it?"

"I told you, the tree hadn't produced fruit in centuries."

"What happened to it? It wasn't there when we took your planet." Karuto pointed out.

"No. But that's later in the story."

"Kay!" Karuto said happily, settling down in his chair to hear more of the story. When Konpeito didn't immediately begin speaking the little Arcosian waved a hand and said, "Go on!"

"I have to think . . . was it my idea or Korizato's to take it to the tree? Ah . . . it was Bingtang's . . ." Konpeito said ruefully and settled back into his soothingly slow storytelling tone.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Iwatians make their journey towards the Great Tree but the threat of the Oozaru looms large as Konpeito's tale nears its end._

 

_Character Image 10: Bocan_

_Notes: Bocan probably needs an updated picture more than most, his face is difficult to make out. Fun Fact: Bocan's tendency to give people nicknames is a real life tendency of mine I had to grow out of, I'm horrible with remembering people's names so I would give people nicknames based on their actual names to help me remember who they were._

_  
_


	12. Flight in the Night

**Episode Twelve**

**'Flight in the Night'**

 

"After two weeks the Oozaru attacks were getting too close. Bingtang decided to evacuate the village. It was a popular decision, the hunters who had seen the Oozaru did not want to fight one."

Karuto pulled up the computer records of the five Saiyans that hat attacked Konpeito's world, even though he didn't need to. He knew their names and power levels by heart now. "The strongest of them was definitely Kumber with a power level of two thousand eight hundred, Cauli would have come second with her power level of two thousand five hundred, the rest were a somewhat runtier two thousand, stronger than the average Frieza soldier at the time to be sure but nothing exceptional." Karuto explained. "Still more than sufficient for the average Iwatian but a bit close for comfort with some of the power levels we were detecting on your world, so if those were any indication it makes sense that the Saiyans were using the Oozaru to attack you."

"Hmm." Konpeito said.

Karuto continued, "it would have taken a lot out of them, but it's surprising that they took so long to progress. It's also surprising they only attacked at night, the false moons they can create would have allowed them to remain transformed almost nonstop until their mission was completed."

"They were only youngsters, perhaps they were uncertain, especially having lost one of their number just on arrival."

"Perhaps. But even without a tail without a scouter it seems odd that little Oozaru would be reluctant to attack you. A Saiyan would just assume they were stronger until you proved otherwise to them." Karuto noted. "I mean . . . if it was one of the weaker ones, already taught that it was the bottom rung of its team it might have been more cautious . . . who were the weaker Saiyans? Rhubara and Turles . . . yeah, they both had a power level of two thousand . . ."

Karuto watched Konpeito's expression for any sign of recognition for either name, but the old Iwatian revealed nothing.

It was irritating, he'd hoped he'd outsmart the old coot, but it seemed it hadn't worked. Karuto spun in his chair to relieve his temper and said, "Keep telling the story! Go on!"

"As you command." Konpeito sighed.

Konpeito was about to continue when a new voice cut out from the side of the room, "You think I don't see what you're doing here?" Karuto's older cousin demanded.

Konpeito jumped to his feet and to attention, Karuto just stayed in his chair and frowned, "What?"

"We're meant to be preparing for the attack on earth." The Commander scolded, "You're taking story time from a conquered foe."

"Uh . . . well . . . he's not a foe anymore, Chillax . . ." Karuto hesitated. How much had his cousin heard?

"Not exactly a proven ally either. I don't like you spending all your time with him, and if he hurts you-"

Karuto couldn't help but laugh and after a moment of looking annoyed Chillax laughed too. Konpeito looked offended for the briefest of seconds before Chillax clarified, "If he _tried_ to hurt you, I'd be angry."

"He's perfectly well behaved," Karuto assured his cousin.

The Commander folded his arms and gave a doubtful glare to Konpeito. "And what are you talking about anyway?" Chillax asked.

"The little Lord wanted to know the story of the Saiyans that attacked my world before your coming."

Chillax scoffed and unfolded his arms, letting them hang limp at his side as he slumped forward and rolled his head back in an exaggerated show of exasperation. "Ridiculous. You're wasting your time, Karuto. The last Saiyans anyone knew about were on Earth and they've been wiped out. They don't matter anymore."

"Sure." Karuto said. "I was just curious."

"Well don't waste too much time. The Saiyans don't matter anymore, they're extinct. The ones that went to Konpeito's planet were all so weak they got wiped out by the people we literally just wiped out, Karuto."

"Figuratively, it was months ago—I mean yeah, I know. I guess I just like hearing old stories, you know?" Karuto said. He didn't tell his cousin that he thought one might still be alive out there.

If Chillax learned about this possible Saiyan he'd tell the rest of the clan, and then Karuto would never get the chance to see one alive. So the little Arcosian kept quiet about it.

Chillax sighed and said, "Well . . . just don't let Uncle Kalt find out you're wasting time like this."

"Does that mean I can hear the rest of the story?" Karuto asked.

"I guess it won't kill you. But I won't cover for you if Uncle Kalt wants to know why your actual studies aren't getting done, so make sure you make time to finish them too." The Commander said.

Karuto smiled happily, "Yay! Oh, why don't you stay and listen to the story too?" He asked, knowing that nothing would make more certain that Chillax would leave quickly and not come back.

"Yeah, or how about not?" The older Arcosian laughed, "I have a squad to practice with. I want them in top form when we destroy the Earth, little cousin."

"You train your squad?" Konpeito asked. "I haven't noticed anyone training on this ship. Just the drills."

"Well this isn't really a place for improving, and with an average power level of thirty thousand my boys don't need it." The Commander said with a scoff, "Besides the ship wouldn't withstand it. But you know drills aren't just to keep your skills up, if you keep at them you can get sharper, and I like to keep my squad sharp."

The young Arcosian officer left the lab and Karuto spun his chair in a circle again.

When he came to a stop he eyed Konpeito, "Well? Aren't you going to continue the story?"

Konpeito seemed surprised. "Why did you lie to your fellow Lord?"

Karuto blinked. "Huh?"

"You said you just wanted to hear a story. Why didn't you mention that you think one of the Saiyans is still alive?"

Karuto shrugged. "If I told my cousin he'd have to tell the Dad and the other leaders."

"But isn't that what you want?" Konpeito asked.

Karuto spun his chair again. "It was at first. But now I don't want to kill the Saiyan! It might be the last one and if they hunt it down and kill it I'll never get to see one with my own eyes!"

Karuto slowed his chair spinning when he noticed a strange look come over Konpeito's face . . . it seemed almost . . . relieved.

Konpeito took his seat again and said, "Surprising. I hadn't thought you would feel that way. I thought you wanted them all dead."

"This one's not really a threat even if it is alive, so if I _can_ find it why should I kill it?" Karuto asked.

The old Iwatian just smiled and said, "Well . . . maybe there's hope for you after all."

Karuto didn't know what that meant. He just spun his chair in a circle again and asked, "Are you going to tell me this story?"

"Yes . . . of course . . . where were we?"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The villagers traveled in a large group in the hopes of dissuading any knife tails from attacking them. They'd joined with other bands traveling to the great tree as well, and the protection they hoped it would provide.

Konpeito realized it was just what they did to avoid knife tails, they would mass their numbers and hope they were too great for the Oozaru to attack.

Korizato just hoped the sages could help heal the little one's tail so that the Oozaru could be stopped. Konpeito had suspected that at least some of their rampage might be because the little monster had called them in a time of fear perhaps they were destroying the villages in an attempt to find the little one.

Konpeito wasn't sure, but hoped the sages could help. Anything to end this time of fear.

The journey would take three days and by the end of the second Konpeito was tired of talking, not that that stopped the little monster from asking even more questions throughout the second day. The little monster had so many questions, Konpeito was surprised it hadn't asked why water was wet yet. It seemed utterly baffled by the idea of Konpeito and Korizato being mates, as if it couldn't wrap its head completely around the idea that two beings could want to spend their whole lives together.

"I didn't even know that was a thing!" The little creature had declared.

"Well of course it's a thing!" Korizato had said. "You have parents, don't you?"

"Well yeah . . ." The monster said with the usual evasiveness.

Korizato was walking alongside Konpeito and looked up at the little monster who rode on the hunter's shoulders again, "Do you miss them?"

"No . . ." The monster said slowly. "I know I'll see them again soon. When we're done here and we go home . . . I hope my tail is grown back . . ."  
"When you're done here?" Konpeito asked.

There was no answer, and the two Iwatians had learned that pressing their strange ward for information was never a good idea, it tended to just silence it.

Which Konpeito would have welcomed, but Korizato wanted to learn more.

"So what else did you want to know?" Konpeito asked.

"How far is the tree?"

"We should reach it tomorrow, just as I said this morning, and at the midday meal." Konpeito laughed.

"Sorry . . ."

"It's fine." Konpeito said.

"You're excited, truth be told I am too." Korizato said. "I don't think there's ever been a bigger gathering of our people, and I've never seen the tree up close before."

"What do you mean up close?" The little monster asked.

"Well right now the canopy hides it from our view, but if we were above the trees we could actually see it from here it's so massive."

"Whoa . . . and do the elders live at the bottom or the top?" The little demon asked in an awed tone.

"Well at the base of course," Korizato smiled, "no one's been to the top. It's far too high for even the best climbers."

"So . . . no one's been to the top?" The little monster asked.

"No. We can't fly like Fulcrums, little one." Korizato said with an absent smile. Konpeito knew that flight had always been Korizato's private dream spoken of only in the most embarrassed of tones when they had first been courting. Iwatians weren't made for flight, except in their dreams.

The little monster punched its small fist into its palm with a wicked smirk playing across its tanned face, "The top! I'll bet if there's any fruit left it's up there!"

Remembering Korizato's propensity for fantasies Konpeito decided not to squelch the little monster's dreams by reminding it that the top was unreachable. The hunter just sat down at the base of a tree as the rest of the village began to settle down to rest and said, "Yes little one, I'm sure that's where it all is. If you could fly you could probably have some."

There was a strange, almost wild look in the little creature's eyes, but it sat down to enjoy the evening meal with the hunter and the healer, too caught up in its imagination to ask any more questions.

Konpeito remembered enjoying the silence as they all ate. When the meal was done, they went to sleep listening to the night sounds of birds and insects. The distant call of a knife tail alpha to its pack, too far to be a threat.

One by one the Iwatian villagers fell asleep. Apart from the lookouts nestled in trees Konpeito was the only one awake, or so the hunter believed until Little Oozaru shot up from its blanket.

"Nightmare, little one?" Konpeito whispered so as not to wake Korizato who slept between the two of them.

Little Oozaru's eyes were wide and panicked, it looked to him and held a slender tanned finger to its mouth.

It held its other hand to its ear, indicating silently that Konpeito should listen. Konpeito and the other hunters had taught the gesture to the little demon though it had soon after proven that its hearing was far sharper than theirs.

It would become so frustrated trying to signal them during hunts that it had just given up, it knew whatever it was hearing was too far for the rest of them to hear.

But Konpeito strained and listened . . . the night birds were silent, even the insects had stilled their song . . .

Then . . . so faintly that the hunter wouldn't have heard it without straining to listen . . .

A distant roar.

Not a knife tail, or a fulcrum.

No beast the hunter had ever heard, save on one night.

Konpeito got up and quickly hurried over to one of the trees where Bingtang was on lookout.

The elder looked down in surprise as Konpeito climbed, "What do you want?" Bingtang asked.

Konpeito mimicked the little demon's gesture, holding onto the tree trunk with short but strong legs.

Bingtang listened and when Konpeito heard another roar the Elder seemed to hear it too. Konpeito was climbing again, the hunter heard Bingtang whisper, "What are you doing? Come down!"

But Konpeito climbed until the soft blue light was visible. The hunter didn't need to break the canopy to see the blue star in the distance.

Something in Konpeito needed to know for certain though.

The Iwatian climbed to the very top of the tree, looking out over the forest canopy like a green ocean. The great tree was nearby, to the east of it was the star.

And though Konpeito couldn't see exactly what was causing it the hunter could see a fiery glow in the distance, Konpeito could hear somewhat more clearly the roars of the Oozaru in the distance.

There was more than one.

Focusing hard the hunter could see dark silhouettes moving over , the light of blasts, probably from Iwatians absorbing the flames from the trees.

It was a battle . . . Konpeito had never feared battle, never hesitated to aid cousins in need.

But . . . with Korizato here, with the entire village here . . .

"What do you see?" Bingtang asked from beneath the canopy.

The hunter didn't know why . . . but the simple answer, 'a battle, our cousins are in peril' wouldn't come.

"If you go you'll die." Little Oozaru said, surprising Konpeito who hadn't felt it approach. Had it climbed the tree after Konpeito? How had the hunter not noticed?

"What?" Konpeito whispered.

"You'll die. All four of them are there, I can see them. They might not know we're here, but when they finish with what they're doing they'll be drawn to us if there's nothing else."

"I . . . I've never abandoned cousins in need."

"You can't help them." Little Oozaru insisted. "You might be able to make it to the tree if you all run . . . your cousins might die, but their sacrifices will buy you time. With any luck they'll go after knife tails next, I think that's what's been slowing them down. So many big powerful wild animals would distract the Oozaru's hunting brain."

Konpeito looked long and hard at little Oozaru. "You can really stop all this with your tail?"

The little monster gave Konpeito a strange look, it seemed almost apologetic and . . . sad.

"You're sure we couldn't do anything?" Konpeito pressed. The Iwatian was ashamed to even ask the question.

"Nothing. You can only run. You . . . _we_ need to run, Kon. I can't let them see me like this, they'll kill me too. I need my tail back, if your sages can help that's the only way this doesn't end in total tragedy."

Konpeito growled and then whispered down to Bingtang, "There's danger. We need to move out now."

"What?" The elder demanded. "I'm coming up."

Konpeito said, "You hear the roars, elder. They're on their way to us, we need to make for the tree."

"What if they attack the tree?" Bingtang asked.

Konpeito looked to the little demon, who answered, "They might, but it'll be the safest place. If all the people are gathered there they might be trying to wipe out smaller groups like this one before they make the final attack."

"What final attack?" Konpeito demanded, "You mean they're planning all this?"

"I think so . . . you're not the only village evacuating to the tree. So that means most of your people will be at the tree . . ."

Konpeito stared in horror at the fiery glow in the distance.

The Iwatian looked at little Oozaru and whispered, "They're driving everyone to the tree, aren't they? This is . . . this is all planned . . . they're driving all of us to the tree to kill us all at once, aren't they?"

The little demon frowned. Konpeito stared in horror. "You . . . knew, didn't you, little one?"

The little monster lowered its gaze and whispered, "No . . . but it makes sense. It's what they would do . . . it's a good plan, it's probably Cauli's, she's really smart."

Konpeito was taken aback, "Cauli? That's a name, isn't it? You know their names?"

"Of course . . . don't you know Kori's name?"

Perhaps it was the fear that kept the hunter from fully processing what the little demon was trying to confess.

The little demon's purple eyes met with Konpeito's black eyes, in the darkness the Iwatian knew that he was looking into the eyes of a fellow hunter, a fellow killer, juvenile or no.

Konpeito jumped down from the tree and told Bingtang, "Get everyone up and moving as quietly as possible. Carry the children, leave the food."

Bingtang frowned, "I hear roars in the distance, are they near?"

"Very and they're coming closer." Konpeito said, feeling sickly for lying. "We need to run, but we can't cause a panic."

"If they hear everyone fleeing they might stop whatever they're doing and come after us," Little Oozaru warned, "you have to listen to big brother now."

Bingtang nodded. The order was given quietly, and quickly.

Luggage was abandoned, children were carried, and the small herd of Iwatians began to run through the night.

The hunters led the way, Konpeito and the little demon at the head of them.

Korizato was lumbering along behind them, Konpeito didn't let his mate fall too far behind.

Not even when the roars began to draw nearer.

"You hear that?" Bingtang asked as they ran.

"I think we all do now." Korizato panted.

"They'll catch us unless someone does something . . ." Bingtang said.

"We just have to keep going!" Little Oozaru said, "They won't get too close to the tree, I'm sure of it!"

"Kon . . . I want you to lead our people well until I return." Bingtang said.

"What?" The hunter nearly stumbled, taken aback by the elder's words.

Bingtang reached out with one large arm and ruffled little Oozaru's black hair one last time, "Grow your tail back and save my people, little one."

"What!?" Little Oozaru almost shrieked, "Don't talk stupid, Grandpa! Come with us!"

"Lead our people, Konpeito!" Bingtang roared, "Get the young and the weak to the tree! Us old timers will buy you all the time we can!"

"Elder!" Korizato pleaded, but it was too late.

Konpeito saw the old Iwatian fall behind along with several others, almost all of them elder hunters like Bingtang, but some were simply elders with no look of hunting experience about them.

Konpeito steeled his resolve and ran on, gripping Korizato's hand as they ran.

The hunter tried to sense Bingtang's life energy as the band ran on through the night.

When it stopped it was far away, and very sudden.

Konpeito hoped the elder hadn't suffered.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto was listening intently when Konpeito suddenly broke off the tale and wiped tears from his black eyes.

The little Arcosian frowned. "Is . . . is it too sad to continue?"

Konpeito shook his head. "No . . . I'm . . . I'm not really sad, I'm proud. Prouder than you can imagine, Little Lord."

Karuto lowered his gaze. He didn't bother to rub it in Konpeito's face when he crossed Cauli's name off of the list of potential survivors. The Saiyan had referred to her by name after all.

But the Arcosian did point out, "So it was calling you big brother, was it?" When Konpeito nodded slowly, Karuto pointed out, "You left that out before."

"Many of the things I'm remembering are things I tried to forget. Things I didn't want to remember. This was a trying time for my people, you understand. Besides, I didn't trust you before." Konpeito admitted.

"You trust me now?" Karuto asked, more curious than anything.

"Enough to tell you that much." Konpeito said. "Enough to tell you what Bingtang charged my little demon with . . ."

"And did your little demon succeed? Your species still existed, so it certainly seems that way . . ." Karuto folded his arms the way he'd seen his daddy do when he was thinking hard and said, "Yes . . . that must be it . . . it took those words to heart, didn't it? It was moved by the elder's sacrifice . . . it turned on its own kind, it went native and protected you all. How odd.

"That's why you protected it in return by not telling me its name, isn't it?" Karuto reasoned, feeling like he understood everything now. "You had a bond, it tried to use you at first but it grew attached. Attached enough that it killed its comrades and took that last space pod and left you in peace, didn't it?"

Konpeito was quiet for a while.

Karuto smiled, "Well . . . go on, finish the story. I want to find out if I'm right or not!"

"And if you are?" Konpeito asked.

"Then I get to feel smart?" Karuto offered. What did the old fighter expect him to say?

Karuto took a guess, "Listen it's a good story and I like hearing you tell it. Whether I'm right or wrong about the ending I still want to know how it happened . . . who was the Saiyan? How did he win? How did one Saiyan get strong enough to defeat the rest of his team and rescue your species?"

Konpeito sighed. He settled back down and said, "Well for starters . . . little Oozaru _didn't_. That's not really how the story ends . . . but I'll tell you what did happen."

"Are you going to tell me _soon_?" Karuto asked.

"Soon enough." Konpeito said.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Reds and Blues separate for a day of team building exercises, each warrior shows their peers what they're capable of outside of the arena starting with Anavill and Kodva._

 

_Character Image 11: Soda_

_Note: Tragically it isn't really possible for Soda to wear the Royal Army uniform so here she is in her civvies instead, though I think the first time she wears this outfit is in chapter 21. Her updated picture (whenever I get around to it) might see her donning the cap of the Royal Army, sadly nothing else is available. Fun Fact: While running around Xenoverse 2 some time after I'd started posting this story I saw another player who'd named their character Soda and wore the army cap. Probably just a coincidence, but it was still fun._


	13. Defenders' Day Out Part 1

**Episode Thirteen**

**'Defenders' Day Out Part 1'**

 

The courtyard turned training field of Capsule Corp. Headquarters, the locker room—or at least the women's locker room—and the sleeping quarters she shared with Pastel had not only become familiar sights for Anavill, over the past two months they had become her entire world.

She hadn't set foot inside a kitchen in all that time, hadn't visited her family's bakery.

But standing in the large restaurant quality kitchen of the Capsule Corp. Headquarters it was amazing how at home she felt.

"So what are we doing here, exactly?" Pastel asked. "We're not peeling potatoes are we?"

"Hah! Don't put ideas in my head, young'un!" Master Roshi cackled.

"Look our team's great, okay?" Bocan said, answering Pastel, "It's just our teamwork that's trash."

"Well maybe it wouldn't be if you didn't think you were so perfect." Pastel said haughtily.

Anavill couldn't help roll her eyes, but Bocan just laughed. "Yeah. Well I'm not perfect and you're about to see it, you should be pretty thrilled."

"It's not even my birthday." Pastel rolled her eyes now. Anavill nudged her. "What?"

Bocan smirked, "Yeah well we each have our strong suits, okay? And today, in the spirit of team building I'm letting someone else take charge and lead us in an exercise they're good at."

Pastel looked confused, then her gaze fell on Anavill.

Anavill smirked, "Also he wanted cookies."

"Also I wanted cookies." Bocan confirmed. "Ana's team leader today and she's going to command us in making the best cookies Capsule Corporation's ever seen."

"Are . . . are you serious?" Pastel gawked. "I mean . . . what does this have to do with martial arts?"

"Not a lot. But you're not just training to be martial artists, you're training to be Earth's Special Forces." Master Roshi explained.

"It's about being a team." Bocan said. "It's about finding ways to work past our differences. It's about celebrating our strengths, and recognizing the strengths of others. It's about cookies."

In spite of herself Pastel actually laughed at the last bit, and sighed. "Alright, I guess I'm on board."

"How about you, G?" Bocan asked Gurein.

The large, quiet warrior nodded solemnly, "I am always happy to learn a new skill from a master."

"If you want a master you should have gone to my mom," Anavill admitted, "but I'm not exactly a slouch. Been doin' this my whole life sans the last two months. Probably sans any time it took me to learn to walk, any time I was hiding from the Androids too . . . but my earliest memory is of one of those light bulb ovens."

"Well . . . okay." Pastel said slowly, apparently she wasn't sure how to respond to that.

Downtime had been an important part of the day for all of Earth's new Defense Force, Anavill usually spent hers in her room trying to read while Pastel complained about Bocan, or with Schip. She supposed she could have asked if baking something in the kitchen would be alright, but she sort of hadn't thought of it.

Really being a member of the EDF sort of felt like being in some kind of weird boarding school. She was learning to fly, and shoot light blasts from her hands—neither of which she'd actually mastered just yet, but then no one was really any good at them.

It might also have been because she felt fat in her skin tight blue training suit, but she hadn't asked to bake anything before the uniforms showed up so maybe not.

But whatever her reasons for staying away they all felt like a mistake now. It felt _good_ to be in a kitchen again. Even one she'd never set foot in before still felt familiar somehow. She was in her element and it didn't take her long to find her groove.

She ordered Red Team around the same way she would have ordered any newbie around in the bakery. Precise friendly orders, but no tolerance for nonsense or carelessness. Baking was like science, you made measurements, you made sure everything was precise, then you said to hell with it all and saw what worked.

Master Roshi was there to test their concoctions, and after a while the engineers Basil and Thyme showed up as well. More CC employees came by, even the actual kitchen staff who were more than a little annoyed about the mess.

Until they tried the cookies of course. Anavill would have been lying if she said she didn't take a measure of satisfaction in the way just a taste of her team's chocolate chip cookies had silenced any dissent, even that of the head chef, Asiago. To many people a cook was a cook, a pasty chef, which was what Anavill and her family were to give them their proper title, was a baker. In reality cooking, baking, broiling and burning were all different and necessary skill sets . . . well, maybe not so much burning.

The important thing was that an artisan was an artisan and when the old man's temper disappeared at one bite Anavill felt as exultant as she had the first time she'd managed to fly.

She was a fighter, and she was learning she was a good one. But she was an artist too, a baker "born 'n bread" as her mother liked to say, and she understood what Bocan was trying to get across to the rest of them by teaching them to bake, correcting their mistakes, offering advice where it was needed.

This wasn't just something she knew, it was something she lived. She could help them be better, she wanted to help them be better, and that was what Bocan was doing as well. He wasn't just good at martial arts he _lived_ martial arts. He wasn't trying to be a know it all, he wasn't trying to show off how much better he was, he wanted them to be the best they could be just like Anavill wanted to help them be the best bakers they could be.

Pastel seemed to understand too, at least a bit. She wasn't as harsh in her comebacks when Anavill corrected her, though she slipped a sharp remark in now and again that was just who she was, and having shared a room with her for two months Anavill knew she didn't actually mean anything by it.

Hopefully Bocan was seeing that too not being the target of her ire for a change. It was, in all honesty, the most fun Anavill had had while training.

They didn't make perfect cookies right off the bat of course, but their first attempt was nothing to sniff at. Master Roshi liked them at least. The second batch was better. The third was the one that impressed the kitchen staff, the fourth made a passing Mrs. Briefs stop muttering darkly about space telescopes and satellites long enough to ask if there were any more.

"There's plenty, and more where they came from . . . should we save some for Master Trunks and Blue Team?" Anavill asked.

"Where are they?" Pastel wondered, "Everyone else has turned up. Why aren't the blues here?"

"They're doing their own thing," Bocan said with a sly smirk. "Probably less fun."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

It _was_ less fun.

Rhyce didn't know that Bocan had made that declaration, but if she had she would have confirmed his suspicion.

In the same line as Bocan's team Soda had decided that they would get to know each other better though they had fewer personality conflicts. To begin with Kodva was teaching them how to meditate.

"Meditation can prepare you for a long arduous day, I do it every morning." Kodva explained. "Clearing your mind and inviting serenity might all sound cliché, but it really does help sometimes."

"Right . . . so how do we clear our minds?" Soda asked.

"Well if you try not to think of anything you'll just think of something," Kodva answered, and Rhyce nodded, that was true enough.

Often at bedtime she would stay awake for hours thinking of really unimportant things, her father had always told her to try not to think of anything and that just made her remember all the things she'd forgotten to think of earlier.

"What I find helps is to just imagine myself . . . well, being relaxed and carefree. Imagine a me without problems and since there's only one me the rest of me sort of . . . follows suit." Kodva said, sounding a bit embarrassed.

And he should be, that didn't make a lick of sense. Rhyce wanted to try, but . . . well, how could she imagine a version of herself that didn't have problems?

"Just breathe deep, seek peace." Kodva instructed.

"I'll give it a shot." Soda said, and Rhyce nodded that she would too. Schip was slumped over and suspiciously quiet, so Rhyce subtly gave him a light shove and he snapped awake.

"Right! Um . . . what?" He asked, looking around.

"It's been like three minutes." Soda said with a stern look, though her blue eyes were trying and failing to hide her amusement.

"Yeah . . . sorry, Kodva." Schip said sheepishly.

But the muscular monk just laughed, "You're just well relaxed, there's no need to apologize. Truth be told I don't expect you all to become Zen masters in an hour, but if I can teach you something that helps you then I'm happy."

"A good outlook." Soda said, then closed her eyes and seemed to be trying to focus, probably on not focusing.

Rhyce tried to relax and close her eyes, listening as Kodva repeated his instructions for Schip

"Just close your eyes and try to imagine yourself without problems, imagine yourself feeling relaxed and you'll start to relax."

"Yeah . . . I think that's what I was doing before." Schip said.

Rhyce focused on not focusing, _imagine me . . . but a relaxed me . . . alright . . ._ she thought.

She considered the things that usually relaxed her, but it was difficult . . . she wasn't exactly the most relaxed of people.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The training lounge of Kalt's ship was crowded now as everyone worked to get into top form. The Captain smiled approvingly as he watched his crew work, though Chillax couldn't help noticing that his Uncle wasn't joining them.

Training wasn't something that the PTO encouraged or expected, but drills were a good way to keep one's skills from deteriorating over long space trips.

It was beneath the Captain of course, but Chillax wouldn't have minded seeing his uncle put some effort into his own battle readiness just in case a Saiyan or two popped up.

Not that the Commander was too worried, he was stronger than anyone on the ship and no one who could condense their power level to five could be a threat to him half-Saiyan or not.

He hoped at least.

"Don't slip up in your drills," He told his team, "the whole ship is going to count on us if things go bad."

"They'll count on you you mean." Damson told him.

"They'll count on all of us," The Commander said, "I can't be everywhere at once, if the Earthlings have any hidden tricks like the Iwatians did we could have a lot worse than just five losses this time around. But we're elites, we should do our best to give the others something to aspire to."

"Trust us, we know." Ayappa said. "After all, us Appullatiens are always the most expendable."

"We're the first to go." Avaug agreed.

"That's because we've got so many of you." Damson chuckled, clacking his beak.

"There being a lot of us doesn't make our lives any less valuable to _us_ you know." Ayappa said.

"Yeah, we don't want to be casually discarded like Cereza!" Avaug agreed.

"You think the Captain got rid of Cereza because he was an Appullatien?" Chillax tried not to scoff. He tried to respect his elites' opinions but how ridiculous.

"No, not because he was an Appullatien," Ayappa said, "Cereza was a total fish brain who failed and then made a bigger mess of things. But . . ."

"It's just that he wouldn't have done it at all to an Arcosian." Ganmo suggested, and Ayappa and Avaug both nodded.

Chillax frowned, "Of course he wouldn't have killed another Arcosian that way."

He and the rest of the team continued to practice their drills but Chillax wondered.

His elites were strong, they were paragons of their races, and even Cereza had been a strong fighter . . . who'd been discarded to make a point more than anything else.

That hadn't been right, it'd even shaken Karuto . . . but . . .

What did the Appullatiens expect? They _were_ expendable, weren't they? The Arcosians had one or two children at a time but Appullatiens could breed dozens at a time and they were strong enough to be the perfect shock troop.

But they had served the PTO since the days of King Cold's ancestors . . . they'd always been expendable foot soldiers.

Was that wrong?

Chillax didn't consider Ayappa or Avaug expendable, they were elites, they were strong, they'd proven their worth.

But that didn't make them equal, they weren't Arcosians. Even so Captain Kalt's plans would never just render his squad expendable and other people's problems were other people's problems. So why should they be worried?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

From the top of the domed Capsule Corp. Headquarters where he stood enjoying his own quiet reflection Trunks smiled watching Blue Team trying to meditate in the courtyard. It seemed like a strange method of team building to him, but then it wasn't really much of his business how they did it, he and Roshi had agreed with Soda and Bocan that it should be done.

In truth he enjoyed letting the team leaders have more control over their teams, though he wondered if such a regimented militaristic style was going to persist. For the moment he was just going with what worked, but he'd sort of assumed at the start that once everyone had flight and energy blasts under control he'd release them back to their lives to improve on their own.

That was how the old team had always done it after all. No one was ever a slave to Earth's defense, and sometimes some of them wouldn't even come to face some challenges.

Maybe it wouldn't be ideal, but Trunks had sort of just assumed that that was how it would go. He knew Master Roshi at least was beginning to long for his deserted island, he often mentioned the hope that Oolong and Puar left to their own devices for so long hadn't ruined the place.

But Trunks was getting so used to having these eight fighters around, and with his mother's plans to create a gravity training center for them like the one that existed in Capsule Corp. in the alternate time-line it seemed like she at least expected them to stick around a while longer.

Trunks hadn't really discussed what would come next with his team leaders or with Roshi. In the case of the former two he hoped he could give the impression that he already had a plan while he tried to think one up, in the case of the latter . . . well, it was just difficult to really discuss that sort of thing with the old Master.

He was a welcome and necessary addition to the team, Trunks couldn't imagine the training without the old teacher, but he also understood that he couldn't force him to go against his nature and remain if his hermit heart bade him to leave. Trunks worried that the discussion would only intensify that longing.

And would it be so bad? After all Earth's Defenders had been a quiet order before never needing public aggrandizement. They had more power than any military but had never tried to be militaristic, Trunks' own father had been a prince but had never tried to rule.

 _But it's different now._ Trunks thought. _That was then, and this is now. That was their time, but this is mine. I can try to keep things the way they were before I was even old enough to know what a Saiyan was, but whether I like it or not that's just not the world I live in._

No, his world was one without Dragon Balls, without experienced warriors apart from himself and Roshi, and where his identity as the savior of humanity was a matter of public knowledge.

Things were different. He still didn't want his teams to start feeling like a military and once they were advanced enough to train on their own he'd still let them go their own ways. Soda would return to the military, Roshi would return to his island, Rhyce and Gurein would go to their village, Kodva would return to his monastery, and Bocan would return to battling in martial arts tournaments.

After all now that there was peace in the world the people could afford to hold the same sort of grand events they used to without fear of a couple of androids showing up to ruin it all and kill everyone.

Schip and Anavill both lived in West City, Schip didn't seem to actually live anywhere in particular so he might stay on and Anavill's bakery was close enough that she'd probably visit Capsule Corp. for her training. Pastel's original home town had been destroyed, so like Schip she didn't really have anywhere else to go . . . maybe she'd stay too.

And maybe they'd help Trunks to train another batch of fighters, though he doubted he'd have the same luck he'd had with this group.

Most people just lacked the raw potential needed to use energy blasts and to fly, even those who could learn usually wouldn't become very strong very fast. Not everyone had the advantage of alien blood, after all.

Trunks thought about it a bit longer until the smell of cookies finally reached him on the top of the dome.

He looked down at Blue Team again, it seemed like they were doing all right, Rhyce was squirming a lot and Schip was probably asleep, but Soda seemed to be meditating properly, and Kodva was no surprise.

The young warrior flew quietly down to the balcony outside the lounge to avoid disturbing anyone in the courtyard and headed for the kitchen.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Konpeito's tale continues as he recounts how he and the young Saiyan finally reached the Great Tree . . . and its fruit . . ._

 

 _Character Image 12: Captain Kalt_  
  
Note: This is Xenoverse 2 Kalt, he doesn't look quite like he's described, particularly with his horns, I preferred this look. Consider it a "transformation" if that helps.


	14. In the Shadow of the Tree

**Episode Fourteen**

**'In the Shadow of the Tree'**

 

Konpeito was exhausted when his tribe finally reached the great tree.

Or at least its roots, which extended for miles from the trunk. The roots ended where the trees of the forest did. Like some sort of ancient sentinel the great tree stood alone, the wild forests that surrounded it kept their distance like worshiping subjects to this deity of tree-kind.

"Are you sure this is a tree?" The little sky demon asked, "The forest just stops then it's an ocean of giant roots all leading to a trunk like a mountain! It seems more like it's a whole different planet!"

"Some say it came from the heavens," Korizato said, "but it's definitely a tree."

"These roots should provide us some safety at least." Konpeito said, "They're large enough to be an obstruction to the Oozaru, but they protrude from the ground high enough for us to run under them."

"Must we run?" Korizato complained. "Almost everyone is too tired, Kon. We've run for so long, not all of us are hunters."

"I understand that, but we can't just relax." Konpeito said. "We have to press on, Bingtang and the others sold their lives to buy us time, we cannot squander it."

"But most of us just can't continue." One hunter told Konpeito, "Kon—er . . . well, elder, we're just too tired."

It was strange but it was only then, being called by someone Konpeito would have considered a peer that the hunter finally realized that he had become the village's elder . . .

Even though he wasn't elderly.

He looked at the collection of three tribes from three villages, many of his people were gone forever but he owed it to those who were left to carry on.

"How many strong backs do we have?" He asked. "If we can't run we need to at least walk. Anyone too tired to move forward at all can be carried, but even if it's just a slow walk we cannot stop."

There was a great deal of murmuring, but Korizato snapped, "You heard your elder! I don't like it any better than you do, but Kon is right! Bingtang and the others died for this, and here we are! We have to continue."

With some reluctance the group continued their walk. Little Oozaru actually led the way, the massive trunk was easily visible now without the forest's thick canopy overhead to block out the view.

The sun was rising in the sky and the blue star remained in the distance, though Konpeito didn't hear the Oozaru anymore.

"When will the star disappear?" Konpeito asked.

Little Oozaru seemed surprised, "What?"

"The star, when will it disappear?"

"Soon. Near as I can tell they called it not too long after sunset, but we've been running most of the night."

"Which is respectable for non-hunters." Korizato whispered to Konpeito and Konpeito squeezed his mate's hand.

"You all did very well." Konpeito said, "But I'll feel better when we're to safety."

Korizato nodded. The group struggled on, Konpeito didn't hear any Oozaru but whenever he looked over his shoulder the blue star remained, obscured only by the occasional tree root, or the pillars of smoke from the places where the forest burned.

"The people must know they're in danger." Little Oozaru observed, "Is there any sort of defense at this tree? An army or anything?"

"You'll find only the greatest elders and healers, there's never been a need for anything else." Konpeito said. "In ancient times our people had armies, but resources became more scarce and supporting large population centers wasn't possible around the same time as the tree appeared."

"So every city and nation broke up into smaller villages, those villages help each other when they can but mostly just keep to themselves. We have hunters, but no real warriors." Korizato added. "Still the tree will have the largest collection of hunters there is, it might be like an army."

"Good." Little Oozaru said thoughtfully. "You'll need it."

Konpeito didn't like the way it said that, but the young leader didn't question it.

Konpeito simply led the survivors of the three villages on. They had made it halfway to the trunk when the blue star finally disappeared. It was only then that Konpeito let his people stop to rest.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Were you afraid?" Karuto asked.

"Extremely. I was not just afraid for myself and Kori anymore, I had to be afraid for all of my people."

Karuto frowned. "I'm sorry." He said suddenly, surprising even himself.

Konpeito seemed surprised too, and after a while he said, "Thank you. But it was the Saiyans that caused my fear. You were not even born yet."

"They were there because we sent them." Karuto pointed out.

"As you said, they would have attacked us even if you had not."

Karuto nodded slowly, "Yeah . . . but it might have taken them longer to get around to it. When we first encountered them they had just barely built a rocket to get off their planet. They had fought a war and wiped out the species they shared the planet with and they wanted someone else to fight. We paid them to conquer a planet for us, and it went well. So Cousin Frieza annexed their world and made them part of our Empire."

"Little Oozaru mentioned some of that." Konpeito said. "It said the Tuffles were terrible creatures that used its people for their strength but because of that same strength never let them live in the big cities that the Tuffles built. They had to live in the wastelands, in caves. Finally they attacked and after ten years they won. I remember it made Kori very sad to know our—uh that the Saiyan grew up fighting a war.  
"Now I understand that there could have been no happier upbringing for a Saiyan child, and it must have been glorious to overthrow their oppressors." Konpeito said, looking off into one of the windows of the lab into the emptiness of space.

Karuto decided to talk to Chillax more about those things before bed, though it was getting late. He had used his off hours to listen to Konpeito's story for most of the trip to Earth, he was eager to learn more.

Chillax's papa was a doctor, Karuto wondered if his cousin would know anything about growing back Saiyan tails.

"Tell me more." Karuto urged. "Tell me what happened when you reached the tree. Did you meet the sages?"

"Not right away . . ."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"What do you mean?" Korizato roared, taking a menacing step forward. "I know this creature seems strange, but it can help us! How dare you refuse it aid!"

"Our own kind must come first." The servant speaking of the healing sages said very slowly, as if he were speaking to a small child, or a fool. Konpeito bristled at the insult, and many of his hunters and followers did too. They were of the same village after all, an insult to one of them was an insult to all of them.

That might have been why Kori was so defensive of the little demon as well. Perhaps, Konpeito thought, Korizato had decided that the monster was of their village as well.

"I am a healer, I will help any injured while the sages see to this one!" Korizato insisted, "But it's for the good of our race that you help!"

"Our own kind must come first." The servant repeated. "The Wise Elders are busy seeing to as many of the hurt and injured as they can, they simply cannot help this strange monster. Your pet must-"

"My pet!?" Kori roared and one of Konpeito's hunters quickly rushed forward to place himself between the outraged healer and the surprisingly unfazed servant.

Konpeito was surprisingly annoyed as well. The newly appointed elder stepped forward in a far more diplomatic manner, large hands outstretched to show no malice and said, "I am the leader of this village by the command of Bingtang who surrendered his life so that we could reach this place and so that this creature—who is no pet—could reach this place. I assure you, this creature knows about the attacks, it understands and it can stop them if we can restore its tail."

"Even if the elders had the time to spare I don't think they could restore a limb unless you had the severed limb with you." The servant said with only the very slightest hint of an apologetic tone.

"I don't need the old one back, I need the new one to grow!" The little demon suddenly spoke up, sliding down from Konpeito's shoulders and taking a menacing step towards the elder as Korizato had done. Konpeito thought it cute until he felt the sharp increase in the little demon's energy and saw the fiery aura begin to spark around its small form.

The servant saw this too and took a step back in surprise. Little Oozaru seemed to remember itself and quickly backed down, it lowered its gaze and said, "Please, I have to have my tail back. Without it . . . I'm just not complete without it. I need it!"

The servant was quiet for a long time, simply standing there seeming stunned. Konpeito was rather surprised as well. Finally the servant said, "I have only ever seen the elders make their auras visible like that . . . whatever your crea—uh your companion is, clearly it is special. Weak, but special."

Little Oozaru glared when it was called weak, but Korizato said, "My ward is stronger than you know. But we still need the help of the Wise Elders."

"I . . . will tell them . . . but I do not know that they will choose to lend aid. And in any event even I cannot simply approach them, there are . . . hierarchies and channels to go through." The servant admitted. "If you tell me where your band will be camped I can have word to you no later than nightfall . . . but no sooner than midday."

Konpeito nodded and said, "Thank you," before anyone could complain or argue. "That will be enough. We don't know where we'll be camped, but either I or one of my people will be here waiting for you until nightfall."

The servant nodded and rushed off, Korizato seemed annoyed. Konpeito said, "Midday to nightfall is better than nothing."

"Nightfall is when the attacks happen." Korizato reminded him.

"I know." Konpeito said. He looked at his ward and asked, "Will that be enough time for you to stop the Oozaru?"

Little Oozaru folded its arms and said, "I don't know . . . but I've got an idea."

"What?" Korizato asked.

"The fruit. The fruit might heal me, right?" The little creature asked.

"Yes, according to legends at least." Korizato said hesitantly.

"And the tree might have some fruit left at the very top." The little monster said.

"Yes but we could never climb that high." Konpeito sighed.

Little Oozaru looked up and said, "I don't need to climb."

Without another word the little creature grabbed Korizato's wrist and Konpeito's and suddenly the three of them were rising into the air. Konpeito shouted in alarm as his feet left the ground. The rose higher and higher. They were above the roots, they were rising up the trunk.

Konpeito was amazed as it slowly dawned on him . . . Little Oozaru could fly . . .

Little Oozaru could fly, and was strong enough to lift both him and Korizato, but somehow still the most impressive thing was that Little Oozaru could fly.

"Kori . . ." Konpeito said breathlessly, "You always dreamed of flying."

"Yes . . ." Korizato said, holding tight onto little Oozaru's hand, "But would you believe . . . I know now that I'm afraid of heights, Kon!"

"I won't drop you." Little Oozaru said, "You've been too kind to me for that. Besides, I don't know what the fruit looks like."

"The fruit of the gods . . ." Korizato whispered breathless either from the realization or the fear of the situation, though Konpeito suspected the latter.

"You're flying us to the top of the tree?" Konpeito asked.

"Thats right! Could a weak creature do that?" Little Oozaru sneered, though Konpeito knew the anger was directed at the Wise Elders' servant, not at him.

"You are a truly amazing being, my little one!" Korizato said, still clutching the monster's hand tight in fear, but looking at the ground below them with awe.

The little monster didn't answer, they only flew on.

It was a very long way to the branches and leaves at the top, but they reached them. Before they went into the tree's greenery Konpeito looked from what was perhaps one of the highest points of his world in amazement at the forests below. The hunter-turned-elder could see the smoking craters where the Oozaru had battled the previous night, there were six of them and one was far larger than the rest, visible even from so high up in the tree.

They were so close . . . it was horrifying. Konpeito could even see the crater where Bingtang and the others had likely made their stand. It was the nearest to the tree, and not nearly far enough away for Konpeito's liking.

Their escape had been closer than he'd realized.

He also noticed that the forest wasn't ablaze . . . the craters were wide, but hadn't spread fires very far the way the flames had spread the night Little Oozaru had come.

"The gods must be weeping at our weakness." Korizato said solemnly as they were taken into the tree's branches and leaves.

"What do you mean?" Konpeito asked.

"So much destruction, and us powerless to stop it. We're too weak." Kori explained.

Konpeito sighed, then said, "The strongest of the strong can stand before the storm and still perish. It is not unwise to seek shelter from forces you cannot contend with. Little Oozaru is our only hope."

"No . . . fruit is." Little Oozaru said. "I need to find some . . . what does it look like?"

Konpeito wasn't sure, the Iwatian just assumed that the fruit would be obvious if it still existed.

But the tree was large, and they searched for more than an hour before finally, "There!" Korizato said, "That must be it!"

Konpeito could see the sunlight shining through the leaves. The three companions were near the very top of the tree and close to the trunk when they saw the small light orange spheres dangling from the topmost branches from thick stems still attached to the green leafed branches.

They were round and covered in bumps. Little Oozaru set Konpeito and Korizato down on a high branch and floated over to one of the pieces of fruit.

The small creature looked at them, it had a strange sort of expression.

Happy . . . excited . . . and yet regretful as well.

Konpeito didn't understand. "Go on," He urged, "this is what you came for . . ."

Little Oozaru nodded and reached out for one of the fruits.

The little monster tore the orange orb from its stem and took a deep breath. Konpeito looked out through the leaves at the midday sun, if Little Oozaru's tail grew back they would have plenty of time before the night came and the next attack to send the real Oozaru away.

"Uh . . . well . . . can you climb down from here?"

"Are you serious?" Konpeito gawked.

"I don't know what'll happen, what if I bite into this and die?" Little Oozaru said.

"Well maybe we should go down first," Korizato said, offering an herbs satchel to Little Oozaru. "Take the fruit down and eat it there, that way if you do get sick the elders can heal you."

"Wait, gather more pieces than just that." Konpeito said, "A few extra pieces of fruit should really get the elders' attention."

"Good idea." Little Oozaru said and, taking Kori's satchel plucked more pieces of fruit.

Then, taking the hands of the two Iwatians the smaller creature began to descent from the treetop, it felt more terrifying than the ascent had been. Konpeito had the distinct feeling of falling and had to assure himself that it was not a complete drop but a gentle one.

The Iwatian refused to shut his eyes though, he was experiencing something he would likely never experience again. Korizato too, despite the obvious fear, watched the world beneath them rise up to meet them.

"This is amazing . . ." Korizato whispered.

"I guess it's pretty neat if you've never done it." Little Oozaru said lightly, "Maybe I can teach you . . . I mean . . . well I don't know . . ."

"That'd be . . . I don't know if I could even learn." Korizato whispered, "I don't know if I'd have the courage to do it even if I could."

"Don't be silly, of course you would." Konpeito scolded, "You're very brave, my love. Brave enough to spend weeks in a cave in the wilds with me and what we all thought was a demon."

"You were the one brave enough to take that demon in." Korizato said, "Maybe you should learn to fly."

"You could both learn." Little Oozaru said dryly, then added, "I mean . . . maybe. I've never taught it before . . . if this works, and if you survive . . . I'll teach you."

"What do you mean 'if' we survive?" Konpeito asked. "Aren't you going to stop the Oozaru?"

"We don't know that it'll work." Little Oozaru reminded Konpeito.

"That's what the extra fruit is for, if it doesn't heal you it might tempt the sages to do the job instead." Konpeito said.

"I just want my tail back . . . I'm tired of being afraid." Little Oozaru grumbled. "I'm tired of feeling confused. I just want this all to be over . . ."

"Me too." Korizato said soothingly, forgetting to be afraid it seemed when the little monster needed comfort.

Konpeito smiled as they reached the ground to the shock and awe of many, many Iwatians.

"Now, quickly!" Korizato said, taking a piece of fruit out of the satchel and handing it to little Oozaru.

The small creature took the fruit and shut its eyes. It swallowed a lump in its throat and with shaking hands raised the fruit to its mouth.

It took a bite . . .

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Pastel and Schip show their respective teams what they've got, and Master Roshi asks Trunks just when he feels like his students will be ready. Will Trunks have to accept that training can only get them so far?_

 

_Character Image 13: Karuto_  


_Note: Karuto was actually designed by one of my friends, but I had to recreate him for this image upload. He looks slightly different from the original design, I'm told his colors in this image aren't quite right. This friend wasn't particularly interested in being named, but did serve as the beta reader for Season One. She also designed Karuto's fathers, and Fun Fact: When we learned that Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama had decided Arcosians reproduce asexually just like Namekians the story had already been going for a while and references to plural parents had already been made by multiple characters and Frostburn's tendency to sleep around had already been alluded to. In the end I was more or less inclined to suggest that the Arcosians are still capable of single-parent reproduction only go about half-way with it and let someone else fill in the gaps artificially. It's tenuous to be sure._


	15. Defenders' Day Out Part 2

**Episode Fifteen**

**'Defenders' Day Out Part 2'**

 

"Are you serious about this?" Anavill asked.

Pastel rolled her eyes as she handed the company credit card that Master Trunks had given them to the clerk.

"Of course I am. Driving is what I do." Pastel told her.

"Yeah, it's what _you_ do." Anavill pointed out. "If you want to like, have us ride along with you that'd be one thing but I've never driven a real car before!"

"Neither has Gurein, and these aren't real cars." Pastel said with a wink.

"She does have a point." Bocan agreed. "Besides, the idea is to learn something new, right Ana?"

"Yes . . ." Anavill agreed.

"It's more fun than you think. You liked flying, well this is just like that except you're strapped into a machine and you're on the ground." Pastel told them.

"So the opposite?" Gurein smiled.

"Only technically, the feeling's the same." Pastel explained. "The wind in your face, the adrenaline pumping through your veins, the excitement and that moment when you realize 'I _can_ do this!"

Anavill smiled too, "All right, all right. Let's do it!"

"Three words everyone loves to hear." Pastel winked again. She tossed Anavill a helmet and added, "Safety first."

"The two words that should always follow." Bocan added.

Pastel shook her head in disappointment,"See, you went and made it too obvious now."

"Shame on you." Gurein agreed, but Bocan looked genuinely bewildered.

Anavill laughed in spite of how nervous she felt. Bocan still seemed confused but evidently decided to move on. He said, "It's weird no one else is here . . ."

"Yeah . . . I mean it would be if I hadn't phoned ahead and reserved the whole place for an hour." Pastel shrugged. "Gotta love the company card, right?"

"Why would you do that?" Anavill asked.

"Well like you said, you haven't driven before . . . we're gonna need a little time to make you . . . uh . . ."

"Able to drive without causing physical harm to others?" Gurein offered.

"Hey now, your words not mine." Pastel said. "It's not hard I just figured you guys could use a little privacy, nobody likes messing up in front of a big audience. Besides we don't want people recognizing us someday when we're Earth's famous defense force and thinking 'wow, those are those losers who couldn't handle go-carts."

Anavill shuddered, "I guess that's a good idea. Still I feel kind of bad depriving other people of the place for an hour."

"Don't, school gets out in two hours and most responsible adults are at work. There probably wouldn't have been anyone here anyway, I just made sure."

"You know, it's funny." Gurein said, "A season ago I was nobody, and never had to think about trying to save face in front of strangers. Today I'm still nobody as far as the world is concerned but it's strange to realize that someday I might be somebody."

"You're already somebody. You placed second in the Golden Warrior's martial arts tournament." Bocan pointed out.

"Yes but only second. The thing is, if we really did become famous for saving earth someday we'd never have a private day again. It would be very hard to have a private life." Gurein said.

"Not to mention people would always want our attention and our autographs." Pastel agreed. "All the more reason to enjoy it while we can, right?"

"That's probably why Master Trunks didn't come along today." Anavill thought out loud. "I mean I guess he really didn't do himself any favors revealing his identity."

"Is that it?" Pastel asked, "I just assumed he'd wanted to go with Soda's team. I haven't seen him all day, not even for the cookies."

"He wasn't with them," Gurein said, "I think he's been on his own."

"Well sometimes you just need to be alone. Hopefully he enjoys his personal day." Bocan said.

"Yeah and hopefully you guys learn the basics before school's out." Pastel said. "Now most important of all, if there's a pink car . . . dibs."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"I won't lie, this is not what I expected you to bring us to." Rhyce told Schip.

"Yeah . . . well so far as hobbies went there wasn't much for a kid on the streets." Schip said with a shrug. "I could show you guys how to collect trash and turn it in for coins but if I told you that was how I made my money I'd be lying."

"Still." Rhyce said.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy it more than meditation at least." Kodva pointed out.

"Probably." Rhyce admitted. "I've actually never swung a bat before."

"It's not that hard, I figured it out without anyone to teach me. But you guy's have got me to show you, so it'll be even easier." Schip told her.

"So this place was still standing?" Soda asked Schip. "You'd think the Androids would have wrecked anything to do with fun."

"What do you mean?" Kodva asked.

"Well I was with what was left of the military since I was old enough to carry a gun, they'd send us into areas where the Androids had been sighted and we were usually too late. I think that was by design honestly, squads that showed up on time to help didn't come back. But most of the places where attacks happened were theme parks and arcades. I'd heard one of our Intelligence guys reasoned that the bas—um that the Androids had been trying to amuse themselves and simply become bored or frustrated, he was practically laughed off the base. Go figure he'd be right. It just seems weird, I know West City wasn't hit as hard as some others but that they'd leave these batting cages alone . . ."

"They didn't actually. I guess they tried the cages out and didn't like 'em. This place was wrecked, but some people found a couple of the machines still working and with not much else to do kids just started coming here. They did a lot worse to the mini-golf course though."

"Yeah? Well I won't fault them on that." Soda said, "Trust me, when it comes time for my talent it sure won't be mini-golf, I'd probably wreck the place worse than the Androids did, and that'd just be me trying to win."

"Surely you can't be that bad." Kodva said.

"Yeah? You know how most people complain about the windmill? I _never_ got that far." Soda said.

"Don't you just move on after you've failed for a certain amount of time?" Rhyce asked.

"My friends did." Soda said, "Begged me to come along too but you know what? Turns out ten year old me was amazingly stubborn. Eleven year old me was worse. Twelve year old me was banned from the mini-golf course because attacking the laughing clown carries a lifelong ban. "

Rhyce stared for a moment, she'd always been a little embarrassed about her own . . . hasty temper. "I . . . would actually like to see that." To think that a woman as refined as Soda would have been the same way when she was younger actually made her feel a little bit better.

"Wasn't as funny as I make it sound." Soda said, blushing slightly. "It's not fun getting thrown out of places. Besides, twelve year old me couldn't fly or shoot laser beams from her hands so just imagine what twenty two year old me can do."

"You're twenty two?" Rhyce blinked. She hadn't realized Soda was that young. Not that she looked old, just that she was a military officer who'd fought the Androids for years. "I didn't know you could be a lieutenant at twenty two."

"Well I definitely owe some of it to the situation and the lack of other candidates, a lot of us lower grade officers were promoted because of the Android Crisis. Actually part of the reason I jumped at the chance to do this Earth's Defenders thing wasn't so much that I actually believed I'd ever fly or shoot laser beams, but just because a lot of the officers didn't think I should keep my rank now that the crisis is over. I guess I just wanted to show them they were wrong, figured if I became a big enough hero no one would ever question my rank."

"Well that shouldn't come up here." Schip said with a laugh, "I think we all think you're a pretty good lieutenant."

"The only one we know." Rhyce added with a smile.

"Yeah, you're all sweethearts." Soda smirked.

"So," Schip asked, "who wants to go first?"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks felt restless. He was pacing back and forth in the lounge almost just to have something to occupy his focus.

For almost three months he'd spent every waking moment training his teams, now with a day leaving them to their own devices he found he didn't even really remember what to do alone.

Actually it was more that he had never had to learn what to do when he was alone in a time of peace.

His mother was busy, he hadn't seen Roshi, all of the students were out in the city and there was only so much of Basil and Thyme that he could stand before he began to suspect that they were just making up words to see if he could tell the difference.

Of course he couldn't spend all day in solitude but revealing his identity also meant that just infiltrating everyday life was impossible. He couldn't walk down the street, he couldn't just hit up a mall.

Was there a mall? He actually wasn't sure. He supposed there must be, the city was pretty healthy and most healthy cities had malls. The old one had been destroyed of course but it seemed to him like it should have been rebuilt.

He wondered if he should go looking for one when he sensed a strong power approaching.

Trunks felt no alarm, he knew who this was. "Master Roshi? What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to discuss the troops with you, General." Roshi told him with a smile.

"Don't call me that." Trunks groaned, "I don't want to think of us as an army."

"Oh all right, all right," Roshi said, taking a seat on the couch. He watched as Trunks continued to pace for a moment before the younger fighter stood still and turned to face him.

"Sorry. So uh, what did you want to discuss about the team?"

"Mostly what your plans are for them moving forward." Roshi said. "They're all getting pretty strong, the gravity training will push them even further. But they can't become Super Saiyans, they won't increase in strength as fast as you can. So when will you finally feel comfortable leaving them in charge?"

"I don't know. Fights aren't just about raw strength, but I'd like them to get a little stronger at least. Besides, it isn't like mom has even found New Namek yet, I don't even know how she's looking." Trunks thought for a moment and said, "I think . . . if they could hold their own against me a bit better when we spar I'd feel comfortable going to New Namek and leaving Earth in their care."

"That would take years of training." Roshi pointed out. "Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, they all trained most of their lives to be able to even approach a Saiyan's power."

"But they _could_ do it." Trunks pointed out. "Saiyans weren't some kind of gods."

"No, but they did learn a lot faster than us earthlings, their power increased at a radical rate."

"So radical it got them wiped out." Trunks pointed out.

"Maybe so. But remember, you are half Saiyan. You'll always increase your strength faster than the rest of them."

Trunks frowned, "So what are you saying?"

"That maybe _you_ shouldn't be the measuring stick. I may be as advanced in years as I am in martial arts skill, but all this training is putting some grease on the rust and I think it'd be the better graduation test."

Trunks smiled, "Well . . . maybe. But do you really think you can take them all?"

"Right now? Yes. Even though I'm not quite in my prime. But once they've had some training in the gravity room I think they might be ready to take me on one on one."

Trunks blushed and asked, "Um . . . I don't want to be rude but just how strong _are_ you?"

Master Roshi laughed and said, "Well let's just say that if Raditz showed up today things would be far different if he met me now than they were those years ago."

Trunks scratched his cheek and looked off to the side. He wasn't quite sure how to put it . . . but that was a truly underwhelming revelation.

"I understand that might not be quite what you were hoping for, Trunks," Master Roshi pointed out, "But remember this is their first test. They won't be as strong as you off the bat, they won't be anywhere near your strength for years and even if they do reach where you are now you'll be somewhere else a mile away. That's what it means to be Earth's greatest defender."

"No, you're right." Trunks said, bowing slightly. "I'm sorry, I should be thinking of this as a . . . a winding road, rather than a set destination. It's just . . . knowing that in some other time line I was killed by Cell . . . knowing that there's a reality where Earth has _no_ defenders . . . I don't want that to be _this_ time line too."

"Neither do I." Master Roshi assured him. "It won't be. You've done a good job training these new recruits."

"So have you. But I'm curious, Master . . . were you ever going to teach any of them the Kamehameha wave?" Trunks asked.

Roshi laughed again and headed for the door. At first Trunks thought he wasn't going to get an answer, but Roshi said, "I thought it'd be you who'd ask to learn it first."

Trunks frowned, "Well . . . I guess . . . it just didn't seem right for me to ask. I mean that was Gohan's move, and Goku's. I guess I've always been just fine with my own techniques."

"Hmm . . . interesting." Master Roshi said, then left.

Trunks stared at the door for a moment, then said, "That didn't really answer my question though . . ."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Chillax and his team continued their drills long after the rest of the crew had stopped for the day but what Ayappa had said was bothering him. He hated to admit it but the more he thought on it the more it bothered him.

Not that the Appullatiens valued their own lives, that was obvious, but that they would serve the Arcosians if they thought their lives weren't being sold for the proper price. He couldn't help but ask, "Avaug, Ayappa, what made you two stronger than the rest of your kind?"

"Couldn't tell you honestly." Avaug said.

"They're on your team." Prage said.

Chillax glowered, "Did you just try to-"

"I'm not sucking up to you Chief," Prage said quickly, "I know you don't like that, but the fact is they're stronger because they're on your squad. Same for me and Ganmo. Only Damson was already strong on his own."

"What are you saying," Chillax asked, "that my awesome power radiates and makes you stronger?"

"No. But isn't it obvious?" Ganmo asked, "We drill twice as long and twice as hard as everyone else."

"No wonder you like being in this squad so much." Damson teased and the team shared a laugh. Chillax joined them but only because there was no one around to hear him laugh at such a juvenile joke.

"Well everyone knows drills and training get you into fighting shape and keep you from slipping," Ganmo said, "It's pretty obvious we started getting stronger when you took command. I thought you _knew_ what you were doing, I thought this was all on purpose."

Chillax shrugged, "This is just . . . what I do, I don't want my skills to slip and I don't want all of you being weak either. Do you really think just drilling twice as much would strengthen the whole crew?"

"I thought so . . . maybe we're just amazing." Ganmo said.

"It does make sense though, all of our power levels were only two thousand when you took over. We were already stronger than most but we've just been getting stronger since we've been doing double the work." Avaug said.

"Except mine." Damson snorted. "But hard work equals results, that's been a thing known to me since my childhood. I assumed you knew that too."

The Commander was feeling a little embarrassed by his troops apparently thinking he was even smarter than he was. He just shrugged and continued training, "I guess on an instinctive level maybe, I know I like the feeling of accomplishment that comes from doing better than before, and rumor has it that's what the secret to General Boreal's success is . . ."

"And as much as the Captain might hate him Boreal is probably the third strongest of your race after the twins." Ayappa said.

"But if you've come so far why don't more?" Chillax asked.

"When would we find the time? There aren't enough hours in the day for anyone to train to be strong enough as an Arcosian, you all just get stronger faster."

"Your power level was only a little higher than mine when I joined the team now you've left me in the dust." Damson said. "You Arcosians are the strongest and the fastest. That's why you lead the Empire, no one can compare."

Chillax hesitated and messed up his routine. Rather than try to salvage the rotation he just stopped and looked at his team. He wondered then if _that_ had been the reason the Saiyans had had to go . . . had Lord Frieza somehow known that that was how his soldiers viewed the Arcosians? Would a species like the Saiyans who could increase their own power so quickly have threatened to replace the Arcosians as the true power of the Planet Trade Organization.

_Coward._ He decided. _If that's the case you deserved to go down Cousin. I would have welcomed the rivalry of the Saiyans and whipped the rest of the organization into shape to keep up with or surpass them. Did you doom our entire Empire because you were too lazy to properly train?_

No, none of that could be right. There had to be something else, something must have driven Lord Frieza to destroy the Saiyans and in the end they _had_ killed him they had proven that they _were_ too dangerous to just leave.

But would they have if they hadn't been treated that way?

_Probably._ Chillax realized, falling back into the drills. He sad, "Well Arcosians might always rule, but don't forget a good Overlord doesn't punish an undeserving underling. Don't slip up and I won't _let_ the Captain discard any of you, humanoid, Appullatien, or . . . whatever Damson is."

"Yes sir!" The five of them shouted together.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Whoa man! You were right, Pastel that was just like flying!" Anavill cried in excitement as they left the go-kart track.

"See? What did I tell you?" Pastel laughed. "You didn't even do too bad yourself, Bocan. Why didn't you tell me you'd never driven before?"

"I _have_ driven before." Bocan said patiently.

Pastel nudged his elbow playfully, "You could've fooled me, poster boy!"

Bocan blushed, "Well . . . I mean . . . air cars mostly. It was weird being stuck on four wheels. Besides, I wouldn't really call what you do 'driving' that was on a whole other plane."

It was Pastel's turn to blush, "Ah shaddap." She said with a slight smile.

"It was quite the adventure." Gurein said. "I'm almost embarrassed to show you what I'm good at now. I mean apart from putting up with my little sister's temper tantrums nothing nearly as high octane and adrenaline pumping as all that."

They all laughed. They'd seen that Rhyce was a little quick tempered, but she was always quick to come down from it. Pastel even said, "I think I've got a worse temper than she does."

"Definitely." Bocan agreed.

Gurein smiled, "Your storm rages longer it's true but frankly a thousand short squalls can be worse than a great typhoon."

"Point taken." Pastel said.

"Well don't worry about it, after all my talent was baking." Anavill said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you can show us!"

"Me too." Bocan said.

"Me three. Come on Red Team, let's keep going!" Pastel cried.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"So . . . that's how it feels to get thrown out of someplace." Rhyce sighed.

"Yeah." Soda said sheepishly.

"You're right . . . it's not fun." Schip sighed too.

"Well . . . I mean it's hardly our fault . . ." Kodva grumbled.

"Yeah!" Rhyce agreed. "Yeah, they'll be happy we're that strong when we're busy _defending the planet_!"

"Right?" Soda scoffed.

"We broke the bats . . . we knocked holes through the chain link fences . . ." Schip said.

"Well those were just our first few swings, we didn't know it'd be like that." Rhyce protested. "At least it wasn't so bad when we bunted."

"We blew up one of the machines!" Schip cried.

"Apologies. I still do _not_ know how that happened." Kodva admitted.

"Right?" Soda scoffed again. "I mean the ball hit the bat and should have just bounced off, right? I mean even if you gave it just the slightest of nudges . . . I mean come on!"

"Come on!" Kodva agreed.

"Come on!" Rhyce shouted.

"Right, so anyway that's over." Schip sighed. "At least we had a Capsule Corp. credit card to cover the damages."

"You think Master Trunks is going to dock our pay?" Rhyce asked. She wasn't actually sure how much they were getting paid, but probably not enough to afford baseball throwing machines any time soon.

"Probably." Soda sighed. "He's going to be so disappointed in me . . ."

Rhyce smiled, "Hey, no reason for you to take the fall. You're not in the military anymore, you're not responsible for us."

"I broke the machine." Kodva pointed out.

"I broke the most bats." Schip added.

Soda smiled slightly, "I guess we can all suffer then. Still . . . Rhyce, tell me there's not as much of a chance of us getting thrown out of your place."

"Well . . . I dunno . . . how do you feel about mini-golf?"

"That's not even funny." Soda said.

"I'm pretty sure they rebuilt that place the Androids destroyed." Schip said.

"You _are_ joking, right?"Soda asked.

"I really had very few hobbies growing up in a nomadic village, Lieutenant Soda ma'am." Rhyce said playfully.

"Don't worry, ma'am. Just breathe deep, seek peace." Kodva told Soda.

"Ugh . . . all right, only because I love you guys." Soda sighed.

Rhyce smirked, she almost wished they really _were_ going to a miniature golf course. Unfortunately what she had in mind wasn't nearly as . . . exciting.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Battle for the Tree is on as Konpeito recall the first of the Oozaru to arrive to wreak havoc._

_Character Image 14: Admiral Frigus_

_Note: Chillax's father and the admiral of the fleet. Frigus is here made with Xenoverse 2, I think he's the first Arcosian I made without horns but I wanted to have at least some variety. He looks even more like frost than his son does . . ._


	16. Demon Slayer

**Episode Sixteen**

**'Demon Slayer'**

 

"Little one, are you all right?" Korizato asked desperately as the small monster fell to its knees screaming.

The fruit of the tree was clearly not having a healing effect.

No new tail sprouted.

Instead the little creature's limbs seemed to inflate to painfully over-sized proportions for several agonizing seconds before finally returning to normal.

No . . . not quite normal.

Little Oozaru was larger. Not by much, but the fruit had had a lasting effect, the creature was stronger, slightly taller, it was shaking for a moment, then it steadied itself. The increase in strength wasn't just obvious physically, Konpeito could _feel_ how much stronger the little monster had become.

It seemed surprised, "I . . . I feel great! Uh, my tail! Do I have my tail back?" It spun around trying to look at its rear end past its large purple shoulder pads.

Konpeito looked in horror and whispered, "N-no little one . . . it's still missing."

Little Oozaru's shoulders slumped. "No . . . " it whispered. "I . . . I needed . . . they're here, the attack could come at any time . . . what am I going to do now?"

It was shaking, and then it let out a roar that could have rivaled the Oozaru. A wave of power came off of the small creature that managed to push Konpeito back several paces. It blew others back as if it were a strong wind, Konpeito managed to catch Korizato before the healer could tumble away like most of the rest of their kind.

"Wh-what was that?" Konpeito stammered, looking around in surprise. Most of the Iwatians around them were elders or children and had been thrown away, but a few of the stronger looking hunters had managed to avoid being completely thrown.

But Konpeito could feel that like him they'd had to use their strength to avoid it. The little monster hadn't been a tenth so strong before.

Little Oozaru clenched its little hands in anger, "What am I supposed to do when the Oozaru show up? Without my tail they'll just attack me!"

"Maybe you're strong enough on your own . . ." Kori whispered reassuringly.

Konpeito had to admit, Little Oozaru felt stronger than the Oozaru they had encountered that night weeks ago. Little Oozaru seemed about to argue when someone in the crowd of staring Iwatians pointed to the sky and screamed, "Look! Look it's the star of death!"

"What?" Konpeito gasped.

"What?" Little Oozaru agreed. "Why now? What's going on? Why so soon, they can't have recovered yet, it's not dark!"

But there was no denying the star in the sky.

Or the roar that followed it.

The force from the little demon had stopped so Konpeito and Korizato were free to climb onto one of the large roots. The tantrum passed little Oozaru flew up to meet them, ashen tanned arms folded, though Konpeito noticed they were still shaking.

"What's happening?" Korizato asked it.

"They're attacking, or at least one of them is." Little Oozaru said, peering into the distance. "I can't tell which one, I don't know why there's only one."

"Perhaps elder Bingtang and the others slew the rest?" Konpeito suggested.

"No way!" Little Oozaru gasped.

"Get below! Get beneath the tree!" Someone was shouting. Konpeito looked down to see the masses being rushed beneath the roots of the great tree into the underground tunnels where the sages themselves were said to live.

"Th-that's where we should be, Kon." Korizato said.

"It'll get here before they're done . .." Konpeito said, feeling his spirit sink.

Little Oozaru punched the tree root beneath them so hard that it splintered and shook. Both Konpeito and Korizato stared in surprise and held on tight until the shuddering stopped.

"They won't be stopped, not even by this tree. Don't you get it? This was the plan, they were driving everyone here, they want to wipe you all out at once and now I'll die too . . ." The little monster turned to them and seemed genuinely sad, "I thought I might at least hide you two from them . . ."

"What do you mean?" Konpeito demanded.

"Your whole race is doomed, those falling stars you told me about, I came from one of them. We're world enders, it's what we do but sometimes a few individuals slip through the cracks . . . you two took care of me, I wanted to let you go, you and the old elder . . . I didn't want it to end like this, I really thought . . ." The little creature suddenly went from sorrowful to angry again, its eyes flashing as a fiery blue aura surrounded it. Konpeito felt the pressure pushing on him again and grabbed hold of Korizato.

Little Oozaru said, "Well all right, if this is how I die then I'll die like a true Saiyan, facing death head on like a warrior!" Little Oozaru said, standing up straight. "I might not be able to do much . . . but maybe I can be like Bingtang and buy some time."

"Buy some time? For what?" Korizato asked, "If we're all going to die anyway we should try to get beneath the tree, take as much time as fate is willing to give us before the end to just . . . be together, like a family."

Little Oozaru frowned, "I'm sorry . . . my kind don't believe in that sort of thing. We don't make peace before we die, we just die and that's all there is. My ancestors are waiting for me to die well . . . but you're not warriors and you don't deserve to die in fear." It turned its gaze to Konpeito, "Neither of you do. Go beneath the tree, spend your last moments doing whatever gives you peace."

"No." Konpeito said sternly. "I have no intention of dying or of letting my race die. You've told me some dark things my little ward and we will have to discuss them further at a later time . . . but I am an Elder now, in title if not necessarily in age, and I will protect my people. _All_ of my people. I'm going with you."

"I'll come too!" Korizato said.

"No, you're no hunter, Kori . . . you need to get beneath the tree, I'll fight better knowing you're safe. Besides, me and the juvi are going to need someone to patch us up when we come back."

Kori's gaze was very stern. "Don't talk like you're coming back unless you're coming back."

Konpeito smiled and pressed his forehead against his mate's in comfort. Though pandemonium raged on the ground beneath them as Iwatians rushed under the tree, though a giant monster was rushing towards them intent on their deaths for that one moment Konpeito could pretend that only they existed.

For that one moment there was peace.

When they parted Konpeito said, "We'll be together again. All three of us. In this world or the next."

Korizato nodded slowly, then holding the satchel of fruit they had taken from the tree top leaped down into the crowd rushing beneath the tree.

Konpeito put a heavy hand on Little Oozaru's shoulder and said, "Don't make me a liar, child."

Little Oozaru didn't answer, Konpeito turned to the rushing crowd and roared as loudly as he could, "Iwatians! Hunters! Hunters of every village, hear me! That demon out there means to destroy us all, to end every life under this tree! There are three others like it, this is only one! Let us show it the folly of attacking an entire people by itself, come with me, fight with me, let us destroy this monster!"

Not one in ten of the Iwatians dressed and built as hunters answered his call at first, but some did. Some climbed or leaped to the top of the tree roots as he had done and as their numbers swelled more, including those who couldn't have heard him over the din of the mad rush to get beneath the tree joined them as well.

They had to be over a hundred strong.

The roar of the Oozaru was too close to delay any longer, Konpeito turned to little Oozaru and asked, "Are you with me, little one?"

"No." Little Oozaru said harshly, but then its expression softened and it smiled at him, "But you can be with me if you want, big brother."

"Konpeito smiled and ruffled its long spiky hair. "All right. Let's go . . . little brother."

The Iwatian charge was breathtaking.

It was heroic.

It was the stuff of legend.

And it was suicide.

They loped along the exposed tree roots to avoid the river of fleeing villagers, gathering more support along the way and swelling their numbers but as they would soon learn numbers wouldn't matter.

Not against the Oozaru.

Before they could even see it clearly it shot a beam of white hot energy from its mouth that disintegrated a half dozen hunters and the tree root they had stood on. Konpeito could feel its heat but knew that the blast was too powerful for their kind to have absorbed and used for themselves.

"Don't let that light touch you!" One of the hunters roared to the rest as they continued to charge.

Little Oozaru growled, "Armor . . . armor . . ."

"What?" Konpeito asked as they ran together.

"Armor . . . armor is . . . green!" Little Oozaru shouted, "That's Kumber, Kumber's the strongest! No wonder he thought he could come alone!"

Konpeito could see the Oozaru wore armor just like his young ward's except where the little demon's armor was black and purple with white trim, the giant's armor was similarly black and had white trim but where Little Oozaru was purple this creature was brown much like its fur.

Its red eyes seemed to zero in on them and it roared, smashing its massive fist down on a root in front of it smashing it to splinters. It took a large chunk and hurtled it towards them.

Konpeito was prepared to die, but Little Oozaru grabbed him and they shot upwards into the air.

The Oozaru blasted another group of hunters and using a splinter of giant root as a club swung and swept another unfortunate fighter into the spirit world.

Several others were able to dodge, dropping to the ground only to be smashed when the club was brought down on them. It was making quick work of these who had manged to sprint ahead of the rest of the pack, and as much as Konpeito lamented their loss he was glad the beast wasn't breathing any more blasts, and hadn't seemed to notice Little Oozaru flying towards it.

"We need an avenue of attack!" Konpeito told his ward.

"There's one!" Little Oozaru said, "But we have to be closer!"

The smaller monster flew towards the larger one, but when it had finished with the forerunners it seemed almost magically to sense their presence and its large, empty red eyes were on them again.

Konpeito felt frozen as it opened its mouth.

"Can you dodge?" Konpeito asked.

"Not when I'm weighed down . . . "

"Drop me!" Konpeito urged. At least one of them might survive.

"That's the plan." Little Oozaru mumbled. It spoke something else, but Konpeito never heard it as he was hurled through the air towards the beast.

The Iwatian was a little bit in shock and felt the heat of the blast pass over his head as he flew towards the great monstrosity.

He hit one of the armored plates at its thigh and held on for dear life at one of the lines that ran between the panels of brown on the armor.

The Hunter turned to see Little Oozaru had been caught in the blast of light, he could see its small form, arms held forward bracing itself against the end.

But the end didn't come then.

When the Oozaru closed its mouth it made a sound of frustration, but Konpeito could see that little Oozaru was still in the air.

Its ash-tan skin was a little singed and the shoulder pads of its armor were half melted away, its thigh and crotch guards were similarly abused, its left bracer, the one covering the arm that it had held out before the other had been blown away completely.

Its hair was inexplicably just fine, and more importantly it was alive.

Little Oozaru seemed just as surprised by this. It let out a loud yelp of a laugh and cried, "Was that really your best shot Kumber? Looks like you're not as tough as I remember!"

 _Or you're much stronger than you were before._ Konpeito thought.

Kumber roared and started trying to swat little Oozaru out of the sky, but the smaller creature flew just out of its reach, then rushed down and kicked it hard between the eyes.

It roared in fury and now many of the hunters were on it, using their spears to stab at it or their knives to cut at it. They weren't going to make it through the beast's armored boots, though.

It raised its right leg, the leg that Konpeito was so desperately holding on to and brought it down, crushing several hunters and blowing others away with a shock-wave, Konpeito barely managed to hold on to the over-sized thigh guard.

The Oozaru roared, its tail sweeping back and forth in agitation as it tried to battle an annoying pest in the air and deal with a multitude on the ground.

 _It really was foolish to attack us alone, but where are the others?_ Konpeito wondered.

A roar in the distance told the Elder that he should learn to accept small blessings and not question the will of the fates.

An answering roar told him that the other Oozaru were coming. All three of them.

"What are you doing?" Little Oozaru screamed, "I told you to go for the tail!"

Konpeito looked up in surprise, "What?" He hadn't heard the last instructions his ward had shouted to him when was was thrown.

"The tail! Quick!"

It twitched near to him and acting on impulse Konpeito jumped out and grabbed onto it.

The Iwatian gripped tight and the large monster roared in pain.

 _Aha_! Konpeito thought and roared as loud as he could, hoping to be heard by some of the other hunters, "The tail! Attack its tail!"

It seemed almost totally paralyzed with pain, but it was still able to swing one massive arm backwards to swat him away from its tail. The blow hurt, and it would have killed Konpeito if it had been at full strength but its might was sapped by the pain of having its tail squeezed.

Little Oozaru raised both its hands above its head and roared, "I'm sorry, squad leader, but it's you or me! Omega Blast!"

Bright blue light gathered in its palms and when it lowered its hands over its head and pointed them at the Oozaru's face a blast as powerful as the one that came from the Oozaru's mouth shot forward, engulfing its head.

Konpeito hoped it would kill it, that the light would disintegrate the head just as its own blasts had disintegrated Iwatians whole.

But it didn't.

It did noticeable and horrible damage, but the massive head was still there. Its red eyes were shut and soon thick red tears began to flow from them and from its nose, but it roared again, showing that it was still alive.

This seemed to surprise little Oozaru as much as it did Konpeito, and neither was prepared when the giant Oozaru made its move. The pain of the blast had overridden the pain of the attacked tail, the creature staggered backwards shrieking and howling and flailing its arms wildly in front of its blinded face.

The massive paw came up behind little Oozaru, hitting the smaller creature hard. It slammed into the ground with a bone snapping crack and smashing sound, leaving a crater and a cloud of upturned dirt that saved Konpeito from the horror of seeing what had happened to his ward's body.

He roared in anger, a noise drowned out by the cries of the Oozaru as it started to topple backwards.

Perhaps it was too weak to stand, perhaps it was trying to crush him and free its tail but if that was its intention it failed. Blinded it didn't see the tree root behind its head and struck it hard, falling on its bottom instead of its back. Its head was propped up by the branch, its breaths were shallow, its massive tail struck the ground and Konpeito rolled away, panting for air and struggling to his feet.

What was left of the hunters charged for its tail and began stabbing and cutting at it, but Konpeito had a different target in mind. The Iwatian took a spear and climbed up the massive monster's bulky chest.

He stood over the weakly bobbing throat and raised the spear.

"We know your weakness now. Your pack will follow you soon, beast!" He promised it before he brought the spear down.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto stared in awe as Konpeito sat down and took a sip from a glass of water.

"Is . . . is that all?" Karuto asked.

"Does there need to be more?" Konpeito asked.

"Yes!" Karuto cried. "What else happened? How did you overcome the other three Oozaru? Which one escaped? What happened to the rogue Saiyan?"

"What do you mean?" Konpeito asked.

"It was the fruit, wasn't it?" Karuto realized, "It really did make it stronger! But Kumber, Kumber was the squad leader, he had a power level of three thousand! As an Oozaru it would have been multiplied by ten, to take a full blast from him in that state . . . but that means that the fruit multiplied the rogue's power level even more than transformation would have!"

Konpeito frowned, "Yes, perhaps . . ."

"The weakest were Turles and Rhubara at two thousand each, if they could stand up to a rampaging Oozaru that means that it multiplied their power level by a factor of fifteen at least, maybe more!" Karuto was excited now, filing a report that would go straight to the Clan Heads, "Were there any seeds left? Did you and your mate keep the extra pieces of fruit you picked? You obviously didn't eat them, were they lost? Or _did_ you eat them and the effects were only temporary? I know the tree was destroyed but—wait, how was the tree destroyed? What else happened?"

Konpeito seemed surprised, "I . . . well . . ."

"Tell me everything!" Karuto urged.

Konpeito hesitated, then said, "I'll tell you the rest if you delete that data entry you're preparing."

"What?" Karuto gawked.

"I've seen you take notes and work on that console every time I tell you this story . . . you kept it a secret from your cousin but if I tell you the rest you must promise to keep it a secret from everyone else as well. Only then will you know the identity and fate of my ward and the fruit of our tree of might."

Karuto pouted and glared. "My daddy would just kill you if he knew you were extorting me like this."

"This isn't extortion Little Lord." Konpeito said, "You remember why you didn't tell your cousin, if I tell you all the rest you cannot tell anyone."

"This is just a private journal," Karuto lied. "I can't send it to anyone."

It was true he'd been recording everything in his journal up to that point, but he had started a new report to send the clan lords on the tree.

Konpeito just said one word. "Please."

Karuto didn't know why he thought that would mean anything.

But . . . it did.

For some reason it truly did. This strange, sad, lonely alien had shared so much with Karuto . . . the fond memories of his mate, his mentor and the time they had been visited by an alien mercenary from the stars. He had been frank about his fear, about his fondness of the enemy, he had told Karuto so much and unlike any history lesson it had been engaging and interesting.

He hadn't really asked for much in exchange . . .

Karuto showed Konpeito as he pressed the "delete" control on the console.

Konpeito smiled and finished his glass of water. "All right . . . now that I know I can trust you, Little Lord . . . now that I know I can _truly_ trust you . . . hear the end of my story. Hear everything."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Red and Blue teams conclude their day of discovery and report the results as well as the financial responsibilities to Trunks._

 

_Character Image 15: Ganmo_

__

_Note: His skin is meant to be a lot more orange, like to the degree of the actual fruit. This was as orange as Xenoverse One could make him and I haven't attempted to remake him on Xenoverse Two._


	17. Defenders' Day Out Part 3

**Episode Seventeen**

**'Defenders Day Out 3'**

 

"You'd think my skin would be impervious to needles." Pastel commented after pricking her finger for the fifth time.

"Sewing isn't for everyone." Gurein reassured her. "I've pricked my fingers more than a few times."

"In an hour?" Pastel asked.

Gurein smiled, "Well . . . it's your first time."

"Not gonna lie, I didn't figure you'd be teaching us to sew." Bocan admitted.

"Well it was something of a necessity growing up. I just happened to be very good at it." Gurein answered simply as he finished bandaging Pastel's finger.

"I really thought the gloves would help." Pastel admitted.

"You're just too forceful." Bocan told her.

Pastel took a deep breath and answered as calmly as she could, "Yeah? I didn't figure that out myself."

"Well you know now." Bocan said with a wink.

Pastel glared, "Thanks," She grumbled.

"Didn't expect there'd be so many training suits to repair." Anavill said, probably trying to interrupt any impending argument.

Pastel grunted. Bocan and Anavill had sewn three or four suits each but she was still working on her second.

"Well we tend to be rather rough on them," Gurein said, "that's always been the case when my sister and I trained. That's why I had to master sewing actually. Someone had to mend our clothes or we'd have been wearing rags."

The team was seated in a circle in a corner of the cafeteria, but Pastel still imagined them as a gaggle of old ladies in a quilting bee. She took her seat again and sighed, "Maybe I need a rocking chair. I mean if I'm going to be sewing like an old lady I might as well sit like one."

"I don't know about that," Gurein said, "but as for your sewing it's not a matter of being too forceful. You're stronger than you used to be it's true but what's causing you trouble is that you are trying to go faster than you should. Take your time, don't rush."

"But we have a lot of suits to sew." Pastel pointed out. "I mean we want to finish, right?"

"You're racing everyone." Gurein said, evidently seeing through her excuses. "It's not a race, never mind how much the rest of us have finished. All you need to worry about is yourself or else you'll make mistakes. In your case those mistakes involve blood."

"In my defense a lot of these have blood stains anyway."

"Too true. Nevertheless for your own sake take your time. Don't worry about being quick." Gurein said with an almost parental tone. "It's not a competition, just do your best. Try to master the skill instead of competing with the rest of us."

Pastel sighed and nodded. "All right . . . all right . . ." She winked at her teammates, "Maybe I won't sew as many as the rest of you . . . but each suit I repair will be a masterwork!"

"Well what ever works." Anavill said, starting on her fifth suit.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"You know basket weaving isn't really what I expected." Schip said.

"I grew up in a nomadic village, give me a break." Rhyce laughed. "I was good at two things growing up, fighting and basket weaving. You guys already know how to do the former."

"I'm not complaining." Schip pointed out.

He wouldn't be, Soda supposed. He was actually pretty decent at basket weaving.

Schip had very nimble fingers, and Kodva was doing very well too. The only person not doing terribly well at basket weaving was Soda herself, and she was okay with that.

"You all right, Lieutenant?" Schip asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." Soda answered, focusing on her basket.

"You're uh . . . grinding your teeth pretty hard." Rhyce noted.

"Yeah, yeah, I do that sometimes." Soda said dismissively.

"Well . . . remember to breathe deep." Kodva told her.

"Oh for sure." Soda waved a hand. "Now just hold your shape you little . . ." she mumbled, trailing off no doubt for the best.

Rhyce smiled at her and Soda snapped out of her stupor, "Huh? Um . . . what?" She asked.

Rhyce just laughed, "Well it's nothing . . . just . . . I used to get really focused like that too when my mom was teaching me. Don't worry, it gets easier."

Soda smiled, "Oh . . . thanks. So you learned from your mother?"

"Yeah. I was always going to be a fighter but I didn't want my mother thinking I took too strongly after my father. So even though fighting was my passion I tried really hard to learn crafts from her." Rhyce said.

"What was your mother like?" Kodva asked.

"Most beautiful woman in the world." Rhyce said. "She was a lot more like Gurein than me though, they say I'm more like dad. Mom was very ladylike, really calm all the time."

"Maybe it was the basket weaving. It's pretty relaxing." Schip said.

"Oh it is, is it?" Soda asked with mock severity. Her team laughed and she let herself relax and laugh a bit too. She smiled at Rhyce, "It's certainly making you calmer though."

Rhyce's smile widened, "Actually it's just . . . today. Today is pretty relaxing. After fighting and training so much all this time . . . I dunno, it's nice to do . . . other things."

"Suppose so." Kodva smiled, "When I lived in the monastery every day was pretty much the same. Meditation, schooling, training. For me repetition is pretty normal and there's a sort of comfort in it."

"But being here and training must be pretty different." Schip said.

"True." Kodva nodded. He turned his gaze towards Soda, "What are we planning to do to close things out?"

"Well . . ." Soda sighed, "I think . . . with Androids running around I didn't have the chance to focus on much more than just one thing: warfare. When I wasn't reading about war I was training."

"So we're going to train more?" Schip asked.

"Sort of . . . you'll see." Soda smiled.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"You know I don't know that this really counts as a hobby." Pastel told Bocan quietly. "I mean . . . just saying, this isn't the sort of thing I'd ever do for fun. Dunno that it counts as a talent either."

"Oh yeah?" Bocan asked with a slight smile.

"Don't get me wrong, it's great . . . I just . . . you know . . . didn't think we'd be doing this." She said, and filled another bowl of soup.

It wasn't that she was opposed to working in a soup kitchen, though she _was_ surprised that such a place still existed.

"Well to be honest I'm kind of a one trick pony, Pasty. I'm only good at one thing and I only enjoy one thing." Bocan told her. "I fight and it's all I've ever bothered to master."

"Then what are we doing here?" Pastel asked, filling another bowl.

Bocan turned the full glorious fury of his smile on her and said, "I guess since there wasn't anything new I could teach you guys I decided to take advantage of you all instead."

"Ah, so that's your hidden talent." Pastel teased.

"I hope not." Bocan said, sounding serious, "But they usually need help in places like this . . . or money, but volunteers are almost as good. So I figured if we had some time to kill learning something before going back to headquarters this wouldn't be the worst."

"What lesson are we learning?" Pastel asked.

"How it feels to help someone without getting anything in return. That's how Master Trunks' predecessors did things after all. The city's about rebuilt but shockingly there's still a lot of people needing help. As Earth's defenders we should really be helping people however we can, right?"

"Good point." Pastel shrugged. "But what made you think of this place?"

"My dad." Bocan said. "When I was younger my dad and I would come to places like this."

"So your dad raised you to be a volunteer." Pastel nodded. Bocan really was such a poster boy. Good-looking, talented, wealthy, and a humanitarian to boot.

Bocan laughed, "Actually my dad brought me here because he didn't have any other way to feed us. We didn't exactly have a home after all, I mean the Androids kind of saw to that."

"What about your mother?" Pastel asked.

"Wasn't around."

"Androids?"

"I'd tell myself that sometimes." Bocan said quietly. "Maybe after a while it was true."

"What do you mean?" Pastel asked.

Bocan smiled slightly, "She wasn't around . . . because she didn't want to be. So it was just me and dad."

Pastel laughed. "Didn't think we'd end up having _that_ in common. It was the other way around for me, my dad walked out."

"Yeah? I guess a lot of people grew up with just one parent." Bocan said.

"Yeah. But most of them lost their parents, ours walked out." Pastel said. "Maybe we'll find 'em someday. You know, make 'em sorry."

"Because of our fame as Earth's defenders?" Bocan asked with a laugh.

"Oh that's better. I was just gonna say we beat 'em up." Pastel smiled.

Bocan laughed harder, "I don't think I could hit my mom even after she walked out on me and my dad."

"Nah that's the beauty of it, I'll hit your mom. You can hit my dad. We're teammates, remember?" Pastel told him, lightly nudging his side with her elbow without missing a beat filling the next bowl.

"Obviously exactly what Master Briefs and Master Roshi had in mind." Bocan nodded with mock gravitas. "Hey, who knows, maybe they ended up together and we'll only have to make one trip."

"That'd be really convenient." Pastel agreed, "But I'd rather they didn't. It'd sort of make us step siblings . . . too weird."

"We fly and shoot lasers from our hands, life's already pretty weird . . . little sister." Bocan said with a smirk and the two of them laughed.

When they finished they were surprised to hear Gurein who had quietly emerged from the kitchen tell them, "I think if our Masters could hear you two laughing together they'd know this day was absolutely worth it."

Pastel laughed, "I guess you're right. Bocan's not the worst guy in the world I guess."

"And Pastel's pretty fun." Bocan nodded. Pastel didn't miss that he called her by her actual name instead of "Pasty" but she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"You and Anavill are pretty good cooks," Bocan added. "We haven't heard a single complaint."

"Anavill is talented in the kitchen in general, and traveling around I learned to make a decent pot of soup." Gurein said, sounding a bit embarrassed, "I'm glad we're here though, this was a fantastic way to end the day."

Pastel had to agree. She smiled and said, "There's no reason we can't do these things more often either."

"More cookies." Bocan guessed.

"Right?" Pastel exclaimed, "They were amazing!"

Gurein laughed, "Well at least that's one arena we can say Red Team absolutely defeats Blue Team in."

"Maybe. But for all we know the Blues make amazing brownies." Bocan said.

"My sister is with them." Gurein reminded them, "That's just too harsh of a handicap."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The smell of fresh hot pork buns emanated from the kitchens of Capsule Corp HQ as Trunks and Roshi waited up on their students like a pair of worried parents. Of course the young fighter knew that his students would return safe—and soon, he could sense their far greater than average powers approaching—but for whatever reason he still found himself reluctant to actually begin eating without them.

Dining together wasn't exactly a tradition and often it was a matter of convenience due to the groups finishing their training around the same times. Still it seemed too quiet with only Mother, Master Roshi and a few of the engineers.

Not Basil and Thyme, they were busy putting the finishing touches on the gravity control room. They were hoping it would be ready by the morning and Trunks knew his mother planned to head over and help with any finishing touches so that the training could begin tomorrow.

Trunks smiled when he saw the doors swing open and the Red Team enter. "Welcome back. How did your day go?" He asked them. They all looked exhausted.

"It was pretty amazing." Anavill told him.

"Most satisfying." Gurein agreed.

"Scale of one to ten? I dunno, a three?" Bocan shrugged. "I'm just kidding, it was pretty awesome."

Pastel shrugged too, "Yeah, what they said."

Trunks smiled, "I'm glad. It's good to take a break from martial arts sometimes and enjoy the world."

"It really is amazing how much we've recovered since you defeated the Androids, Master Briefs." Bocan said with a slight bow.

"It's mostly due to concentrated efforts." Mother spoke up, "Most of the places that were totally destroyed are still totally destroyed, we just gathered what was left of humanity in West City and a couple other places and focused on those places. All the same it's true the human race is great at recovering from catastrophe, it's why we rule our world."

"That and science?" Trunks offered.

"Don't get smart with me." His mother scolded him playfully, "But yes, also science. Sweet, beautiful science."

"What's all this about science?" Basil called from the doorway, snatching a cup of coffee from one of the other engineers and drinking it all in one swig.

"Yeah, I guess you can have that . . ." The other woman grumbled as Thyme entered too and nodded to Trunks that slow, weary but satisfied nod of accomplishment.

"We've completed our work, boss!" Basil announced, "Science deities be praised!"

"What work was that?" Gurein asked.

"Is there actually a deity of science?" Pastel wondered.

"Yes, and it's a pleasure to meet you." Mother said with a wink. "As for the rest, I think I'll let the conquering heroes here tell you all about it while I turn in early."

Trunks smiled as his mother left and the Blue Team entered. There was a brief traffic jam at the large cafeteria doors, during which Basil stole another mug of coffee from another innocent bystander, but Thyme nimbly slipped it out of her hand and returned it before she could actually drink it.

"Always treat people like you want them to still be your friends the next time you see them." Thyme scolded her.

"My friends love me for being me." Basil replied breezily and headed over to the coffee maker to pour her own cup, but also a replacement for the one she'd successfully stolen.

Trunks smiled and welcomed Blue Team back, they seemed even more disheveled than Red Team did. "Well you all seem like you've been through a lot."

"What? No. No way. Why, what have you heard?" Rhyce asked, darting her eyes around the room.

Trunks raised an eyebrow at Soda but she just blushed and said, "We've had a number of adventures I'll have to tell you about, sir."

"But it was a good day?" Gurein asked.

"Most satisfying." Kodva nodded, taking a seat next to him.

"Pretty amazing." Schip agreed.

Trunks smiled and nodded to Thyme, "Well our hard working engineers have some pretty exciting news too. Go ahead."

"Well it's nothing too impressive, really any kid who has ever built a bird house with instructions has done the same thing." Basil said.

"You're horrible at selling this." Thyme told her.

"You can do better?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Thyme stood up, Trunks forgot sometimes how tall Thyme was and when everyone else was sitting he seemed even taller. For a moment it was as if he and Basil had switched personalities as he broke into a dramatic presentation with animated hand gestures as he told the group of martial artists, "Imagine being able to run faster, jump higher, even fly twice as fast as you can now. Then three times, then four, five, up to three hundred times. Imagine a device that amplifies the intensity of your training and thereby increases the results. Now imagine that in the basements below your feet this very object, this fabled masterwork exists awaiting its use by the champions of mankind."

"Also imagine it was done a few weeks earlier than it would have been if I hadn't pulled his head out of his rear end." Basil added. Thyme sank down into his seat and sighed.

"It does sound amazing," Anavill said consolingly, "but what is it?"

"A device that will increase the gravity in the training room." Trunks answered.

"It does what?" Pastel gawked.

"It can double the Earth's gravity." Thyme answered.

"That was lack of belief, not lack of understanding." Pastel clarified. "I didn't think you guys were serious about that super villain stuff."

"Oh. Well then don't worry, it'll work." Thyme told her. "When you all get used to it you should be able to train much harder in a shorter amount of time due to the increased gravity."

"That's good. I thought you were about to start us all on steroids." Bocan said lightly.

"Is that how gravity works?" Schip wondered.

"Don't worry about it too much, the training does work." Trunks assured him.

"Explains a lot." Soda nodded. "We all knew you had to be pretty out of this world to stop those Androids, I guess it took unearthly training to beat them."

"You have no idea." Trunks sighed.

"Just how much gravity training are we going to need before we can fight on that level?" Rhyce asked.

"I don't know." Trunks admitted. "We'll just have to see what you can all take and go from there. Remember it's more of a journey than a destination and every journey begins with a first step."

"And you're sure we won't be crushed to jam?" Anavill asked.

"If you do something crazy and set it to three hundred right off the bat maybe." Thyme said. "But we've got more than a few safety measures installed."

"Besides," Roshi pointed out, "You're going to need every advantage you can get if you're going to pass your graduation test."

"What's that?" Bocan asked.

"Takin' me on." Master Roshi said casually and finished his pork bun.

"Huh . . . don't know why that scares me." Bocan said. "So what'd you Blues do today?"

"Well we meditated, then we got kicked out of the batting cages when we sort of destroyed some of their machines, we weaved baskets then we got kicked out of the skating rink." Soda said. "What'd you do?"

"Not get kicked out of places." Bocan said.

"How did you get kicked out of the skating rink?" Pastel laughed.

"Well we were playing hockey," Schip said and Trunks groaned.

"Oh no, we didn't hurt anyone, we weren't that careless . . . and we tried not to actually destroy anything. It was silly, really." Soda informed him, but she was avoiding eye contact.

"Then what happened?" He asked.

She cleared her throat. "We . . . melted the rink."

"You what?"

"Yeah so it turns out the whole powering up thing and aura sparking and such . . . kind of happens automatically if you're physically exerting yourself . . . and so it sort of generated a lot of heat. The ice got thin and eventually it cracked under us. It wasn't deep of course so no one got hurt. I told you it was silly."

"They threw you out for that?" Trunks asked.

The blue team were quiet for a moment, then finally Rhyce said, "Well they didn't know for sure that was our fault. I think it was when I checked-"

"Some rough housing might have occurred that might have resulted in one of us being knocked through what was left of the ice before we realized it had thinned and maybe through the floor into the basement."

Trunks stared at them. He wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Obviously I claim full responsibility, and we paid for the damage." Soda assured him. "I was going to tell you the details later, sir."

Trunks remained silent and stone-faced. Finally Gurein broke the spell by laughing and saying, "Next time we should go with the Blues."

"Right?" Pastel laughed, "I want to get thrown out of places too!"

"It's not as much fun as you'd think." Rhyce told her. Soda smiled.

Trunks sighed and smiled too, "Well at least you guys are bonding all right. Tomorrow's training should be good."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Konpeito's story concludes and Karuto makes an important decision._

 

_Character Image 16: Prage_

_Note: A secret Namekian? Nah. Prage is meant to be one of the many generic "aliens" in the PTO, the best way to pull this off was with a Namekian, Of course his armor colors are different than what's described, it's not really possible to get armor in the colors described in the story, that's why most of the saiyan images were in black and white._


	18. Demon's End

**Episode Eighteen**

**'Demons' End'**

 

Little Oozaru's chest was rising and falling, a sign of life to be sure though Konpeito was amazed that it could still be alive. He picked it up and held its limp form in his arms. Some of the other hunters gathered around him, "What do we do next?" One of them asked.

Konpeito considered for a moment. He looked around at the three approaching Oozaru, then down at the small limp form in his arms. "I don't think we should split up, we'll need our numbers to overcome them. But they approach from two separate directions . . . I need two runners. Be swift, but careful, take this creature to the sages. _Demand_ to be seen, if they can heal this creature it will be a great help against the remaining Oozaru monsters."

"It looks rather like them." One of the hunters pointed out.

"Yes . . . they are connected, but this one is our ally. You saw its power against this beast, we will need its help to defeat the others. We may not have much-" Konpeito was cut off when a distant outraged roar sounded. The village elder turned and saw another black shape on the horizon rapidly growing in size. One of the other Oozaru was getting closer very fast.

"The gods have sent these creatures to destroy us!" One hunter cried, "We cannot trust this one, it's not of our kind! It will be our doom!"

There were murmurs both of consent and disagreement though this was hardly the time for an actual debate the hunters were unsure of what to do now, they milled around some turning to face the approaching dark shapes, others pointing and whispering about Konpeito's injured ward.

Konpeito roared, just a primal angry shout that silenced the dissent. He shouted, "These beasts are sent by the gods to punish our weakness, but this creature, my ward is sent by them to preserve us! You know our just gods would never fail to leave us the instruments of our salvation, this being is that instrument! This little monster can destroy those big ones, and if the Great Elders can return its tail this will all be over!"

Two of the hunters stepped forward and one of them carefully took Konpeito's ward. The other said, "I am Nabat, I serve the Great Elders myself. I will see that they heal this creature."

"Go, and be careful with my little one. If there are any hunters that remain tell the Elders to send them all, we must all fight or we will all die."

The two hunters nodded and sped off without another word. Konpeito turned to the rest of the gathered hunters and performed a quick head count. There were well over a hundred of them left. He ordered, "I must have two score with me, we will slay the third Oozaru that approaches alone. The rest of you attack the other two and protect the tree."

The groups separated, Konpeito rushed into battle. The Oozaru were unsettlingly close now, and Konpeito could make out some coloration details. The two approaching had brown and green paneling on their armor, but the one that approached alone was the one that Konpeito had seen that night weeks ago with purple paneling.

 _So we meet again. It will be different this time._ Konpeito thought as he approached. Though as he grew nearer her realized this one _felt_ different.

"We can't let all three of them join together! Remember the tail! Attack the tail!" He ordered.

The battle was fierce and terrifying. It must have lasted minutes but to Konpeito it felt like many hours. The elder watched brave hunters disintegrate under beams of blue light, watched them crushed under giant booted feet or even flung long distances by the tail as they tried to attack it.

The monster seemed to possess enough foresight to realize that its tail was the focus of their attack but it was too savage to protect it, instead sweeping it at them or clubbing it down on them. The hunters avoided it as best they could but Konpeito knew this beast had been hunting his kind for weeks, it had slaughtered many of them and the elder could see that the hunters he fought with were tiring and slowing.

The monster seemed to have no end to its stamina.

More hunters were coming from the tree now, it seemed they'd bought enough time for a more organized resistance to be raised. Help was coming, though the fight against the two green armored Oozaru was obviously the higher priority. After what felt like a lifetime Konpeito saw the tail sweep in towards him and though he was weary and injured he took a deep breath and grabbed hold of it.

It swept him for a ride but he held on tight and squeezed his arms and legs around it like a tree trunk.

Others joined him and finally the beast slowed. What was left of the hunters began to pile on the tail, pulling on it, stabbing it.

Konpeito snarled, but in triumph. "We have it!" The elder roared.

Then the creature jumped up into the air.

Most of the hunters fell away but some held on. Konpeito held on, though just barely.

The hunters who fell hit the ground hard but before they would have any time to rise the Oozaru landed with a thunderous boom, a wave of dust blew many prone hunters away others were crushed under the great feet.

The crater the creature created broke some over the very roots of the tree, Konpeito couldn't believe the power of the Oozaru, it was easily stronger than any Iwatian that ever was or ever would be.

 _Truly the gods mean to destroy us._ Konpeito thought bitterly. He'd thought he'd been lying to those hunters before, but now he knew he'd spoken truly.

The Oozaru groaned in pain as the attacks on its tail continued. It was struggling to move at all, and it wasn't able to sweep its tail anymore. Slowly the great brown furred appendage drooped to the ground and hung limp. The Oozaru began to crouch for another jump, but Konpeito could feel his grip was getting slick with the creature's blood pouring down the tail from a dozen wounds from a dozen brave hunters.

Others who could still fight were rushing over now and reinforcements were coming as well, some with fine blades fashioned from the mighty knife-tails. Konpeito remembered how well that had sliced the beast's tail before and he shouted, "Cut the tail! Cut the tail off, it will-"

He was cut off as the beat jumped again. One of the reinforcements hurled his long blade. Konpeito wasn't in position to catch it but another hunter did.

The stroke was swift and the Oozaru kept rising into the air roaring in agony as the hunters and Konpeito fell downwards clutching the severed tail.

The Oozaru began to shrink, its fur fell away as if it were disintegrating like all those brave hunters that it had felled.

The tail landed hard and Konpeito gasped for air, exhausted after so much intense fighting. He crawled to his feet and saw the Oozaru's shrinking bulk tumble far off into the roots of the tree.

Konpeito heard a roar of triumph from the assembled hunters, but he shouted, "We have no time to celebrate! There are two left!"

"Rest elder," the hunter who had thrown his blade told him, "You've done enough for now, all of you retrieve your breath. We will carry on and join our brothers in the hunt, the might of the Iwatians will send these demons back to the underworld!"

There was another triumphant roar from the assembled hunters and the reinforcements rushed away while Konpeito and the remnant of his two score remained, all of them breathing heavily.

Konpeito watched the fighting in the distance, it was definitely one-sided, despite the number of hunters these two Oozaru seemed stronger than the one Konpeito had helped fight. He felt bad for attacking the nearest instead of the strongest, but he hadn't known their strength.

More minutes that felt like hours as Konpeito and those with him breathed heavily and regained their strength. Minutes that felt like hours of hearing the cries of comrades and the blood chilling roars of the remaining Oozaru. Konpeito just told himself, _We have slain two of you, we will slay you two as well. The gods will see the Iwatians are still strong._

Something didn't seem right though, something ate at the back of his mind. When he had recovered enough of his breath to walk Konpeito said, "I am going to find the Oozaru we've slain . . . I must see its body, be sure it is dead."

One of the hunters, the one who had cut the tail off nodded, "We will wait for you. Will we rejoin the battle when you return?"

"If you're able." Konpeito confirmed. "We cannot let them fight alone."

The hunter nodded, though he seemed hesitant. "I am not eager for more, but I an reluctant to continue waiting."

Konpeito nodded, "I agree. I will not be long, all of you prepare to rejoin the fight."

Konpeito moved quickly in the direction the Oozaru had fallen towards and he knew now what bothered him.

He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't spent so much time with Little Oozaru, but they were so similar, even though they were different. Like two knife-tails of the same pack . . . but it couldn't be. Still Konpeito could sense the Oozaru . . . it _wasn't_ dead . . . not yet.

Konpeito began to rush, feeling his hunter's senses pinpointing his prey. He rushed on finding the broken roots where the creature had fallen and the deep crater where it had landed.

Deep but not large enough for its bulk. Too small. Much too small.

Konpeito felt a growl rumble through his throat as his rage began to build.

"It can't be . . . you fool, you _fool_!" He growled to himself.

But his hearts were telling him the truth as he closed the distance. He saw the injured creature that had struggled from the crater, he saw its black and purple armor just like little Oozaru's, he saw its black spiky hair, shorter but so similar.

He roared and leaped over to the creature, grasping its head in his hand as he landed and holding it up so that he could look into its eyes.

"Saiyan!" He roared.

"Y . . . yeah . . ." It mumbled with a slight smirk. "I . . . see you've . . . heard of us . . ."

The creature looked at him through terrified but weakened eyes. It was putting up a front just like Little Oozaru, but just like Little Oozaru it was the eyes that gave it away. It was a scared child, and to Konpeito's shame that wouldn't be enough to save its life.

He could hear the roars of the Oozaru in the distance, but now they sounded pained, one of them sounded very weak. "Do you hear your pack in the distance? Do you hear them dying?"

The Saiyan shrugged weakly. "I . . . don't know . . . how you hid . . . such a power . . ."

"You mean the strength of our race?"

"No . . . that power level . . . if we'd known one of you had . . . a power level over thirty thousand . . . we'd have sent . . . elites . . ."

"Gibberish!" Konpeito snarled. He fought the urge to crush its skull in his hand right then and hissed, "Your kind came here to destroy us! But you've failed! We will cut your tails we will kill you all! I will kill you!"

"Then . . . do it." The Saiyan growled. "I am a warrior . . . born to a race of warriors . . . I am ready."

Konpeito meant to do it. He would crush this child's skull in his hand and leave its headless body for the carrion eaters.

He would.

But there was a blast so bright that the hunter was forced to shield his eyes, and the Saiyan took advantage of the shock.

It blasted his chest with white hot energy and his grip slacked letting it fall free. When Konpeito's vision cleared he could see the Saiyan was flying away too high and fast to catch.

Konpeito took stock of his injuries. He was fairly certain the blast to his chest had stopped his primary heart and he felt weak because of it but it was hardly the first time it had happened, he would live. He was bleeding and what energy he had left probably wouldn't be enough for fighting.

But the shapes of the Oozaru had disappeared, and the roars of the Oozaru had stopped.

The _roars_ had stopped but the panicked screams of his people had not and there was a great deal of smoke. He crawled to the top of a root to better survey what had happened. He could see the brown armored Oozaru had fallen, its great bulk bent over a root and a wide pool of red blood spread around it.

The second green armored Oozaru had disappeared completely, but the roots of the tree were aflame and the fires were racing towards the trunk. The devastation to the tree's roots was unbelievable and Konpeito could see so many dead and injured littering the ground where the two Oozaru had fought.

Konpeito could see fires here and there on the tree, the Oozaru's heat blasts had done terrible damage. The Iwatian felt a tight pain in his chest as he realized that his mate was under that tree, almost all that remained of his people were in the tunnels beneath that tree.

His body moved on its own while his mind reeled trying to take everything in. His legs carried him towards the tree's trunk with all the speed they could muster while his redundant heart worked overtime to make up for the loss of his primary heart. The fires were steadily growing and Konpeito knew they were going to consume the tree . . . all that mattered was Kori.

As he struggled forward the Iwatian could also see that a white star had risen. It was like the five stars Konpeito had seen that night weeks ago.

He saw it fly down and land gently in the distance, somewhere in the middle of all those broken and dying bodies. A teardrop form the gods for their fallen creations perhaps.

Or perhaps for the tree so ravaged by the battle.

Somehow Konpeito's gaze drifted upwards towards the tree. He saw a light . . . the light of the gods.

It was golden and somehow he could feel the power and terror that emanated from it. The white star rose up into the heavens and that golden light spread outward. Its power was like a whirlwind, when it hit Konpeito he collapsed atop the root he'd been running along. He fell and just stared at the golden light of the gods.

Konpeito would never forget that golden light. It extinguished the flames around the tree, it saved his species . . . for a time at least.

It felt like the love of the gods, it felt as if his race had been given one more chance.

Even years later when their end finally came . . . he'd never forget that light.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Konpeito exhaled slowly. Karuto was leaning forward eagerly. He asked, "Is that all?"

"No." Konpeito told him. "But I wasn't there for the rest. You understand everything I saw with my eyes I can tell you is true so far as my memory holds. But everything else I heard secondhand from other survivors."

"Go on . . ." Karuto urged. "What happened to Little Oozaru? Who was your Saiyan ward?"

Konpeito frowned. "Well . . . Little Oozaru made it to the tree . . . but the elders still refused to use their talents at first. Between Korizato and Nabat, the hunter who served the Wise Elders they finally agreed to heal Little Oozaru, but they did not finish."

"The Saiyan died?" Konpeito asked. "Was it the Saiyan you captured that escaped?"

"No." Konpeito said. "That Saiyan perished in the fire that consumed the tree and it was never seen or heard from again. Nabat witnessed that."

"How did he witness it without being consumed himself?" Karuto asked.

"He saw that Saiyan when it came to the trunk. It seemed like it was trying to flee to the white star and he mistook it for Little Oozaru. When he approached it it fled from him up into the upper branches and the white star flew away."

"Then what happened? To Little Oozaru I mean, you cannot end your story that way!" Karuto pleaded.

"As Little Oozaru was being healed a hunter burst in and declared that the brown armored Oozaru had been slain and the green armored Oozaru was suffering from a mortal wound. Korizato said that Little Oozaru's eyes shot open, my little ward let out a wave of white energy that shoved everyone back without harming them and then flew from the room so quickly that Korizato almost thought that it had just vanished. I would learn later that Little Oozaru flew from the place and to the place where the green armored Oozaru had fallen . . . remember, I cannot tell you for certainty what happened. This was witnessed by another."

"Please tell me." Karuto urged.

Konpeito lowered his gaze, "My Little Oozaru went to that fallen comrade, flying through the crowd of hunters and landing with a shock-wave that threw many of them away. Some few remained nearby, they saw that my ward had what I think must have been a piece of the fruit with it, perhaps it hoped it could heal its friend, but its comrade had been slain. In blind fury Little Oozaru let out all of its energy in a blast that consumed everyone around it and started the fire that consumed the tree. Perhaps because it had eaten the fruit it was able to do the tree harm."

Karuto frowned, "All of its energy?"

"Remember, I did not witness these things," Konpeito said sternly, "All I know is that the blast that blinded me was the blast that my ward let out. While the other Saiyan was escaping me those who survived the blast, and there were many so I do not think it was an attack, said that Little Oozaru fell limp over the body of its friend . . . I think it must have been Cauli, my ward mentioned her often and the color of their armor was relevant to identifying them."

"And yet there were two in green and two in purple. Odd." Karuto said, "It's not unheard of for Saiyan teams to wear the same colors, but for Little Oozaru to use them as a marker . . . well then again if it wore purple it would know who the other one in purple was and since Kumber was already dead it would know the only other warrior wearing green needed to be Cauliflora."

Konpeito shrugged lightly. Karuto sighed and looked on the computer screen at the profile pictures. Somehow these five young warriors felt . . . different now. They weren't just ugly monkeys in a computer file, they were soldiers sent to their deaths by cousin Frieza . . . and they had met them willingly. The Saiyan that Konpeito had captured and threatened hadn't been afraid at all and it had only been an adolescent. Cereza had been a Lieutenant of the PTO and had not only been afraid of death he had turned on his own comrades to try to avoid it.

But even when they were enemies Little Oozaru, whoever they really were, had thrown everything away just to be with a comrade at the end.

"After Little Oozaru fell limp the other one moved. It was slow and weak. It held a white box for a moment then dropped it."

"Ah, yes, of course! A remote control for a space pod!" Karuto said, his young mind working at high speed.

_A space pod usually only has room for one, but if the Saiyans were still in their smaller larval stages they might have managed to squeeze into the pod together. There could be two! But so badly injured would they really have survived the trip to a healing planet? Maybe they did and the staff just put them down instead of healing them . . ._

Karuto muttered to himself, looking through the computer's star chart for any planet nearby that the Saiyans might have set down on but there was still nothing.

He frowned, realizing that the reason the Saiyan or Saiyans were never heard of again might well have been that they never reached anywhere . . . at least not alive. If a space pod crash landed on an inhabited world with a dead alien or two aboard no one would have gone running to the Planet Trade Organization to report it, that would have been more a matter for the Galactic Patrol.

And they weren't exactly on friendly terms with the PTO . . .

Because of that if the GP had found them they'd almost certainly have been imprisoned or put to death. _So it's most likely that the reason I never heard of them is that they either died or were killed after. But with a piece of the fruit whichever one of them made it might have had a seed . . . maybe they could have planted it later?_ Karuto wondered. _Maybe that amazing tree could be replicated._

"What about the tree?" Karuto asked.

"The damage to its roots was too much . . . or perhaps it had been the flames. The Tree had never been damaged by anything before, but it was ancient and perhaps even a little damage was too much for it to bear. The fire damaged it badly enough, and though it survived when the golden light blasted the flames away it finally withered and died not a year later."

"Didn't you try to plant a new one?" Karuto asked, "Weren't there seeds in the fruit?"

"There were. And we planted as many as we possessed. They did not grow." Konpeito said.

Karuto frowned. "Maybe the planet didn't have the right conditions anymore. Maybe there was something different about the time when it was planted."

"Maybe." Konpeito shrugged.

Karuto sighed. "I guess it doesn't matter. So . . . your ward might have escaped in the pod, or Cauli might have."

"Yes." Konpeito said.

"With a piece of the fruit, and so potentially the ability to grow another tree somewhere in the galaxy." Karuto sighed.

"Yes." Konpeito said.

Karuto frowned and looked at the computer. He looked at the reports for the five Saiyans. All of them were labeled KIA.

If he used his clearance as a member of the Clan to update any of them to "MIA" or worse "Active" it would mean a manhunt that would turn what was left of the PTO upside down . . . and it would mean going back on his word to Konpeito.

Karuto closed the files instead. He thanked Konpeito for the stories, and he went to bed.

As the little Arcosian lay in bed he wondered . . . Leek . . . Rhubara . . . Turles . . . two of them had been wearing purple armor . . . two of them were dead.

Maybe all three of them were dead.

Maybe Cauli had survived and taken that pod out into the galaxy . . . maybe it had been one of the other three. Karuto only knew for certain that Kumber, the strongest had been killed.

Killed by one of his own, one of the weakest somehow made strong enough to take on an Oozaru.

Karuto sighed. Eventually he fell asleep. He dreamed of gods bathed in golden lights, massive trees and fruit that could make a weak warrior strong.

Somehow the little Arcosian knew . . . even if Konpeito's knowledge was exhausted the story wasn't over. If it took his whole life . . . he'd learn the rest.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Konpeito closed his eyes as he went to rest in his own quarters. The aging Iwatian remembered his beloved Korizato. He remembered the family he had raised after that terrible time, for as the village elder it was his duty to be like a father to all of the village's youngsters and to treat them all as his children, but he would always remember his first child.

That strange little alien he had taken in.

 _Do you persist, my ward?_ The Iwatian wondered as he lay in his bunk. _Do you know what happened to your kind? Do you hide? Did you save your friend? Did the two of you find a place to live together in peace, or did you give your life for hers? I wonder if she would have appreciated it if you had . . ._

Konpeito smiled slightly, and thought _No, I don't think you did. That wasn't who you were, and you never knew how to heal. My poor ward, were you alone then? You must have known you couldn't stay with Kori and I once the others knew the secret of the Oozaru . . . so where did you go? If you lived . . . if you lived . . ._

Konpeito shook his head. He sat up and quickly left the bunk. He went to the ship's communications room, running into Commander Chillax on the way.

"Commander." Konpeito said.

There was something . . . off about Chillax. Something cold, for lack of a better word. Karuto was all but innocent, curious about the world and conditioned to believe what he believed. The Captain was cruel for cruelty's sake and most of the other Arcosians Karuto had met felt the same. But Chillax . . . Chillax was different somehow, and not in a good way. Konpeito couldn't quite put his finger on it but he didn't like it.

Chillax asked him, "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be sleeping by now?"

"I . . . wanted to use the communications deck, sire."

"Planning to send a message? A little something for your fellow Iwatians?"

"Not exactly, sire." Konpeito said. He decided to include a bit of honesty, and said, "I want to record a message for my child."

The Commander's expression was unreadable, and not only because his facial structure was quite different from Karuto's, the Arcosian Konpeito had spent the most time with and thus the most time learning to read. The Commander just nodded and said, "You're not the first one to record that kind of message. Most of the crew does it before a really dangerous mission. This one is going to be easy, but since it's your first I guess I won't blame you. Just do yourself a favor: record it if you want but don't send it, you'll only embarrass yourself when the mission is over and you have to explain how you didn't actually die fighting a bunch of primates with an average power level of ten."

Konpeito nodded, though he wasn't sure what Chillax meant. The Commander passed him by, and Konpeito went into the communications room. He was pleased to find it empty, though since everyone else was asleep apart from the third watch which primarily stayed in the control room it wasn't surprising.

He sat down at a console and began recording the way he'd seen Karuto do before. He looked into the screen and saw his reflection as the monitor showed him what was being recorded. He looked so old now . . . and dressed in the navy and brown armor and blue suit of the PTO he must look like an entirely di

fferent being. He felt like one too. He laughed mirthlessly and said, "I must look so different to you now . . . but if you're still alive, I hope you see this . . . hello Rhuby."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks is beginning to feel less wary for the future, but Kalt's crew makes a startling discovery when they perform a long range scan of Earth **.**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Konpeito hasn't told Karuto everything about the Saiyan attack on his world, there are certain things he's kept to himself or just didn't know. But season one is starting to move towards its final arc and the "story time" segments are done. Don't know how you all felt about them but it was sort of a new storytelling style for me so thanks for coming through it. The entire story of Goulder's Saiyan troubles are told in Trials of the Tree which will follow season one.
> 
> Also I am pretty much out of character images to share as well, at least the ones that don't depict (or spoil) future cast members.


	19. What Does The Scouter Say?!

**Episode Nineteen**

**'What Does The Scouter Say?!'**

 

For the first time in a long time Trunks felt a measure of ease. He felt as if the world were in good hands.

His students were training harder than ever and they'd truly started to come together, they were growing in leaps and bounds both as individuals and as members of a team. Even though they were still so much weaker than he was Trunks could feel their growing skill and potential. In a year or two they might well be able to put him to the proverbial ropes, in time they might be on par with him.

Assuming he wasn't improving, which he suspected he was even though it felt like he was just maintaining his own level he found that level a lot easier to maintain than it had been in the past. He couldn't really train to his full potential alone or against sparring partners who would probably die if he really let lose but all the same it felt more like being in the alternate time-line earth where Goku and Gohan and of course his father were all still alive. There was a certain sensation that came from knowing that the world wasn't resting completely on one's own shoulders.

Even if the weakest of Goku's friends could probably have still taken all of his students on at once the progress was heartening. Even if the whole group wasn't enough to really test him just yet he knew they'd get there someday, and it felt good.

Now all they needed were Dragon Balls. He didn't quite understand exactly what his mother was doing to try to find New Namek, he wasn't sure why she wasn't interested in just using the time machine to locate it in the alternate time-line then use that knowledge in their own.

Maybe she wanted to wait until the new machine was ready, but he was beginning to suspect there was something she wasn't telling him.

What ever the case was Trunks still felt better knowing that soon their world would be totally back to normal. He'd even realized that with new Dragon Balls he could bring back Gohan, after all Gohan hadn't been brought back before in his time-line and it would be a great help to have him around. They could train more students together, train a proper Earth Defense Force. Or at the very least have two Super Saiyans.

It seemed strange, but Trunks felt far more enthusiastic for the future than he had before. The idea that he could show his mentor how much he'd grown excited him too.

He'd even dared to start imagining the day that one of his students might take over as the leader of Earth's Defenders, or train a new generation of fighters. Trunks knew he was still much too young to think about retirement, but the idea had a certain appeal. After all he'd spent his whole life as a fighter now that the possibility of living a peaceful life was presenting itself he was starting to daydream about it.

His Saiyan side reveled in combat and training but it lived in the moment. His human side looked towards the future, someday he had to stop fighting didn't he? Someday he'd be able to take a much deserved rest, wouldn't he? So when that happened . . . where would he be? Who would he be?

For the moment his two halves were united in the need to protect Earth but with an earthling's foresight he knew the reason he was doing everything he was doing was so that the whole world wouldn't rest on his shoulders. When that day came . . . he'd finally be free to rest a bit.

He could become the head of the Capsule Corporation, or maybe just be a billionaire philanthropist, after all the world still needed some rebuilding, someone to go around writing giant checks and stuff. They couldn't just abuse the Dragonballs once they had them after all, they couldn't use them to wish for everything.

The young fighter smiled imagining a simpler life. Maybe a life that included someone else, maybe even a family. After all he'd saved the world, didn't he get to live in it too?

He saw Soda standing by the entrance to the gravity training room, she was suited up and ready to go. He smiled at her and said, "You're here early."

"Well I knew you'd be here." She told him and he tilted his head to the side.

"Yes . . ."

"I wanted to talk to you, sir." She elaborated.

"You know you can do that any time." Trunks said, straightening up.

"Well doesn't this count as any time?" She smiled.

"Any time I'm not about to step into a room that's three hundred times earth's gravity." Trunks clarified.

"I see your point . . . maybe delay yourself five minutes?" She suggested, tilting her head to the side now.

Trunks nodded, "Okay. What is it?"

"You . . . you got lucky." Soda told him. "You ended up with a good team of good people, the least trustworthy one of them is me and I promise you you'll never have anything to fear from me as long as you . . . well, keep being you."

"What do you mean?" Trunks asked.

"You're . . . well, a hero, sir." Soda shrugged. "And I don't mean because you killed the Androids, I mean you _are_ a hero for that but I mean . . . you being _you_. You're . . . well, _heroic._ You've done everything you've done for the sake of the earth and you didn't really ask anything in return. You could have overthrown the King, you could have _become_ the King or I don't know, some kind of God Emperor of Mankind if you wanted."

"That sounds appealing." Trunks said, tapping his chin and pretending to consider it. "I would expect a golden throne of course."

Soda laughed and shoved him lightly, "I'm trying to be genuine with you, sir."

"Then stop calling me sir." Trunks offered.

"Master Briefs," she began but he shook his head.

"Trunks. You've been allowed to call me Trunks for ages now, Soda. All of you have."

"And none of us would dare." Soda assured him. Then she lowered her gaze for a moment, and said, "Well . . . Trunks . . . si—um . . . the thing is . . . you have the power to replace the Androids with yourself but you didn't. More than that you're teaching the rest of us how to . . . well, how to be like you. You're not just giving the world a fish you're teaching it to fish. I don't think I ever told you how much that impressed me . . . continues to impress me. You're a true hero . . . but we're not all like you."

Trunks stood up straight and asked, "And why is it you think you're the least trustworthy of our team?"

"Because of everyone here I'm the only one with a preexisting loyalty to the King directly. As a member of his Royal Guard I'm sworn to act in his interest."

"So you're warning me not to try and take over the world?" Trunks wanted to laugh.

Soda shook her head quickly, "No!" She said, "I mean yes, well no, I mean I didn't think it would even occur to you, I mean if it would have it should have already . . . look," She hesitated and took a deep breath, "you got lucky." She said again. "Someday you might train someone who isn't so altruistic, someone who just cares about personal power or someone who doesn't care about the earth. People like that exist all over and the worst ones are good at making you think they're not that way. We'd get them in the Royal Guard you know? People who just wanted to use the uniform to bully the people, people who didn't care that the Androids were a threat to us all because they could use the orange and blue to live it up for as long as possible until they personally ran into the toasters."

"Are you worried the King might ask you to train men and women like that?" Trunks asked.

"I guarantee he'll ask it because he won't understand the idea that any of his Guard would _still_ behave that way, and in peacetime it can be harder to spot, I'll admit. But it won't matter because I have no intentions of training the Royal Guard to fight on the level you're showing us."

"You don't?" Trunks was surprised.

"Well I couldn't if I wanted to, so I suppose it's not so bad that I don't want to." She said, sounding a little embarrassed. "Oh flight, energy blasts, all that will keep the King happy . . . but gravity training? I wouldn't even know how to replicate this, don't understand it, best if I don't mention it."

"Best if it remains a secret of the unbiased." Trunks guessed and Soda smiled slightly.

"You're a true hero, I'd rather you remain peerless than ever have to worry about anyone untrustworthy getting to your level."

_So long retirement?_ Trunks wondered to himself, but then he remembered they'd have Gohan someday . . . right?

"So what's your suggestion?" Trunks asked, "What happens if I do end up training someone selfish instead of selfless? What if I do end up training someone who'll abuse the power I help them achieve?"

Soda shrugged, "Treat them like the threat they are, even if they wear your uniform. Even if you ever called them friend. In the Guard if we caught someone abusing their power . . . well we took it away."

"There's only one way to take this sort of power away," Trunks said, and Soda nodded. "I hope it never comes to that. I don't want to think about having to put down any of my students."

"And we appreciate that." Soda smiled, "But when a Royal Guardsman snaps they might hurt a few civilians, extort some extra money or food from the people. If one of your fighters snaps they can take out a city block, and that's just as we are now. I'm pretty sure you mean for us to go a lot further."

"I do." Trunks nodded.

Soda hesitated, then said, "None of us are like that. It's really incredible actually . . . I spent a long time hoping one of the others was secretly a serial killer or something . . . it just seemed too weird to have a group of such good people. I don't think you'll ever know what it feels like to be the least . . . _good_ person in the room."

Trunks smiled, "You talk as if you're bad. Being loyal to King and Country doesn't mean you're less selfless than the rest of them."

"If you say so, Trunks." Soda told him.

Trunks smiled at her and asked, "Well . . . still feel like training with me?"

"Huh?" Soda blinked, "I uh . . . I really don't think I can handle three hundred times gravity."

"Yeah, well . . . we can dial it back a bit." Trunks said, "Come on."

The two of them stepped into the room together. "Power up as high as you can go, Soda." Trunks told her.

She did, and he tried to match her strength and set the gravity to something suitable for her.

She was clearly surprised by the sudden weight. She asked, "How high is this?"

"Five times." Trunks said. "You know I've been told this was just half of normal . . . on my father's home world."

Soda seemed to take the revelation in stride, she forced a smile through the strain and said, "He must have been pretty short."

Trunks laughed, "Well . . . maybe a bit. I don't think that's why." Soda smiled too with a bit less strain.

He smiled, "All right. Let's see you get used to this, then we can start training."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Without more of Konpeito's story to listen to Karuto had returned to his studying in his free time.

When he wasn't diverting himself by looking for planets either inhabited or uninhabited that the Saiyan might have fled to.

But there was nothing and it was absolutely maddening.

Especially since he couldn't risk asking anyone for help. He couldn't let anyone find out what he was researching.

Of course there was a time and a place for everything and the ship's bridge while his uncle gave a lecture on proper planetary approach was neither the place nor the time to investigate. That would have to come later, Karuto understood.

"Now nephew," Uncle Kalt was saying, "it's important to scan a planet as soon as possible and continue doing so as you make your final approach. This helps determine both the location and movements of any potentially dangerous power levels. As you're no doubt aware the probes that investigated this world reported that our most deadly adversaries, the Saiyans that slew Lord Frieza are no longer on the world however . . ."

Karuto realized a little too late that his Uncle had trailed off expecting him to finish the sentence. By the time he registered that he was expected to talk the moment had passed and cousin Chillax was answering instead.

"Just because the deadliest enemy is gone does not mean that the place will be devoid of high power levels and potential threats to our crew."

"Exactly so." Captain Kalt nodded, and indicated the forward screen. "See here how our scouters tell us that the vast majority of the sapient population is concentrated in a single location? Do you know what that means?"

"That we only need to attack one place?" Karuto guessed.

"Of course." Captain Kalt smiled. He waved a hand, "Genora, scan for high power levels." He turned back to Karuto and said, "Of course no one left on the planet manages the minimum level of power to earn themselves a spot in our crew, so they'll all be exterminated. But it would be useful to know just how powerful their champions might be."

"Twelve hundred." Genora reported.

Kalt seemed surprised, "Twelve hundred?"

"Twelve hundred and rising." Genora said hesitantly. "Two power levels, within the concentration. One at twelve hundred the other . . . just slightly higher."

Chillax seemed to become interested, though Karuto didn't know why. Cousin Chillax's power level was far higher than that.

"Can you pinpoint its location?" The Commander asked.

"They're in the concentration but some sort of . . . singularity is disorienting-"

"Don't tech-tech me, answer the question." Chillax ordered and Genora gulped.

"Uh, n-no sir."

"These scouters are supposed to be more accurate." Captain Kalt growled. "Isn't the average earthling power level between five and ten?"

"Five and ten? How do they function?" Karuto laughed but a sharp look from his uncle silenced him.

"I-I assure you sire," Genora insisted, "the ship's scouters are extremely advanced . . . but they still only measure battle power as it is. If someone were hiding their power-"

"Are you scanning the wildlife on accident?" Chillax asked.

"No sir!" Genora said.

"Perhaps they've hidden their power levels? If they detected the deep space probes they might have laid a trap!" Orenga suggested.

"Calm down. Earthlings don't transform like Arcosians, they couldn't hide their power." Captain Kalt said sharply.

"We don't know much about the Earthlings," Chillax said, "but we've encountered many species that can lower their power levels when they're not feeling under threat."

"You mean that the Saiyans could still be there?" Kalt sounded worried now but Karuto felt excited.

"Could they be?" He asked his cousin and Chillax shook his head.

"I doubt it, I don't think anything that could harm Lord Frieza could lower its power level to a mere two thousand."

Captain Kalt relaxed visibly, "Of course . . . besides, twelve hundred is only a threat to our troops, our lieutenants should be sufficient to put these two down."

"So it's not Saiyans?" Karuto frowned.

"We really can't tell from this distance, sir." Orenga said. Karuto liked being called "sir" by the bridge crew.

"The deep space probes are specifically designed to detect those sorts of things but our ship, in addition to being a much older model with updated equipment, was only designed to detect targets for elimination." Gareno added.

"And to get us from one point to another." Genora said, earning a glare from Gareno.

"Yes, that too."

Cousin Chillax smiled, "Maybe we don't know specifics, but it does show the earthlings have a few real fighters. We may need a new strategy, Captain."

"Indeed, Commander . . . what do you suggest?"

Cousin Chillax laughed, "What do I always suggest? Leave the strongest to me."

Captain Kalt smiled, "Of course. Genora, keep an eye on those power levels, if the earthlings have any sort of . . . defense force or army, I want to know about it. Chillax, prepare your squad."

"Yes sir!" Cousin Chillax said.

Karuto asked, "Can I . . . um, can I help?"

Uncle Kalt seemed surprised, "You?"

"The people are so weak they won't be a threat to me." Karuto pointed out. "I could lead a squad too, right?"

The Captain seemed to consider it and Karuto felt hopeful. His uncle asked, "Why?"

"Because it's my duty?" Karuto suggested.

"Why?" The Captain asked again.

"It's an important world with weak inhabitants, I won't be in any danger but I can still help get the job done quicker."

He was also hoping that if there were some trace of the Saiyans he could track it down on his own before anyone could destroy it. The little Arcosian felt hope in his heart as his uncle tilted his head in thought until the Captain finally answered, "No, no. I won't risk it. You'll remain aboard the ship."

"But I'm strong enough!" Karuto protested.

"I know you are, but you're not a warrior." The Captain said calmly.

"I haven't had a chance to be a warrior!" Karuto argued.

Captain Kalt shook his head again, "You misunderstand, nephew. Your cousin, Commander Chillax is a warrior. He focuses on battle almost all the time, he focuses on improving his skills, he wants to fight and kill worthy foes. You aren't like him at all. You on the other hand think far too much, you concern yourself with unimportant things. A battleground as important as this is hardly the place for you, nephew."

Karuto frowned, "I just . . . I want to _see_ one of these worlds before it's destroyed by my cousin's genocidal rampage."

Kalt laughed, "Well I can understand that . . . however," he waved a hand at the view screens, "you can already do that from safety and comfort and that is exactly how you will do so, after all as my third officer it'll fall to you to keep the filthy primitive natives from damaging our ship while the Commander and I are engaged in our 'genocidal rampage' as you so aptly put it."

Karuto raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You're going too?"

"Of course I am. This is a historic battle, the day the backwater nothing that shamed our entire race is finally cleansed and our shame is washed away. In three days time we will avenge our clan's honor. Commander Chillax can have the champions, but I will lead our main force personally."

The larger Arcosian let out a laugh that actually sent a chill down Karuto's spine. He said, "If you're well behaved nephew, I'll try to leave a building or two intact for you to play in once the battle is over."

Karuto wouldn't hold his breath that the building would be a useful one.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks and Capsule Corp. receive another royal visit and this time the news isn't good. Meanwhile the Arcosian ship closes in on Earth and Captain Kalt might just begin to crack under pressure._


	20. King Sized Trouble

**Episode Twenty**

**'King Sized Trouble'**

 

Trunks was more than just a little surprised when he came into the employee lounge to find the King waiting for him along with his mother and several soldiers.

"Uh . . . your majesty." Trunks bowed. "I didn't know you were visiting. Um . . . please forgive my appearance, I was just training with my team when my mother called me to the lounge, she didn't tell me what it was about . . . uh . . . what _is_ this about?"

The King cleared his throat and one of the officers with him handed Trunks a piece of paper.

"One of the few things left mostly intact by the Androids is our satellite network."

"Yeah, Capsule Corps.'s too. My mother's been using our space telescope to-"

"Yes and we've been using ours." The officer interrupted, pushing his glasses up his nose and pointing to a bright star on the piece of paper he'd handed Trunks, "Our people have been watching this object on telescope for the past three days."

"What about it?" Trunks asked.

"It's getting closer." Bulma said.

Trunks frowned, "What does that mean?"

"It means it's coming right for us." The King said. "We don't know what it is, but it'll be here in two days."

"I can't believe you waited this long to tell us!" Bulma snapped, standing up and putting her hands on her hips, "If this is an asteroid or something Trunks can probably blast it out of the sky, right Trunks?"

Trunks frowned, "Uh, yeah, calm down mom . . ." He looked at the King's intelligence officer and guessed, "It's not an asteroid, is it?"

The officer looked at the King who nodded slowly.

The officer handed Trunks another piece of paper. It looked like a a picture of a circular bug surrounded by white light.

"You recognize it." The King said.

"Yeah." Trunks nodded. He'd seen a ship just like it four years ago when he went back in time for the first time.

"We believe this might be a mission for your special team, Mister Briefs." The King said.

"Yeah . . . I think so too . . ." Trunks agreed.

"What is it?" His mother asked, apparently no one had shown her the second picture.

Trunks handed it to her and asked, "Two days?"

"Noon the day after tomorrow." The King said nodding.

Trunks folded his arms, "We don't want to create a panic . . . but people might need to take shelter."

"The military will see to that." The officer said.

"We'll do what we can for our people." The King agreed.

Trunks took a deep breath and said, "Well . . . this is what we made the force for."

"Is it ready?" His mother asked quietly.

"I hope so." Trunks said. "But either way I doubt they have anything I can't overcome. If I can I'll just destroy the ship as it's coming in."

The King clapped his hands, "Excellent, I'll leave it in your capable hands, my boy! As long as the people are safe, that's all that matters."

Trunks smiled and nodded, "Of course your majesty."

The King rushed off shortly after that, his officers assured Trunks that they would keep Soda informed.

Trunks had his own people to inform of course.

But his mother put a hand on his shoulder as he headed to the training room to talk to the team.

"Trunks . . . just one thing . . ."

"What?" Trunks asked.

"If you can . . . I'd rather you didn't destroy the ship. At least not completely."

"Why?" Trunks was perplexed. Why would his mother ask something like that of him, and why had she waited until they were alone to do it?

"I want to take a look at its computer." His mother told him.

"Do you think it'll help find New Namek?"

"And reach it." She told him. "Remember our ship is based off of Goku's old space pod, that was fifty year old technology at least. If these people are the ones who developed it just imagine the improvements they might have made in fifty years."

Trunks nodded. "All right, I'll try to keep it from being completely destroyed."

"Well, remember it's mostly the computer I want. No one's life is less important than that, so if you feel like you have to destroy the ship then do it. Just leave enough for a salvage crew."

"If I can I'll leave it intact all together. With any luck we can get them to just leave. They judge their opponents' power based on numbers, well I'll show them the biggest numbers they've ever seen." Trunks said.

"Do you think that'll work?" His mother asked.

"Maybe not by itself," Trunks admitted, "But accompanied by some intimidating talk? Hopefully. I wouldn't mind having a few words with them really, after all they've come a long way to serve a dead tyrant. Whatever their reasons for coming I want to give them the chance to realize just how stupid they're being."

"And find out why they're suddenly so bold?" His mother suggested.

"Yeah. I mean it's naive to assume that Frieza's whole empire just stopped existing when he and his father died. But I still doubt they have anyone strong enough to challenge me, after all Frieza wiped out the Saiyans out of fear of them ever getting as strong as him. He didn't strike me as the sort of guy who'd have a lot of peers."

"Without him around there could have been someone who stood up to fill the power vacuum."

"That makes sense, but even if they have I'm even more powerful than I was when I destroyed Frieza." Trunks said.

"You don't think they're going to just destroy the planet do you?" She asked him. "Your father at least claimed to be able to destroy the Earth long before he was anywhere near Frieza's level."

Trunks frowned and folded his arms. He hadn't considered that. "When they're close enough to sense I'll intercept them. If I notice anyone powering up a planet killing attack I'll take them out."

"What about getting help from the past?" Bulma asked.

"Is the new time machine up and running?" Trunks was surprised by the suggestion.

"No. It's up but it's not running," His mother told him, "it's batter still needs to finish charging. But the old machine should be usable, you could squeeze a person or two in there with you."

Trunks considered it. The thought of asking his father or Gohan to come back with him seemed like a tremendous amount of security . . . but he was the Defender of Earth and his students were meant to take that mantle. Was he just going to go running to his father every time danger reared its ugly head?

Trunks shook his own far from ugly head and said, "Let's not waste the charge. We might need it later."

His mother nodded her agreement but smiled warily, "I know you'll do fine, son. I'm worried anyway, but I know you'll do fine."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The captain's ready room was far quieter than the rest of the ship which was abuzz with excitement and fear over the periodic power level spikes coming from the planet. Chillax welcomed the escape from all the hullabaloo, but it seemed as if his uncle was just as eager to enjoy the quiet because Captain Kalt was all but whispering every word he spoke as he said, "Genora's still monitoring the planet for power levels, the power levels still come in spikes. The highest spike was brief but it was around two thousand."

"And every time they spike there's still the echo?" Chillax asked.

"Yes but Genora's able to get more accurate readings now, so far the spikes have all been coming from humans."

"Are there _any_ Saiyan life signs?" Chillax asked.

"Not that we can detect, for as much as that matters with the tricky scum." Kalt said, sitting back in his pod chair with steepled fingers. "Do you think I should reconsider my decision not to let Karuto participate in the attack?"

Chillax was surprised to be consulted, but he tried not to let it show. "I don't see why not." He said casually. "Every Arcosian deserves the chance to take a chunk out of Earth if you ask me. Or whatever it's going to be called once we sell it."

"Parking Structure Planet for all I care." Kalt scoffed.

The Commander decided not to devote any brain cells to how such a planet might work and instead just nodded.

Captain Kalt nodded back. "All right then, it's settled. Tell Karuto he can participate in the attack."

"He'll be thrilled," Chillax said without emotion, "why am I the one telling him?"

He felt like he knew the answer before he got it. Kalt said, "Because there's no one he'll be safer with than you."

"He and the Iwatian get along." Chillax pointed out. "Let the Iwatian guard him, his power level is far higher than twelve hundred."

"So is Karuto's, but if there _is_ a Saiyan I expect you to get your cousin to safety. Don't try to fight it. You're the fastest flier we have, even if you need to carry a passenger."

"What about the rest of my squad?" Chillax asked, "Are you saying I should just abandon them?"

"It might slow any Saiyan down." Kalt said with a laugh which Chillax did not share. "They're not Arcosian, they don't matter." Kalt said dismissively and Chillax bristled.

"They're still my squad, they're better than the rest of the crew combined."

"Myself included?" The Captain raised an eyebrow.

"No, of course not. But you know what I mean."

"I do, and that is why, dear nephew, I am assigning Karuto to go with you. Arcosians mean more than every other life form in the galaxy, each of us is worth more on our own than the entire crew of this ship."

"Then why do we even take the others on?" Chillax demanded. "If their lives are so meaningless why don't we just conquer the galaxy alone? Why do we make deals with these races, why do we let them join our Empire?"

"What do you want, equality?" Kalt scoffed, "to see the lesser races treated as our peers?"

"No of course not," Chillax said, he'd never even considered such an idea. The thought had literally never occurred to him before, though now he had trouble thinking of a definite reason beyond simply "We're stronger."

"We are." Kalt agreed.

Chillax hesitated. He considered, "That's why we hate the Saiyans . . . not just for Lord Frieza, but because they're stronger?"

Kalt gritted his teeth and then nodded. "They have that potential. We Arcosians are born with a certain potential, our power grows as we age but a Saiyan's grows every time they fight, every time they recover from severe injury, Saiyans just never seem to stop growing in power."

"But they only live a hundred years, surely that's not enough time to-"

"But it was." Kalt interrupted, and Chillax realized he was right. "That's why if there _is_ a Saiyan present we must kill it if we can. And if we can't you must make sure your cousin gets to safety."

Chillax stood up and saluted, Kalt nodded and waved a dismissive hand. "Very well then Commander, go about your business. Go and tell young Karuto the good news."

Chillax nodded. "Good for him you mean."

"As you said, every Arcosian deserves a chance to take a chunk out of Earth."

"Yeah. Me and my big mouth."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Things started moving very quickly after that. The squads had their plans drawn up and they were preparing for the next day's combat. Because Soda was part of the Royal Guard she and her team would assist the military in protecting the civilians. A fortified bunker had been built in the event of anything like the Androids happening again and while in truth Trunks knew it wouldn't protect them from a determined attack it would at least keep everyone out of harm's way while he and Red Team took out the invaders.

If it was necessary. He hoped it wasn't necessary.

Trunks hadn't sensed the power levels coming from the ship yet, so he supposed if nothing else they weren't as powerful as the Androids had been. Or they were further away than he'd assumed. He wasn't sure how quickly the ship could move or how long it would take it to arrive.

But he had no room for doubts now.

And his team couldn't see that he was even concerned, they had to go into this knowing that everything was going to be fine.

They'd been tested against Roshi and they'd all passed, they could train in ten times earth's gravity without difficulty, they were far better prepared than Earth had been when the first Saiyan showed up.

But he still couldn't help but feel like none of them were anywhere close to even the weakest of Earth's defenders when he'd met them in the past.

_Well what do you expect?_ He asked himself. _They haven't had the time. If we had another month to train in ten or even twenty or thirty times Earth's normal gravity they might be ready then but it's a miracle they've come as far as they have. You shouldn't cheapen what they have accomplished by comparing them to fighters who spent their whole lives earning their strength.  
_

_Besides,_ he thought, _you don't know that they'll have to fight. Just like Yamcha could take on your whole team on his own_ you _can take on any number of Frieza's guys on your own._

That was his line of thought as he sat in the cafeteria staring at a plate he hadn't touched.

And that's where Soda found him. She was dressed in civilian clothes, which caught Trunks off guard. He was pretty sure every time he'd seen her she'd either been wearing the royal uniform, his uniform, or simple workout clothes but tonight she was wearing a red dress shirt and headband with a black jacket and skirt. It didn't seem like the sort of thing he'd picture her wearing in her off hours.

"I didn't think you'd be nervous." She said.

"I'm not." Trunks said. Soda raised an eyebrow questioningly and he sighed, "Well okay, maybe a bit. I didn't want anyone to know."

"I can understand that." She said, sitting down opposite him.

"What gave it away?" He wondered.

"To me, seeing you just now? Nothing actually. But your mother noticed."

Trunks looked around but Soda said, "She was here ten minutes ago or so, got a cup of coffee. I guess you didn't notice her. She asked me to check on you."

"You?" Trunks asked. "Why didn't she say something herself?"

"Well I think she probably wanted someone less parental to talk to you, and I was the first person she saw. The others are actually pretty scarce right now."

"They are?" Trunks was surprised. "They're all still here though," he said, able to easily sense their energy.

Soda nodded, "Yeah but they're all preparing in their own ways."

"Training?" Trunks asked. The blond woman laughed.

"No, I mean preparing for tomorrow. You know, mentally. You know how it is. I mean you told us not to worry and we trust you, but . . . well the last time something like this happened a city became a crater and a bald giant soloed the entire military . . ."

"Actually technically the last time something like this happened it went largely unnoticed because Earth's defenders handled it." Trunks pointed out. "But the time with the Saiyans, yeah . . . hopefully this is going to be like that time nobody knows about because we're Earth's new defense force and we're going to handle it. This time tomorrow night hopefully the people of West City will just be complaining about what a pointless evacuation drill this was."

Soda smiled. "I hope so too. Even so it's not unusual for soldiers to want to be alone before a battle, or to do other things to unwind, even if that battle's not likely to be their last. When you know you're going into danger sometimes there's things you want to do, or say, things you just don't want to risk your life without experiencing or getting off your chest."

"How do you unwind before a battle?" Trunks asked.

"Well keep in mind as I've said we mostly just showed up a bit too late to deal with the Androids or escorted important people to safety, but if I knew there was going to be danger . . . honestly I'd usually eat something really unhealthy."

Trunks laughed. He didn't mean to, but it was such an odd answer and Soda said it so straight-faced that he couldn't help it. "What?" He asked her.

"I find food super comforting," Soda told him with a slightly embarrassed shrug. "A bag of chips if it was all I could find, but a chocolate cake, ice cream, chocolate, oh _donuts_! Basically if it was something that meant moderation to my desire for a long and healthy life any other day if I thought I was about to die I'd indulge in great quantity."

Trunks laughed, "That's hard to picture."

"Then don't, it wasn't exactly something I'd want people seeing." She said with a sheepish smile, "Most people just smoked but I couldn't stand that jazz, tasted awful. Actually the overeating resulted in me losing my lunch a couple of times on the chopper, I think everyone just figured I had motion sickness."

Trunks laughed and said, "I wonder what everyone else is up to."

"Well . . ." Soda hesitated, "I don't know if you really want to know that."

It was Trunks' turn to raise an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Well I haven't technically laid eyes one _everyone_ , and clearly not everyone's downing donuts but like I said for a lot of people pre-fight jitters are a pretty personal thing. Like I said, I didn't want people to _see_ me eating donuts, it could change how they saw me the rest of the time, you know? Suppose Bocan with all his usual bravado is curled up in a ball hugging a stuffed bear, it'd affect how we think of him even when he's not hugging a stuffed bear." Soda shrugged. "Now that's not what he's actually doing, it's just food for thought."

"Did it affect what you think of them?" Trunks asked.

"No, out of all of them no one really surprised me. But you're more . . . sheltered?"

Trunks frowned at her, but he wouldn't pry. "I guess as long as whatever it is isn't going to affect how they fight tomorrow. So what about you? Why aren't you eating a bunch of junk food?"

"I see to my people first." Soda said simply. "Then I handle me."

"How's that going?" Trunks asked, "I mean . . . how is Blue Team?"

"Not just the Blues." Soda smiled, "I mean I checked on the Reds too, and you . . . I mean your mom told me you were nervous, but I'd have come to check on you anyway."

"You're a good commander." Trunks said. "How's everyone holding up?"

"Pretty good. Maybe I don't know them well enough yet, or maybe they just aren't that worried but if you're afraid that they'll break and run I don't think any of them will."

"That's good to know." Trunks admitted. "But I thought you said you hadn't seen all of them."

"Yeah. But I know what the one's I haven't seen are doing." Soda said with a slightly evasive tone.

That made it pretty easy for Trunks to guess what the others were up to no matter how sheltered Soda thought he was.

"Don't worry." He said, changing the subject anyway, "If it comes down to it I'll just take them out myself. It's only on the off chance that they're not hostile that I don't just do that, no matter how interested in the computer my mom might be."

"Not just her. Me too." Soda said, "I don't know what your mother wants it for but if we could crack an alien computer it could tell us how many more ships there are, how long it would take them to get to us and whether or not they plan on coming at all. If anyone can crack it it's probably your mother and those two eccentrics she has working for her."

Trunks nodded. Soda nudged him with her foot under the table, "Come on, I feel like getting something to eat."

"We're in the cafeteria." Trunks said.

"Yeah, and I can see neither of us is interested in that gruel on your plate," Soda told him. "Most of the city's probably evacuated already, but experience tells me there'll be some places still open to get business off stragglers."

"I thought you said you didn't want people to see you eating before battle."

"When I'm nervous." Soda said, standing up. "With you on our side I'm not nervous. So I guess I'm just asking you out. After all, passing Roshi's test means I'm graduated or whatever right? So it's not like it's totally inappropriate anymore."

Trunks blushed, he wasn't completely sure how to respond to what Soda had just said but he got up from the table and nodded nervously, "Um . . . yeah, sure. I mean I guess that makes sense."

"Relax." She told him with a smile, "I promise you won't see me any differently after we've eaten."

Trunks nodded but he was pretty sure he was seeing her differently already. They went outside, in the courtyard he could see Rhyce and Basil were playing checkers and surprisingly it was actually Basil who looked frustrated. His mother, Master Roshi and Thyme were smoking along with a few other remaining staff and Anavill and Schip were sitting together on the lawn looking up at the stars, maybe wondering when the alien invaders would arrive, maybe just enjoying the stars.

It was a peaceful and idyllic scene. Trunks hoped there'd be a lot more like it in the future.

"So we could take a car," Soda said, "but I think it'd be more fun to fly."

"You're wearing a skirt." Trunks felt obligated to remind her.

"And you're much faster than me, there shouldn't be any reason for you to trail that far behind." She told him with a smirk. He blushed and nodded.

"Yeah . . . all right."

"Besides, flying is fun." Soda told him and they took off.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The night carries on as the Defenders of Earth prepare for the danger in their own ways, Bulma and Roshi have an important discussion and Bulma considers the future._


	21. Wolves

**Episode Twenty-One**

**'Wolves'**

 

Bulma sighed as she watched Trunks and the king's Lieutenant fly off together from the railing overlooking the Capsule Corp. courtyard. She didn't know where they were off to and she didn't think there was anything too serious going on between them, but a mother could always hope.

Her son was still young, but he'd spent so much time protecting the world he hadn't had much opportunity to date and with the female population so drastically reduced the phrase 'plenty of fish in the sea' wasn't horribly accurate. Sure, being a billionaire super hero he could probably be with whomever he wanted so she supposed she should be glad that had wasn't cruising the countryside leaving her a string of illegitimate grand children in his wake.

Really though it didn't seem like him to even approach a girl. It made her think of Goku and Vegeta and she smiled and said out loud, "I wonder if it's just in Saiyan blood to be oblivious."

"Eh?" Master Roshi asked, cleaning some ash from his pipe.

"It just occurred to me, I don't think Goku or Vegeta or even Gohan ever showed too much interest in romance. Chichi and I had to do most of the work with the first two and it was a lot of work. Then Gohan . . . I wonder if he had anyone special . . ."

"We'll never know now." Master Roshi nodded solemnly. "Still, a strange thing to wonder about young'un."

"I'm not that young anymore old man." Bulma said with a good natured laugh.

"Do you spend a lot of time thinking about Saiyans?" Master Roshi asked.

"Lately I do." Bulma admitted.

"Why?" Roshi asked flatly.

Bulma considered for a moment. She leaned against the railing and took another cigarette out of her pack but didn't light it. She just held it and looked at it for a moment. She briefly considered whether she should try quitting or inventing artificial lungs, after all if she did want to see her grandchildren someday . . .

She decided neither really appealed to her. One denied herself a comfort in a world that lacked many of the old ones, the other really wasn't her field of expertise. Besides her father had lived to a ripe old age, she'd be fine. She'd cut back since the days of the Androids anyway.

She turned her gaze back to Master Roshi and finally said, "I've been thinking about them a lot . . . were Goku and Vegeta paragons of the species or did every Saiyan have the potential to be as powerful as them?"

"Goku and Vegeta were definitely a cut above the rest."

"Yeah, but I mean . . . from where Goku started and where he ended up do you think any of them could have done it? And in the time it took him?"

Master Roshi stroked his beard and said, "I don't know. I suppose so."

"The only danger is their need to fight, but even Vegeta settled down eventually."

"The need to fight and the tails." Roshi said.

"The tails aren't an issue since Piccolo destroyed the moon." Bulma pointed out. "And even if the moon were around we could just remove the tails, then they'd even look more human."

Master Roshi gave her a scrutinizing look, "What are you up to?"

"What do you mean?" Bulma asked with a mischievous smirk.

"You're not just thinking about them for nostalgia's sake are you?" Master Roshi almost sounded like he was trying to figure out a puzzle, Bulma supposed in a way he was. "Are you planning something?"

"Don't be silly. Saiyans have been extinct for years now, and they were functionally extinct for a lot longer."

Master Roshi didn't seem amused. He said, "And the galaxy doesn't seem to have been too upset about it. But I know a young lady with a time machine."

Bulma laughed, "You're being ridiculous. Trunks' time machine can only carry him, and anyway he needs to know where he's going. I have no idea where to find any Saiyan let alone a good Saiyan like Goku."

"And I don't suppose we can count on bashing all of them over the head and hoping they turn out as kind hearted as he did."

"I thought about doing it to Vegeta a time or ten." Bulma said casually, smiling and wiping a tear away as she remembered her hot tempered Prince of all Saiyans. "But at the end of the day Trunks is totally unique now, a half-saiyan in a human world. He doesn't have his father to answer any questions, and no matter how I've nurtured him I have to consider that his nature might not be exactly the same as a normal boy his age."

Roshi laughed and patted her hand gently. "Well . . . whatever he runs into on that front I don't think you've got much to worry about as far as his nature goes. He's definitely a good kid."

Bulma smiled, glad to see Roshi had been diverted until the old hermit told her, "But I doubt he'd play well with a full blooded Saiyan. Saiyans are wolves to humanity's dog, they're similar in appearance but they're tougher, rougher, more dangerous and savage if they're pressed. It's just their nature. You might be able to domesticate one or two, might even be able to breed them with a nice lady dog and get a half-wolf pup and if you're lucky that pup will favor its mother's side and be as tough and strong as its father without the savagery and danger."

"An interesting analogy. But I'd stray away from it before I decide you're calling me a dog."

Master Roshi laughed, "Well if the shoe-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Bulma warned him with a playful smirk.

The old man cackled and waved a hand, "I can see I'd better make myself scarce. I'll go see what I can scrounge up from the kitchens!"

"Enjoy yourself." Bulma laughed and looked up at the stars.

She tapped her unlit cigarette against the railing she was leaning on and said quietly, "An apt analogy though. But one thing you don't seem to be considering, Roshi; wolves follow their alpha, and that's the strongest wolf in the pack. I doubt it'd matter much to them if their alpha is a halfbreed as long as he's strong."

_After all, I have a promise to keep._ Bulma thought as she looked up at the tranquil night sky. She watched the stars a while longer and reflected on her poor luck finding new Namek. She had no idea where any Saiyans might be and even the new time machine wouldn't help with that. But if she could get her hands on that alien computer . . .

She shook her head then turned to watch Basil continue to lose horribly to Rhyce at Go.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The gift of flight had opened a lot of doors for the Earth's Defenders, and while it might have been a mild abuse of their power Gurein and Kodva had used it to sit at the top of the capsule corporation building, have a drink and look at the stars reflecting that one of them was bringing doom.

Gurein took a long sip from his drink. It wasn't alcoholic, it wouldn't do to go into battle tomorrow hung over, but it was a very sweet and bubbly drink, not at all what he was used to so he drank it slowly.

Anyway he didn't want to have to fly down to get another.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Kodva asked him.

Gurein nodded, "Of course. I'm always nervous when I know I have to fight an enemy but don't know anything about them. Will I figure them out before they get the best of me? Or will I simply be outmatched?"

Kodva took a much stronger sip of his drink and nodded back, "I know what you mean. Of course I was never really the sort to fight to the death, but when the Androids were running around I knew that if I encountered them I'd have to fight and face death. I mean I wouldn't be able to just let them massacre everyone else around me so even if it was pointless I'd have to fight."

Gurein took another sip and watched a star that he suspected was the enemy ship. It wasn't a familiar star to him and it seemed to move across the sky in an unusual manner.

But it could have just been a new satellite or his imagination. Still he liked to think he was looking at his enemy.

"Still, this isn't horrible." Kodva said, and Gurein looked at him to see what he meant. The former monk gestured to the rooftop, "Just sitting here having a drink waiting for the end of the world to arrive so we can stop it."

Gurein smiled and raised his bottle, "And I'm glad to be up here with you. When we've saved the world we'll have to do this again."

Kodva nodded, "I'd be game. Proper drinks though, and a more stable location. Probably not smart to drink on a rooftop."

"Especially the roof of a bowl-shaped building." Gurein agreed. The Capsule Corporation's roof wasn't particularly slick, it wasn't as if they were in any danger of falling off of it just sitting as they were but it wasn't the most sensible of positions to be in sober. Intoxicated it would likely end in tragedy.

"You know," Kodva said, "if you had told me a year ago that I would be fighting space aliens I'd have backed away slowly, or maybe just run away. But now after everything else I've seen and done it all feels so natural that I'm not even questioning that there is life out there or what that means for us and our place in the universe. I mean I always thought we were so special because we were so unique before."

"Hmm." Gurein acknowledged.

"But one thing I do still think is even if life in the universe isn't unique surely it's rare enough that no one should go around extinguishing it for the sake of extinguishing it. I mean with an infinite universe and so many empty worlds shouldn't there be enough space for everyone?"

"Perhaps, but it may be there aren't enough worlds to make people happy. It seems mad to think about, doesn't it? That a whole planet wouldn't be enough for people to share that they would need more and more. But even on Earth we have horrible people who can't share, who need everything for themselves, every scrap of land every resource." Gurein said. "Even on Earth we have tyrants. It's up to those who can act to do so, to fight when they can to preserve life from those who would extinguish it."

Kodva nodded. "And we're those ones who can act this time. Well you know I've got your back."

"And you know I have yours." Gurein smiled, "But I would wonder if I might impose on you to keep an eye on my sister, Rhyce."

"Because we're on the same team?" Kodva asked.

"Because she'll need it more than I." Gurein admitted. "She's rather headstrong."

Kodva laughed, "Trust me, I've noticed. Still, a good kid though. I'll keep an eye on her for sure."

Gurein's smile widened and he looked up at the star he suspected was the enemy ship. "Then I can fight tomorrow without reservation."

"More's the pity for them." Kodva said with a grin.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The cool night air was refreshing as Trunks walked with Soda down the abandoned streets of West City. They'd found a few restaurants still open and all of them had been filled with stragglers or people waiting to go to the bunker in the morning.

They'd tried one place and been mobbed almost instantly by people begging them to save the world and wishing them luck as Earth's defenders. Trunks hadn't expected to be so instantly recognizable, and even Soda seemed taken aback by the rush of people.

"They didn't care who I was when my team and I were out and about before." She'd said.

"The world wasn't about to be invaded by aliens before." Trunks had pointed out and they'd decided that a sit-down-restaurant might not be the best idea.

Now they walked along the quieter less populated streets eating chips they'd gotten out of a vending machine.

"It's eerie, isn't it?" Soda asked him. "I mean the city's so peaceful over here. Hard to think most of its people are hunkered down in a steel bunker hoping we can stop the aliens."

"I wonder what it's like in there."

"Not fantastic I'd imagine. But I hope it's not too bad." She said. "I don't think the bunker was really designed to house the entire city for very long, it won't have much by way of luxury. Even the King won't be living it up really."

"I just hope it's a safe place for them." Trunks said. "I keep thinking it would just take one blast . . ."

"From you, right?" Soda asked, sounding a bit worried. "I mean . . . these guys coming, it'd take a lot more from them, right?"

Trunks nodded, "I think so. I can't sense their power yet so they can't be that strong. I doubt they're anything I can't handle alone."

"You won't have to handle it alone." Soda reminded him.

"I know. But if I can keep the rest of you out of it I will." Trunks said. "It's not that I don't trust your capabilities, it's just that this is a little more than what you've been trained for, if I had more time to teach you it might not be so bad but I'm just . . ."

"Nervous." Soda said. She smiled and swept her blond hair behind her left ear. "You're like a father whose kids are about to go to kindergarten for the first time. You hope we'll be fine, you tell yourself we'll be fine, but we might still get hurt. You want to hold our hands, it makes sense. "

"I guess." Trunks said, feeling a little relieved that she at least understood.

"It makes sense," she repeated, "but I didn't say it was okay. We're not kids and this isn't kindergarten. We might get hurt but we're fighters, we're used to it. Trust us, we'll have your back and we'll have each other's. If we can't handle this then we don't really serve much purpose, right?"

"I guess that's true." Trunks admitted. "This is pretty much exactly the reason I wanted to train a new Defense Force."

"Exactly. So don't sweat it. Do your part, we'll do ours. We've got your back, Master. Or should I say Commander."

"Commander?" Trunks asked.

"Well what rank should we give you? I mean you turned down God-Emperor." Soda asked with a playful smile.

Trunks smiled back, "I don't know . . . I guess I never thought I'd need a rank. Just call me Trunks."

"Okay, Trunks." Soda said with a slight laugh. She walked a bit closer to him and bumped him playfully with her shoulder. "I guess you can just call me Soda instead of Supreme General."

Trunks laughed, "Aren't you a Lieutenant?"

"Not anymore. I got bumped up to Captain when the King visited you yesterday."

"Oh." Trunks said, surprised by the way she sounded so uninterested in her own promotion. "Congratulations." He said anyway.

She shook her head, "It's meaningless. I didn't earn the rank. I didn't earn Lieutenant either really. They're just empty titles."

"What do you mean?" Trunks asked. "You've been an excellent team leader, now you're one of the most powerful fighters in the world. Why wouldn't you deserve to be an officer in the King's Royal Guard?"

She shrugged, "It's just something I've been thinking about since yesterday, you know? I mean to be an officer at all you need to finish schooling in an academy or a university. Neither of those were around for me to attend really, I got to be an officer pretty much because I survived a while, and surviving wasn't hard when we never really fought. Now I'm a Captain . . . just because it looks better when I get interviewed by the news."

She smiled and forced a laugh, it made Trunks frown. "When the higher ups said I didn't deserve to be a Lieutenant, said it should only count as a battlefield promotion, not something that should be permanent if I couldn't prove I really deserved it I volunteered to join the EDF to prove I _did_ deserve it. Now when they look down their noses at me and say I don't deserve to be a Captain I'll be agreeing with them even if I don't want to."

Trunks wasn't sure what he should do, so he decided to force a laugh of his own. "That's ridiculous!" He told her. She looked at him in confusion and he said, "Look down their noses at you? By this time tomorrow you're going to be one of the saviors of this planet. Nobody will ever be able to look down on you, Soda. You're a hero already, but tomorrow you'll show the world. So whatever reason they gave you that rank it's still lower than the one you deserve, Supreme General."  
She smiled and averted her gaze for a moment. She laughed more genuinely and said, "Hearing you say that shouldn't change anything . . . but it does. Thanks, Trunks."

"Any time, Supreme General." He told her with a wink.

"Soda," she corrected him with a laugh.

"Right, Supreme General Soda." Trunks said.

"Just Soda." She said again.

"Just Soda? Are you sure? Don't you have a last name?" Trunks asked.

She blinked in surprise, "Are you asking me that _now_ after _months_ of training together?"

Trunks shrugged. "Honestly that first time Bocan called you Soda-pop I didn't question it. It was only later I realized he gives nicknames to everyone."

She laughed, "Wow," she said, and Trunks realized he'd lost the advantage in their teasing, "just . . . so much wow."

"So what is it?" Trunks asked, curious now.

Soda just shook her head. She hesitated a moment, as if she were going to answer and Trunks leaned in closer to hear her in case she whispered, but instead she turned quickly and pressed her lips against his.

Trunks felt a jolt of adrenaline rush through his body at the shock of it, in spite of himself and his absolute inexperience he started to lean into the kiss when she suddenly broke away and said in an almost sing-song voice, "I signed my name when I signed on, learn to read, Trunks Briefs."

She skipped ahead of him down the street and he followed after her, trying not to look too obviously like someone trying to recover from a shock.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Captain Kalt's ship begins its final descent and the battle for Earth begins, but not all of the PTO soldiers are enthusiastic about their chances when Trunks shows them what they're really up against._


	22. Begin Planetary Extermination!

**Episode Twenty-Two**

**'Begin Planetary Extermination'**

 

The bridge was abuzz with activity as the ship began to make its final approach. Karuto tugged at his green and purple battle armor. Genora gave him a slight roll of her eyes and he shrugged in an insincere apology. She'd helped him straighten out the suit since he usually never wore it and horns made it difficult to put it on on his own. Now his fidgeting was undoing her help.

But he didn't like it, it felt weird. He didn't understand why he needed all three tassets, Chillax only wore two and Uncle Kalt wasn't wearing any. Also Uncle Kalt got to wear a cape, Karuto didn't get a cape, it wasn't fair.

Not that he'd complain, it wasn't as if anyone was going to stop what they were doing to fix his problems, they were all pretty preoccupied with the situation at hand. He watched as Orenga bit her lower lip for a moment and said, "I'm reading a high concentration of sapient lifeforms in some sort of underground facility. Smaller groups spread out across the planet's surface."

Luckily that took Genora's attention back to her own console so she wouldn't judge Karuto anymore.

"Power levels?" Uncle Kalt demanded.

"Average levels range between two and ten with roughly a hundred over level one hundred." Orenga said.

"A cake walk." Cousin Chillax scoffed.

"What does that mean?" Karuto asked, "I mean what's it's derivation? Did someone ever see a cake start to walk and-"

"What about the higher levels?" Chillax asked, ignoring Karuto's question.

Genora hesitated, "Um . . . I'm not reading anything over one hundred twenty. At least not from the sapient lifeforms, the wildlife-"

"We weren't detecting wildlife before, what happened to the fighters?" Chillax demanded.

"They must be masking their power levels." Kalt said simply. "The mere fact that they've gathered their weaklings underground shows us they know we're coming."

"So what do we do?" The Commander asked.

Uncle Kalt smiled a cold smile, "We let them know we've arrived. Take us to the polar region. Commander?"

Cousin Chillax and his squad snapped to attention, Karuto did the same.

"Sir!" Chillax barked.

"Get ready for a flight. We'll drop you off, hopefully you'll draw their fighters to you and expose the rest of their people to us. If they have some form of Scouter to detect our approaching ship perhaps they'll sense your power levels once you're off the ship, but we'll give them a good knock on the door to make sure you get their attention."

"And if they don't take the bait?" Chillax asked.

"Then I guess you'll sit this fight out if you can't fly to the engagement zone in time." Kalt laughed, "But don't worry. I'm more than enough to handle whatever the earthlings can throw at us."

"Yes sir." Cousin Chillax said stiffly, barely suppressing his anger.

Karuto frowned too. He wanted to see a Saiyan, not snow. "What about the Saiyans? Aren't there any Saiyan readings?"

"No, we haven't been able to . . ." Orenga began but she trailed off.

"Huh . . . that's . . ." Genora began then immediately trailed off too.

"What is it?" Uncle Kalt demanded, sounding very impatient and just a little dangerous.

The two Appullatiens noticed and began fumbling for an answer but it was the third operator, Gareno who answered, "There's a possible Saiyan-like life sign, but it's not actually Saiyan."

"What's its power level?" Uncle Kalt asking in a deliberate and dangerous tone.

"Two, my Lord." Genora said nervously.

Kalt relaxed, "Nothing that can suppress itself to two can possibly be much of a threat and even if it can be it would never be able to increase its level quickly enough to bring it to bear in time."

"And what if you're wrong?" Chillax demanded.

"Then you remember what to do." Captain Kalt said coldly. "Now, bring us in."

"Sir!" Orenga cried suddenly, "Power levels spiking! We have power levels in excess of five hundred, repeat power levels in excess of-"

"Give me specifics!"

"Um . . . we have two power levels at eight hundred, three at or just slightly above a thousand, two twelve hundreds and a-"

"What's the Saiyan-like power-level at now?" Cousin Chillax asked, sounding almost concerned. Karuto would have expected him to sound excited, he liked stronger opponents.

Orenga was stammering, Genora answered for her, "Saiyan-like power-level at ten thousand, still rising."

"Ten thousand? Already?" Uncle Kalt gasped. He seemed taken aback.

"Twenty thousand . . . thirty . . ." Genora said sounding scared, "forty and still rising, sir."

"We need to call it off." Chillax said suddenly, "It's a trap or something, the Saiyans are still here!"

"No . . . we've come so far . . . I won't let Boreal-"

"This isn't about you and Boreal, this is about this ship and the survival of her crew!" Cousin Chillax snapped and now Karuto began to feel scared. Genora's nervous reading of numbers and Chillax daring to question Uncle Kalt in public were both unnerving and the little Arcosian who generally never needed to know fear was starting to feel it.

"We're finally here!" Uncle Kalt said in an almost pleading tone, "Our revenge . . . we . . . we're so close . . ."

"Then just destroy the planet, forget the buyers! I'll kill them all myself if they complain!" Cousin Chillax urged.

"P-power level stabilizing . . . it's not rising anymore." Genora reported but she didn't sound excited.

"Where did it stop?" Uncle Kalt asked.

Genora was shaking, she looked at cousin Chillax and said, "One-huh-huh-hundred twenty th-th-thous-"

"One twenty? It's mirroring me?" Chillax demanded. "It's sensing me through the ship?!"

"What?" Uncle Kalt asked, sounding relieved for some reason. "That's all? No . . . of course, it makes sense! It must be some sort of device for fooling Scouters! It simply mirrors whatever the highest power level it can detect is!"

"What?" Cousin Chillax sounded incredulous, his black lips twisting in a snarl, "What if you're wrong? What if it's only showing us that it can match me in a matter of seconds? Are you willing to throw all our lives away on this gamble?"

"I am because it's no gamble!" Uncle Kalt said and began laughing. "They almost had us, these clever little beasts! But don't you see, no living creature could survive such a rapid increase in power without some form of shape shifting ability, its body would rip itself apart! This must be some sort of device for tricking scanners, end even if it isn't it's only as strong as you are the plan should still work!"

"At least send a message!" Cousin Chillax insisted, "Tell my father what's happening here, warn him that there might be a surviving Saiyan here!"

"No need to report to the twins until we have something to report." Uncle Kalt said quietly to himself. He shook his head and said, "No, no, no, I won't let them think I got cold feet. It if comes down to it I'll just blow up the planet, we'll still survive in space."

"No we wont!" Orenga squeaked.

Uncle Kalt shot her a very deadly glare, Karuto looked away as the green Appullatien suddenly exploded in her console seat.

"I was referring to those of us who _matter_." Uncle Kalt said coldly.

"Wh-why did you do that?" Karuto gawked. Orenga had been part of the crew for at least as long as Karuto had been on the ship and she'd never done a bad job. She could be snarky or mean sometimes—though never directly to Karuto—she'd never failed like Cereza or done anything wrong.

All she'd done now was disagree with Uncle Kalt in the heat of the moment.

Uncle Kalt turned a much less lethal look on Karuto and answered, "Because I will not be questioned on my own bridge, not by _anyone._ Is that understood _Commander_?"

"Understood." Cousin Chillax said stiffly.

"You have your orders. Get to work. The rest of you just be ready to fight like your lives depend on it, because as you can see they _do_."

Chillax and his squad headed for the door, Karuto rushed to follow along after them, he heard Uncle Kalt order, "Someone clean that fool up and take her place at the console, it's clearly only an illusion but I want eyes on that false Power Level at all times, if it moves I want to know where it is."

Feeling that the situation was a lot more dangerous that he'd initially expected Karuto turned to Konpeito on his way out the door after his cousin and the other elites. He said, "Be careful."

Konpeito seemed surprised, then whispered, "You as well. Stay close to your cousin."

Karuto nodded and rushed after Chillax to follow that good advice. He caught up in time to hear Chillax telling his squad, "The Captain's probably right, nothing biological could increase its power level that quickly but keep an eye on your Scouters and if it comes down to it make for the ship as fast as you can."

"Will Captain Kalt really turn tail?" Damson asked.

"After destroying one of our own like that? I don't think he'll listen to reason, boss." Ayappa said.

"Maybe not, but I'll take my chances against him over Lord Frieza's killer any day if that's who we're up against." Chillax said as he keyed the sequence to open the large door in the center of the ship that would allow them to fly out of the hatch. "After what he just did I don't think much of the crew would pick staying over going."

Karuto's little legs were feeling wobbly now. Was Cousin Chillax actually willing to fight Uncle Kalt over leaving?

Would Uncle Kalt really be that determined to stay?

The hatch opened and the elites flew out, Chillax looked at Karuto and said, "Come if you're coming, but at this point I don't think you're really safe anywhere."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The emergency bunker might have been mistaken for a parking garage if Trunks hadn't known better. Most of it was actually underground and it was massive enough to house the entire albeit depleted population of West City provided they didn't have to stay in there for more than a couple of days. The last of the non-combatants had made it into the bunker, most of the royal guard was inside with them but a few elites had remained outside with guns he hoped they wouldn't have to use.

Trunks' mother and the other Capsule Corp. staff were inside now, and Trunks and his team stood on the roof of the parking structure-like shell.

"They're coming in." Master Roshi said.

"Yeah." Trunks agreed. "They feel pretty strong . . . but not strong enough to think they can win. They've got to have something up their sleeve."

"Well we've let them know we're here, it doesn't seem to have changed their minds about the attack." Master Roshi said. "Are you sure you don't want to power up to full?"

"I don't want to risk making them think they need to just blow the planet up." Trunks said. "Are you sure you're up for this, Master?"

"Don't second-guess me now. They're no Androids, besides it'll be up to you to do the heavy lifting."

"Yeah." Trunks said with a forced smile. He turned back to his team of assembled fighters and was about to say something he hoped would be inspiring when he saw the flash on the horizon.

There was an earth shaking blast to the north and he scowled. He hadn't even felt the power spike from the attack.

"Why are they that far away?" He demanded.

"They don't want to take us on here, they want to draw us off." Bocan suggested. "They're trying to get us on a field of their choosing instead of this one."

"At least that suggests they aren't coming for the civilians guns blazing." Pastel said, then added "Or tentacles or whatever they've got."

Trunks didn't miss the wink and smile that passed between Bocan and Pastel, the two had definitely gotten over their disagreements.

"All right, we can't just let them melt the north pole," Trunks said, "I'll go in and try to get them to stop."

"We should go with you." Soda said.

"We can't leave the civilians exposed." Trunks told her.

"I know that, but at least take Red team with you, Blue team can stay and guard and I can work with the Royal Guard." Soda told him. She tilted her head towards Bocan and his team, "The reds are way scrappier anyway."

"Normally flattery would get you everywhere, but against whatever made that mushroom cloud I don't think we're really scrappy enough." Anavill said.

"Agreed," Trunks added before Soda could argue, "I'll be faster alone anyway. I want the nine of you to stay here, watch each other's backs."

"And who's going to be watching yours?" Soda asked.

Trunks transformed into Super Saiyan, hoping it would help make the point as he told her, "I'll be fine."

This time he could feel the energy spike, this blast was going to be bigger. He took off, flying at top speed. _Clearly they're not here to negotiate,_ he thought, _but the power levels I'm sensing are strong enough to blow up the planet if they wanted to . . . why are they just blasting up the ground?_

He didn't doubt that Bocan was right, he was certain the enemy wanted to draw them all away from the civilians but Trunks could sense almost every high power level was in the north, the ship itself had gone back into orbit but he hadn't sensed anyone too strong aboard.

At least no one he was pretty sure Roshi and the others couldn't handle until he got back assuming they tried to double back and catch the civilians when he wasn't there.

Lucky for them or he'd have tried to intercept the ship on the way. He wondered what Frieza's tough guys would think if he dragged their space ship behind him and threw it back at them.

_Of course if I do that they wouldn't have any way of getting back home, they might decide they have a lot less to lose._ Trunks thought to himself.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Captain Kalt gripped the arm-rests of his pod tightly. "There's no turning back." He said, as much to himself as to the rest of the crew.

"Sir the power level we just detected was off the charts, your nephews-" Genora began but he interrupted her.

"It's like you said," Kalt told her with a forced laugh, "the wildlife . . . yes . . . don't you see? The buyers are already on their way, they'll arrive soon, but the Saiyans . . . they're juts wildlife, just monkeys . . . it's the sapient lifeforms, the earthlings we need to wipe out, not the Saiyans, they're not the target."

"Sir?" Gareno gawked, Kalt shot her a deadly look and she turned back to her console.

"Your nephews, sir," Genora said, not so easily cowed. "They're nothing to that power level we detected!"

"They'll keep it busy with any luck." Kalt said. "We just have to wipe out the Earthlings."

"Sir, do you really plan to leave this world with both your nephews dead?" One of his lieutenants, a red Appullatien named Ringo asked him.

"Don't you see none of us is getting out of this? None of us is going home." Kalt whispered. "Not with the Earthlings left alive. It would be a greater shame to the Twins if we fled and forced them to send in the full might of the Planet Trade Organization, don't you understand?" He asked, shouting now.

He leaped from his pod chair and sent it flying into a wall with a bat from his tail, "Bring us in on those life-signs, Gareno! I want those Earthlings slain to the last and we only have as much time as my nephews' lives can buy."

"Sir." Gareno said grimly.

Kalt folded his arms and turned to face the rest of the crew, "Be ready . . . you'll need to fight like never before. Trust your Scouters, find every earthling that lives and make it . . . less so."

His brave soldiers shook in their boots, but he wouldn't blame them. "I understand your fear," he assured them, "only know that there are two ways you could die today . . . to me, or to the Saiyan scum. You'll only die to me if you fail in your duties, so if you complete them with good speed we will escape alive."

He raised his fist and roared, "For the Frost Clan!"

"For the Frost Clan!" His soldiers shouted.

He and they repeated it three times, but it did nothing to calm the fear.

Captain Kalt turned back to Gareno just in time to hear, "I'm bringing us in sir."

"I can't read the Commander's elites, the Saiyan power-level has our systems completely overwhelmed, sir." Genora reported.

"Just bring us in. We'll know the battle is over when we win or when we're dead." The Captain grinned a sinister grin.

"Yes sir . . ." Genora said quietly.

"Don't be so glum. You're making history, we all are."

"Sir!" Genora said with more enthusiasm, albeit clearly forced.

"Once we're down record and send a message to the Twins . . . enclose our Computer's logs, my apologies and the best guess reading we could get on that power level . . . even General Boreal will want to steer clear now." Kalt conceded.

"Lucky him." Ringo grumbled, but the Iwatian slapped him hard on the back.

"Do you fear death after a lifetime of dealing it, Appullatien?" Konpeito demanded.

"That's Lieutenant to you, rookie!" Ringo barked.

"We're over the enemy's location, Captain!" Gareno reported.

"Land us, Gareno. Troops . . . go to work. All hands . . . exterminate." Kalt said, unclasping his cape and discarding it. He wouldn't need it in the fight.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Chillax and his elites encounter Trunks and the battle at the bunker is on, can Trunks defeat the PTO elites and get back in time to help? Or will the speedy Commander Chillax give him a run for his money?_


	23. Karma

**Episode Twenty-Three**

**'Karma'**

 

The white snow-covered landscape was some of the most beautiful the Commander had ever seen as he, his team and his cousin hovered on high.

Or it had been before his team started tearing it up. It seemed a waste, but they needed to get the attention of the strongest power levels. Chillax's heart was beating fast as Damson created another blast. This was the fourth, and it would turn out to be the last.

Rather than striking the ground and causing a massive explosion like the others it struck and just sort of dissipated. Chillax didn't need his Scouter's alarm to tell him why as the orb of white light dispersed he could see the golden glow at the ground where it would have hit.

"Ahh!" Karuto squeaked as his Scouter exploded on the side of his face.

"Don't try to scan its power level." Chillax told him, admittedly too late.

"It won't happen again." Karuto said sourly, rubbing the side of his face where the Scouter had been. Chillax wouldn't grudge him the attitude, and at least he wasn't crying. Chillax was pretty sure that if he were still a little kid he'd be crying in their current situation. Probably screaming too.

He was pretty sure because it was what he wanted to do now, only his training prevented it. Everything he'd witnessed traveling the stars, everything he'd seen . . . his story ended here facing an enemy he couldn't hope to match. Everything he'd _done_ and everything he'd _been_ would mean nothing in a moment.

The reality that he'd done exactly this himself to so many other warriors over the years was not lost on him and a part of him could even accept it

"Only the Twins can break scouters!" Prage said in shock.

Chillax felt a cold thrill run up his spine. "I would expect nothing less from the race that slew Lord Frieza . . . but I won't go easily."

"I don't want to go at all!" Karuto said, sounding worried. Chillax ignored him and started to descend.

"One way or another every last one of you needs to go. What that means is up to you, you can leave in your ship or you can leave in a box. I am Trunks, defender of Earth, and you're not welcome here." the tail-less Saiyan announced as the six of them descended. He wore a blue jumpsuit and a white and yellow breastplate similar to their own battle armor.

"Is that so?" Chillax asked, fighting hard to maintain his cool though this creature's power was overwhelming. He could practically feel it radiating off of him.

It was totally different from being in the presence of even both of the Twins. Prage was right, only the Twins could break scouters with their power levels but they were nowhere near this powerful. It suddenly made those old records of Lord Frieza seem so much less exaggerated.

"Yeah. That's so." Trunks said coldly. "I can't help but notice you don't seem to like the local landscape. Maybe a different planet would suit you better. A really, really distant planet."

_Probably._ Chillax thought as he landed. He was about to say something cool when Karuto rushed past him and asked, "Are you truly a Saiyan? Why is your hair yellow? I thought all Saiyans had black hair—where is your tail?"

Trunks seemed surprised by this line of questioning. His harsh determined expression flinched in confusion for only an instant.

The Commander wouldn't even hope for a better chance, if this creature could sense their power it would sense Captain Kalt's in a moment.

"Now!" Chillax ordered and his team sprang into action.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The alien crew flew out of the top of their flying saucer and Rhyce began charging herself for a blast. She just needed them to slow down enough . . .

"Looks like they're in squads, the ones in blue armor look like their leaders." Soda said.

"They're all in blue armor." Gurein pointed out. "Do you mean the navy blue or the royal blue?"

"What? No, most of them are in black and red." Soda told him.

"No, most of them are in navy blue and brown." Bocan said, agreeing with Gurein.

"What? You're insane, they're wearing black and red!" Pastel shouted from down the line, agreeing with Soda.

"Don't take this situation too lightly." Master Roshi said, his voice devoid of its usual cheer. "I sense a strong power among them . . ."

"That would be me." A large horned alien said, emerging last and at a far more leisurely pace than the rest of his swarm. He was tall and muscular, his skin was like parchment though he had hard bony body armor colored sort of pale green. He had a silver shell on his head with downward sloping horns like a bull, and no visible mouth.

Master Roshi said, "I'll take that one . . . the rest of you focus on the rest. Good luck."

"Oh yes, luck . . . you will need it." The large alien said. "Soldiers, attack!"

"You heard him!" Soda shouted, and the Royal Guard opened fire.

Guns turned out to be a lot louder than Rhyce had expected them to be. The battle began and it sounded nothing like the movies, the roar of the Royal Guard rifles was deafening.

It made her stumble for a moment and in that moment she saw the others rush forward, she saw Master Roshi begin to gather energy for his Kamehameha blast, she saw some of the alien soldiers point ridiculous looking weapons attached to their arms at the Royal Guard.

She saw the barrels of those weapons flash and send bolts of yellow light at the comparatively helpless men and women of the Royal Guard and the sounds of the first explosions forced her brain into action.

The young woman rushed at the nearest alien, a bulbous-headed purple skinned frog-thing in what _she_ thought looked like black and brown armor

She threw a punch with all her might and it cracked the alien's chest-plate. He staggered back and she supposed he must be dead after a punch like that but she was wrong and the strength behind his kick let her know it in no uncertain terms.

The kick was fast but not so fast she couldn't see it coming, though it was too unexpected for her to dodge it. It connected with her stomach, her armor saving her from the worst of it and she skidded back at least a meter.

It was as hard as one of Schip's kicks and Rhyce considered herself and Schip pretty equal in strength. _No quick kill then._ She thought. She thrust her hands forward to unleash the energy she'd stored for her blast, "Somad Cannon!" she cried.

It was a little embarrassing, but Master Roshi had encouraged them to name their best attacks. Gurein had called his the Nomad Cannon, and Rhyce, annoyed that he'd taken the name she totally would have thought up eventually called hers the "Somad" in honor of how she'd felt and as a play on words.

It sent a flashing beam of light from both of her palms that stunned the large-headed alien, then a much larger wave of energy traveled from her shoulders to her hands and outwards along the beams combining together into one glorious ball of fiery orange-yellow light that slammed into the alien scum and threw him backwards with a massive crashing noise.

There was no time to celebrate as a more human-looking creature with silver skin came at her, one of those arm-mounted blasters pointed. It blasted and she dodged, she turned to face this new opponent only to spot her previous enemy rising to his feet.

_That didn't kill him?_ She thought in shock, and that shock made the second blast from silver-skin harder to dodge.

She managed it, but only just barely. Silver-skin and purple-frog both came at her and a roar she heard overhead spun her around to see a third enemy, some kind of bird-looking thing flying down from behind her.

She dropped down as if she meant to roll backwards, but threw herself up off the ground and into the air instead just in time to avoid all three attackers. She used a less powerful but faster blast to strike all three of them and shouted, "They're tougher than I thought they'd be!"

"You didn't think Trunks trained us for nothing, did you?" Soda called grimly, kneeing one of them at what would have been the base of the spine on a human. Her knee cracked the armor but it was her elbow coming down on her opponent's neck as he screamed that seemed to finish the job, sending his head snapping backwards to hang lifeless and limp.

A flash of white energy from Kodva's own special attack knocked Rhyce's three opponents off their feet and she heard the former monk tell her, "Don't get distracted, finish what you start!"

Rhyce nodded and began gathering energy, another Somad should do it now that they were weakened.

She was about to throw the blast when something hot struck her right side and broke her concentration. She fell from the sky seeing a trail of smoke follow her from her scorched armor. She hit the ground hard and coughed painfully up at the blue-armored enemy that had blasted her.

He was another big-headed alien but with red skin and green eyes. Rhyce glared into those green eyes and struggled to flip backwards out of his path as he hurtled towards her head first.

Faster than she could see Gurein appeared in front of her and jump kicked the red alien in the head. It was like watching a bird fly into a glass window but without the feelings of sympathy. The red creature stopped and began to fall backwards but Rhyce watched her big brother grab it by the ankle, spin it around his head and hurtle it at another enemy before turning to help her up.

He did it all in the blink of an eye and he didn't tell her a word. There was no time, his eyes communicated it all.

This was battle. She was a warrior. It was the life she wanted, and now she had to start living it.

She nodded slightly and sprang towards her three enemies as Gurein threw himself at someone giving Kodva a hard time. She punched her first foe between the eyes and kicked the one who'd blasted at her. She dodged a punch from the third enemy, clutching down on his fist with her free hand and holding tight until she could bring her other hand back to help. She felt rather than saw the blast coming and spun with her whole body to put the ensnared alien between her and the wave of yellow energy coming at her from a rather large and scary-looking alien.

The creature screamed and even Rhyce felt the heat from the blast. She released her dead enemy and quickly dodged another kick from her first foe.

_Not getting me twice, frog-face!_ She thought, and kicked backwards hoping his anatomy was similar to a human man's.

Turned out it was.

The silver-skinned alien raised his blaster to her face and she grabbed his wrist, shoving the gun away and tilting her head just in time to avoid having it blown off. She punched his elbow as hard as she could, seeing it bend in the wrong direction and being rewarded with a satisfying scream.

She tore the gun from his wrist and put it on her own. She spun and decided to see how _he_ liked having a gun barrel in his face.

Then she fired.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Ayappa fell to the ground gurgling for breath, Chillax knew there was nothing he could do for him.

There was nothing he could do for any of them. The golden-haired Saiyan was a nightmare.

Impossibly fast and devastating, Ayappa fell in an instant and Prage went down the next instant, punched so hard in the face that he died standing and just sort of slumped to his knees then fell over.

Two of the strongest fighters Chillax had ever seen outside of his race. Two warriors he had fought with on a hundred different worlds.

Dead in a heartbeat.

He felt a firm hand grip his tail and he prepared for his death. He felt himself being thrown backwards and he expected to hit the ground with enough force to at least make a respectable crater.

But he didn't, he fell into the soft snow and saw Karuto's hand gripping his tail.

"We have to run!" Karuto pleaded.

"No, _you_ do!" Chillax snarled as he saw his remaining men fighting for their lives against the golden-haired demon. He had to get to them, he had to fight by their side this last time.

"You'll die, we have to run!" Karuto pleaded.

"Where?" Chillax demanded.

"I don't know!" The little Arcosian sobbed, "I just wanna go home! I don't wanna conquer planets, I wanna go home!"

Chillax shoved his cousin away. "Then go! Get to the ship, Tell Genora to leave Uncle Kalt and fly you home, she'll listen to you, it'll be all the excuse she needs to do what she wants to do anyway!"

"Come with me!" Karuto insisted.

Chillax heard Avaug cough and then hit the ground with a wet thud. He clenched his fists and turned his back on Karuto.

"No. You go, you're a child, Uncle Kalt should never have endangered you like this. But I'm a warrior, and I need to fight my last battle."

"You're supposed to protect me!" Karuto insisted, "I won't get away without you!"

"I'll see to it you do." Chillax said and sprang into the fight.

He knocked Ganmo out of the way of a punch and swept his tail at the Saiyan's legs but it was like trying to sweep the legs out from under a building: it mostly just hurt and his target didn't budge.

The Saiyan raised his fist as if he meant to bring it down on Chillax's head, but the Commander was still fast.

He couldn't hurt the Saiyan but he could dodge attacks at least.

He shot backwards with a hair to spare between his head and that burning yellow aura. He shot a barrage of blasts to try and distract his opponent as Damson threw himself spiked-back-first at the Saiyan in an attempt to impale him.

The sharp spikes made an impact, knocking the Saiyan warrior forward a half a pace before he grabbed Damson's by the club tail and threw him at Chillax.

He threw him hard, so hard that the thick deadly tail disconnected.

Damson shrieked in agony as he flew towards his commander at unbelievable speed. Chillax braced himself and caught his comrade in as safe a manner as was possible with such a spiny saurian. They skidded back several meters, far enough for Chillax to see two disheartening sights.

The first was Trunks spin around and effortlessly backhand Ganmo into oblivion, the other was that Karuto still hadn't moved.

Damson struggled to his feet, stumbling somewhat without his tail and roaring in agony.

Trunks dropped the twitching appendage on the ground and turned a baleful eye on Karuto.

"No!" Chillax shouted, "Over here you stinking monkey, leave the kid out of this!"

"I'd have left you all out of it if I could have. You never should have come here." Trunks said coldly, but he _did_ turn away from Karuto and towards Chillax. He raised a hand and pointed it at the young warrior and his injured subordinate.

"G-go . . . you have to go, Commander . . . get the young Lord . . . out of here . . ." Damson growled through a clattering beak, which Chillax had learned was his species' version of gritted teeth.

Bizarrely it occurred to Chillax that that knowledge was utterly useless now, Damson's species was about to be extinct. Perhaps Damson himself would be a victim of the Saiyan, but his race and his planet had been a victim of Chillax's own kind.

For one dark depressing moment Chillax felt a wave of empathy for the hundreds of heroes he'd slain. Brave warriors who'd tried and failed to protect their planets from him . . . all he'd seen in it was his own honor and glory. He'd never given himself the time to think about what he was really doing, what he was taking away from the cosmos.

Races that could create warriors like Damson.

Chillax put a hand on his comrade's shoulder as a gesture of respect. "What was your race called, Damson?" He asked.

Damson laughed and raised his armors high above his head.

"We were the mighty Suteki!" He roared and Chillax jumped back as his last warrior's bony spikes shot outwards, extending an extra six inches. His muscles bulged and his armor-plated back seemed to thicken into a turtle-like shell. He fell forward on all fours, eyes blazing and snorting fire, he roared through his fanged beak, "And I am Ribuai, their mightiest son!"

Chillax flew at top speed to Karuto, grabbing him by the scruff of his collar and flying at top speed away from the fight.

He both saw and felt the flash of golden energy that Trunks threw at Dam—at Ribuai.

It took a second blast before Chillax's scouter reported that his entire squad had been eliminated. He flew on, but he knew in that moment that he'd been wrong. His people had been wrong.

They'd been destroying and subjugating the strongest races and making sure no one could be as strong as they were . . . but that only worked as long as they _were_ the strongest. In the face of something even greater than themselves they were nothing.

Karuto was sobbing, Chillax used his scouter very carefully to locate the ship before throwing it to the frozen tundra below them as they flew. He wouldn't need it to know when Trunks got close, he could _feel_ the Saiyan's enormous strength and he knew he was being followed.

"He can't keep this up forever!" Chillax said to reassure himself as much as his crying cousin. "He's too powerful, if he had power like that all the time his body would burn itself out, that's why our kind transform! He'll need to contain himself sooner or later, we'll get away then, I promise!"

Like a bolt of lightning Chillax saw the flash of light as Trunks pulled ahead of them and stopped in their path.

Chillax stopped too as quickly as he could. He heard Trunks say, "Don't count on it. I've got a lot more time in this form than you've got on this planet."

He raised his hand and charged a blast, Chillax stared dumbly at him.

_Faster than me?_ He thought stupidly.

There was no way that was possible. All he could manage in answer to the Saiyan was "Nuh-uh . . ."

He continued to stare like an idiot as Trunks unleashed his blast.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The battle of the bunker rages on but the Defenders or Earth are holding their own, forcing Captain Kalt to make them an offer they'd have to be mad to refuse, but Kalt might just let slip more than he thinks and Konpeito will make a decision that will shock both sides._


	24. Turn

**Episode Twenty-Four**

**'Turn'**

 

The gunfire was dying down since there were fewer of the King's Guard to fire their weapons now, and the alien blasters didn't make as loud of a noise. The Royal Guard were fighting desperately to defend the large steel doors of the shelter but the EDF was struggling to take on the bulk of the enemy force just meters away.

Soda couldn't really take stock of the situation fending off two enemies herself but the diminishing sound of gunfire didn't bode well for the Guard. As for the EDF she hadn't seen anyone go down yet, teamwork had kept them safer initially along with the larger number of targets for the enemy to attack but as the Guard ranks were wearing thin more of the enemies were turning their focus on the real fighters.

She'd guessed about sixty in total initially which had actually left the numbers about even with two platoons of Royal Guard backing them up but with those brave men and women dropping like flies the fight would be all down to the EDF before long.

Not that they weren't giving a good accounting of themselves, the fighting had been going on for perhaps two minutes now and Soda had taken down three enemies already. She supposed that wasn't typical since now two of the aliens in brighter blue and tan armor were focusing on her and they were tough.

It felt like fighting Trunks in that they were clearly stronger than her but not by enough to finish her quickly.

The difference was that when Trunks fought that way it was because he was training her and holding back, she couldn't leave these two any opening to exploit because it would mean her death.

Kodva was the first to become overwhelmed, a humanoid alien tackling his legs and knocking him off his feet so that another two could rush in and begin wailing on his face.

It was Gurein who came to his rescue, blasting the two off the top of Kodva and stomping down hard on the neck of the one that had been holding his legs. He bent down to help the injured fighter to his feet when two more humanoid aliens grabbed him from behind and held his arms at his side for a third and fourth to aim their blasters at him.

Soda couldn't disengage from her fight to help, she could only hope someone got to Gurein in time. She dodged as one of her enemies punched for her face, she grabbed his arm by the wrist and tried to use his own momentum to guide him off track and into the path of his comrade's kick.

It would have worked had his comrade not stopped his kick in time and instead punched for her side forcing her to release her captive in order to dodge.

She fell backwards and flipped to her feet glancing around again to see that Schip and Rhyce had abandoned their position at her right to help Gurein at her left. It meant that nothing was between the enemy and the doors to the shelter except the Royal Guard.

_No time to worry about that,_ she thought though she was beginning to hope that Trunks made it back soon.

She fell into a defensive crouch and began charging her energy for a blast. If she timed things just right . . .

Her two opponents charged, one of them was a gray skinned humanoid and he was much faster than the other who looked like a purple grape with dead black eyes and a mouth of triangular teeth.

_Honestly add a red nose and he'd look like a children's entertainment puppet._ Soda thought. Gray-skin reached her first and she rolled backwards, catching his kick and throwing him behind her into the path of Roshi's latest Kamehameha.

As she rolled to her feet she thrust both her hands forward and unleashed her own energy in a blast that didn't kill but certainly affected her remaining opponent.

His armor melted a bit and smoked, he held his arms up and started to shake off the damage and advance again when Anavill appeared behind him and roughly snapped his neck.

Soda nodded to the other woman and sprang into the air to avoid a blast.

She also felt something smack her hard on the thigh. It felt like a bee sting and to her surprise when she looked down she saw that it was a bullet.

It hadn't penetrated her skin, it'd just been sort of an annoyance and instantly she realized the abject worthlessness of the Royal Guard in this fight.

It was like sending soldiers armed with paint ball guns into real battle; if they scored a kill it would be due to dumb luck more than anything else.

They were nothing but targets to draw attention.

"Captain!" Soda shouted, "Get your men inside the shelter, you can't do any good out here! EDF, cover those doors!"

"Are you insane?" Bocan gawked, "We're overwhelmed, we need all the—ooff!"

He was cut off by a kick to the gut, but luckily he'd been fighting back to back with Pastel who almost automatically turned and aimed a stolen blaster over his doubled over form and shot his assailant in the face allowing Bocan to finish him off as he came up.

Soda didn't answer him anyway, it'd been a mistake to leave the Royal Guard on the rooftops. Trunks had initially suggested they get inside but their Captain had refused and since no one had expected them to actually have to fight no one had pressed the matter.

Now Soda understood fully that even if these aliens were pale shadows of the Androids they were still much stronger than anything humanity had to offer apart from the EDF.

And she understood now better than ever the importance of what Trunks had been trying to do. Just like this very moment he couldn't be everywhere at once, he needed others to help him defend humanity.

But there also needed to be a humanity left to defend, and letting so many brave men and women die pointlessly was just going to be a surrender of Soda's own humanity.

Soda expected the Guard to understand they couldn't do any good and take refuge with the civilians, she also expected to have to fight tooth and nail to keep the doors defended as the remaining Royal Guard fled but she was wrong on both counts.

No one opened the doors and none of the Guard fled.

There were still Guard left, she could hear the gunfire but they weren't running. They were fighting enemies they couldn't hope to defeat and their lives were being sold to buy time and nothing more but not a single one of them followed her order to withdraw.

She felt both angry and proud, and she knew that that was exactly what she would have done in their position. Every second she could have bought the people hiding in the shelter was a second worth fighting for.

But it still felt wrong to let them act like meat shields.

"They're not budging." Schip pointed out when Soda landed.

"Noticed. But we've got to at least give them something better than those pea shooters," Soda told him.

"These don't take a lot." Schip said, holding up the stolen blaster on his arm, then demonstrating its effectiveness on an alien soldier making a dash for Pastel and Bocan.

It didn't kill the alien, but it did hit him hard and ruin his attack leaving him open for Bocan to spring forward and punch his bulbous head so hard that the alien scum hit his head on the back of his singed armor . . . not that he was alive to feel the impact.

The crowd was thinning, Soda realized, there were maybe half as many aliens now as there had been at the start. She nodded to Schip and said, "Gather up blasters, toss them to the Guard, Kodva's hurt pretty bad so try and get him to the Guard where there's not so much pressure." She shouted for Rhyce, "Rhyce, cover him, I'll make sure they have something else to focus on!"

"No you won't!" A rumbling voice roared and Soda felt as if someone threw a mountain at her.

A huge gray alien with studded forearms and claws and a face like a gorilla had tackled her and was turning its attention on Schip who was coming in to defend her but Soda held out a hand and warned him away.

"No, follow my orders, I'll handle this!"

"But-"

"Now!" Soda shouted, narrowly dodging the gray alien as he raised a foot to stomp on her face.

Soda rolled out of the way and kicked upwards, hoping to strike him in the back and she succeeded.

He just didn't seem to notice or care that she'd done it. Instead he reached down and grabbed her, reaching a clawed hand into the bottom of her armor and picking her up off the ground, ignoring her flailing legs.

Her hands were free and she began to charge a blast as Anavill came in from behind the behemoth and grabbed his free arm to keep him from bringing his balled up fist into contact with Soda's face, a most appreciated action.

"You don't stand any chance," The gray alien growled in its deep rumbling voice, "I can at least make your end swift!"

"I don't want to end at all!" Soda snarled, then blasted her foe.

He took the blast in his face and actually seemed to swallow it. Then his hands started to glow, Anavill screamed and let go of the arm she'd been holding and Soda fell to the ground as the creature's burning grip melted its hold on her armor away.

She hit the ground hard and unexpectedly, the monster threw its hands forward and unleashed its energy blasting everything in front of it, Soda threw herself back to avoid the blast looking backwards at the path of destruction and seeing that it had taken one of its own, three Royal Guard and, "The doors!" Soda shouted.

A chest level hole about the size of a dining room table had been melted through the reinforced doors.

There were more troops waiting on the other side of those doors, regular army rather than the King's Royal Guard, and once they recovered from the shock of what had just happened those who hadn't been caught by the blast started firing out of the hole.

Not that they really knew what they were doing, they couldn't see the full scope of the fighting.

The gray alien seemed a bit drained now though and Soda rolled to her feet then sprang at him. "So don't use blasts on you, got it!"

She and Anavill worked in tandem to battle the behemoth, but Soda could tell neither of them stood a chance.

They needed Trunks.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Captain Kalt was able to access the situation as he fought the white whiskered earthling. He could see that his command had been worse than halved, he'd brought his initial four squads and the reinforcements. Along with himself and the bridge crew that had made for just over sixty souls, now more than thirty of them were down against these enemies who were, as well as the scouters could tell only slightly stronger than the grunts and yet weaker than the Lieutenants.

Not that he _had_ any Lieutenants left, his strongest soldier was the Iwatian who was taking on two of the higher power-levels.

And then of course there was the whiskered man with the large black eyes. Those large black eyes betrayed nothing though Kalt's scouter insisted the human shouldn't have stood a chance against his own power level of forty thousand.

Except for those blasts. Those blasts of his spiked his power level as high as thirty thousand, enough to cause actual injury to Kalt if he were to let it strike him, not that he planned to.

"My Scouter never lies," Kalt bluffed, "Your power level is only thirteen hundred, champion, it's only your special attack that makes you dangerous!"

"Heh . . . maybe so. But you'll find I'm plenty dangerous when I'm serious."

"Perhaps, but I'm quite serious myself. If you can sense my power you know I could kill you at any moment, I am sparing you because you've shown yourself to have something I want. I could be persuaded to let you live if you teach me that attack."

"I'm an old man, I've lived my life. If this is where it ends so be it." The apparently old human said.

Kalt glowered at him. All of the humans in armor were still alive though nearly all of the weaker humans were gone. He had a score of fighters left, most of whom were just no match for the armored humans all pushing power levels at or near a thousand.

Misfortune had somehow befallen all of his Lieutenants, but the Iwatian should be sufficient to handle the armored humans. Why he hadn't already was a mystery, perhaps he'd been with the squad eliminating the weaker soldiers until he'd realized that the battle could turn in the enemy's favor.

Captain Kalt folded his arms and said, "Stand down for now men, everyone stand back."

His remaining soldiers did as they were told and stood back, the humans gathered themselves and seemed to be confused so he enlightened them, "We are not entirely uncivilized. When we take a world we offer its champions a chance to join us, to save themselves, to serve us. You've proven capable, you've bested more than half of my crew, I am offering all of you that chance now. Join me."

"And what happens to the rest of the people on this planet?" One of the humans, a tall male with long golden hair asked.

"This planet was sold more than fifty of your years ago. The new colonists are already on their way you know, and they were promised a pristine world devoid of its natural inhabitants. I wouldn't want to disappoint them, so unfortunately anyone who doesn't come with me . . . dies."

A female with pink hair standing next to the golden-haired male scoffed, "So after we beat this alien invasion we've got another one to put down? I see why Trunks wanted to train more fighters."

Kalt held his hands out a as if he were offering to take theirs, "Come on then, spare yourselves a painful death, spare your race total extinction. Join my crew, see the galaxy and conquer it, be free to survive as part of our Empire!"

A golden-haired female who would have been slain by the Iwatian had Kalt not halted the fighting folded her arms and asked, "What makes these incoming colonists better than us humans? They need our world? Well we're not using much of it anymore, they can have their colony. We can coexist, there's no need for any of this."

"That's not what our contract calls for." Kalt said in an insincerely apologetic tone.

"What if we just relocate?" A darker skinned male with black hair asked.

"What if we hire them to get us our own planet to colonize?" A darker skinned female with white hair suggested.

Kalt held his hand out to forestall further conversation, "I think you misunderstand . . . this is not a negotiation and I am short on time. Those who join me live, those who refuse die. I want to learn how you conceal your power levels, I want to learn these attacks that cause your power to spike, _however_ I am not a patient Arcosian. I'll have your decisions right now."

As if they shared some sort of hive mind all nine humans fell back into a fighting stance, the weaker humans leveled their weapons, some of them stolen PTO blasters.

"He's not lying," the old human said, "he's running short of time all right. Short of time until Trunks gets back, he knows what'll happen once our Super Saiyan gets here."

Kalt glared, and he felt a chill run up his back at the mention of the words 'Super Saiyan.'

He forced a smile and said, "You know . . . you're right. You know I sent my two nephews to their deaths hoping they would buy me the time I needed to complete my mission. So you know how serious I am. I sold their lives, I'm offering you yours."

"You sent them to their deaths?" The Iwatian growled, "Didn't you even think they had a chance?"

"To keep the Saiyan distracted while I finished the actual mission? Of course. To survive? Well I certainly wasn't going to risk my ship picking them up when we were finished, so you tell me."

The Iwatian stepped forward, heading towards the humans. Kalt ordered him to stop, "I haven't told you to kill them yet!"

"No. You haven't." The Iwatian growled, "But I won't serve a Captain that sends innocent children to their deaths. That's what your people do, isn't it? That's what you did to my little Oozaru when you sent the Saiyans to my world, you sent children to die! You sent the little lord to die just to spare your own life for a measly second."

Captain Kalt cocked his head to the side in disbelief, "Are . . . are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I'd rather die fighting you than live serving you, yes." The Iwatian snarled.

Kalt rolled his eyes and turned to the remainder of his crew, "Anyone else?"

Nobody moved, a few shook their heads in terror. The Captain smiled and nodded, "Good." He turned to the traitor and the surviving humans and let his silver aura blaze around him like a raging fire. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Kill them all! Through the breach, destroy every last earthling! Leave the rest of them to me!"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Soda was amazed that the alien that had been about to kill her moments before was now standing between her and the alien leader but the soldier in her didn't miss what the horned alien had said to his men as the remainder of them flew for the hole in the doors.

Three made it in before anyone could respond, and Rhyce was in after them. "Stop them!" Soda ordered, "Kodva, Schip back Rhyce up, get after the ones that got in, Red team-"

The blues needed no second bidding, Kodva and Schip went through the hole in the door and now the Royal Guard with blasters were making the remaining aliens wary of trying to rush through. Red team didn't need her to finish her orders either, Bocan and Pastel were blasting the alien leader while Anavill and Gurein watched their backs, yanking them out of harm's way and blasting any alien grunt that came too close.

The fight was on in earnest again, and Soda could feel the alien commander was a foe she had no hope of defeating, but she had an idea. His main focus seemed to be on Roshi and it was obvious why. Master Roshi was trying to use another Kamehameha when the alien shot past Bocan and swept his tail out to knock the old hermit through the air.

Soda flew up to catch him before he could hit the steel door or the reinforced concrete wall of the shelter, "Master Roshi!" She said as she flew down with him, "You need to use another Kamehameha!"

"Ya think so, young'un? I only hope this one will will-"

"Not on him!" Soda said as they landed, "hit the gray alien that's helping us!"

"What?"

She didn't clarify. Instead she began charging a blast of her own and shouted, "Big guy! I sure hope I'm right about your abilities! Get ready! Trust me, Master."

The alien turned its simian head to her for a moment of confusion but when it saw her gathering energy for a blast it seemed to realize what she meant.

"Buy 'em time, Reds!" Anavill shouted, catching on as well.

"Kah . . ."

"Oh, how cute," The alien leader laughed.

"May . . ."

"You think that little blast will be enough to stop me?"

"Hah . . ."

"Why don't you taste a bit of my own energy then?" The thrust his hand forward, silver energy gathering in its palm.

"May . . ."

"Stunning Silver!" The alien said, a beam of light shooting towards them.

"HAH!" Roshi finished, his own beam of blue energy blasting from his hands towards the rock-like alien.

The gray alien held one hand out to receive the energy from Roshi and Soda's blast and the other to take the power from the alien leader's Stunning Silver attack. It screamed in agony and Soda feared it was more power than the creature could absorb.

But it didn't seem like it had to hold on to it for long, turning itself towards its former master and with a roar that froze Soda's blood in terror it unleashed a blast of flame so massive and powerful that Red Team barely had time to jump out of the way.

None of the aliens got the chance, it engulfed them all. It tore through the streets and even took a chunk out of the alien ship, melting a gash through the side and destroying one of the legs that held it up as landing gear.

The explosion was so bright Soda had to shield her eyes and look away. She heard the alien's agonized roar die down and felt the heat in the air dissipate as the nightmarish blast came to an end.

The large alien stood in front of a ditch of molten road that stretched all the way down the street and clear to a now burning building. The shoulders of his armor had been melted away and his arms had gone from studded and gray to charred and red, he panted as he looked out at the devastation.

"Ha-hah!" Roshi laughed, shrinking from his musclebound form to his normal body and falling backwards to catch his breath.

Soda took a few cautious steps towards the remaining alien and said, "Y-you did it . . . you saved our people."

"And . . . avenged mine." The creature said, turning to look at her and smiling.

"What about the three that got in?" Bocan called to the surviving Guards.

One of them had a radio and called, "Intercepted by your crew, those three are on their way back out, no civilian casualties but-"

He was cut off when the burning building exploded in a blast of silver light, Soda looked in terror as a flash shot from the building more than a hundred feet away to appear right in front of the gray alien.

Before he could turn his head to face his foe the alien captain's hand shot out and pierced the thick throat of the gray alien, "Traitorous Iwatian scum!" The alien captain roared, then threw his victim over his shoulder to land in the molten road.

Soda could see that he was hurt, he was burned and his armor was totally gone exposing a creature with a terrifying exoskeleton that was itself partially burned away as if some sadistic bastard had melted portions of a crab's shell to expose the fleshy insides.

One of its eyes seemed milky white and blind but the other was looking directly at Soda. The tail came in faster than anything she'd ever seen and then everything went black.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Kalt's rampage against the Earth's Defenders begins, can Trunks return in time to save his students?_


	25. Pyrrhic Victory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Major character deaths, this chapter gets rough.

**Episode Twenty-Five**

**'Pyrrhic Victory'**

 

Anavill saw Captain Soda start to fall to the ground after being struck by the alien's tail, but the alien didn't let her land. Instead he caught her by the neck then flung her through the air over his shoulder. She flew twenty feet easily and hit the ground hard.

No one said anything, everyone just stared for a moment.

There was nothing anyone could do now. Even Master Roshi was powerless, rising to his feet but having no energy left to bulk up again.

Then the Guard with the radio shouted, "Target is still alive, repeat target is still alive!"

The other surviving Guard began firing, those with blasters used them, there were maybe five guns and three blasters going off and the alien ignored all of it.

Bocan rushed in with Pastel right behind him, they were careful to avoid friendly fire and Bocan launched a flawless roundhouse kick but the alien captain ducked under it and came up behind Bocan during the instant his back was turned and punched _through_ Bocan's chest. His fist was covered in blood and gore when it emerged from the brave fighter's chest as he tried to scream but only released a gurgling cry of agony.

It was drowned out by Pastel's agonized shriek when that gore-covered hand opened up and blasted her with a wave of silver energy before she could so much as blink.

Her scream ended quickly and the alien flung Bocan off of his arm with practiced skill.

Anavill felt something inside her snap as she saw half her team lying dead in the street. She felt her own energy blaze and she was engulfed in white light, she saw Gurein's own yellow aura burning like fire around him and the two of them charged together.

Gurein arrived first, his blows flew faster than Anavill could follow as did the alien's deflections. Anavill saw the alien's tail shoot towards Gurein's throat as she entered the fray, she grasped and pulled on the tail and tore so hard it should have come off.

But the alien leader was much stronger than she was and her attempts to stop his tail only resulted in her going along for the ride and watching in terror as it snaked its way around Gurein's neck, tightened and then twitched.

The nomadic warrior's neck snapped to the side and he stopped moving instantly.

The tail flew upwards, flinging Gurein into the air and Anavill along with him when she lost her grip. She tried to steady herself in the air before she ended up coming down on her face. For just a moment the whole world seemed all but frozen in time and for that moment that seemed to last forever she could see Master Roshi, looking shrunken and old again, powering up a Kamehameha wave that wouldn't be enough to save her, she could see the Royal Guard had finally broken and were scrambling to get through the hole in the door and escape deeper into the shelter, she could see the alien leader wasn't on the ground anymore, and she _felt_ rather than saw that he'd somehow gotten above her.

And she saw the oncoming golden light. She knew it was Master Trunks and as she felt the impact of the alien's tail slamming into her lower back as she heard and felt the shattering of her armor she felt incredible pain but somehow also a strange sort of satisfaction.

_Master Trunks is almost here. So I guess it's all right._

She'd done her job. She'd helped protect humanity. She'd helped hold back the alien attackers and give Trunks the time he needed to come back. In her heart she felt satisfied, even though her other senses were exploding with pain as the strike from the tail sent her back to the ground even faster than she'd ascended into the air.

She screamed and then she felt nothing.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

There have been a great many understatements declared throughout the universe, and if one were to say that Captain Kalt was displeased they would be making one to rival all others.

He discarded the fifth carcass and advanced on the remaining earthling, the elderly one who had apparently shrunk.

"So you transform too." Kalt said, his voice devoid of any pleasantness, "Interesting. No wonder you could hide your power levels from us. Ah but you and those filthy monkeys must have gotten along so well, two treacherous species united on one planet."

The old man was gathering a massive amount of energy, but even without his scouter Kalt knew it wasn't as strong as the blast that had destroyed his armor and slaughtered the remainder of his men. He scoffed, "Give it up, earthling! You don't stand a chance so just die and save me the trouble!"

"I may not stand much of a chance, but I'd rather die on my feet than on my knees. So if you're wantin' me to beg you can forget it!"

"Oh I'm past that." Kalt assured him. "All I care about now is killing you and your entire filthy race!"

He saw the yellow star approaching and ignored it, _Another Earthling trick_ he thought as rage turned his vision red. He raised his hand and gathered energy of his own, "I'll blast that whole structure, I'll destroy you all with a single blast!"

The old man thrust his hands forward and a torrent of blue light erupted and shot towards Kalt who let it clash with the ball of silver light he'd been storing above his head. He focused more intensely on it, gathering more of his own energy and fighting to let it absorb the blue energy.

"Go ahead!" He laughed as he felt his own energy consuming the blue blast, "Give me more! Feed the destruction of your own species! Give me all of your energy and die old man!"

The blue blast stopped, the aged earthling fell to his knees panting with exhaustion and Kalt spared a moment to smirk.

"On your knees after all, eh? Fitting. Now, let's see how you like my Silver Sunburst!"

The Arcosian captain hovered in midair and raised his hand above his head, the ball of white light he'd gathered taking on the appearance of a silver star as he hurtled it towards the old man and the metal doors behind which he suspected all of the humans had hidden.

He laughed insanely as his energy shot towards the building and then his laughter stopped as abruptly as the ball of silver fire disappeared.

Kalt stared down at the spiky yellow hair and burning yellow aura of what he could only assume was a Super Saiyan, and suddenly he remembered what his temper had made him forget . . .

 _I can't fly away, the ship was damaged by the traitorous Iwatian,_ Kalt thought, _besides if Chillax wasn't fast enough to escape I'll never make it._

That was all Kalt had time to think before the Saiyan flew up to him and slammed its head into his, cracking his dome. He flew backwards, clutching his damaged head with one hand and throwing a punch with the other but the Saiyan took his fist and held it up above his head so that his face and Kalt's were close. Kalt looked into deadly empty white eyes.

Then the Saiyan crushed Kalt's fist in his own.

Kalt screamed in agony, he threw a pointless punch for the Saiyan's face but a second hand caught his fist and crushed that one too.

The pain was incredible, Kalt had almost forgotten what real pain felt like before today and now he had received an infuriating reminder from a traitor's blast, and now two fresh reminders from a being he had no hope of overcoming.

He roared in pain as the Saiyan released his limp hands. It felt as if every bone in them had been crushed to powder, but the Arcosian captain turned for his ship and tried to fly for it.

He felt the hand grasp his tail and start to pull him back. He kicked and he screamed but the quiet warrior just glared with empty white eyes until it had pulled him back far enough to place its hand on his throat and then quiet his screams forever with one last squeeze.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Genora stared wide-eyed at the dead captain.

She swallowed a lump in her throat and began entering data into her terminal. "Scan for power level," she told the computer. The scan exceeded the ship's capacity, that meant it was even higher than Lord Frieza's power had been since the ship's Scouting device had been designed to handle power levels up to Lord Frieza's level.

 _So this is a Saiyan,_ the Appullatien thought, _Terrifying monkeys._

"Computer then dispatch complete records to New Arcoss. Dispatch Captain Kalt's final message . . . and crew's personal messages to family." Genora ordered, keying in sequences to make sure that the Twins wouldn't mistake this for just some casual report.

The green Appullatien sighed as the computer set about doing her bidding. She thought about her fallen friends, she thought about her dead sisters, both Orenga, murdered by Kalt and Gareno who'd been killed in the fighting. Only Genora had remained aboard the ship, and now even if she wanted to she couldn't use it to escape.

Not with a gaping hole in the side of it.

She felt strange. Part of her felt sick knowing that so many people who had been a part of her every day life were gone. She felt sick but she didn't feel sad. Not really.

And not just because she knew she'd be following them shortly, either. Actually she was glad she hadn't died just yet, somehow something in her brain thought 'haha, I got to live a little bit longer' and she felt a little bit sicker because of it.

But the PTO hired its operators for their computer skill not for courage, so so what if she was a coward? So what if she was glad to still be alive when more than half a hundred better warriors had fallen?

She threw up.

She wiped her mouth then watched as the computer completed her final commands.

She was glad. She _was_ glad.

Wasn't she?

It wasn't like she'd wanted to die out there with the rest of them . . . it wasn't that she felt guilty for surviving.

 _It's the wait._ She realized as her stomach lurched again. _The others didn't have to wait to die. They just died._

She wasn't much of a fighter, but she stood up and laughed mirthlessly. She'd seen the slow sadistic way that Saiyan scum had murdered her Captain. She wouldn't go that way.

She headed for the armory, hoping there'd be at least one blaster left.

"Wait for me, Orenga, Gareno . . . I won't be far behind." Genora muttered, but no filthy sadistic monkey would torture her. She'd go out on her own terms.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks had been racing, it seemed utterly impossible to him that the fighting in the city could be so quick. It couldn't have lasted more than five minutes.

Had he really taken so long traveling north? It felt insane, he could sense the energy coming from the city and while he couldn't sense the difference between the aliens and people he knew his fighters and he knew all eight of his students and Master Roshi had been alive up to and just after that blast.

But then Roshi had shrunk to a tenth of his previous power and suddenly a really strong energy disappeared all together. Then Soda's energy had disappeared.

Trunks wasn't entirely sure what happened to him after that, he'd already been flying as quickly as his Super Saiyan body could move but somehow his mind went blank.

He didn't see anything again until he saw the lifeless body of one of Frieza's people lying on the ground in front of him, its hands and throat crushed.

Trunks stared down in disgust and turned to look around and get a bearings on where he was.

He was at the now damaged doors of the shelter, he could see Rhyce, Kodva and Schip were emerging from a large hole blasted in the metal doors and he could see Roshi not far from him sitting and staring at him from behind black lensed sunglasses that betrayed nothing.

Trunks saw the four limp forms lying the street wearing the royal blue jumpsuits and white armor of the EDF.

 _Four_ he thought numbly. He saw Bocan and Pastel, he saw Gurein and Anavill. He saw Rhyce and the others come running, Rhyce of all people letting out a panicked shriek when she got close enough to see her brother.

Though Trunks realized he didn't blame her. Just because Rhyce was tough and aggressive most of the time didn't mean she wouldn't hurt seeing one of the most important people in her life lying still and lifeless on the ground.

 _But where's Soda?_ Trunks wondered, looking around at the devastation. He didn't need to ask what had happened, he could more or less tell the flow of the fighting from the scene before him, the only thing he wasn't certain about was how he'd arrived and what had killed the member of Frieza's race lying at his feet.

But he had a pretty good idea.

He tried to focus his senses to find Soda, but he couldn't sense her.

He did sense someone was still alive on the alien ship however.

He turned to look at his team and the small band of Royal Guard and regular military personnel beginning to emerge from the shelter. "Look for survivors!" Trunks ordered, "There's still one left. I'll handle him."

Rhyce didn't move from her brother's side, sobbing into his chest and Trunks had to repeat the order before Kodva snapped out a similar daze and started moving to check Bocan and Pastel, though Trunks was close enough to them to know it was pointless. Schip was already checking on Anavill.

Trunks turned towards the ship and flew for the hole blasted in its side.

 _Whatever did that must have been one hell of an attack . . . lucky it didn't destroy the whole thing,_ he thought.

His mother would be happy. Relatively speaking.

In truth today was hardly a day for celebrations, Earth's new defense force had been tested and at least half of them were lost.

But there were no Dragonballs to bring them back and until his mother could find New Namek there wouldn't be.

For now all Trunks could do was keep focusing on the threat at hand, for now there was still one enemy in that ship that needed to be taken care of.

He felt a cold chill running up his back as he flew in through the hole that had been blasted into the side of the ship. He couldn't tell what the white tiled room had been, maybe a sort of shower? It was full of what looked like one-person pods, most of them had glass windows that had been shattered by the blast.

Trunks could sense the remaining enemy and closed the distance quickly. The power was small so he felt no fear as he blasted open the door to confront his final foe.

The green skinned alien with a bulbous head that reminded Trunks somewhat of an octopus spun around, firing a blaster wildly and missing horribly.

Trunks glared at it and said, "You have one chance to surrender."

The alien answered in a feminine voice, though Trunks wasn't about to make any assumptions. The creature scowled at him, "Surrender? Why, so you can squeeze my head off like you did to the captain?"

"You'll be held and treated fairly until you can be returned to your masters, along with their promise never to bother this planet again."

"You think you can kill members of the Frost Clan and they'll just leave you be? They'll destroy you and this planet if they have to, and they'll destroy me too! Not a chance monkey scum!" The alien scowled at him and raised the blaster to its own head.

Trunks closed the distance and snatched the weapon away, ripping it off of the alien's hand and then holding the creature by its neck. "Well if you won't surrender consider yourself captured."

Trunks wasn't holding the alien's throat tightly enough to constrict its airways so it was able to answer, "I'll never tell you anything, monkey!"

"We'll see." Trunks said coldly. "We have ways of making you talk."

It was probably true.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The fates of the Earth's Defenders are revealed, and conflicts erupt among the survivors over how to treat the prisoners. The survivors of the PTO discuss their chances of escaping, and Trunks makes it clear to his mother that they need Dragon Balls._


	26. Now What?

**Episode Twenty-Six**

**'Now What?'**

 

Darkness and pain. Wrapped in warmth the usual comfort and peace of sleep was denied to the young warrior as lancing pain in her back woke her with a gasp.

She was in a dimly lit room, it was white and there was a curtain going through the middle. There were beeping monitors and the sound of voices talking outside.

"Easy." An unfamiliar voice told her. "You're safe. Are you feeling any pain?"

The warrior blinked her eyes a few times and looked around the dimly lit room. There was an empty bed across from her with several inactive monitors nearby. She looked down at her own arms and realized that she was hooked up to more than a few machines herself, though their screens were lit, providing most of the light in the room.

She began to understand her surroundings, she wasn't on the battlefield anymore she wasn't fighting anymore.

She'd survived, but she was hurt.

"Can you hear me?" A doctor standing nearby asked her and she nodded. She didn't know the woman but she could recognize her as a doctor thanks to the white coat and blue scrubs. "Are you in any pain?" The doctor asked as another lance of pain shot through the younger woman's back and she nodded again in answer.

The doctor told a nurse to bring something that sounded like it might be medicine and told her to 'let Mister Briefs know.'

Her teeth were gritted in pain, but a portion of her mind was able to recognize that her survival meant one important thing: they'd won.

That helped a bit as she focused on ignoring the pain she felt.

"Do you remember what happened?" The doctor asked.

She hesitated before saying, "We fought the aliens, we'd beaten all of them except their leader."

When she didn't continue the doctor asked, "Do you remember what happened to you?"

She considered for a moment before shaking her head. A nurse came in and gave her some pills and she swallowed them without caring what they were. "Are the others alright?" She gasped.

"Don't worry about that," the doctor began but she interrupted her.

"I know we won, but did everyone . . ." She trailed off as the memories began to return to her. She sank back in the hospital bed and shuddered.

"Take it easy." The doctor advised her gently. "There were a lot of injuries, but things aren't nearly as bad as they could have been. You saved a lot of lives. You're a hero."

"But what about the others?" She asked.

"Most of you made it through." The doctor said a bit evasively, "It won't do you any good to worry about it now. You need rest."

"I won't stop worrying about it until you tell me so just tell me." She said.

The doctor seemed to consider this for a moment, and seemed about to answer when Trunks appeared in the doorway.

"You got here fast, sir." The doctor said.

"I wasn't far." Trunks said and came into the room.

"Well there are some things we should discuss regarding the patients."

"I hope it can wait," Trunks told the doctor then turned to her, "How are you doing, Anavill?"

"I don't know." She admitted. "I'm . . . worried about the others."

"Schip is fine," Trunks told her and she felt at least some relief come over her, "He and Rhyce are guarding our prisoners. Kodva is working as our liaison with the Royal Guard."

"Why is Kodva doing that? Shouldn't it be . . ." Anavill trailed off feeling a sob rising in her throat.

She remembered seeing the alien's fist punch through Bocan's chest and blast Pastel, she remembered seeing its tail wrap around Gurein's neck and . . .

She closed her eyes but that only made the images more powerful and she sobbed openly. Trunks put a hand on her shoulder, "Soda was hurt badly, but she's alive. She hasn't regained consciousness yet."

Trunks looked away and said softly, "The others . . ."

"Didn't make it." Anavill supplied and he nodded. She took a deep shuddering breath.

"This might be too much excitement for her." The doctor said.

"Sorry." Trunks said, "I guess I should go. Try to rest, Anavill."

"No, I've got to come with you, you'll need my help."

She tried to swing her legs out of bed, but they didn't budge. She leaned forward but the doctor rushed over and held her back, "Please," the older woman said, "try to calm down."

She closed her eyes and asked the doctor, "Why can't I move my legs?"

The doctor frowned at her and said, "You suffered a severe spinal injury . . . it's unlikely that you'll ever walk again."

This was apparently news to Trunks as well because he looked shocked. The doctor explained, "I would have explained it if I'd had a chance to speak to you before you came in. I've already spoken to her family as well."

Trunks lowered his head and then looked at her. Anavill felt anguish rippling through her own heart and if it weren't for the calm in her master's face she might have broken all together.

But Trunks looked at her with determination and told her, "You'll walk, Anavill. There's a way, and it might take some time but we'll find it. I promise."

There were tears rolling down her cheeks anyway, but she said, "If you promise I believe it."

The doctor had a disapproving look but she didn't say anything to Trunks. Instead she told Anavill, "You really need some rest. Please, try to relax. Do you still feel pain?"

"No . . ." Anavill admitted.

"That's good. Try to get some rest." The doctor said again, then turned to Trunks, "I'd like to have a word with you outside, sir."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Darkness and pain. Lying on a hard surface and feeling the weight of the world pressing down on him the usual silence of and solitude of sleep was denied the conquered warrior.

The room was like the inside of a bowl . . . what was the word for that again? A dome? In any case it was circular and filled with red light.

"H-hey! He's waking up!" A familiar voice said.

"C-Commander?" Another familiar voice whispered cautiously.

Chillax sat up with some difficulty. He was sleeping on the floor. The floor of . . . "Where are we?" He asked whomever would answer.

"Prison." The first voice told him and he was able to recognize it as Karuto's.

"Prison?" Chillax coughed. "Why is it so hard to move?"

"Gravity." Karuto answered simply. "It's harder for Genora."

"Genora?" Chillax squinted and looked at the hunkered down form of the Appullatien, "Where are we?"

"Still . . . on Earth." Genora answered with some difficulty.

"Why is the gravity so severe?" Chillax asked, standing up.

"Prison." Genora grunted.

"They're keeping us in here so we're weaker." Karuto explained. "The Super Saiyan will kill us if we try to cause trouble."

Chillax scowled as he remembered what had happened to his entire team. "Why didn't he kill us already?"

"Prisoners." Genora mumbled. "He wants . . . information."

Chillax turned towards the door, "What stops us from just blasting our way out?" He asked.

Karuto answered, "There are two other fighters outside watching us. If we misbehave they'll increase the gravity until it crushes us all."

"Which won't be much for me." Genora added quickly, "Please don't test them, sir!"

Chillax glowered at Genora, but abstained from threatening her. He was running out of familiar faces after all. "The duty of any captured soldier is to resist their captors and seek escape."

"We wouldn't stand a chance." Karuto pointed out.

Chillax dropped down to sit, he hit the ground with such force that it shook the entire room. "I don't want to just be their prisoner, little cousin. What about the rest of the crew? What about the Captain?"

Genora shuddered, "They're all dead. The earthling fighters killed most of them, that blasted Iwatian turned traitor and took out the rest."

"What?" Chillax demanded in shock, "How? He wasn't anywhere near the Captain's power level!"

"He absorbed energy from one of their blasts and took out the whole crew in one blast, part of the ship too. Only the Captain survived, he put an end to the Iwatian and took out five of the earthling fighters to boot." Genora spoke grimly, but with a certain admiration.

However before Chillax could ask where his uncle was now she added, "But the Saiyan showed up, his power level was off the charts, it was beyond Lord Frieza . . . I know you were always skeptical, Commander but it was _higher_ than history."

Chillax stared in disbelief, "Are you insane? How can anything contain that kind of power without transformation?"

"It does transform!" Genora gasped.

"What? Into a great ape? But when we fought it it wasn't-"

"No, its golden hair and fiery aura . . . that's what it was." Karuto said. "When it's normal its hair turns lavender and its aura disappears."

Genora nodded, "They took my scouter and took me out of the ship so I didn't read its power-level then but I could feel it was still immense."

Chillax nodded. "Did you send the distress signal?"

"Yes, the Frost Clan knows what happened . . . but anyone they send will be walking into a death trap, earth is a suicide mission." Genora said hopelessly. "They might destroy the planet, but the won't send anyone to rescue us."

"They wont?" Karuto cried in surprise, "They'd let us be on the planet when it explodes?"

"They don't know you're alive, your power levels disappeared when you were knocked unconscious, your Uncle ordered me to let your parents know what we assumed happened to you." Genora explained. "That's part of the reason I remained on the ship, but it was too badly damaged to take off . . . they captured it."

"Good." Chillax said. "Then they'll probably try to repair it, we can use it to escape."

"I doubt that." Genora mumbled.

"The Saiyan can't be around all the time!" Chillax snapped. "We'll wait until the ship is repaired and when the time is right we strike, we get out of here!"

"Please don't talk like that." Karuto frowned, "I think they can hear us and I don't want them to crush us any more."

"We'll be fine." Chillax snarled.

"Genora won't be." Karuto said meekly. Chillax scowled but after taking a moment to reign in his temper he nodded.

"All right. Fine. Then what's the plan?"

"We see what they want from us." Karuto suggested. "I think if we cooperate they won't hurt us."

"Yeah? Too bad the Iwatian didn't make it, maybe you could have used your rapport with him to get us out of this. I assume they'd let him join them since he helped so much." Chillax said.

"Probably." Genora agreed.

"I think the Saiyan doesn't want to kill us actually." Karuto said. "I mean he spared us out there once he decided we weren't a threat."

Chillax felt the unintended sting to his pride in his cousin's words. But it was true, he really had been no threat.

"Because he wants you for information." Genora said. "That's why he took me."

"So we just have to tell him what he wants to know." Karuto reasoned.

"No!" Genora and Chillax both cried.

"If that's the only reason we're alive do you really want to take away their reason for sparing us?" Genora gawked.

"I guess not." Karuto admitted.

"We just have to hold out until General Boreal's forces can come." Chillax reasoned. "The General was the strongest member of our race apart from the twins and if I know our parents they won't let us go unavenged. They'll destroy the planet if nothing else, when that happens we'll be able to survive in space long enough to signal the ships."

"Will we survive the blast?" Karuto asked.

"Of course." Chillax guessed.

"Even Genora?" Karuto asked.

Genora raised an eyebrow as if to ask 'why do you care' and Chillax had been about to ask it outright, but instead said, "Yeah, sure. Of course."

Genora looked more skeptical but didn't say anything. Karuto seemed content enough so Chillax sat and waited.

Sooner or later he'd see what his captors wanted to know.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

If she'd known how to increase the gravity Rhyce might have crushed all of the prisoners to death.

But she didn't. Instead she just had to stand guard wishing they'd try something even knowing in her heart that she'd probably die trying to stop them.

A small part of her would have welcomed it, the loss of her brother was too fresh in her mind for her to think about anything else and while she knew Schip was upset over Anavill's unknown fate he hadn't known her nearly as long and she couldn't possibly mean as much to him as Gurein did to Rhyce.

The same went for Kodva, and thankfully neither of them had made any attempt to claim parity to her pain or stupidly try to advise her in any way on the matter. Neither of them could know how she felt and she didn't want to hear them pretend that they did.

She wanted to massacre the remaining aliens even though she knew it was impossible. They'd taken the last of her family from her and left her guarding the door to their make-shift prison to clench and unclench her fists as if she were squeezing the metaphorical life out of a pair of invisible stress dolls.

Kodva had come down to relieve them from their long guard duty but Schip hadn't wanted to leave if she wasn't ready to and Rhyce claimed she didn't think Kodva could handle it all alone. The former monk hadn't argued the point so now all three of them stood outside the door waiting angrily.

The truth was that Rhyce knew that Kodva was just as capable of guarding the door as she was, but she needed to be doing something or she'd have time to think about Gurein. For the moment all she could really think about was how hard it was not to just fiddle with the gravity controls and alternating between fantasizing about it and holding herself back was all that kept her from breaking down outright.

She was so focused on her inner thoughts that she didn't notice Master Roshi come down the stairs until he was standing right in front of her, looking up at her from behind his thick black sunglasses.

She tensed, but he didn't seem to be interested in copping a feel of anything, instead he just told her, "You're tired. You need to rest."

"I'm as tired as anyone else, we all need rest." Rhyce said.

"Then you should all get some rest." Master Roshi told her. "I'll guard the prisoners."

"What can you do that the three of us can't?" Rhyce scoffed, hoping to bring Schip and Kodva over to her side but neither of them seemed interested in arguing with the old master. They both just continued to stand silently.

Master Roshi said, "If I had to I could defeat all three of you right now, and not because I'm stronger but because you're all so tired and miserable that almost anyone could do it. There's nothing you could do if those three decided to break out, the gravity is doing all the work." He patted her hand gently, "Get some rest."

Rhyce glared at him, part of her wanted to blame him for all of it. He'd tested them for graduation, he'd made them think they were ready. Him and Master Trunks, they'd made them think they could do what needed to be done.

But she didn't. She couldn't. Even in her heartbreak and anger she knew that blaming Master Roshi wouldn't do anything. The old man hadn't led her wrong, and neither had Master Trunks. The two of them had made them super heroes, they'd taught them to fly to shoot lasers from their hands, they'd made them stronger than any normal person had right to hope to be.

She couldn't blame them, not really. But that didn't mean she couldn't _say_ that she did. "You're no better than the three of us, if you were then you should have proved it back at the bunker."

"Rhyce," Schip began and Rhyce was about to cut him off and begin a nice hot blooded argument but Master Roshi silenced the both of them with a stern look.

"Enough of that." Master Roshi said sternly. "I don't want to hear any talk like that. Don't second-guess yourselves or us your mentors. You were as prepared as you could be, but the foe was just beyond what any of us could manage. That's why Trunks needs you, that's why he needed to train you."

"Then he should have done it faster." Rhyce scoffed. "Or better."

"Shut up!" Schip snapped at her.

"Why don't you try and make me?" Rhyce challenged.

"I don't make ungrateful idiots, I bury them." Schip scowled.

"Ungrateful? So I should be grateful my brother's dead?" Rhyce roared, taking a threatening step towards Schip who took one of his own towards her.

This was good. This was what she needed, a fight against someone close to her level. Someone she could hit and beat and use to make herself feel better. The fighting would distract her from how she felt and their similarity in level would make sure she didn't hurt him too badly.

And he probably needed it too, he really cared about Anavill and he needed a good fight to keep his mind off of it, Rhyce was certain.

But Master Roshi's staff appeared in his hand and he smacked both of them hard on their rumps so quickly it seemed as if he'd done it simultaneously. They both leaped up clutching their rears more in surprise than anything else and then the old man's staff struck them on the top of their heads.

"I know what you're going through is going to take some time, I understand." The old hermit said with a calm that defied the swift and painful physical action he'd just taken, "I know you want someone to blame for what happened and I know you're too tired and hurt to think straight. That's why you need to get some rest. I won't tell you again. Either get some sleep or I'll put all three of you to sleep."

Kodva, who had done nothing belligerent raised his hands and stepped towards the stairs. "Come on you two," he said soothingly, "there's nothing we can do just now. Even if you got the chance to fight them you'd do it better with calmer heads."

Rhyce stared daggers at Master Roshi for a moment, then finally shoved past the old man and past Kodva up the stairs. It was only once she was past the three of them and back into her room that the first tears dared to attempt to escape from her eyes. She fought them for as long as she could telling herself that she'd already shed enough tears for her brother and she shed any more would dishonor his warrior spirit, but eventually the tears came.

Sleep took longer, but eventually it came too. A shallow dreamless sleep curled up on the floor of her room.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks arrived back at the Capsule Corp. headquarters late that evening. Bulma could tell her son was bothered and she approached him cautiously, not wanting to interrupt any deep thinking that might be running through his head. She waited until he looked to her and said, "I see the King's added security measures are in place."

"Twenty guards all armed with captured alien blasters." Bulma confirmed. Then she asked gently, "What's the prognosis?"

"Soda's in a coma she might never wake up from and Anavill is paralyzed from the waist down. You already know about the rest." Trunks said quietly, and Bulma nodded.

"I'm sorry, Trunks." She told him. "I wish there'd been more time."

"We need the Dragon Balls." Trunks told her.

"We'll get them." Bulma assured him. "You just have to be patient."

"One of my students might never wake up and the other might never walk without them, even if I could be patient they don't deserve to have to wait like that."

Trunks wasn't speaking angrily or even desperately, he just sounded very tired. Bulma felt for him, she said softly, "There might be another way. The ship you captured, those healing tanks on board might be able to help Anavill and Soda. The medical bay was damaged by the blast but if we can get it repaired that might be something."  
The young warrior sighed and nodded slowly. "I hope so," he said softly.

"But there's one other thing." Bulma reminded him. "You need to find out what those prisoners know and if they can help us. If they won't do that we'll have to get rid of them."

"You mean kill them?" Trunks sounded surprised.

"It's no more than they'd do to us," Bulma reminded him, "they're too strong for anyone but you to guard them and as long as they're in the gravity room they're making sure your team can't train."

Trunks nodded. "I'll talk to them . . . but I'd rather not have to kill them. It doesn't feel right killing prisoners."

"They've hardly signed any conventions, I doubt you'll be tried." Bulma said then remembered she needed to be delicate. "Sorry," she added quickly.

"It's fine, mother." Trunks said with a forced smile.

"There is one other thing . . . if you don't think it would be too dangerous." Bulma said.

"What is it?" Trunks asked.

"I'd like to be with you asking the questions." Bulma said. "There are certain things I want to know."

Her son hesitated, then asked, "Could you talk to them through a monitor?"

"Sure. But I'm not afraid to talk to them face to face. If we show them any sign of weakness they could walk all over us."

"They can do a bit of walking. I'd feel better if you were on a monitor, at least for this first time." Trunks told her and she decided not to press the matter.

"All right son. You're going to talk to them in the gravity room?"

"I'll bring them out one at a time and talk to them in the lounge. It has a monitor for you to participate with and it's not too far."

"You're going to interrogate them in lounge?" Bulma raised her eyebrows at this.

"Well they won't know what it is, and it's close." Trunks said with a shrug. "This isn't exactly a military base, the small army of guards notwithstanding. Are Schip and Rhyce still down there?"

"They got relieved by Kodva then Roshi went down there too."

Trunks nodded. "All right. Why don't you get to your office and I'll drag one of them up here."

Bulma nodded and Trunks headed for the gravity training room to retrieve a prisoner.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks and Bulma question their prisoners and learn some very interesting things from Karuto, but Chillax is less cooperative._


	27. Tell Me Everything

**Episode Twenty-Seven**

**'Tell me Everything'**

 

Trunks started with the smallest.

Despite the fact that the little . . . whatever Frieza's race called themselves, was stronger than most of the squad it had been with it hadn't made any attempts to fight him. He hoped this meant it would be cooperative.

It looked around the lounge in awe and asked, "What's this place for?"

"Interrogation." Trunks said coldly.

"Wow . . . it's probably not very good at that." The little creature said brightly.

"It'll do the job." Trunks said menacingly, "Now sit down."

"Where?"

"Anywhere." Trunks said, then changed his mind, "No, there."

It was important to establish early who was in charge here. The little alien gave him a dirty look but sat where he'd directed. It was a reasonably comfortable seat but that couldn't be helped and at least it was opposite the monitor his mother would be using allowing Bulma to also get a good look at the alien as they questioned it.

"Who are you?" Trunks demanded.

"I'm Karuto!" The little creature answered sounding almost proud of itself. It didn't have any visible mouth, instead it had what seemed like a mask over the place where its nose and mouth might otherwise have been. It also lacked visible pupils, its eyes were blank blue orbs and it made reading its expressions difficult.

"You're one of Frieza's kind? You and that other one?" Trunks asked and the little alien nodded.

"Frieza was our cousin. We're called Arcosians and we're from the Frost Clan if that helps." Karuto told him.

"You're pretty forthcoming with information, how do we know we can trust anything you say?" Trunks' mother demanded from the large monitor screen.

"Why would I lie?" Karuto asked.

"Because we're enemies." Trunks answered.

"Are you gonna kill me?" Karuto asked him and Trunks hesitated.

"If you don't tell us what we want to know." He decided.

"So doesn't that answer your question?" Karuto asked and Trunks glanced at his mother who had hidden her mouth behind her hands.

It wasn't a gesture of amusement, it was one of annoyance. He turned back to the little alien and said, "Why didn't you try to fight me before?"

"Because I didn't want to die!" Karuto cried out as if it should have been obvious.

"Then why did you attack this planet?" Bulma demanded.

"Cuz Uncle Kalt told me to."

"Then why did he?" Trunks sighed.

"Because that's our job! Our ship clears the backlog of orders, we put off some planets whose inhabitants would take a long time to arrive, you know, some of them had light engines and stuff so we waited until the last minute? But Earth, we had probes watching ever since Cousin Frieza died."

"And what did you see?" Trunks asked.

"Well the planet's population was devastated and the largest power-levels all disappeared so we thought we could finish the job off." Karuto explained. "So my uncle's ship got sent here ahead of mean old General Boreal's."

"General Boreal? Who is he?" Bulma asked.

"The General."

"No, be more specific!" She said in exasperation.

"The third strongest of our race and the commander of the biggest army we've got left." Karuto said, sounding a little grumpy now.

"Stronger than Frieza?" Bulma wondered.

"You're asking too many questions too fast!" The little alien complained and Trunks glowered at him. He quickly said, "No. No one's stronger than Frieza! Only our leaders are anywhere close! General Boreal is about half as strong as Cousin Frieza I think . . ."

_So not a threat to me, but stronger than any of the ones that showed up._ Trunks thought. "How many troops does he have?"

"A hundred . . . or two hundred, I don't remember." Karuto said. "It was definitely something hundred."

"Not much of an army." Trunks mused.

"It is when each one can level a city." His mother said dryly. "Would he come here?" She asked Karuto.

"Probably." The little alien answered.

"How long would it take?" Trunks asked.

"I think one of your years probably." Karuto said, "He had stuff to do and it'll take a while before he learns what happened to us."

Trunks decided to slow down just a bit. He asked, "So you knew Earth was still dangerous, why did you still come if your best help was about a year away?"

"We had to, the buyers are on their way, the planet is bought and paid for. If we don't deliver our reputation will fall even more and no one will take us seriously anymore."

"What a shame that would be. When will _they_ arrive?" Bulma asked.

"I don't know." Karuto said in a bit of a whine.

"We tried to get you to leave, didn't you read my power level?" Trunks asked.

"Uncle Kalt thought it was a trick. But he made me and cousin Chillax draw you away anyway just to be safe. He thought if he could kill all the earthlings we could just claim a Saiyan was something that came with the planet."

Trunks scowled, "If he'd just blasted the shelter his plan might have worked. I was so focused on all of your power levels I didn't notice his."

"We're lucky he didn't." His mother told him.

_But_ why _didn't he?_ Trunks wondered.

Perhaps he didn't know how to do so without blowing up the entire planet? Or perhaps he didn't know how deep the bunker was, after all his kind weren't known for sensing energy.

Trunks was considering it when his mother asked, "You say you were clearing the back log of orders . . . does that mean there are other planets you were going to invade? Planets full of living sapient beings?"

"I don't know about sapient, but they're probably sentient." Karuto said. Trunks wasn't sure what the difference between the two words was. Karuto carried on and said, "We were just clearing every planet the Saiyans failed to clear."

"What?" His mother asked flatly. "The Saiyans?"

"Well I think some of them were just planets that were much too powerful for them, you know planets where they were certain to die and if we found any we had to kill them." Karuto said. "But I really wanted to meet one."

His horned head tilted slightly towards Trunks and he said, "I don't want that anymore though."

Trunks smiled a bit, "Yeah, we're a lot more intimidating in person."

"Well _you_ are." Karuto said sounding just a little nervous. "You're more powerful than any Saiyan on record. Genora says you're more powerful than _anything_ on record."

Trunks smiled, "And Earth is under my protection so don't forget it."

"It doesn't do me much good knowing _now_." Karuto said and Trunks had to admit he had a point.

His mother asked, "So . . . your computer would know everywhere the Saiyans were sent?"

"Yes?" Karuto said.

Trunks glanced at the monitor. His mother's irritation was gone, now she seemed deep in thought.

"Can you tell us?" She asked suddenly just as Trunks was about to ask a question to fill the silence.

"Maybe? It'd be easier to use the computer to show you." Karuto said.

"We won't let you near them, we can't risk you wiping those computers clean," Bulma warned him.

Karuto shrugged. "Only Genora would know how to do that and if she were gonna do it she'd have done it before you captured her."

Trunks told him, "We don't like taking chances. But back to the questions-"

"Do you have actual confirmation that all these Saiyans failed their missions?" His mother asked suddenly.

Trunks looked at her in confusion, "What?"

"Think about it, if they haven't checked every planet yet there could be other Saiyans out there, Saiyans like your father or Goku!"

Karuto's eyes seemed to take on a sort of puppy-dog-like quality as if he were frowning as he said, "We were almost done, every Saiyan team was confirmed destroyed. Except . . . um . . ."

"What is it?" Trunks asked.

"Well . . . um . . ." Karuto hesitated, then said, "You know Konpeito . . . um, the big gray alien that turned on us and helped you?"

"I heard about him . . ." Trunks said hesitantly.

"He um . . . he helped a Saiyan. A powerful one too, strong enough to defeat another Saiyan while in its Oozaru form!"

"What? Why did it fight an Oozaru?" Trunks asked, he decided not to ask what an Oozaru was just in case it made him seem foolish in front of his prisoner.

Trunks could almost _feel_ his mother's excitement through the monitor when Karuto answered, "Because it liked the Iwatians and wanted to save them from being wiped out. Kind of like the Saiyan that we sent here to exterminate the Earthlings. But it had to fight the Oozaru instead of turning into one cuz its tail got cut off, but once it ate this weird fruit it was stronger than the Oozaru were!"

"Oh my gosh, Trunks!" Bulma gasped, "This . . . this is exactly what we're looking for! It's a Saiyan just like Goku!"

"What? When was _that_ what we were-" Trunks began before deciding not to argue with his mother in front of the prisoner. But before he could say anything else Bulma got up and rushed into the room, she approached Karuto without fear even as Trunks gawked that she'd just enter the room with a dangerous alien and asked, "Can you give me exact coordinates for that planet? Can you tell me where it was?"

"The Saiyan isn't there anymore," Karuto told her.

"I don't need to know where it _is_ , I just need to know where it _was_." Bulma told him.

Trunks felt the cold grip of realization come over him, "You're not thinking about using the time machine, are you?" He demanded.

"Time machine?" Karuto squealed in excitement, apparently the concept wasn't an alien one to the little alien.

Bulma smiled and said, "That's right, I'm thinking of using it. Think about it Trunks, you just saw more than half your students seriously injured or worse, you only have a year to train what's left and the next bunch before someone half as strong as Frieza shows up with the biggest army they have to throw at you."

"So?" Trunks asked, "I can handle it. I'll just blast the ship out of the sky this time."

"Can you grantee that'll be enough?" His mother asked him and he frowned. "With a warrior by your side who already knows how to fight, would have a reason to hate Frieza's goons and who can get stronger a lot faster than most of your recruits we'd be far more prepared. Getting the Dragon Balls in time would be better, but this won't be anything to sneeze at."

"But the Saiyans were evil!" Trunks protested.

"This one doesn't sound like it." Bulma said. She raised a hand to forestall any further protest, "I'm putting my foot down, if there was another good Saiyan, another Goku it's up to us to help them however we can, and if that helps us then so be it. Karuto, you'll show me how to find the planet, right?"

"Um, sure. Does this mean I'm out of prison?" Karuto asked.

"On probation, yes." Trunks mother said without consulting him. "I know you won't try to hurt me because of what will happen to you if you do."

"And to my cousin Chillax." Karuto nodded. "Plus I want to see a Saiyan . . . um, a weaker less scary Saiyan."

Trunks folded his arms and sighed. "Please be careful, mom."

Bulma laughed, "I'll be fine, sweetheart. You go ahead and talk to your next prisoner. Now Karuto I need to know everything you know about this Saiyan."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Chillax scowled when he was brought out for his turn at questioning. "Where's my cousin?" He demanded.

"I'll ask the questions here." The Saiyan scum said calmly.

"Here? What is this, a lounge?" Chillax scoffed.

"Well we were pretty peaceful before you came along." The Saiyan told him.

"Yes, you certainly displayed that when you _slaughtered_ my entire team." Chillax growled.

"You. Attacked. Us." The Saiyan said slowly and coldly.

Chillax nodded, "We did. And you defended yourself, and you won. But let's not pretend you're a bunch of pacifists, you're a warrior and your servants are warriors."

"They're my students."

Chillax shrugged. "Whatever. Why did you spare us, Saiyan?"

"I told you I'll ask the questions. Why don't you tell me what sort of response I can expect from your people."

"Probably none at all. If I know my parents they'll assume I'm dead, move on and put Earth back on quarantine."

"And what about General Boreal?" The Saiyan asked.

Chillax forced a laugh, "Just how much did you get out of poor Karuto? Yes fine, Boreal might come. But it's unlikely, Genora says she made the ship's last transmission before she was captured, that means they have all of our records and logs including the readouts of your power level."

The Saiyan said, "So how powerful is Boreal compared to yourself?"

"I don't know. Stronger but not by as much as he thinks?"

"This is no time for self-aggrandizement." The Saiyan warned.

Chillax considered for a moment, then said, "Listen, before seeing you I assumed that the record of Lord Frieza's real power level were just lies, no one could reach sixty million I thought."

"I understand he was more than twice that when I killed him, actually." The Saiyan said casually, and Chillax shuddered.

It was like being told by a demon that they had easily murdered a deity.

The Commander recovered and tried to sound causal, "Well as a matter of pride no one in the Clan presumes to compare themselves to that, we just assume Lord Frieza added a zero and we judge based on that. His power and yours seem too unreal."

"Now comes the part where you answer the question." The Saiyan ordered. "You use numbers, what's his number compared to yours?"

"Mine is over one hundred thousand, General Boreal is three times as strong as me and no one's entirely sure how strong the Frost Twins are since they've locked away a portion of their power with transformation. Rumor has it Boreal has too."

"Haven't you all?" The Saiyan asked. "You all look far more like Frieza's weakest form, not his true form. Shouldn't you all look like his natural form if you haven't locked power away?"

"It doesn't work that way, what Lord Frieza considered his true form was the body he'd forged through successive transformations. His first form was the form he had until he was strong enough to move on to another one, and he compressed himself back into it so as not to constantly be under the strain of holding so much power."

"That sounds like nonsense." The Saiyan scoffed.

"Well what makes more sense to you? Constantly focusing on being intentionally weaker, or relaxing to a more natural state and only showing your fangs when you need to?"

The Saiyan seemed to consider that then nodded, "Okay. So you're saying Boreal might be strong enough to transform, but you can't say for sure, and your leaders can definitely transform at least once."

"Yeah, pretty much. So what do I get for answering your questions? A merciful execution?" Chillax asked.

"You haven't answered all my questions."

"Where is my cousin?" Chillax demanded.

"He's safe. Can't you sense his energy?"

"No!" Chillax snarled.

The Saiyan folded his arms. "He's safe." He said again, "But if you try anything he won't be."

Chillax smirked. "I guess you understand our kind better than you claim."

"Do I?"

"You show a weak exterior, you save your fangs for when you need them. Just like this room, far too comfortable for interrogation I'd thought. But if I were someone who actually cared about Karuto's safety just the threat of harming him would probably be enough to ensure my good behavior. You present yourself one way but in the end you're another."

"I guess so."

"But you don't realize I already know I'm dead, and Karuto is too. Maybe not today but eventually when you tire of us. So what stops me from spitting in your face for the sake of it? What stops me from destroying this entire place? I'm not in the gravity room anymore, my power isn't dampened, I could destroy everything here and Karuto's fate wouldn't be any different than it would have been anyway. It'll just come quicker."

The Saiyan kept his arms folded and sat down on a lounger across from Chillax.

"Try it. See what happens." He said with a treacherous calm.

Chillax laughed and relaxed on his own chair. "No thank you. I'd rather survive a coward than die in stupid defiance. As long as I'm alive there's a chance I'll escape."

"And what would you do if you did that?" The Saiyan asked.

"Go back to my people." Chillax shrugged.

"To conquer more planets?"

"Of course."

"To kill more innocents?"

"Of . . ." Chillax hesitated, then shook his head. "No . . . I realized when I fought you what a mistake that was. Our people go around massacring strong peoples to make room for weak ones. If we find something we think might threaten us someday we exterminate it . . . but in the end that's a mistake. Did you know, that saurian in my squad, the last one standing besides myself and my cousin . . . his name was Ribuai, he was the last of his kind. My father and uncle eradicated the rest of them."

Chillax leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling. "I wish they hadn't. It was a mistake. We shouldn't have been destroying the great races, we should have been joining with them. We should have taken the strongest and added them to ourselves and grown stronger together. Our own kind has been getting weaker ever since Lord Frieza's death . . . but just looking at you I can see the mistake of it."

"Can you?" The Saiyan sounded genuinely curious.

"The average Saiyan had a power level between one and three thousand, their elites could get as high as four and their royalty could break ten. They're much stronger than the grunts under Lord Frieza, stronger than the dregs we have today, but their true strength was in transformation just like ours . . . but that's still an insect compared to what you are now. If we had let the Saiyans grow we might have learned to grow with them, we could have been an unstoppable force in the galaxy."

"To destroy everything weaker than yourselves?" The Saiyan scoffed.

"What? No . . . well yes, under Lord Frieza. But I was thinking, what do I gain from killing weaklings? The strong should keep getting stronger and the weak . . . well they just don't matter. If a strong race can take a planet from their weak neighbors that's fine. But if they're not strong enough to take it on their own they don't deserve help, their neighbors deserve to keep their world because they were the stronger ones."

"So a universe where might makes right?" The Saiyan asked.

"We already have that, don't you think?" Chillax asked. "I think what I'm suggesting is a universe where might makes might, and weakness is left alone to rise or fall on its own. Maybe it will go from embers to a blazing fire in its own right or maybe it will just extinguish itself. It should be their own actions that decide."

"And when you find someone stronger than yourself?"

"Curse the fates for being cruel." Chillax said with a bitter laugh. "But if we Arcosians and you Saiyans had grown together, if we'd grown with the Appullatiens, the Suteki, the Iwatians even we'd have made a powerful force. Whatever came along to end us would have the fight of its life on its hands. But instead we chose complacency and now our species will suffer the consequences for it."

Chillax sat up straight again to see the Saiyan shrug, "I prefer a universe where the strong protect the weak."

"But then they'll always be weak." Chillax pointed out.

"Not if you teach them to be strong." The Saiyan told him.

"Like you're doing here." Chillax reasoned. "The Earthlings are only stronger because you taught them."

"Yes. Didn't you do the same with your squad?"

Chillax closed his eyes and remembered the five of them . . . they were gone. The Arcosian had lost soldiers before but to lose his entire command in just one battle . . . he'd fought with them, he'd valued them and now they were gone. He'd watched them all perish and to his shame he was left alive to do nothing more than remember them.

He glared at the Saiyan and asked, "Does that matter now? It's not like you spared any of them. Anyway the kind of increase you Saiyans manage is beyond what any other race ever achieves in a lifetime."

The Saiyan seemed to be considering something before finally saying, "I could prove you wrong."

"Oh really?" Chillax asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Saiyan stood up and said, "I'll let you have your scouter. You can watch as my students go from where they are now to rivaling you, then surpassing you. You can see how quickly they rise and how strong they become. Then, if you've behaved yourself and your kind show up I'll turn you over to them and you can tell them what you've seen."

"And then what?" Chillax asked.

"With any luck they'll back down and go away instead of forcing me and my team to slaughter them." The Saiyan said, then nodded to Chillax, "And maybe if they do back down your way of thinking might catch on. It's not the best I've heard, but it's better than what you're doing now."

Chillax shook his head. "You're a surprising species, you Saiyans."

"You can call me Trunks." The Saiyan told him.

"Yes, you've introduced yourself before. But for now even though you're giving me my survival and a Scouter you're still the Saiyan that slaughtered my squad. I don't think we should be on a first name basis."

"So should I call you Arcosian?" The Saiyan asked.

"You are the captor, you can certainly call me whatever you like. Arcosian might confuse if Karuto is around as well. Though I'm quite partial to Commander." Chillax shrugged.

"Arcosian then, until you learn to call me Trunks." The Saiyan said simply.

"It'll be Arcosian for quite some time then." Chillax assured his captor.

"Then it's a good thing that you'll have plenty of it as my prisoner."

Chillax shrugged, "As you say."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Rhyce and Schip settle their differences, Master Roshi and Karuto bond a bit and Trunks uses the time machine to bring back a new recruit._


	28. Blast to the Past!

**Episode Twenty-Eight**

**'Blast to the Past'**

 

Rhyce was a bit tentative when she opened the door to her room. She was getting pretty good at sensing energy, and since there weren't as many powerful signatures around now she knew more or less where Schip was at a given time and she knew he was emerging from his own room on the far side of the hall.

She'd been awake for a couple of hours and been reluctant to leave her quarters. She knew what had to happen when she and Schip saw each other next and she wasn't looking forward to it.

Neither was he, they'd both been pretty careful to avoid each other over the past couple of days. With the gravity room being used as a prison and both Master Trunks and Master Roshi so busy they hadn't really been training. Rhyce had done some exercises to keep herself sharp but she mostly used the gym at night and Schip mostly used it in the morning.

She'd seen Kodva and they hadn't had any problems, but she hadn't been about to swing on Kodva, he'd been perfectly calm and quiet the entire argument. Schip was a different story, but Rhyce knew she couldn't avoid him forever and she really didn't want to.

He emerged from his room and saw her. He tensed a bit and averted his gaze. Rhyce felt a bit emboldened and emerged fully from her room. She called out to him, "Hey Schip, you got a minute?"

"Yeah . . ." He said, putting his hands in his pockets. "But before you say anything-"

"Oh no you don't!" She snapped, _no way are you going first,_ she thought. "Listen Schip . . . I'm sorry about the other day."

"No, I'm sorry. What you're going through is way worse than what the rest of us are, I should have been more patient with you." Schip told her.

"You and Kodva have been plenty patient with me." Rhyce said. "Yesterday as well as in general."

"I couldn't last one day of mourning without nearly getting into a fight with you." Schip mumbled.

"It was a fight I wanted." Rhyce sighed, "I was angry and I wanted someone to hurt. I was wrong, and I was shaming my brother's memory by acting that way. I'm not . . . better, you know? I'm going to be hurt for a long time and as stubborn as I am I'm not so stubborn that I don't know that . . . but I shouldn't take it out on you and Kodva . . . and I won't anymore. I shouldn't take it out on our teachers either, Master Roshi and Master Trunks taught us everything they could and you were right, I was being ungrateful."

She clasped her hands behind her back and looked at her feet. "I . . . I miss you. You, me, Kodva and Captain Soda . . . we were Blue Team, you know? I talked to Kodva, and . . . well no one can talk to Soda right now but I don't want to keep not talking to you, especially when it's my fault we're not talking."

Schip nodded. "We're still a team," He assured her, "we're . . ."

"The only one left." Rhyce supplied and Schip nodded again.

It was Rhyce's turn to put her hands in her pockets. "Have you had a chance to see Anavill?" She asked, knowing he'd left the Capsule Corp. for a long time yesterday. Since he didn't really have anywhere else to go she'd sort of taken a guess.

"Yeah . . . it's been rough on her," He said, and Rhyce could imagine, "but her parents pretty much haven't left her side since they got out of the shelter. I uh . . . I saw Soda too. Master Roshi says they'll both be okay though. If the scientists can get those healing tanks working again they're supposed to heal anything."

_Almost_. Rhyce thought. _There's no cure for death._

Out loud however she said, "I hope it works out."

"Trunks said we can bring the others back . . ." Schip said cautiously.

Rhyce nodded. "Yeah, he told me . . . I trust him but I don't see how. He said we needed to find some alien planet first, then we can make wishes? A year ago I'd have thought it was just magic, but if he tells me it's true I'll believe it. I guess the computers on the ship we captured might help . . . it's all so weird, you know?"

"Tell me about it." Schip sighed. "But hey, there is one thing . . ."

"What?" Rhyce asked.

Schip had kept his hands behind his back the entire time but now he put them forward revealing one of the eye devices the aliens had been wearing. He tossed it to Rhyce who caught it just in time.

"We got a bunch of these from the alien ship, they're pretty cool. They read how much power we've got. They used to read in some kind of alien language but Basil and Thyme sorted 'em out to tell it in ours."

Rhyce was surprised, "What good will this do?"

"Well now we know how strong we all are." Schip pointed out. "At least in theory, Master Trunks said not to rely on it, just to think of it as kind of a toy."

"Huh." Rhyce frowned. She put the thing over her right eye and pressed the button. Even when she shut her left eye it was still pretty tricky to see that the machine said about Schip.

"It takes some getting used to." He told her. "Anyway you want to go train with Kodva?"

"What? Why?" Rhyce frowned.

"Because it's not over." Schip shrugged. "There's going to be more aliens and we need to be ready for the next bunch of them. Everyone's been talking about it since yesterday, apparently when Trunks questioned them they all confirmed that reinforcements would be coming, they just didn't agree on when. One of them said a year, one of them said maybe not at all, another said it could be as quickly as three months."

Rhyce smiled darkly, "I'll be ready. I'll make them pay for what they did."

"We all will." Schip agreed. "We'll start training as soon as Trunks gets back."

"Gets back from where?" Rhyce asked, "He's still here isn't he? I didn't sense him go anywhere."

Schip smirked, "You've missed out on some pretty big news while you were in your room." He told her.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks sighed, "You're sure about this?"

"As sure as I can be." His mother told him.

"And this won't change history?" Trunks asked.

"No, if my theory is correct and Basil's isn't then you'd already taken this Saiyan from the alternate time-line before you went back to defeat Frieza, Goku and the others in that time would never have met them even if they had gone to Earth."

"And this is really something you want to risk? Having more Saiyans running around?" Trunks asked.

"What do you mean? It's just one, isn't it?" His mother asked innocently.

Trunks frowned, "You want more than just this Saiyan, don't you?"

Bulma smiled. "Am I that obvious, or is my son just smart?"

"Yes." Trunks said flatly. He'd let her guess which he'd answered. He told her, "The way you got so excited in the lounge . . . you've been planning this. Is this what you wanted the larger time machine for?"

His mother shrugged helplessly. "Trunks, humanity is almost wiped out. I'm starting to understand pretty keenly how scary it is to face extinction. The Saiyans faced it, the Saiyans went extinct except for you."

"Well I'm half human too," Trunks began and his mother interrupted him.

"That's right, so use your human side to empathize with your Saiyan side. Do you think they want to be extinct?"

"I think if they're dead they don't care." Trunks said.

"They've got as much reason to hate the Arcosians as we do, they're strong, strong enough the Arcosians were afraid of them. As long as we're strong enough they won't turn on us, Trunks. You're the bridge that can join the two worlds, you have to see that. You're the son of the Prince of all Saiyans and a man of Earth. You're the proof that our two people together are stronger than anything else in the cosmos."

"Father never tried to wish his race back with the Dragon Balls."

His mother hesitated, "That's true," she admitted. "But I think it's because he'd already made his peace with their fate. I don't think he'd object to saving a few if we can get away with it."

"But is it right?" Trunks asked. "This Saiyan, sure. _This_ Saiyan sounds like a decent person to save, someone who risked their life and fought their own kind to protect innocents. That's perfect for us. But _others_? You think they can share the planet with humans and be a sort of guardian force but remember they shared their own home world with a weaker race too. Father told you what happened to the Tuffles, and you told me. I spent my whole life aware of the dangers of my darker half."

Bulma frowned. "This isn't because of the Saiyans themselves, this is because of what happened outside of the bunker, isn't it?"

Trunks looked away. "I've fought enemies, I've killed enemies . . . but I've always been in control." He told his mother. It was the first time he'd admitted it out loud but, "I wasn't in control when I thought Soda was dead. I blacked out, I just . . . wasn't me anymore. I don't remember anything, I could have done anything and I don't think anyone would have been able to stop me."

"You were angry, you were scared," his mother told him, "Half your students were hurt or worse and for all your strength you were pushed to the edge of helplessness. Being a Super Saiyan already increases your aggression and bravado and you were already a Super Saiyan so it was even harder for you to handle such conflicting emotions. Your father would have done the same thing, Trunks, but that wasn't who he was all the time. It's not who you are. I don't think that's who his people were. They certainly weren't nice, they certainly weren't saints, but your Saiyan half is not your darker half, it's just a different half. You'll find horrors in the history of your human half too, you know."

"I know." He said softly.

She hugged him unexpectedly and told him, "Remember, you are the son of Prince Vegeta, that makes you the Prince of all Saiyans now. Even if they don't respect that, they'll respect your strength. Bring them here, show them this world is their best chance at survival. It's big enough to share, and they've got nothing to lose. I know they'll see it our way the way your father did, especially if they've got you to inspire them. I promise we'll be careful about which ones we bring in, only the ones we think we can rely on, only the ones history won't notice going missing."

Trunks nodded slowly and hugged his mother back. "As long as you promise you've thought it through. I'll do whatever I have to to protect this planet, if this really is the best way I'll try it. But Earth is still for Earthlings too, and they should never have less than an equal stake in its defense."

"Of course not," Bulma agreed, "I'm not telling you to stop training earthlings, we humans are a harder lot than we get credit for and it's the best way to show the Saiyans we're wolves too."

"And if they can't be trusted . . ." Trunks said, trailing off. He didn't want to imagine saving someone from Frieza's people only to have to put them down himself, but he would if he had to. His mother understood that.

Besides he was already holding far more dangerous prisoners. Karuto seemed innocent enough and pretty harmless, Genora actually seemed to be acting as if she'd simply traded masters and was being as helpful as she could be—though Trunks suspected that was because helping Thyme and Basil reverse-engineer the Arcosian tech meant she got to get out of the increased gravity room—only Chillax was truly dangerous to Earth when Trunks wasn't around, and he didn't plan on being gone long enough for Chillax to pull anything even if he could get out of the gravity control room.

Which they'd be able to increase quite a bit since Genora and Karuto wouldn't be in there with him. He'd be as powerless as a typical Earthling while Trunks was away.

At least that was the plan. They'd held off giving him the scouter Trunks had promised until he returned.

"Anyway I don't want to give you second thoughts but I think I thought of a way to guarantee you make a good impression." His mother added.

"Huh?" Trunks was confused.

Bulma smiled, "It's just a little detail, but Karuto said in the story Konpeito told him there was a golden light at the top of the giant tree before the Saiyans disappeared."

Trunks smiled slightly, "I see. A golden light, huh? Sort of like the glow of a Super Saiyan's aura?"

"If that doesn't get the Saiyan to cooperate I can't think of what else would." His mother told him.

"What do you think made it before?" Trunks wondered.

"The Saiyan, maybe? Or maybe a different you made this trip." Bulma shrugged.

"But I thought that wasn't how time travel worked, I can't go back in our own time so how would I have gone back to this past?"

" _You_ didn't, but something happened. Maybe someone else, or maybe this Saiyan is a Super Saiyan too." She handed him a Scouter and for just a second as he put it on over his eye she seemed to look older, more worn out. "But it's an interesting thought nonetheless. If this Saiyan recognizes you as the Legendary Super Saiyan . . . maybe you can speed up the recruitment and get back here sooner."

"It's a _time_ machine . . . is something wrong?" He asked, but she gathered herself and waved a dismissive hand.

"It's nothing, I'm just worn out. Now there will be a lot of strong fighters down there, but Karuto says the Saiyan will have a power level of about thirty thousand and be missing a tail. Use the scouter to make it easier, and hopefully your armor will be close enough that our future friend will be willing to trust you. Still best to get in and out, I don't want anything happening to you or the time machine with a lot of angry aliens defending their home."

Trunks nodded, "I'll do my best, and I'll be back before you know it. _"_

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto was fidgeting in his chair. The human called Master Roshi was clearly an aged earthling with a funny name, but he wasn't as interested in telling stories as Konpeito had been. Karuto wasn't sure if he was still being interrogated, but Master Roshi mostly just wanted to ask him questions.

"What about women? That Frieza was an ugly piece of work, but do your kind have pretty women at least?"

"Our kind don't even have women!" Karuto said. "We don't have men either, we're just Arcosians."

"I mean females, girls, ladies!" Master Roshi tried to explain.

"We don't have that." Karuto tried to explain too.

"Ah maybe you're too young to understand." Master Roshi sighed.

"Saiyans have females and males, Appullatiens have males and females; Genora is a female," Karuto said to vindicate himself, "we Arcosians understand the idea, we just don't have that."

"What?" Master gawked. "Well then where do little Arcosians come from?" He asked incredulously.

" _That_ I'm too young to understand." Karuto admitted.

Master Roshi chuckled and took a sip of his golden foul-smelling beverage, "You're all right, young'un."

"I think so too." Karuto nodded happily. "I hope our species don't wipe each other out, I think Earth is nice."

"I think so too." Master Roshi sighed. "And I hope so too. It's too bad the species of the galaxy can't get along in peace, but I guess that's why Trunks has to do what he's doing."

"Getting another Saiyan." Karuto nodded. "I can't wait. Konpeito told me so much about this Saiyan . . . but there is one thing I don't understand."

"Just one?" Master Roshi laughed, "There's a lot about this I don't understand."

Karuto laughed, "Me too I guess, but there's one thing that I really, really, super don't understand."

"Alright, shoot." Master Roshi told him and Karuto held out his hand as if he meant to send an energy blast into the sky. Master Roshi choked on his drink and cried, "No not like that!"

Karuto giggled, "I know, it was just funny!"

"Not that funny." Master Roshi said, tilting his head towards the group of earthlings in orange and black uniforms pointing captured blasters at them.

Karuto tilted his head to the side, "Are they that scared of me?"

"Shouldn't they be? You have the power to destroy this whole place if Trunks doesn't stop you." Master Roshi said.

"But I'm not gonna." Karuto pouted. "I didn't even gather any energy for a blast!"

"They don't understand that. Just ask me yer question, young'un." Master Roshi said.

Karuto sighed, "Well if you have a time machine why can't you go back in time and fix things to be the way you want them now?"

"It doesn't work that way. We can't make changes to our own time, when we go back it's to . . . sort of a different copy of our own universe. Once we make a change that universe continues on, but ours stays the same."

"So even if you bring Konpeito's Saiyan back to this universe as a kid the grown up version of it will still be running around out here? If it survived that is."

"If it survived." Master Roshi confirmed. "Bringing it back though anything it did good or bad won't happen in that universe."

"That's why Miss Bulma wanted to know about the Saiyans we'd found evidence for the destruction of." Karuto nodded understanding.

"Probably." Master Roshi nodded.

"That makes sense." Karuto said, then even though he was still sort of scared from having all the blasters pointed at him he giggled again.

"What is it now?" Master Roshi asked.

"I just thought I'm the opposite of the rest of my people. All the others make species extinct, but I'm going to help bring an extinct species back!"

Master Roshi laughed too now, "Heh-heh, yeah I guess that is pretty ironic."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

_How did it end up like this?_ The Saiyan warrior wondered, coughing up a bit of blood. _Lost on an alien world, my tail's gone my team's gone . . . I'm alone._ The Saiyan looked up at the dark night's sky and groaned painfully.

_At least Cauli made it . . . maybe . . ._ the Saiyan guessed. _How could we have succeeded in this mission? Were we ever meant to succeed? Did Lord Frieza really send us here to die?_

There was a flash of lightning and clash of thunder near one of the tree's many roots. The tree was already aflame, a fitting pyre for a Saiyan warrior. The small Saiyan shuddered but not from fear of the weather, just from the shock of the sound.

The Saiyan saw something sort of orange and spiny in the tree. _Fruit . . . that's just what I need,_ he thought. He didn't care anymore if it made him stronger or if it killed him, he wanted it. Learning the answer to the question that had ruled his mind for days now might well be the last mystery he ever solved.

Floating rather than walking across the high branch the small warrior plucked a piece of fruit from the tree with a slight sense of relief.

_I am hungry. Being beaten near to death takes a lot out of you. I'll have a bite and wait out the storm, when the weather's calmed I'll find one of the pods and get out of here. I'll get a new squad . . . the toughest squad there is, no one will be able to stop us._

It sounded good but it was difficult to make it sound _believable_ to the youth. All there was really was to eat something and hope to regain strength, so the young Saiyan ate a piece of the fruit. It tasted pretty good. There was another flash of lightning and the sound of thunder drowned out the beginnings of the shocked scream the Saiyan let out as the fruit took affect.

 

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The time machine hovered above what was easily the largest tree Trunks had ever seen. It was absurdly massive, it didn't even look as if it belonged, there was nothing like it anywhere else as far as the eye could see.

His mother hadn't been wrong, he could sense a lot of powerful warriors on the ground below and some of them were extremely strong. He activated the scouter to hasten his search and quickly it responded identifying the largest threats in the area.

Most of the power levels on the ground were around a thousand or so, the biggest power level was near the top of the tree, and it was just over thirty thousand.

_Looks like our guy._ Trunks thought. He felt nervous as he brought the time machine in to land nearby and got out.

The branches were large enough that he didn't need to worry about the machine falling, but he wanted to be quick all the same. He double checked that it was secure, then flew for the highest power level.

What he found took his breath away.

There was a Saiyan all right. Just a kid. He was about the same size as Gohan had been when Trunks went back in time, which Trunks found odd since Karuto had said the Saiyans on the planet had been on the verge of adulthood.

_Well father was pretty short too._ Trunks thought. But what really surprised him the most was just how much like Goku this Saiyan looked.

The skin was darker, though not quite like a dark skinned human the Saiyan's skin tone was a sort of brown-gray. His hair was black like Goku's but also it looked almost the same as Goku's, perhaps just a little more unruly. He was missing a tail and his black and lavender armor was cracked and damaged, clearly he'd been through a lot.

_Golden light,_ Trunks reminded himself and went Super Saiyan. The golden light caught the younger warrior's attention and he turned to Trunks in surprise, holding onto a piece of fruit he was eating he eyed the fruit suspiciously, as if he thought it were making him see things.

Trunks smiled at the sight and said, "I'm not an illusion. I'm a fellow Saiyan, and I'm here to rescue you."

The small Saiyan warrior stood up, Trunks was surprised he actually seemed a bit larger than he'd expected but still smaller than he should have been for his supposed age. "Who are you?" The Saiyan asked.

"I'm Trunks . .. I'm the son of Prince Vegeta."

"You mean King Vegeta?" The Saiyan asked skeptically.

"I'll explain later." Trunks told him.

"Are you sure I'm not hallucinating you?" The smaller Saiyan asked.

Trunks held out his hand, "We don't have long. Come with me if you want to live."

"Well if you put it that way," the other Saiyan said. "Pleasure to meet you Trunks, my name's Turles."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Bulma and Roshi meet Turles, but they start to have doubts as he reminds them of someone from their past, and not just Goku. Meanwhile Turles learns the fate of his people and vows revenge._


	29. Pleasure to Meet You

**Episode Twenty-Nine**

**'A Pleasure to Meet You . . .'**

 

"Oh my gosh, he looks so much like Goku!" Bulma gasped.

Trunks laughed, "Well it's like you said, mom. A Saiyan just like Goku."

"I didn't know how much like Goku!" Bulma couldn't help but laugh too.

"Go-who?" Turles asked.

"Uh, I guess you might have known him as Kakarot." Trunks offered.

Turles snorted. "The only Kakarot I can think of was an infant sent off to . . . I don't know, some backwater."

"Earth." Bulma said with a slight smile. "That's where you are now."

"Oh?" The young Saiyan gave her a skeptical look, "So you're earthlings?"

"We are." Bulma said, "Except for Trunks. He's the son of Prince Vegeta."

"You mean King Vegeta." Turles nodded.

"No, we mean Prince." Bulma said with a smile, "I know it may be hard to believe, but you've traveled through time."

Turles gave her a somehow even more skeptical look and asked, "Did I die when I ate that fruit?"

"No." Bulma assured him. "But you look hurt, are you okay?"

"I feel fine, actually. But this is . . . bizarre." Turles said. He sounded guarded and uncertain. "So . . . if this is earth where is Kakarot?"

It took quite a while to get Turles up to speed and he didn't volunteer very much information. Bulma couldn't tell if she was right or wrong to have Trunks go back in time to bring a new Saiyan to earth, even though Turles looked like Goku he definitely had a different presence.

It could just have been because he was scared and uncertain but somehow Bulma sort of doubted it.

_Well this is pretty similar to how Vegeta seemed at first,_ she reminded herself, _it's probably just their upbringing. Anyway he isn't likely to be a threat as long as Trunks is around._

Indeed Turles seemed to treat Trunks with a sort of deference, whether it was because he'd saved him or because he was Saiyan Bulma wasn't sure. That uncertainty aside she was glad for it, if Karuto was right about people's power levels then Turles was the fourth strongest person on earth at the moment, and two of the top three were technically prisoners.

"I don't believe it. Frieza destroyed our world?" Turles demanded.

"And I destroyed Frieza." Trunks assured him.

"You're the legendary Super Saiyan . . . that's why your hair turns yellow?" Turles asked and Trunks nodded, "But why don't you have a tail? Was it cut off when you were too old to grow it back?"

"I uh . . . well," Trunks hesitated, "I don't think I've ever had one." Trunks admitted.

Turles shuddered, but Bulma asked him, "So yours will grow back then?"

She knew the answer to that of course, she'd spent time with Goku at this age. But she felt like it was important to engage Turles in conversation and subjects he knew more about to keep him from feeling overwhelmed.

"Of course it will," Turles said lightly, "since I'm not dead it should grow back easily, I'm not too old yet."

"How old are you?" Trunks asked.

"I'm more than two." Turles shrugged.

"That's not exactly helpful." Bulma sighed. "I can't believe they just sent children off like this."

Of course they had sent Goku out as an infant, she recalled. It was still troubling to her.

"He's in the middle of his major growth phase," Karuto explained coming into Bulma's workshop with Master Roshi, "Saiyans evolved to stay small and childlike far longer, and their ability to regenerate their tails was probably a sort of defense mechanism that they lose with adulthood."

"Come to think of it I guess Goku was abnormally small for his age." Bulma acknowledged.

"All full blood Saiyans would be. I guess the adults were less likely to hurt them if they were really small, and then they rapidly hit adulthood. By about age eighteen they'll look more like your son, Trunks, then between twenty five and thirty they'll reach their final adult growth, then they'll stay in that prime until they're well into their eighties so even at the best of times it's hard to guess the exact age of a Saiyan. We actually don't know what their natural lifespan is because none of them ever live that long, they're such a violent race and all."

"You talk like we're not standing right here, Arcosian." Turles scowled.

Karuto performed what Bulma had learned was his version of a frown involving only his eyes, "I'm sorry. It's just I know so much about your species! I studied you a lot!"

"Karuto here is the reason we knew where to find you, Turles." Trunks told him and Turles relaxed a bit.

"I see. So you're not with Frieza then?" Turles asked, clearly still irritated but, Bulma noticed with approval, was taking his lead from Trunks who clearly greeted Karuto with at least neutrality if admittedly not outright acceptance.

"Technically no one is now." Karuto said brightly. "Cousin Frieza has been dead for ages!"

"So when trouble arrives next year I won't be sending a child into battle?" Bulma asked to get Karuto back on point.

"What's wrong with that?" Karuto asked, but Turles nodded.

"I'll be fully grown before a year is passed."

"There are eight earth years in one year on planet Vegeta." Karuto told him.

Turles hesitated, then said, "Still yes. Not fully grown, but mostly, I'll be about Trunks' size . . . maybe taller."

Bulma nodded, "Well then . . . I think we can call that a successful mission, don't you?"

"I suppose." Trunks said. "But we still need the Dragon Balls."

Bulma smiled at her son and said, "Actually . . . I think I've got just the thing for that."

Trunks looked surprised, "You do?"

"Go ahead, Karuto." Bulma said with a smile and Karuto shrugged.

"We don't know for sure, but the idea of going to Namek for their Dragon Balls _did_ occur to us." Karuto explained. "My dad told me about it once. We didn't find it but we can tell you were it's _not_."

"I guess that's a start." Trunks sighed, clearly underwhelmed.

"I don't think you realize just how much of a help that is," Bulma told him, "It's cut our search time by a lot, I'm not just searching blindly through space anymore and for now at least that ship we captured can still send out probes."

"We'll find it." Master Roshi said reassuringly, "If we can't we can just use the time machine and ask Goku and the others."

Bulma didn't like that idea, but she nodded. "All right. I admit I didn't want to do that, but you're right. We need the Dragon Balls more urgently now, so once the battery is charged we can give that a try."

She didn't want to use time travel for something as frivolous as asking for directions but now that more lives had been lost and the need for Dragon Balls was dire enough she had to accept it. After all saying it was okay to save Turles but not the members of the EDF and Royal Guard who'd given their lives wasn't something she was prepared to do.

Still she hoped that the new information Karuto could provide would help them find it sooner.

"Um . . . excuse me?" Turles asked suddenly. "I'd like to know more about what happened to the Saiyans."

"I can tell you everything!" Karuto said excitedly.

"Do you have a terminal or something with history files instead?" Turles asked a little sourly, "I'd rather be alone when I read it."

Bulma frowned, understanding and feeling a swell of sympathy for the small Saiyan.

_Small Saiyan, he's at least sixteen,_ she told herself, deciding there might be something to what Karuto said about them retaining their small size for sympathy reasons after all. After all Turles had said he was older than two and given what she'd learned about their growth and now that she knew how long a year on planet Vegeta was it didn't sound like was just being a smart-ass.

Still she nodded and said, "Trunks why don't you show him to the ship and let him use one of those terminals? Karuto, Master Roshi why don't you stay here with me and we can discuss finding Namek."

"Sure." Trunks said and led Turles out.

As soon as they were gone Master Roshi whispered, "He looks so much like Goku . . ."

"I know!" Bulma whispered back, she wondered if she should mention how different he felt though.

She didn't need to, Roshi said, "He feels more like Raditz though. Or Vegeta before he settled down."

"Menacing." Bulma said, and Master Roshi nodded.

"I don't really know who Goku is," Karuto said, "but if he was a Saiyan it's probable that he was a low-class warrior too. Turles and most of the rest of his team were low-class warriors and low-class Saiyans tend to have very similar features. Turles and his teammate Leek had the same hair for example, and apparently it's not due to style but because a Saiyan's hair never-"

"He feels even stronger than Vegeta did when he came to earth, though." Master Roshi pointed out.

"That would be the fruit he ate," Karuto said, "at least according to Konpeito's story. Turles' power level was about two thousand according to our records so that means I was right, the fruit increased his power level by fifteen."

"Are you serious?" Bulma stared in surprise. "Why didn't you say so?"

"I feel like I did." Karuto said.

"Well we could have done a lot of good for our team with some fruit like that." Bulma sighed longingly.

"Just a minute," Master Roshi said, "A Saiyan who looks like Goku and a tree with fruit that increases the strength of those who eat it?"

Bulma considered for a moment, "You mean the thing with Yamcha's car, right?"

"Mostly the planet killing tree. But the sports car, sure." Master Roshi said with a bit of a playful grin.

"I don't know, I only heard about it all second hand once the guys got back." Bulma thought for a moment, trying to remember something so distant in the past that she wasn't even sure when it had happened. "Wasn't that Saiyan named Tullece?"

"It's awfully similar, don't you think?" Master Roshi asked.

"Well Karuto has just told us that most low-class Saiyans looked alike, is it too improbable that some would have had similar names too?" Bulma wondered.

"Yeah, actually Turles had an older brother named Telluce who was sent to planet Frago with his team. Maybe that's who you're thinking of?" Karuto suggested, looking rather pleased at being able to supply information.

"I can't say. But still, he's worth watching." Roshi said cautiously.

"I agree," Bulma allowed, "but I don't think we can act as if we don't trust him either. If they _are_ the same person we don't know what could have happened between the time Trunks found him and the time we knew him. And we can't ask Goku and the others in the alternate time-line since we took him from them they'll never meet him."

"Well it's strange to think that the adventure with the tree would be something that still happened for us but wouldn't be part of their historical canon," Master Roshi said.

"That's if they're the same Saiyan. Besides, that Saiyan didn't seem like the sort of person who would have helped protect anyone."

Karuto fidgeted, Bulma raised an eyebrow at him. "What is it?" She asked.

The small alien hesitated, then said, "Um . . . well . . . it's nothing."

Bulma was a mother, she knew when a child was telling a lie and it was very apparent that Karuto was still just a child. "Nothing?" Bulma asked skeptically, "I guess I'd better believe you then. My _good friend_ Karuto wouldn't tell me a _lie_."

Karuto looked guilty and said, "Well . . . um . . . I guess . . ."

"What is it, young'un?" Master Roshi urged him gently.

"Well maybe he didn't protect anyone?" Karuto suggested sheepishly.

"What do you mean?" Bulma asked, trying to keep the concern out of her voice.

"If there's something you're holding back it's better to tell us now." Master Roshi added.

"Well the thing is. . . from Konpeito's story . . . and how you thought I wouldn't know the difference between males and females . . . I sort of thought . . . that the Saiyan he was talking about was female? But maybe he didn't know the difference?"

"Was there a girl Saiyan with Turles' squad?"

"Yeah, two of 'em." Karuto assured Master Roshi, "Cauliflora was the second in command with a bit of upper-class breeding by Saiyan standards, her father was Zorn, he was one of the King's advisors. I knew she wasn't the one Konpeito meant, but Rhubara . . . well it was either her or Turles, they both had the right power level and they both had purple armor and they were both low-class Saiyans from the low-lands clans, you can tell by the darker skin."

Bulma sat down in a chair behind her work desk and sighed. "So we might have brought back the wrong Saiyan?"

"Maybe." Master Roshi said. "But you're right, twenty five years is a long time. We don't know what could have happened between the time Trunks took him from and the time he might have come to Earth, even if we're talking about the same Saiyan."

"Well . . . we seem to be talking about different trees at least." Bulma said to reassure herself. "But I guess we should be careful . . . did Konpeito say that more than one Saiyan could have eaten the fruit?"

"No, no way." Karuto assured her. "He said the other Saiyan in purple armor perished with the tree."

"That settles it then." Bulma said, "Even if he seems a little . . . standoffish, we have to give Turles the benefit of the doubt. Even if he's not a friend yet we might be able to make him one."

"You were right about one thing at least," Master Roshi said, "He definitely seems to respect Trunks."

Bulma couldn't resist a slightly self-satisfied smile at that. "Well wolves do fall in line behind their Alpha," she said.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Aboard the captured PTO Control Ship and with Trunks just outside the door Turles was able to use the computers in the archive room without much difficulty.

The computers seemed more advanced than the ones he'd grown used to since the Saiyans had been annexed by the Planet Trade Organization, which made sense, but they hadn't changed very much. Even the design of the ship was pretty much the same as what Turles would have expected to see in Frieza's fleet back in his own time.

The young Saiyan exhaled slowly as he read the data entries about his team and the others. He looked up a few people who mattered to him . . . all gone. His entire race . . .

Only Prince Vegeta, General Nappa and some nobodies Raditz and Kakarot were reported to survive.

_I guess whoever was in that pod didn't make it._ Turles thought. _Neither did Tell, or anyone else._ He clenched his fists at his sides and growled. _I can count the other survivors of my race on one hand without using all my fingers!_

According to the ship's computer Raditz and General Nappa were both killed on Earth and then Prince Vegeta and Kakarot had both defected to earth. _I guess that's what Trunks meant when he said he was the son of Prince Vegeta instead of King Vegeta. At least these Earthlings aren't weaklings. I don't have a scouter but if these records are right Frieza must have sent Kakarot here hoping the natives would kill him just like he did to my team. I wonder how many of my kind died that way?_

He shook his head, clearing away such dark thoughts. _He_ had survived. It wasn't the way of the Saiyans to mourn their dead. If a warrior died and it was a good death there was nothing to feel bad about, and if a warrior died because they were weak then it was all they deserved.

But still . . . the thought of his whole race being exterminated by the monster they'd called their Lord . . .

That wasn't a good death and they hadn't died from being weak. They'd been exterminated by a so-called ally . . . what was the word for that?

_A double-cross._ He thought bitterly. It made him angry, but at least Frieza had gotten what was coming to him in the end . . .

Still Turles looked at the files in the ship's computer and felt something not entirely Saiyan-like. The fact that his entire species was all but extinct was not only difficult to wrap his head around, it _bothered_ him. They were the strongest race in the galaxy, weren't they? How could one tyrant outfox and outdo them all? Hadn't they even fought?

He continued to read through the ship's logs, his anger and frustration building as he did. The vessel had gone to almost every world he could think of where actual teams had been sent . . . it looked like others had handled the planets where mere infants had been dispatched. It didn't seem like there was much left.

_It's been more than fifty of their years,_ he thought. _In all that time even if I wanted to try to find others I'd be chasing ghosts._

He folded his arms. He felt strong. The fruit had made him stronger, he'd realized that. Still even without a scouter her knew he wasn't anything compared to Trunks, and through it all he wasn't going to be strong enough to make much of a difference unless he got stronger.

Could he find more of the fruit?

He shook his head to himself. The tree had been burning when Trunks came and got him, after fifty one earth years it was probably nothing but ashes.

He looked at the computer's logs of his friends and family again. How had they met their end? Had they died well at least?

Why did he care? Even if it hadn't been right the act was done and it was avenged.

_But I'm here._ He thought.

He read the files again, looked at how they'd fallen. For most there was no information on their final battles, just the words "Killed on Assignment" as if three words were all it took to tell the tale of a warrior's final end.

Most of his race had died on planet Vegeta. Others had been KOA, only a few names showed up as "Missing from Assignment" and those all had notes suggesting they were probably dead.

_Tell . . ._ Turles thought with far more sentiment than he'd expected. He was reading the files for his brother's team again with a sort of quiet anger seething inside of him. No evidence of the five Saiyan warriors on the overgrown jungle planet, but traces of their destroyed pods. His wild mind dared to dream that his brother had survived, but with no pod to escape a world that had taken the crew's elite team months to clear and cost them a number of lower soldiers it was unlikely.

"They're gone." He told himself out loud. "But they probably died well. And if they didn't then that's just what they get for falling for Frieza's lies."

The youth glared at the image of the five warriors he'd looked up to and shouted, "You hear? That's what you get for being weak! All of you! If you were stronger you'd have survived!"

"That's not necessarily true." Trunks said behind him and Turles spun around to see the strange looking Saiyan Prince standing in the doorway. "Sorry," he said, "you were shouting."

Turles felt embarrassed, "I got carried away." He said.

"It's okay." Trunks assured him.

"It's unbefitting." Turles said.

"But it's understandable." Trunks said. "In the battle to capture this ship I lost some of my fighters. And I was only a baby when the Androids killed my father and all of the other warriors of Earth, even my mentor Gohan, the son of Goku . . . well, of Kakarot to you."

Turles nodded, "But they didn't kill you. You survived because you were strong enough and smart enough, you were a true Saiyan warrior."

"Not at first. I didn't become strong enough to win on my own either, I needed friends and I needed time." Trunks told him. "I want to offer both those things to you to help you get stronger too."

"To protect Earth?" Turles asked.

"That's right." Trunks said.

"Why?" Turles asked. "You could go anywhere. We could conquer the whole galaxy if we wanted to, you defeated Frieza, the whole universe is yours for the taking."

Trunks smiled, "Maybe. But Earth is already mine. It's mine to protect, it's my home, it's the place where the people who matter to me stay and it's the place where I feel the most . . . comfortable. I won't say that seeing other worlds wouldn't be nice but none of them would ever be Earth."

Turles nodded slowly. "I suppose that's planet Vegeta for me. I never thought about it, but knowing it's gone does feel . . . unusual."

"I can understand." Trunks told him, "But my mother really hopes you'll feel that Earth is your home someday. It's a beautiful planet, and the earthlings are a tenacious people. They're not all as strong as Saiyans but earthling fighters aren't anything to turn your nose up at,

Turles looked back at the console and forced himself to unclench his fists. "I wish I weren't the only one."

"What do you mean?" Trunks asked.

"I wish I weren't the only survivor." Turles admitted. "I tell myself it's because I was the strongest and the smartest that I survived as long as I did, but that doesn't matter much. Maybe I'd get over all this in time, but right now all I can think is that if you'd come a bit sooner I might not have been alone."

"I'm sorry." Trunks acknowledged.

"I don't blame you. You didn't have to come at all." Turles said, "I think that's what's strange . . . you came for me because of something that Arcosian told you, right? You traveled through time to do it."

"That's right." Trunks nodded.

"Can you do it again? Can you go back in time to stop Frieza?"

"I could." Trunks said, "But it wouldn't change history. We'd still be living in a world where Frieza wasn't stopped, the planet Vegeta would still be destroyed. We'd just create a new time-line doing that, and I don't really know what that does to the universe."

Turles rubbed his chin. "So something smaller then. Could we save other Saiyans right before the moment they die? Some of these files say that no bodies were ever discovered . . . what about them?"

Trunks nodded. "Not only can we do that . . . I'm pretty sure that's what my mother wants."

Turles nodded too, "I like your mother," he decided, "but your time machine was sort of small for two people, what if we had to save more?"

Trunks left the door frame to come into the room and lean against a wall. "She's got a larger version she's building . . . she said it was to bring help from the past, but to be honest I kind of suspect she had other ideas in mind."

"I really like your mother." Turles smiled. He looked at the files and told Trunks, "We did everything they asked of us and they treated us like trash. We were just fodder to them. They mocked us and we had to accept it, they looked down on us and we just set out to surpass them, they send us on dangerous missions and we rose to the occasion . . . until the end. When a Saiyan dies if it's a good death you don't look back, you respect them as a warrior and you keep fighting. If they die because they're weak then it's a good thing because their weakness won't linger to make you weak too.

"Our people didn't get the chance to die well . . . but we weren't weak either. I think if you want warriors who can help you protect this place as long as it means a chance to pay back those Arcosian scum and Frieza's organization you can count on a lot of the names in this ship's computer." Turles told Trunks. "You can count on me."

Trunks smiled at him. "I'm glad to hear it. We'll need that help."

 

**To Be Concluded . . .**

 

**On This Season's Last Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _A plan for the future starts to take shape not just for the Earthlings but for the PTO as well as General Boreal briefs his officers on their plans for Earth and when the Frost Twins put a bounty on Earthling heads a veteran warrior might just decide to investigate the not so insignificant blue-green planet._


	30. Promises

**Episode Thirty**

**'Promises'**

 

It was well into the night and the smoke was a bit thick when Bulma extinguished her last cigarette. She looked at the list of files and wrote in her notebook the planets that seemed like good options. Karuto was especially helpful since he knew how to use the alien computer and was able to set its records back fifty years to calculate the locations of the planets in question.

"Burning the midnight oil?" Master Roshi's voice came unexpectedly from the doorway. Bulma supposed Karuto must have forgotten to lock it when he went to bed. He might be an alien but he was still young and Bulma hadn't wanted to keep him up all night even if he was useful.

It was easy to forget that the little creature was technically an enemy prisoner.

"I suppose so." Bulma said.

"I just want to know why." Master Roshi said evenly. Bulma raised an eyebrow and he helpfully clarified, "Why did you want to use the time machine to bring Saiyans here?"

"Because they won't be any good to anyone else. If I used it to steal some of the fighters from the alternate past they'd be out a Krillin or a Piccolo or we'd make yet another new time line to keep track of. But we know these Saiyans are strong fighters and they have nowhere else to be. The alternate past we've made might not even notice. Goku and the rest will never miss them because they'll never have known them."

It sounded decent.

"Why not ask the Namekians to send us warriors?" Master Roshi asked.

"I plan to, though I doubt they have many to spare. Their population is even lower than Earth's after all. It'd be nice if they were comfortable enough here to settle with us, or if their ecology could support us settling with them, at least then Frieza's people wouldn't be coming after us anymore." Bulma said.

"Speaking of things that might not necessarily belong do you think having Saiyans on earth is a good long term solution to our own lack of warriors?"

Bulma sighed. "You don't have to train them if you don't want to. Why are you so concerned?"

"Because you're inviting a terrible power to this world, one that's been extinct for a long time with the exception of rare virtuous heroes like your son. We really don't know what reviving such an aggressive powerful race would be like because we've never known a time ourselves where there were any more than three of them on the planet at a time. In the end if we're not careful _you_ could be a greater threat to humanity than the Arcosians."

Bulma glared at him, "Excuse me, old man? I'm giving earth the greatest guardians I can. I'm not counting out my own race but now you and Trunks need to train more fighters don't you? Yes we'll get the others back once we find New Namek, they'll only be what, three, four months behind in training? You have to make a force that can defeat an army at least twice the size of the one that showed up, more likely four or five times its size with much stronger fighters and as my son has just tragically learned he can't be everywhere at once. After that we'll have to face even more until we win or they back down. Do you have the time to train enough fighters?"

"We'll do our best." Master Roshi said. "But I still want to know why. Why was this so important to you? This wasn't an act of inspiration, you planned this."

"I did." Bulma leaned back in her chair and stared levelly at the old Turtle Hermit for a while before finally deciding to tell him, "I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off . . . honestly I almost didn't want to try."

"Then why did you?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep, slow breath. She answered without opening her eyes, instead envisioning a day long ago and a man she missed dearly.

"Because I made a promise." She answered finally.

"What promise? To who?"

"To Vegeta . . . before he fought the Androids." Bulma told him.

"What kind of promise?" Master Roshi asked carefully.

"He told me that if anything happened I had to take care of Trunks, not to let the Saiyan's story end with him. And then he left me, and then he died." She opened her eyes and gazed levelly at Roshi again. "I made him a promise, and I thought about it for years. When I got the time machine to work I realized I had a chance to fulfill that promise beyond even his wildest expectations. Maybe it's risky but my son is strong, and even if he hasn't fully accepted it these are his people. I want to do what I can to help them and in a way to help him too."

Master Roshi nodded slowly. "So that's what it all comes down to. A promise to the man you loved. I understand."

"Do you?" Bulma asked with a skeptical eye, "Then you won't fight me on this?"

"I haven't fought you yet." Roshi told her, "I only wanted to know why, and to make sure you knew what you were doing."

"I know what I'm doing." Bulma assured him. "Are you on board?"

"I won't judge a book by it's cover, but I know to be wary of the genres I don't like." Master Roshi told her. "I'll stick around and help train more fighters, and if I see any Saiyans worthy of learning what I know I'll teach them . . . Goku was my friend too, you know. He was my student. But I think it's wrong to assume all of these wolves can be tamed."

"I know." Bulma admitted. "We need the strength to keep them in line, that's why earthlings need to remain equal if not greater partners in Earth's Defense Force. I'm glad you're willing to help with that, Master Roshi."

Roshi turned to go, but hesitated and said, "But I do wonder . . . will every Saiyan accept Trunks? How can you know for sure which ones to rescue?"

Bulma smiled dryly, "They might not all accept him . . . but I do have Thyme building another gravity generator so that we can properly prison that older Arcosian and his more helpful friends when they're not on work release. If they're a threat we'll cage them, if they can't settle down we'll have to put them down."

"That's not much of a life to be rescued into." Master Roshi pointed out.

"It's a chance, which is more than what they would have without us." Bulma pointed out.

"A great man once said 'give me liberty or give me death."

"Sounds made up. Anyway I doubt they'll have heard that. We can cross the Saiyan Freedom Bridge when we come to it." Bulma said lightly. She closed her notebook and stood up. "I'm going to bed. Good night, Roshi."

"Don't suppose you want some company, eh?" The old hermit chuckled.

Bulma laughed in spite of herself, "Oh if I were about a hundred years older, and you were a hundred years younger maybe . . . just maybe . . . I would have to think about it before turning you down."

"Can't blame a guy for trying." Master Roshi said with a slight chuckle.

"Oh yes I can. Next time I'll have Thyme try the new prison cells out on you first you old lecher." Bulma said with a smile.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The General stared out the window of his ready room. He sat behind a large silver desk, its surface clean and empty except for a single report he'd read so many times he might have memorized it. Hands closed with fingers intertwined and resting his chin on his thumbs as he looked into the blackness of space the General looked almost as if he were praying.

He felt numb and cold, but he couldn't tell if it was from fear, anger, sorrow or some strange mixture.

"This isn't how I thought I'd win, Kalt, I always thought you'd be more cautious. Stealing Earth from me went straight to your dome, but it's better you than me." General Boreal said to the empty room, breaking the silence a moment before the sound of the automatic doors sliding open would have done so.

The General didn't bother to turn to face his first and second officers, he'd summoned them and he knew for that reason that they were the only two creatures on the ship who would dare enter his ready room without using the door chime first.

"General." Cooly said, and Boreal nodded slightly.

"You summoned us, General?" Icebreaker, his second-in-command asked.

Boreal nodded again and tilted his head towards the report on the table. His head lacked the normal horns of most Arcosians, instead he had a large bony crest with four sharp points. His chair was designed to accommodate it, but tilting his head was always a far less subtle gesture for him than he liked. He sometimes joked that his drive to lock away more transformations was simply to find a comfortable form to relax in.

Icebreaker took the report off of the desk, as first officer he would read it first then hand it over to Cooly. Because Cooly would be getting the report second Boreal chose not to keep him entirely in suspense. He said, "My condolences, Commander Cooly."

"General?" Cooly sounded confused before Icebreaker gasped and dropped the tablet containing the report.

"Yes, I suppose that is the correct response." Boreal said, spinning his chair away from the window to the desk and his two officers.

Icebreaker and Cooly were about the same size, though Cooly was slightly more muscular. Icebreaker had two thick horns that curved towards each other atop his head. He had rare coloration for an Arcosian, orange skin with maroon bands under his eyes, a pink carapace and a red dome. His eyes were a bold purple with an ambitious fire to them, a fire that had seen him come up the ranks with incredible speed even for an Arcosian. The perfect second in command for the greatest Arcosian warrior in the Organization apart from the Twins.

On the other hand Cooly's horns formed more of a crescent moon with one larger and longer than the other, though both shared at their base similar thickness to Icebreaker's. That and their other physical similarities had often caused Boreal to wonder if they were closer related than Frostburn would admit to. Unlike the unusual Icebreaker however Cooly had teal skin, black bands beneath his eyes like his father and brother, a cobalt carapace and blue dome. His yellow eyes were like gold coins and Boreal had always felt they accurately symbolized his keen eye for profit.

"Apologies, General." Icebreaker said, reaching down and picking up the tablet to hand it to Cooly. "But . . . that report can't be true!"

"It is." General Boreal said evenly as Cooly caught up.

"Captain Kalt is dead? His entire crew lost?" Cooly gasped.

"All hands to the best of our knowledge. That includes your younger brother, Chillax of course."

"Half brother," Cooly said, automatically offering the same words he said whenever his half-sibling was brought up but this time he looked regretful for saying it. "That is . . . well I'm sure he fought well."

"He may well have, and I'm sorry Lord Frostburn lost a child and you lost a brother," Icebreaker said, "but if that report is accurate then that . . . that _thing_ on earth surpasses even the _rumors_ of Lord Frieza's true power level!"

"What are our orders, General?" Cooly asked. "Are we going to destroy earth?"

"No." Boreal said calmly, watching his two officers for hints of how that news affected them. Neither seemed sad but both did look a bit worried. Boreal smiled, "The twins have given me orders. We will take the _Black Ice_ to the earth system and observe. We will record the power levels of the local population and try to monitor any growth."

"Is that really a job for the _Black Ice_?" Icebreaker asked with disdain, "We're the only troop carrier left in the fleet after all. We should be clearing highly populated worlds, not wasting our time monitoring earth."

"General Boreal is the strongest of our race apart from the twins," Cooly said, "it makes sense that we should be assigned there."

"With all due respect, General even your power level is infinitesimal . . . even if you and the Twins fought together . . . I just don't think it would be possible. This . . . this _abomination_ is exactly why Lord Frieza exterminated the Saiyans in the first place."

Icebreaker spoke very calmly, Cooly was the one being taken away by emotion. This was understandable, but a switch from their usual dynamic. Normally Breaker was the fiery personality and Cooly was very calm.

"What has you so calm, Icebreaker?" General Boreal asked.

"Only the knowledge that that thing is contained. If I thought I could destroy it I would of course be the first to suggest a mission to earth but at this point I'm not sure what we can accomplish with the _Black Ice_. Now if the Twins only want a strong reliable officer in place for the observation I might dare to suggest General that you and a team of elites would serve that purpose. I could command the _Black Ice_ as we continue in our mission."

_Ah, there it is._ Boreal thought with a smile. "I'm sorry to disappoint you. That's not what our orders call for."

"You could make a suggestion to the Twins . . ." Icebreaker suggested.

"Earth's cost us more than its payment can profit us at this point," Cooly added, "letting the _Black Ice_ continue to earn for the Clan is not a bad suggestion."

"Indeed . . . but you're overlooking one important factor, and given what it is I'm surprised you would be the one to overlook it, Cooly."

"Both of the Twins lost a child to earth." Icebreaker sighed. "They're going to be mad with the desire for revenge."

"Quite." General Boreal nodded.

"So I presume we're to wait until they arrive then attack?" Cooly asked.

"No. Our presence in the system is to observe. We're also to suggest the Calamareens turn back and . . . handle them if they expect a refund."

"That'll be fun at least." Icebreaker said with a nervous smile.

"But what will we do about earth? Are we really supposed to just . . . watch it?" Cooly asked.

"Yes." Boreal said. He stood up to his full height, easily head and shoulders over the other two, his long tail delicately sliding his chair out of his way as he said. "The Twins have told me they want to investigate some strange report about the planet Goulder, one of the worlds Kalt's crew took. Apparently dear young Karuto learned something or other talking to one of its inhabitants. While they're investigating that the _Black Ice_ will establish an observation base on a suitable planetoid near the system's asteroid belt. We will be reinforced over time."

"The Twins really want to commit such a force to just watching the planet while they go on a scavenger hunt? That hardly sounds vengeful." Icebreaker said.

"We won't just be standing idly by. Our soldiers will construct and guard the base, we have nothing to suggest that the earthlings can travel from their world to stop us, or even detect us."

"Then how will we detect power levels? If they hide them when they're not in battle will we be sending small groups to their doom?" Cooly asked.

"The twins have put a bounty on the Earthling scum." The General said. "A very high one. Hopefully we'll get a read on the Saiyan's power level that way."

"Of course we won't have to pay that bounty because no one is going to be able to stand up to that power level, but won't this be a bad idea? I thought Saiyans got stronger the more they fought." Cooly said.

"Hence our observations, we must learn _how_ strong they become. Frigus," Boreal spat, not bothering to call him an Admiral, "suspects it will be a growth proportionate to the challenge, if the Saiyan gets too much strength we will simply cancel the bounty." Boreal said. "If we're lucky once they learn about the bounty the Galactic Patrol will try to deal with the Saiyan themselves, weakening their strength while we enjoy the show."

Icebreaker laughed. "But that still leaves us and any reinforcements we receive sitting around doing nothing, sir."

"Nonsense. We will be training."

"Training what?" Cooly asked in confusion.

"Ourselves. The three of us will practice and spar every day."

"Why?" Icebreaker asked with a slightly disgusted look. "We already know how to fight."

Boreal just shrugged, "Because practice makes perfect. I do not know what the Twins will be up to on Goulder, but when they are ready to move on earth I want us to be in the very best shape we can be, and that means training."

"Training won't get us anywhere near that monster's level." Cooly scoffed, then decided to change the subject under his General's withering glare, "But I'd suspect they found something on Goulder that will even the playing field."

"Let's hope they have," Icebreaker said, "because this Saiyan is more than just some abomination, its power is practically demonic."

"Yes." Boreal nodded sagely. "Won't it feel amazing to put him and his followers in their place? To become Demon Slayers?"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The hospital was drafty and it smelled like disinfectant. Trunks stood over Soda's bed watching her and thinking that it seemed a lot like she was just sleeping.

"I'm glad they moved you two into the same room." Trunks told Anavill. "I'm sure when Soda wakes up she'll be happy to see you. Assuming you're not out of here before then."

"I think they figure a friendly voice will help her, I try to talk to her whenever I can." Anavill said quietly.

Trunks smiled weakly and looked out of the window near Anavill's bed across the room from Soda's. It was night and though he couldn't see them he knew the stars were shining.

They might have seemed like pinpricks of light to most people but to him now they seemed like an infinite battleground, and one he'd have to brave to keep the people he cared about safe.

His gaze returned to Soda lying in her bed. "I hope she can hear you." He said. "I hope she can hear me . . . because none of this was in vain."

Trunks looked at Anavill, "None of the sacrifices, not yours, not hers, not Gurein's or Bocan's or Pastel's. We protected this planet against one attack and we're going to be better prepared for the next."

Anavill smiled a forced smile, "Well . . . most of us will be."

Trunks shook his head, "Don't quit on me, I know you're not in the best condition to train but we will help you."

Anavill allowed her forced smile to fall into a frown, "I just . . . I think it'd be easier to accept my new reality if you didn't say things like that. It's okay, really . . . I understood the risks I took, and I know I could have ended up a lot worse. You don't have to try to make me feel better, sir."

"I'm not, I really mean it." Trunks assured her.

"I'll . . . have to believe it when I see it, Master Trunks." Anavill said quietly.

Trunks took a deep breath and nodded. "I understand," he told her after exhaling slowly, "and I don't blame you. But I promise all the same."

"Okay." Anavill said without any enthusiasm. She turned to look out the window and told him, "I've seen aliens now . . . I learned to fly and shoot laser beams and stuff . . . most of me wants to believe you but a part of me just doesn't want to hope."

Trunks looked down at Soda and said, "Never give up hope. Even if it seems foolish, hope is too important to give up. You're still part of the EDF if you want to be, Anavill, but I'll help you even if you've had enough."

"I'll do whatever I can." Anavill assured him. "Even if it's in a limited capacity . . . at least for now, if you say so." She added the last part with a bit of reluctance.

Trunks smiled again with some difficulty and continued to look at Soda.

"I'll fix this." He promised them both.

_I will never be Goku,_ he thought to himself, _I'll never be Gohan, or my father . . . but I can and I will do my best to be Earth's true hero._

"You know," Anavill said, "I used to wonder if anyone was up there. You know, in the stars? Now I know."

"Yeah." Trunks nodded.

"Are they're all bad?" Anavill asked.

"I don't know. I hope not." Trunks said.

Anavill spoke her next words very softly, but Trunks didn't have much trouble hearing them.

"This was what you trained us for. To protect Earth itself from threats like these . . . if we hadn't been there things would have been worse, a lot more people might have been killed. You know you need more students, if you're scared that you didn't do a good enough job I can assure you that that's not the case. You and Master Roshi were wonderful and we moved mountains in a span of time we'd never have believed. You were right to train us even if not all of us made it. I know the others wouldn't blame you, we knew the risks. You taught us to fly, you taught us to perform miracles."

"I want to teach all of you a lot more too." Trunks said.

"I believe you will." Anavill said. "And I think by the time you're done Earth's Defense Force will be the most powerful force there is. I think next time we have visitors from the stars . . . they'll be a lot more amiable, or they'll be a lot more scared."

Trunks smiled slightly and told his student, "They'd better be."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Two raktajinos please," the beautiful blue-skinned creature said as she slithered up to the bar, the blue tentacles on her head writhing like eight lively slugs sans the slime. She held her info-pad near the Bounty Board terminal as the bar tender scurried off to get her drinks.

"Well well well, what have we here?" A bounty hunter near the terminal asked. He was mostly humanoid, like her, though he wasn't blue and he lacked any head tentacles.

"I don't know, sailor. Just another patron I guess." Tathy, the blue skinned girl said lightly.

"But we ordered the same drink, it must be fate. Have a seat, talk with me for a bit, gorgeous." The bounty hunter urged her. Tathy decided to indulge him, she had nothing better to do while she waited for the download.

Still she eyed his glass of clear liquid and pointed out, "I really don't think we ordered the same drink."

"Ah yes we did. Just watch. Hey, bartender! Get me another of what she's having! See, beautiful? Just like I said."

"He never did say when, sister." A similar looking humanoid pointed out and Tathy shrugged slightly.

"Fair enough. So what's your story then? Go around gratuitously shooting people?"

"You know I don't normally go around gratuitously shooting people and then bragging about it in seedy space rangers bars," The bounty hunter said, and Tathy nodded politely as he elaborated, "I go around gratuitously shooting people then _agonizing_ about it afterwards to my girlfriend."

"And I write novels." His parter added.

"He writes 'em in crayon." The first bounty hunter said with a nod.

"So you've got a girlfriend. Why're you talking to me?" Tathy asked, one of her head tentacles twitching as her pad downloaded the latest bounties from the terminal.

"So I got somebody to agonize to later tonight." The bounty hunter told her.

"He never did-"

"Say when, yeah I follow." Tathy assured him, glancing and seeing her download was complete. "Well you're pretty confident. What say we head back to your place?" She asked, purring into his ear.

The bounty hunter smirked and was probably about to say something that would sound a lot dumber than he probably expected but a black gloved hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed hard.

"Wanna take a couple steps back from my partner, then take a couple dozen more, bucko?" A cold voice asked behind him as Tathy's own partner arrived at the bar at the same time as their drinks.

"Ah! Ah! O-okay, uh, hey, your next drink is on me pretty—ouch! Okay, okay!" The bounty hunter squealed and squirmed until his shoulder was released. His partner got up from the bar and held his hands up to show he was leaving peacefully too.

Tall for a female and with a jagged scar going down over one blind eye Tathy's partner was an intimidating sight. A sort of beige cream skin not at all as attractive as Tathy's own sky blue, and black hair that stopped short of her shoulders with some strands coming down the right side to obscure but not hide her scarred visage. Like Tathy herself she wore black and green, though where Tathy's was a lime color her partner wore a much darker shade of hunter green.

"Good luck with the writing." Tathy said cordially to the retreating bounty hunters, then turned her attention to her pad.

"I don't know why you put up with that." Her partner scoffed.

"I like it, and anyway it's harmless." Tathy told her. She looked up, "Oh, hey, look at this. A new bounty."

"Yeah, that's what you came here for." Her partner scoffed before downing her entire mug in one long chug.

Tathy blew steam from her own mug, preferring to let the boiling hot liquid cool a bit. "It's one you'll be interested in. Look, see? The PTO is offering a reward for anyone who can eliminate this target."

"Blah blah blah Earth, blah blah blah crimes against the Arcosian people, who cares?" Her partner asked, sweeping strands of raven hair out of her eyes.

"You have to keep reading?" Tathy suggested.

Her friend rolled her eyes and looked back at the pad, "blah blah . . . Saiyan?"

"There it is." Tathy smirked. "Good girl."

Her fellow bounty hunter snatched the pad and read further, shaking her head. "No way. I don't know him, he doesn't have a tail."

"Neither do you, and it's not like you knew every Saiyan in the galaxy . . . did you?"

"Don't be cute with me."

"I'm not cute with anyone specific, I'm just cute." Tathy said brightly.

"Earth . . . I don't remember who we sent there, it's been too long."

"Forty years, right?"

"More than fifty, actually . . . thanks for that." Her partner growled then intercepted the drink the man who'd left had ordered.

"So what are you thinking?"

"Humph. A Saiyan. After fifty one years? Yeah right. But this pretender must be something to get the PTO all shaking. That's it, I'm going." Her parter scoffed, "I'll fight this so-called Saiyan and see if he's really one of my people. You coming?"

"Of course, Cauli. We're partners after all."

"I told you never to call me that." The Saiyan woman snarled, "I've got just one partner."

"Sure, sure, sorry." Tathy said insincerely. "I mean you just barely called me-"

"Did not. Now read up." Cauli said, shoving the pad roughly into Tathy's chest, then cracking her knuckles. "I want to know everything about this planet, you know, just in case I decide to blow it up."

 

**Season End.**

 

**In the Next Season of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks and Earth's Defenders pick up the pieces after the battle and try to establish some normality but bounty hunters and mercenaries are landing on Earth too frequently and Trunks finds himself unable to respond to every threat and still make the journey to find New Namek. Luckily Turles knows of a team of Saiyans on Frago to bolster their numbers if Trunks will just let him go back in time again, but not everyone trusts the Saiyan warrior. When a mysterious Namekian arrives on Earth their search for Dragon Balls and New Namek might just be over, that is if he's all he claims to be and when one of the last surviving Saiyans arrives to confront the Prince, Karuto learns a lot more about what happened after Goulder. General Boreal trains his apprentices hard and even Commander Chillax will learn a trick or two in heavy gravity while the Twins themselves leave New Arcoss to take matters into their own hands. The Royal Guard send a new liaison to take a far more direct hand in the day to day running of the EDF, and The Defenders of Earth will have to work harder than ever to prepare for the next out of this world battle! The war is far from over in the next exciting season of Dragon Ball: Chronicles of Earth's Defenders!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this. The following six chapters are Trials of the Tree, the full story of the Saiyan invasion of Goulder told from the perspectives of Cauliflora, Turles, Rhubara and Korizato. I will warn you that the tone is different, there's a lot less humor in Trials and as you know from Konpeito's story many of the Saiyans aren't going to make it. As you may well know by now I originally thought about posting it separately for that reason, but in the end it will remain as a bumper between seasons one and two in part because that's where it's meant to be and how it's meant to be received. But and or if that story is of no interest to you simply wait a while for Episode One of Season Two: That Same Old Song.


	31. Trials of the Tree Part One

**Trials of The Tree**

**Part One**

**White Light**

 

The deserts of Planet Vegeta stretched for miles beneath the red sky, its hills were like waves in some kind of petrified sea. But if a being turned their back on it for too long those still waves might creep closer as the harsh winds pushed the dunes of sand and dirt around, covering and uncovering long forgotten killing fields and the ruins of ancient battlegrounds.

Not that the average Saiyan was usually the sort to dwell on past battles or wax melancholic. Still sometimes it was a fun reminder of a good scrape to see the winds uncover a ruined Tuffle tank battalion, or the bones of some pitiful souls from both sides. That was why Cauliflora liked watching the desert sometimes, it reminded her of where her people had come from and sometimes how they got to where they were now.

Cauliflora sat atop a spherical structure perched atop a tower. The upper forward hemisphere had a hole blasted through it and the interior was ransacked. It had once been a no doubt luxurious home for some wealthy Tuffle family, and it had even survived the conquest of the city by her people. She liked it, it was sort of a secret club house for her. Most Saiyans didn't bother with it since they were too big to really enjoy Tuffle dwellings, but she was still small enough to fit inside of it.

Those days were going to be behind her soon of course, she was growing fast as her first major growth spurt had been rapidly propelling her into her adolescent size. Like most Saiyans she'd remained small and unassuming for far longer than the average race of similar basic design, no doubt an evolutionary necessity of their aggressive warrior race. One tended to feel less inclined to outright slaughter a small child.

If one weren't a blooded and proud Saiyan warrior anyway, in which case one killed whatever made unwanted eye contact and laughed about it later. Still where a fully grown Saiyan would be too large to fit comfortably in most Tuffle homes, for a youth like Cauli it had been manageable. When she finished her growth she'd probably destroy the tower for fun since it would be of no real use to her, but for the moment it let her look out at the vast desert in comfort and if she wanted to take shelter from the harsh winds she could hop down into the Tuffle home and enjoy what furniture she hadn't already broken or thrown from the top of the tower for a laugh.

Of course it wasn't usually just her doing all of that, she shared this place and she expected her companion would arrive soon. She reached into a satchel at her side and pulled out a hard piece of jerky. She regarded it for a moment before throwing it into her mouth.

Hard food, hard beds, and hard training her father had told her were the cornerstones that made a strong warrior and Cauliflora had lived her entire life by those words for as long as she could remember. I wasn't that her father was particularly aloof, he was just a typical Saiyan parent. Saiyan family units weren't exactly tight-knit or often even something that existed at all. Usually one parent might take an interest until their child could properly fend for themselves but mostly it was done with a sense of grudging necessity so the fact that her father had bothered to tell her anything other than "don't embarrass me" had felt momentous.

The first thing to go from her captured Tuffle club house had been the lavish comfortable beds and the cushions for the chairs, even though her father would probably never know she'd done it. She didn't do it for him, it wasn't important to be _seen_ following his advice, it was important to get stronger.

Though if she had to be totally honest sometimes she would go against the first rule and indulge in softer food. The young Saiyan was typical in that she loved to eat and it didn't particularly matter to her what she was eating as long as it was good. It was hard to find hard fruits, but when she could get away with it Cauli had a particular love of sweet fruits and they were usually pretty soft.

When she'd been younger she'd thought it might make her weak, but as she'd gotten older she'd come to accept that eating fruit never made anyone weaker as long as they were willing to train hard to make up for it.

Or something like that. Anyway she didn't have any fruit on her, the jerky would have to do.

Her scouter beeped, warning her that someone was approaching and the familiar power level told Cauliflora that her usual companion had arrived even before the other girl landed on the rooftop.

She approached quietly, attempting to be stealthy but this game had stopped being fair since Cauli had gotten permanent assignment of her scouter. She smiled and reached into her satchel and held a piece of jerky over her shoulder for her companion to take.

Rhubara took it and dropped to her customary seat to Cauliflora's left. "You're late." Cauliflora told her.

"Sorry." Rhubara said, her mouth was full so it sounded more like 'sorreff' but Cauli knew what she'd said because she said it often enough.

"Don't apologize, Rhuby." She reminded her, "Warriors are never sorry."

"Mm." Rhubara grunted in acknowledgment.

Cauli glanced at her friend, they'd met during the war, and they'd been in more than a few close scrapes together. Even though they'd only been children they like every other Saiyan had fought against the tyrannical Tuffles and liberated their species and their planet in the name of their new King.

They were the same age down to the day, apparently Cauli was a bit older having been born in the morning while Rhubara was born in the afternoon, but the two were as inseparable as Saiyan Warriors could be since the day they'd met.

Rhubara had come from a different clan and her skin-tone was different as a result of that. Where Cauli's skin was a sort of pinkish beige Rhubara's was a darker grayish-brown, but they shared the typical Saiyan traits of black hair and brown tails. Rhubara's hair was long, going down just past her waist and her bangs extended to her eyebrows. Cauli's own hair was straighter, stopping just shy of her shoulders and on the left she'd swept it behind her ear so that it wouldn't get in the way of her scouter.

She was very proud of her scouter. Not every Saiyan had a permanent scouter assigned to them, it was a mark of Cauliflora's status as a Regular Warrior that she would have such a thing, a low-class warrior like Rhubara would only be given one if she were assigned a mission.

Which reminded Cauli, "So I hope you're excited about tomorrow."

"Hmm?" Rhubara tilted her head and looked at her. Cauli enjoyed the confusion in the other girls purple eyes. "What about tomorrow?"

Cauli laughed, "Come on, you know. Tomorrow's assignment day. The day you low-class warriors get sent out on missions so you can get stronger and become a Regular like me."

"Oh." Rhubara said. She reached into Cauli's satchel and took another piece of jerky. It was a testament to their familiarity and their bond that she still had a hand, not even Cauli's own clansmen could take her food without asking, but Rhubara had been able to do it for ages. She said, "I won't be assigned, I didn't do very well in the testing fights," before popping the jerky into her mouth no doubt to forestall having to explain herself.

But Cauli smirked and said, "Don't be silly. You're assigned all right, my dad saw to it."

Rhubara coked on the jerky and coughed hard. It took her a moment to recover enough to shout, "But I-I lost to Raditz in the testing! To _Raditz_!"

"Yeah, bad luck that." Cauli said, "Kind of like when you lost to Tullece the last time, and the time before that to Korrard. I mean we all know Raditz is a cheater . . . but you have _such_ bad luck, Rhuby."

Rhubara looked away, but she said, "Yeah well . . . I can't be assigned if I'm not good enough, right?"

"You can be if Zorn, advisor to the King tells General Nappa to assign you." Cauli said matter-of-factly, and handed Rhubara another piece of jerky, which the other girl ignored.

"Why would he do that?" Rhubara demanded.

"Because I asked him." Cauli said, though there was more to it than that. She and her father didn't have the sort of relationship that involved a lot of favors being asked or granted, still Zorn cared about strength and talent and Rhubara was letting hers go to waste.

"You're not serious!" Rhubara snapped, "Me on assignment? _Me?_ "

"Why not? It's a lot of fun." Cauliflora said casually. Her blue eyes hardened and she stared pointedly at Rhubara, "You should have wiped the floors with Raditz without breaking a sweat. Even though everyone knows Raditz is a cheater _I_ know he's not a good enough cheater to beat you. There's more than a five hundred point difference in your power levels, you lost _on purpose_."

Rhubara kept looking away and started to mumble something, probably another apology, but Cauli cut her off.

"Don't! Don't say a word! You're going on assignment, you're going to conquer a planet, you're going to become a Regular, Rhuby!"

Rhubara looked at her now, defiance in her eyes, "No." She said with determination in her voice. "I'll just refuse to go."

Cauli glowered. "You could do that. You could stay here on Planet Vegeta where it's safe. You could be part of the detail that greets Lord Frieza when he comes. You could spend your whole life here, and never once fight among the stars, all the while staying the same while I get stronger. If that's what you really want Rhuby, that's what you can do."

The other girl tensed and said, "I-I'll find a way to keep up with you, I'll work harder."

"I'm not worried about the gap, if I had to protect you I'd just protect you. I'm completely okay with being the _better_ fighter." Cauli said, only partially teasing.

"Then why do you care?" Rhubara asked.

"I care because I know you're better than this." Cauli said simply and somewhat sharply. She softened her tone a bit and said, "I'm a Regular now, I know I can count on assignments. I've been to five worlds this year, Rhuby. _Five._ I've fought five different alien races and I did it all without _you_. You're supposed to have my back, remember?"

Rhubara lowered her gaze now and whispered, "It's just . . . it's . . ."

"I know." Cauli told her, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder, "I _know_ . . . but it's okay. When you get into the pod just look out the window the whole time, okay? Once you're in space you can hit the hibernation switch, you won't have to so much as open your eyes until you're on a new world full of new enemies to fight."

Rhubara swallowed audibly and seemed like she was about to argue further, so Cauli told her, "I'll be there to wake you up every time. I'll have your back, you'll have mine just like with the Tuffles. When we become elites we'll be partners and we'll conquer whole worlds together. You and me just like it used to be, only better because we'll never run out of enemies in the stars."

Rhubara stared at the desert in silence.

Cauli said, "Every journey starts with a first step; one mission Rhuby, just give me that. I'll show you you don't have to be scared, okay?"

"A warrior's never scared, right?" Rhubara mumbled.

Cauli smiled, "Right, a warrior's never scared!"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The ruins of Planet Vegeta were a beautiful thing to a Saiyan.

To a Saiyan like Turles they weren't just ruined cities they were the sites of epic battles where every burn mark, every crater, every pile of bones told a story. The cities were like history books whose pages the Saiyans had filled with their triumphs.

By the reckon of a human, though the young warrior wouldn't know what one of those was for a while to come, it had been just five years since the evil corrupt Tuffles had been overthrown by the oppressed Saiyans. In that short span of time the Saiyans had elevated their best and brightest warrior to be their King. King Vegeta was a fighter smarter than any Tuffle and stronger than any other Saiyan, he was a hero who had led them to victory and who could even remain himself when he transformed.

Saiyans who could keep a hold of their senses when they transformed had been far rarer then, Turles had turned twice in his time and neither time had he recalled any of it. Luckily the Oozaru shared some sort of sense of community and didn't simply annihilate each other when the full moon shone. Unluckily for the Tuffles they were willing to annihilate everything else.

With the Tuffles gone the Saiyans were unleashed. One of the first races they'd encountered had been the Arcosians who had hired them to conquer a world for them. Mercenary work had suited the Saiyans just fine, what mattered was getting to fight after all.

As it would turn out however the Arcosians had been representatives of the Planet Trade Organization and soon after conquering New Arcoss the young Saiyan Empire was annexed by Lord Frieza and the PTO.

That . . . had rankled. Turles remembered the excitement he and all the rest of his people had felt when they were unleashed only to discover that they were to be contained once again.

It wasn't as bad as it was under the Tuffles. They weren't used for hard labor or kept out of the cities left to suffer in the inhospitable mountains and deserts. They were still "free" to fight on other worlds and conquer them . . . but they did so for their new Lord and to sell them, they weren't conquering for themselves.

Still when Turles looked at the broken cities of the Tuffles he felt pride remembering what his people had once done. What they'd once been.

Maybe someday what they could be again if they could ever overcome Lord Frieza.

"You coming?" His brother asked, lightly punching his shoulder. "Let's get a move on shorty, if we're late we don't get assignments."

Turles scowled at his brother Telluce, "I'm not short."

"You are too." Telluce smirked.

Telluce was already nearing the end of his adolescent growth while Turles was only beginning his. They'd always been the same size before, it was weird to have a difference now and in a few of what humans would call months that difference would probably be gone, but until then he had to tolerate Telluce's teasing.

Telluce wore the black armor of a low-class warrior. Like most Saiyans he was able to wear a second color of his choosing for the pauldrons, tassets and stomach and Telluce chose blue. He also wore a red band around his left thigh and red cloth bracers over his armored gauntlets. Turles wore lavender himself, it was one of the few freedoms the Saiyans had over Frieza's other minions. Most of the PTO soldiers wore white, blue or navy blue armor with brown or orange trim, but the Saiyans were free to chose their own colors. Most chose red, the color of blood.

Turles followed his brother through the ruins to the tower where other low-class warriors were gathering. He recognized most of the faces gathered, there weren't many low-class Saiyans he didn't know, or hadn't fought. For Saiyans nothing was better than fighting, even against each other, and while fatalities weren't exactly the goal in those fights it probably explained why their race wasn't very numerous.

"Tell!" A sharp commanding voice barked above the gentle roar of general conversation and Telluce turned to regard the speaker.

Turles did too, even though he hadn't been called.

"Lamson." Telluce nodded to his squad commander. Lamson wore black and yellow armor with yellow gloves and boots. She wore a red band around her left bicep. It was a trend among a lot of the warriors who'd actually been on missions to wear a red band or two, Telluce said they wore them because they were blooded fighters.

Lamson had spiky black hair as most Saiyans did. Her eyes were large and green, though her hair was fairly short her bangs spiked down over each eye in a manner that reminded Turles of fangs.

"You're late." Another female Saiyan, this one in red armor with rare straight black hair framing the sides of her face. She had a scar on her right cheek and striking red eyes.

"Sorry, Sharro. Had to bring my runty brother along." Telluce shrugged.

Sharrot scoffed but an enormous musclebound warrior in black and gray armor ruffled Telluce's hair.

"Runty? Look who's talking, shorty!" Routz, the biggest member of Telluce's squad laughed. He winked at Turles, "How's it goin' Turles?"

"Good. I was just admiring the landscape." Turles smiled, he liked Routz mostly because he teased Telluce. Routz was head and shoulders taller than anyone else, he was enormous. Telluce really was pretty tall but Routz dwarfed him.

The final member of Telluce's team was a weakling named Korrard. Many Saiyans shared similar appearances and Korrard shared Turles' hair though his skin-tone was lighter. It seemed to be a theme that Saiyans with the untamed wild an spiky hair style that Turles would never escape tended to be on the weaker side with only a few notable exceptions like Bardock.

Korrard didn't buck the trend, with a power level of fifteen hundred he was the weakest of Telluce's team. His armor was green and he wore gloves and cloth boots instead of the weighted armored gauntlets and boots of most warriors and Turles suspected it was because he was too weak to wear the heavy armor of a real warrior.

Turles had to admire his brother's team at least a little, they'd been on a real mission and conquered a planet. They were still considered low-class warriors but they were on their way up.

Except for Korrard.

Maybe they'd get assigned and he'd die so Turles could take his place on the team when he was done growing. Turles wouldn't mind being in their squad. Lamson was a smart leader according to Tell, and Sharrot and Routz were tough fighters

So was Tell, even if Turles was too mad at him lately to admit it.

"Attention fodder!" A tall warrior in blue elite armor with sharp pointed hair roared above the crowd. He was standing on the wreckage of a large Tuffle tank, it worked as a stage though Tuffles had been less than half the size of the average Saiyan.

A pair of elites came up behind him holding the scouter crates. Scouters were still pretty rare and important technology and for low-class warriors they were only available when they had an assignment.

_Today I'm getting one._ Turles thought eagerly. He hadn't been in a real fight since the war, he needed to get out into the stars and kill something. He shut his eyes and twitched his tail in anticipation.

"Leek, Turles, Rhubara!" The first elite shouted, "Step forward!"

_Today I'm getting one!_ Turles thought to himself, still twitching his tail until a rough hand slapped his back.

"They're calling you, little brother!" Telluce laughed and Turles glared at him for a moment before realizing what he'd just said.

"Oh!" Turles bolted for the front of the crowd shoving aside several others in his struggle to reach the tank. "I'm here, I'm Turles!"

One of the elites with the case opened it up in front of him, "Take one," She said in a tone that suggested she really didn't care.

There were about twelve scouters in the case. The lenses were red, green, blue and purple. The crate's interior was molded to fit the scouters, the sort of sophistication that Frieza's people had brought to the table, Saiyans would have just kept them in a fur sack or something. The Saiyan mentality was simple: if it tasted good eat it, and if it was too fragile to survive being carried in a sack it wasn't worth having.

Turles had imagined receiving his Scouter as some sort of semi-spiritual moment, it was a moment that signified everything he'd worked towards. Every day that he'd sparred and trained against his fellow youngsters had been a step on the road to this, his first assignment and soon a red band of his own to wear even if they were stupid.

_Red_. He thought, reaching out for one of the red scouters with reverence.

"Hurry up!" A bigger kid in brown armor grunted. He had the same hair as Turles but he was enormously fat.

Turles wanted to say something rude but he wouldn't ruin the moment for himself. He took his Scouter and took a step back so the other boy could carelessly grab a green one. Turles didn't know him directly, but since he had met Rhubara before he could guess this was Leek. Turles noticed that Leek wore a red band on his arm and on his leg, Turles thought to himself, _two huh? So at least he's not weak._

Turles hadn't noticed that Raditz also wore two.

Rhubara came up and chose a blue scouter. Not as if there'd ever have been any doubt, Turles didn't know Rhubara particularly well but everyone knew she had a thing for the color blue.

So it was strange that her armor was purple. Maybe she'd done it to match her eyes?

Not that he ever noticed that sort of thing before, but as his adolescent growth was beginning he was starting to take notice of females more, take in more of their little details.

Turles had heard she'd lost in the testing fights against Bardock's weakling son Raditz, but he'd known better and her selection for a mission proved it. Rhubara was tough, she could spar pretty evenly with him and before the unification they would have been from the same clan. That didn't mean they looked entirely similar. Rhubara always had a bit of a long face, probably because she couldn't do anything about her big ears. Her hair was long and mostly hid them, but she still didn't like to be teased about them which was why Turles had made it his business to point them out whenever her could until she'd started fighting on his level and earned enough respect that he only spoke up about it when he had a particularly funny joke.

The bored elite said, "You're going to take planet Goulder, the inhabitants are weak and Frieza's men can't be bothered, but the wildlife is too hazardous for a mere infant. Congratulations. Nothing you encounter should have a power-level in excess of one thousand, you'll be accompanied by a pair of regulars."

"Regulars?" Turles asked.

"Warriors who've been on more missions and can always rely on assignment." The elite explained in an emotionless drawl.

"Yeah, yeah I know!" Turles scowled. He knew what regular warriors were, he hoped to become one and he knew Telluce and his friends were on the verge of achieving it themselves. Part of him hoped he could still manage it before they did though. "I was just surprised."

The elite shrugged. Her blue armor had dark green pauldrons and only the two side tassets. She wore obviously weighted black gloves and boots. Her straight hair didn't go far past her ears though her bangs were long and the sides of her hair curved with her cheeks to they framed her face. He didn't know her, he didn't really know any elites, but he felt like he wouldn't have liked her very much if he did.

"Report to pod platform forty two to meet up with the rest of your team." She said. Turles saw the other elite handing scouters out to a different group as the sharp-haired announcer called Telluce's team.

"Lamson, Sharrot, Telluce, Routz, Korrard!" The elite roared and even though he was standing on top of the wreckage of a Tuffle tank Routz was almost able to look him in the eye. "You've got a special assignment!"

Leek and Rhubara started away so Turles only had a moment to hear the bored elite tell Lamson in an only slightly more energetic tone, "You're going to Frago, six teams of PTO trash got in over their heads," she was saying as Turles heard Leek shout after him.

"Come on before we leave you!"

Turles scowled, "It's not like I don't know where you're going!" He said as he ran to catch up with them.

He didn't know where Frago was of course, but it bothered him that Telluce was getting what already sounded like the better mission.

_How am I going to get any stronger on planet Goulder?_ He wondered bitterly.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhubara felt her stomach twisting itself in knots as she followed the others up the tower. Turles had started further behind them but as the three of them climbed up the stairs Rhubara had lagged behind and let him get ahead.

"Come on, get the plutonium out!" Leek called back to her.

He seemed excited. Rhubara wished she could share the sentiment. As they climbed the stone stairs of the tower which had been carved recently and clumsily. Most of the Tuffle structures had been built for smaller creatures and didn't suit Saiyans so a great many of the buildings constructed in the ruins had been made from debris of shattered Tuffle structures. It made them sort of like puzzles where pieces were forced together. In the end it still made a square with maybe a few cracks, but the actual picture was anyone's guess.

At least that was how Rhubara saw it at that moment. Usually it was just ugly and that was all there was to it.

They only needed to travel up four floors and exit at bay two, the trip should have taken mere moments but for Rhubara it felt much longer and yet the inevitability meant that no span of time could possibly prevent the conclusion of their journey. Sort of like an eternity in the blink of an eye.

She was a Saiyan, she wanted to fight, she loved to fight, it wasn't that she was afraid of missions . . .

Her heart started pounding faster and faster as she saw her two teammates pass through the door to platform two. No one was watching, she could turn around and run. They could do the mission without her.

As she neared the doorway herself her stomach twisted itself into even tighter knots and her heart was pounding so loudly she'd swear she could hear it. She raised her gaze from her boots to the spherical white pods that would transport her to another world.

She'd known they'd be there and she knew they should dominate her focus but instead her eyes were drawn to the two Regulars. Cauli of course she knew, and she recognized the other though his name escaped her. She mumbled a weak, almost ashamed, "Hello . . ."

"I'm Kumber, and I'm lead on this mission," The male spoke up and tilted his head towards the pods, "We ready to end a civilization?"

"I'm ready!" Leek roared excitedly, "Let's do this!"

Turles nodded and headed for a pod. Leek rushed over and practically threw himself into another.

Rhubara hesitated. Cauli came over to her. She and Kumber had their similarities, they were after all from the same clan just like Rhubara and Turles. Unlike Cauli Kumber's hair was long and spiky on top but smoother the rest of the way around his head. Cauli's raven locks were swept behind her left ear as not to interfere with her purple lensed Scouter with only a few strands of her long bangs obscured her uncovered eye, but both of Kumber's eyes were partially obscured by thick spiky bangs. Not that Rhubara was necessarily one to judge on that regard since her own bangs could become a problem at times.

Still she felt like Kumber had the look of someone who didn't take being a warrior all that seriously, knowing he would be giving her orders didn't exactly inspire much confidence.

"What's the hold up?" Turles asked. Rhubara took a slow step forward towards one of the remaining empty pods.

Cauli came over to her and put an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "It's her first mission is all, your's too isn't it, Tullece?"

"That's Turles." Turles said sourly.

"Is it? Sorry. I remembered-"

"It's fine." He told Cauli, blushing a bit in embarrassment, "Anyway don't worry, Rhubara, these things never crash until they're supposed to."

Rhubara forced a smile, Cauli squeezed her shoulder lightly.

Cauli whispered to her, "I knew you'd come. Just like I said, look out the window, or just hibernate. Red button, it'll put you right out. Once we arrive you'll wake up, we'll massacre some aliens and you'll see it wasn't so bad."

Rhubara nodded. _Don't look weak,_ she told herself, _they're all watching you._

"You're ready for this." Cauli told her so that the others couldn't hear as they sealed off their pods.

"Y-yes . . ." Rhubara lied as she was 'encouraged' to her pod with Cauli's assistance.

"I'll be there when you wake up, Rhuby," Cauli told her with a smile and a wink as the pod door closed.

Rhubara listened as the countdown began, she hovered her finger over the hibernation button and shut her eyes tight.

Despite what Turles had assumed she wasn't worried about the pod crashing or failing. It was the pod itself that she wanted no part of. The thought of hurtling through the stars in a small enclosed sphere with no way out . . . and even if she could get out it'd mean certain death unless they happened to be at their destination.

It was too much. Rhubara had meant to look out the window like Cauli suggested but kept her eyes shut as she felt the pod begin to move. She was torn by conflicting desires to both appear strong in front of the others and to curl herself in a ball so that the pod might seem larger even with her eyes shut. She imagined the lowland plains, she imagined the wide red sand deserts of planet Vegeta, she imagined the sky.

The brilliant beautiful red sky.

She could feel the pod moving and she knew if she opened her eyes right then she'd see the sky, she could pretend she was just flying under her own power.

She heard Kumber's voice over the radio, "All right we're on our way. Autopilots locked in."

Rhubara forced her eyes open long enough to confirm that the little green light was on before pressing down on the red button. The pod immediately began to prepare itself for hibernation mode, the air smelled different and it felt colder.

She heard Kumber continue, "The local population is nothing, but the wildlife could be a danger, we've been told we may need to use our Oozaru forms, that's where you come in, Turles."

"Rhubara knows the false moon technique too." Rhubara heard Turles say as she began to drift off to sleep.

"That's right, just in case we lose one of you." Kumber said with a laugh. "Not that that's too likely."

"We've got a good team, we'll be fine." Cauli said. "We'll make regulars out of the three of you, mark my words."

Even Leeks loud excited shout of "Yeah!" wasn't enough to keep Rhubara awake.

She drifted off into a deep dreamless sleep.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

There were some who might have called the Iwatian people a simple bunch. Not intellectually speaking, they were as quick on the uptake as any Saiyan, but they lived extremely simple lives.

Their race was physically intimidating, large barrel chests and thick powerful arms that extended past their knees if they were standing upright. Their legs seemed too small for their bodies but they were apparently fairly quick.

To be honest with herself Cauliflora was reminded of the Oozaru form when she looked at the Iwatians. Many races of the galaxy shared a sort of Saiyanoid appearance, it wasn't unusual to find something totally alien but the Saiyanoid shape was certainly a popular one in the stars.

Cauliflora liked fighting things that weren't too much like Saiyans. It wasn't some misguided feelings of kinship but rather a fair confidence that she knew how a body similar to a Saiyan could move, knew its capabilities more or less. Fighting something strangely shaped was a new experience, it was an adventure and a chance to become stronger.

She liked to learn about the races she was going to exterminate, she liked the study the potential details of a fight before participating in one whenever possible and Space Pods provided a good opportunity for doing just that.

"Kumber," she said over a private channel so that she wouldn't wake any of the others if they were asleep. Since he was the mission leader instead of her she didn't particularly care if she woke Kumber up. "I'm looking at the Iwatians and something isn't adding up."

"What's that?" Kumber asked, sounding a little groggy. After all the missions they'd fought together he knew better than to ignore her advice even if it woke him from a nap.

"Their power levels are way too low for something that inhabits a planet with these . . . scythe tailed boar things." Cauli said. "Their weaponry is primitive spears and knives, stuff the Tuffles would have considered stone age but their walls are big and strong, engineering that would have impressed even the Tuffles I expect."

"Well there's your answer. Anyway it won't be a problem for the Oozaru." Kumber said.

"But the thing is they don't really seem to be much for farming. At least not to the degree they'd need to be, it says they hunt in the wilds with those knife tailed things."

"They're brave. Good." Kumber yawned. "Brave fighters die better than cowards."

"Yeah but doesn't it seem weird?" Cauli asked. "They must have some dangerous weapon or something that helps them survive their planet . . . maybe we should encounter them as ourselves a few times before we resort to the Oozaru state."

"I suppose." Kumber said. "That makes sense, and fighting is more fun when you can remember it."

Cauli nodded, "I agree."

"Well since I'm up," Kumber asked through another yawn, "can I ask you a question?"

"Well you're the team leader." Cauli said with just a little too much bitterness sneaking into her tone. Kumber chuckled at it.

Then he asked, "Why'd you want Rhubara along?"

"What do you mean?" Cauli asked, "She can use the false moon technique and she hasn't been on a single mission yet. Her power level is two thousand, that's higher than some regulars."

"I remember when King Vegeta united our clan with theirs and we fought together during the war. I remember Tullece and his brother Telluce, I remember those twins . . . what were their names? The ones with the battle rage, I mean."

"Oni and Kayle," Cauli answered as she continued to read the information her pod's computer had on the Iwatians, "They're regulars now, they aren't even sent out with a team anymore it's just the two of them."

"We'll they'd kill anything else that got in their way once they start raging." Kumber sighed. "But the point is I remember fighting with them, other than those twins and maybe a couple others they were pretty typical, when King Vegeta declared the bulk of them low-class warriors it didn't surprise me. So why did you request Rhubara?"

"Exactly the reasons I said. Why don't you care that I requested Turles?" Cauli asked out of curiosity.

"Because he hasn't given me any reason to question him yet. Rhubara doesn't seem . . . committed."

Cauli hesitated. Weaknesses were a closely guarded secret among Saiyans. Knowing about another warrior's weakness could work as a form of leverage, or an unbreakable bond of trust. She hoped Rhubara would overcome her fears on this trip, but even so she wouldn't tell Kumber.

"I recognized her name from the list is all. I saw she hadn't been on any off-world missions." Cauli lied with a shrug that probably would have been horribly convincing if Kumber had been able to see it. "Seemed like a waste."

"But when she didn't want to get in the pod you kind of seemed like you expected it." Kumber said cautiously.

"Most old fashioned low-class warriors think the space pods are weird." Cauli answered simply, "Since I knew she hadn't used one before I knew she was probably just needed a reminder how it works."

Kumber was quiet for a while, then asked, "Is she going to be a problem for us?"

"I doubt it." Cauli said.

"You two fought together during the war didn't you?" Kumber asked. "What was she like then?"

Cauli hesitated, she thought back to her first meeting with that purple eyed dark skinned girl covered in blood and soot. She smiled to herself and said, "When I first met her she'd torn the barrel off of a Tuffle tank and used it to batter that tank into a pile of scrap. She won't be any trouble, Kumber."

"Well just remember, I'm the team leader." Kumber told her unnecessarily, "If she's too weak or if she's a threat to the mission I have my duty to consider."

"Do what you have to. I'm giving her a chance because we fought together, but I'm not invested in the outcome." Cauli told him with what might have been another extremely convincing shrug if Kumber had been able to see it.

"Get some sleep. It's a long trip." Kumber told her.

"When I'm done." Cauli said. She continued to read the files on the Iwatians. _What secret are you all hiding?_ She wondered.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The night sky was beautiful and black, storm clouds obscured the stars and the pale green moon above. Korizato sat at the entrance to the hut that the healer shared with the hunter called Konpeito. Korizato watched the rainfall with no small enjoyment.

The rain was clearing and the healer knew that wherever Konpeito was that would mean a return to the hunting and hopefully a good catch and a swift return.

Hunters afield never enjoyed the rain, and Korizato always felt guilty for finding the sky's tears beautiful. The large, powerful Iwatian was about to turn away from the open doorway to go to bed though Korizato could have slept in the doorway of the hut and been perfectly content on such a beautiful cool night.

_The forest must be horrible._ Korizato thought with a sigh. Poor Konpeito.

Korizato looked up at the nearly full green moon overhead and sighed again. The healer wondered if the hunter was looking at that same moon just then.

_You're too much of a romantic. Remember, you're the educated one._ Korizato's mind scolded. The Iwatian looked at the moon all the same and thought about the poor hunter that so dominated the healer's thoughts.

Then the stars began to dance.

Korizato got up and left the hut, the slight discomfort of rain water drizzling down did not deter the Iwatian's star gazing.

"What is this?" An elder wondered aloud, emerging from another hut.

The entire village, or at least those that were awake had been watching the rain in the hopes it would abate, now they were watching the stars as five white shooting stars lanced through the night. They shot in front of the green moon in a V formation.

And then one of then broke away from the rest and plummeted towards the ground.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Turles had woke early so he wasn't in any sort of stupor when the alarms started blaring in his pod, though he was still unsure of what to do about them.

"What's going on?" He demanded, and over the radio he could hear the others were waking up too.

"It's the moon," Kumber said calmly, "it's closer than we projected it would be, it's interfering with the autopilot."

"It's nothing," Cauli said, " We're not close enough to hit it, just override the warnings and we'll land normally."

Turles pressed the button and relaxed again only to hear Cauli suddenly shout, "What the-"

"Who is that!?" Kumber demanded.

"Rhubara?" Turles blinked, seeing the pod in front of him suddenly spiral out of control and go hurtling towards the planet.

"Rhubara, you idiot! Don't deactivate the autopilot, just the warnings!" Kumber shouted. "Rhubara!"

"What do you think you're doing, big ears?" Turles growled.

"Rhubara!" Cauli screamed, "Turn the autopilot back on! Can you hear me?"

Turles thought he could hear Rhubara's voice on the radio, a soft "no, no, no, no" but it was drowned out by everyone else shouting.

"Rhuby!" Cauli shrieked in a tone Turles had only ever heard from Tuffles, a tone his father had told him was called 'panic.'

"Cauli . . . I . . . can't." Rhubara's voice was weak and she was breathing strangely.

The pod slammed into the planet.

"By the King's hairy-" Kumber began in outrage but Cauli interrupted him talking quickly and sounding almost like she was thinking out loud.

"It's fine, Kumber. The pods land by crashing, after all. She's lost but as long as she keeps her Scouter turned on we can find her and she can find us."

"You said she wouldn't be a problem!" Kumber accused.

"I also said she hadn't been in a pod before." Cauli said coldly. "She probably didn't know what to do, it's not like they train us in these things!"

"I haven't been in one either." Turles pointed out. "But I still know the basic buttons."

"Bully for you," Kumber scoffed, "we're still one warrior down."

"Well it's already happened, there's not a lot we can do except land." Cauli snapped.

"When are we landing?" Turles asked.

"In another moment," it was Leek who answered, "the autopilot is supposed to take us to about the other end of the continent."

"It'll be a lot of distance to cover outside of a space pod, it could take Rhubara a couple days to meet up with us." Turles said.

"Forget her." Kumber said simply, "She's a Saiyan warrior even if she's a clumsy one. She'll conquer or be conquered, that's our way. She knows how to use the false moon, if she gets into trouble she'll be able to handle it. It'll mean more work for us, but we'll use our scouters to meet up again just like Cauli said."

"Yeah . . ." Cauli said quietly.

"If she's lucky I'll have cooled off by then." Kumber added more darkly.

Turles laughed.

"You think that's funny?" Cauli asked.

"Do you not?" Leek asked, laughing too.

"It's fine, Cauli," Kumber snarled, "You couldn't have known your recommendation would be that bad, I won't hold you responsible when we get back."

Turles chuckled as their pods suddenly hurtled towards the ground for their final landing. Though he did wonder . . . recommendation?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhubara had woken up to the sound of blaring alarms. She'd forgotten where she was and what she was doing so when her eyes opened and all she saw was the cramped interior of the space pod and the flashing lights of an alarm she immediately began to panic.

"No, no, no," she whispered, breathing hard. She could hear the others talking over the radio but she couldn't focus on what they were saying, she just shut her eyes and hugged her small legs to her chest. "No, no, no!"

Somehow the word 'autopilot' drifted through her head, then she heard Cauli say, "It's nothing. We're not close enough to hit it, just override the warnings and we'll land normally."

Rhubara held her head in her hands and kept her eyes shut, she didn't want to open them. She thought of the deserts, she thought of wide open deserts.

_You have to shut the alarms off._ She thought to herself, _You've got to! You're a warrior, you can do this!_

But her mouth just kept whispering the same word over and over again.

After a moment that felt like an eternity she kicked out with her foot, she heard the click of buttons and the alarms stopped.

"What the-"

"Who is that!?" Kumber demanded. "Rhubara, don't deactivate the autopilot, just the warnings! Rhubara!"

"Rhubara!" Cauli screamed, "Turn the autopilot back on! Can you hear me?"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Rhubara spoke a little louder now, keeping her eyes shut. This was a nightmare, this was a horrible dream, she'd wake up any moment, she knew it. She started hyperventilating as she felt the pod pick up speed.

"Rhuby!" Cauli shrieked. She sounded worried . . . this was going to be bad, wasn't it?

But it had to be a dream, nothing would ever scare Cauli. _It's not real, I'm okay, I'm okay!_ She thought.

"Cauli . . . I . . . can't." Rhubara managed between panicked breaths.

And then she crashed.

She struck her head on something as the pod tore through the rocky ground. She could feel the space craft shaking as she went, she knew once it stopped the door would open and she'd be in a nice round wide crater.

_I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay!_ She screamed in her own head. She couldn't hear the others any more.

She opened her eyes and it was dark except for the lights in the pod. Someone was screaming, it was probably her.

She started to kick at the door, it needed to open, she needed to get out.

It wasn't budging and through the flashing lights she thought she could see why; the door was blocked off completely by rock and dirt.

Somewhere in her mind Rhubara knew that that meant the pod had crashed upside down, somewhere in her mind she understood that all she had to do was turn it back on and key in a simple sequence that would have it take off again, reorient itself and then land peacefully.

Unfortunately that part of her mind wasn't in control, the more primal desperate part was running the show. Rhubara needed to get out, she needed to escape, she needed to be stronger than she was.

She summoned the artificial moon without even thinking about it and her body began to grow.

She grew and the fear disappeared. She grew and she felt the cramped confines of the pod press around her tighter and tighter until suddenly she was too much for it, she was too much for the ground, she exploded from the soil still growing and sprouting thick coarse dark brown fur all over her body. Her mouth bulged and grew outward, her nose flattening down and her nostrils moved forward to help form her snout.

Her tail grew thicker, stronger, she felt her conscious mind withdrawing and being tucked away for safe keeping by a much older more primal animal.

An animal without fear and strange new jungle.

It was a peerless predator . . . and it could smell prey on the wind.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"I'm not getting anything from her." Cauli said, "Her scouter isn't responding."

"I said not to worry about her." Kumber ordered. "We have work to do."

Cauli nodded and glanced off in the direction Rhubara had crashed in.

_She was only here because of me._ She thought.

"We're probably too far away." Turles said lightly. "Don't count big ears out yet."

Cauli turned to him in surprise. "What?" She asked.

"You're worried, right? Don't bother. With the wildlife here you probably wouldn't get an accurate read if you looked for her."

Cauli scoffed and brushed her hair over her shoulder. "What makes you think I care?" She scoffed. "It's like Kumber said, she'll conquer or be conquered, as long as I'm not taking the blame none of it matters."

"Alright. Just checking." Turles shrugged. He pressed some buttons on his scouter, "There's some power levels that sort of match the locals. Should we say hello?"

"Yes." Cauli snarled before Kumber could answer. He raised an eyebrow at her and she scoffed, "It's what you were going to say, isn't it? Come on, I need to kill something right now."

"Right. Me too, let's do this." Kumber said with a grin.

Cauli smiled a cocky warrior's smile as the four of them took off into the trees to follow their scouters. Still in the back of her mind she thought, _She was only here because of me_ again and again.

She wasn't left with her demons long, the Iwatians were close by.

They were every bit as ugly as the reports had said. Kumber began to say something that he no doubt thought sounded intimidating, he liked to toy with his prey.

Cauliflora was not in the mood, she stretched out her hand and shot a beam of energy that took the simian head off of the gray skinned alien.

The rest jumped to their feet and took up their spears, Leek rushed in punching one of them hard in the stomach.

Or punching one of them in the hard stomach judging by his reaction as he stumbled back holding his wrist.

"Ow-ow-ow-ouch!" The heavyset Saiyan cried in shock, "They're like punching an Oozaru!"

Cauli snarled, "Fight smarter, weakling!"

She held out her other hand for another blast but this time the large stone-skinned ape caught her blast in its hand as if it were catching a ball.

Her scouter blared a warning as the creature's power level shot up, doubling then tripling what it had been before and still rising.

"What is this?" Cauli gawked.

"Their power levels are rising!" Turles said in shock.

"I can see." Kumber snarled.

The Iwatian that had caught Cauli's blast held his hand out and returned it tenfold, knocking her back several feet to slam into and then through a tree. She lay on the ground looking up at the forest canopy overhead and just repeated, "What is this?"

"They're exceeding two thousand!" She heard Turles say urgently.

"I can see." Kumber repeated.

"They're over three thousand!" Turles shouted.

"I can see!" Kumber roared, turning and punching Turles in the face, "So do something about it, idiot!"

"R-right!" Turles said. One of the aliens approached them with a spear in hand, it began to shout at them, probably asking questions but Turles had already summoned the soft blue glowing orb and tossed it into the sky overhead.

Cauli was already starting to change. She was usually reluctant to enter the Oozaru state, she liked to be conscious for her fights, she liked to learn.

But tonight she welcomed the temporary silence of her thoughts as a more primitive side took center stage.

The Oozaru had no regrets, it felt no remorse. It didn't care about comrades, it barely recognized that it shouldn't kill the other Oozaru as well. Cauli embraced the simplicity and let her mind disappear behind a more violent primitive brain. For a while all her worries and all of her guilt disappeared.

 

**To Be Continued . . .  
**

 

_Character Image - Turles_ ****  


_Note: I know most people know what Turles looks like already._


	32. Trials of the Tree Part Two

**Trials of The Tree**

**Part Two**

**The Monster**

 

"So what's the game plan?" Leek asked as the group of warriors sat around a fire left by their rampage the previous night.

"Well we can handle their villages easily enough when we're transformed. But it makes it harder to plan." Kumber answered.

Turles poked the fire with a broken spear and looked to Cauli. It was obvious that Kumber might be stronger but she was the smarter one. "What do you think, Cauli?" He asked.

She looked up from the flames in surprise for a moment, and he suspected he'd interrupted her thoughts. "We can keep wiping out village after village like we did last night and be here for a year or we can take some of the villages then kill everyone else all at once."

"I can fight for a whole year!" Leek said with excitement.

"When you don't even get to remember any of the fights?" Cauli asked.

"Oh . . . right." Leek sighed, clearly as disappointed by last night's slaughter as Turles was.

None of them had enjoyed it. Only elite Saiyans could really control the Oozaru, for most others it was just a surrender to a second more primal mind. They might remember some flashes of the night but it was rare, mostly they just didn't remember anything, but it seemed like the Oozaru would at least get the job done.

That didn't mean it was as much fun as fighting with their own hands, and the sense of accomplishment was a lot less significant when they didn't really count as their own accomplishments.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Kumber asked Cauli.

"We need to somehow let some of them escape, or in some other way leave enough alive to warn other villages. Then they'll all flee and gather someplace, a city maybe? Then it's as simple as getting inside and killing them all."

"How do you know they won't just scatter like bugs when you life a stone?" Turles asked.

"That's a fair question, and really I don't." Cauli told him. "But when I read the intelligence report it mentioned a giant tree that was some sort of holy site. If we can drive them there maybe we can just burn them under their own tree god thing."

The three other warriors laughed, Turles looked to Kumber to see if he approved of the plan and the other warrior nodded. "It sounds like it could work and get us off of this planet a lot faster. And we shouldn't need to transform to set a tree on fire. Any idea how we keep some of them alive?"

"Well that batch that we ran into seemed like hunters." Turles pointed out, "Being an Oozaru takes a lot out of you and we'll need some time to rest between razzing villages. We should use that time to watch them, learn a bit about the patterns. If a party leaves and we know they're going to be gone long enough that's when we destroy the village."

"It might be simpler than that actually." Cauli said, "Like you said, Kumber, we don't need to be an Oozaru to set a fire. If these primitive primates notice a pillar of smoke coming from the direction they know one of their villages is supposed to be in they might investigate."

"We can set big bonfires!" Leek said, "It'll let us cook the meat better too."

"They'd certainly be terrified if they turned up and found a destroyed village and a lot of their kind roasting over a huge fire." Kumber nodded.

"Maybe, but I think we set enough fires as Oozaru not to need to expend the energy ourselves, and if they find a village destroyed with no indication of how or why it'll confuse as well as frighten them and that might drive them to seek solace at their holy site." Cauli said.

"I think we should destroy a few more villages in the night, let them wake up to see smoke on the horizon creeping closer and closer. Let them get scared and we'll watch and wait and see. Maybe they'll start evacuating, once we see a few go if we demolish their village that same night they'll know they only just barely made it out, they'll set their neighbors to running. Then we just wait and see if they go to the tree.

"Maybe even make sure to give it a wide berth so they think it's safe. Use their superstitions against them. That'll speed things up pretty well and limit the number of times we have to tax ourselves transforming. Eventually we'll start finding empty villages." Cauli agreed and Turles was pleased that she did because Kumber seemed like he was going to baulk at the suggestion until Cauli lent it her support.

_So just how in charge of this mission is he, I wonder._ Turles thought archly as he speared a hunk of meat that probably belonged to one of the natives and thrust it over the flame they all sat around.

"This mission won't be much fun." Leek said, obviously thinking out loud.

Turles laughed mirthlessly as his chunk of alien meat cooked. Cauli chewed absently on a raw bit of arm and mumbled a disinterested "Mm."

Kumber however shook his head and said, "Missions don't have to be fun, they just have to be carried out. Listen the important thing is destroying the populace and hading the planet over to Frieza so we can go home. We might not get much stronger surrendering to the Oozaru so often but we can still improve. We'll improve our endurance and we can even use this as an opportunity to try to master the monster."

"You mean . . . try to stay in control of the Oozaru?" Turles asked, and Kumber nodded.

"The elites can do it, why not us?" Kumber asked.

"Well we're low-class . . ." Turles said.

"So what? There were no classes before King Vegeta conquered planet Plant." Kumber said. "If he can master the Oozaru and if his elites can master it then obviously Cauli and I can if we're from the same clan, right Cauli?"

"Mm." Cauli nodded, still chewing thoughtfully.

"But what about us?" Turles asked, indicating himself and Leek.

"Obviously we'll tell you once we figure it out." Kumber said with a casual shrug before reclining next to the fire. "But for now I think I'm going to take a nap. After we've had a rest we should move on and take another village."

"Should we assign anyone to watch?" Leek asked.

"Our scouters will warn us if a high power level approaches. But I guess it wouldn't be the worst idea." Kumber acknowledged. "Thanks for volunteering, Leek."

"Aw!" Leek protested.

"I can keep watch." Cauli said. "I'm not sleepy."

"Good, because I am!" Leek said.

Kumber snickered for a moment, but nodded and said, "Oh all right. Since you're _actually_ volunteering, Cauli, I guess Leek can get a bit of sleep."

Turles decided to lay back as well before Cauli changed her mind, though he wasn't really sleepy.

He was tired, to be sure and his body wanted rest, but his mind wasn't interested in sleep.

Being a rampaging Oozaru took a lot out of a person but as he ate his poorly cooked hunk of meat all he could think was that if he could master the Oozaru he'd be a regular for sure, maybe even an elite.

"Then you'd have no choice! You'd have to respect me again, Telluce!" Turles thought to himself.

"What do you mean?" Cauli asked.

"Did I say that out loud?" Turles sat up in surprise. Leek and Kumber were both softly snoring so it was obvious Cauli was talking to him.

"Yes. Didn't you mean to?" Cauli asked.

"Not really." Turles admitted.

"Oh. Okay. Never mind then."

"It's just my older brother . . . well, half brother. He's barely older than me you know, but he's already in the middle his growth spurt and I'm still stuck waiting for mine."

"I said never mind."

"He keeps calling me short, we used to be even but now he acts like he's better than me and I can't stand it!" Turles growled. "If I can become a regular before him that'd put him in his place."

He laid back down again and stared up at the cloudy sky. "You know _he_ used to look up to _me_. I mean I don't want to brag or anything, but I really was the more impressive brother. Do you know what they used to call us?"

"Talkative?"

"Tullece and Telluce, not Telluce and Tullece. My name was always first because _I_ was the one everyone respected!"

"I thought your name was _Turles_."

"It is now. I won't go by Tullece, that name commanded respect. Now I'm just some pipsqueak little brother, I might as well have a smaller name."

"Huh." Cauli said.

"What about you? Why are you so distracted?" Turles asked. "It's not because of big ears is it?"

"Her ears aren't big."

"Weren't, you mean." Turles snickered.

"Go to sleep, you'll need the rest." Cauli told him in a dangerous tone.

Turles rolled his eyes and rolled over to try to fall asleep. He said over his shoulder to her, "You shouldn't worry about it. Kumber said he didn't hold you responsible."

Cauli was quiet for a long time, then she said very quietly, "But I do."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhubara's eyes opened slowly. She wasn't sure where she was but she knew it was a cave.

She hated caves.

She sprang to her feet, but found it hard to balance and fell back on her bottom.

"Aahhh!" She screamed, rolling over and grabbing her rear. It hurt so much more than it should have. Her hands went to rub her rear end hoping to drive the pain away but she felt them move over the place where her tail should have been and somehow the pain suddenly took a back seat to the shock of not finding a tail at all.

"Easy." A deep voice told her. She turned to see a large gray-skinned alien trundling slowly towards her from the cave entrance. It had an elongated ape-like face with eyes that shimmered like the shell of a green beetle. It had thick arms and small legs and its skin had a texture like a boulder. Its head was devoid of hair, but had two stubby horns over each brow.

"Where am I? What did you do to me?" Rhubara shrieked.

"Easy, easy," The alien told her, "Calm down."

"What happened?" Rhubara cried, "Where are the others?"

"Easy," the alien told her again, "You were hurt. We found you and we're trying to help you."

"What happened to my tail?" Rhubara demanded.

"We don't know, you were hurt when we found you."

Rhubara took several deep breaths, the alien sat down near her and it seemed to be smiling.

"You speak." It said suddenly. "I'm quite surprised. You understand me, that's even more surprising."

Rhubara glowered, but didn't say anything.

The alien smiled and said, "My name is Korizato. What's your name?" Rhubara didn't answer, so the alien asked, "Do you have a name?"

Rhubara tried to focus on the alien and the fact that she was apparently a prisoner. However that didn't actually keep her focus off of the cave for very long. It was a large cavern and it was strangely warm. She couldn't feel the breeze from the outside, she didn't know how to get out and it was starting to dominate her focus. She tried to rely on the fact that she was a brave and powerful Saiyan warrior but having lost her tail was the only thing that seemed to press on her mind more prominently than the idea of that cavern ceiling collapsing in on her.

"Are you okay? Do you need more rest?" Korizato asked.

"I need to get out!" Rhubara blurted, "I don't want to be in here!"

"Take it easy, it's not safe outside you know. When my mate Konpeito gets back we can go outside for a while."

"I need to get out!" Rhubara repeated urgently. She closed her eyes and focused on breathing, but gradually she started to snarl. "I won't be kept in here!"

"What's going on?" Another deep rumbling voice asked.

"I-I'm not sure, it's upset," Korizato said. "It wants to get out of the cave."

"It's awake?" The other voice asked. "What is it doing? It's-"

"I won't be kept in here!" Rhubara repeated at the top of her lungs, turning on the new voice and throwing a blast of energy at the second alien.

It fell back a step and held out its hands, they seemed to just absorb her blast of energy.

The gray alien shuddered, then straightened up, "That was quite the burst of heat . . ."

"Are you alright?" Korizato asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm fine, it might be hard to get any sleep for a while though." The other alien said, Rhubara stared at it in disbelief that it had simply absorbed her attack.

The creature approached her and towered over her. It was similar to the other alien if somewhat larger. Rhubara otherwise wouldn't have been able to tell them apart.

The fact that it had just taken her blast and didn't even seem to recognize that it had been an attack however told her that she would be best served keeping her head down until she could get her hands on her scouter, especially since she didn't have her tail to rely on.

"It was saying it wanted to go out, I think it's upset being in the cave." Korizato said.

"There aren't any knife tails today," The second alien said, hefting a large sack off of its shoulder. There were a few other large gray aliens with this new one, "I suppose if it needs fresh air we can take it outside, there are enough of us to catch it again if it tries to escape."

"Escape? Kon, aren't we just taking care of it until it's healthy enough to be released?" Korizato asked.

"We would have," the other alien, Konpeito, Rhubara guessed, answered, "but Bingtang isn't sure we should just let it wander off."

"Oh really? But why not?" Korizato asked with concern in its voice, but Konpeito shook its head.

"He's the elder, I won't pretend to know his mind. You there, small thing . . . you speak, what are you?"

Rhubara kept her gaze low and tried to seem small and nonthreatening, "I don't know."

"Do you have a people? What are they?"

"I don't remember."

"You don't remember?" Konpeito asked incredulously.

"It's clearly very bothered," Korizato spoke up, "let's take it outside, Kon."

"We can take it out if you don't want to, Konpeito." One of the other aliens suggested.

"I was hoping to see it up and about myself," Another added, "I've never seen anything so puny and strange. It has such long legs!"

"I could use some fresh air myself." Korizato said.

Konpeito folded its large arms in front of its barrel chest and shuddered. "All right."

Rhubara felt a tremendous amount of relief as Konpeito roughly picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. They took a fairly short but winding walk out of the inner cavern into a smaller but better lit cavern near a large cave mouth.

The sight of the outside world, even one alien to her lifted an enormous weight from her chest and let her breathe easier.

Korizato laughed slightly, "My my, its aura changed immediately."

"Oh?" Konpeito asked. "You can see its aura?"

Rhubara didn't know what that meant but she kept quiet and listened. Korizato said, "Yes . . . but it's turbulent."

"I thought you healers could only read the auras of our own people." One of the other unnamed aliens said.

"That's not necessarily true, it's just easier to see the aura of our own people." Korizato said. "Most of us just don't like being asked what people's pets are feeling, it's easier for the owner to tell than it is for us to get a reliable reading."

Konpeito set Rhubara down on the ground and asked, "All right then, let's try again. What are you?"

Rhubara thought to herself, _this is the same as if you'd been captured by the Tuffles. Tell them nothing about your people, learn as much as you can, kill them all and escape._

So she answered, "What are _you_?"

"We're Iwatians, now answer my question." Konpeito said gruffly.

"Kon," Korizato said with a slight chuckle, "maybe it doesn't know how to answer that question. I mean you wouldn't ask a knife-tail to tell you it's a knife-tail would you?"

"I wouldn't have to, I already know it's a knife-tail. None of us know what this thing is, and it can talk and understand us, knife-tails can't do that." Konpeito said but eventually the Iwatian sighed and sat down across from Rhubara at the mouth of the cave, "All right then, let's take this slowly. Where do you come from?"

"I don't remember."

"Well do you remember how you got injured?" Korizato asked.

Rhubara considered. She . . . had crashed . . . she had used the false moon inside of her pod, _idiot,_ she thought to herself . . .

She must have lost her scouter in the pod, she realized. She said, "I don't remember. Maybe if you take me to the place you found me . . ."

That might be close to the pod.

Konpeito shook his head, "Not today. Do you remember anything?"

"No." Rhubara said. Konpeito looked at Korizato over her shoulder and seemed to look irritated.

"Well if you don't remember anything maybe it's time to go back inside-"

"No!" Rhubara yelped.

"Is it afraid of caves?" One of the other Iwatians asked.

"What? Don't be silly, caves can't cause harm." Konpeito said with a gruff throaty laugh.

"It might seem mad to us," Korizato said, "but Misiri might be right. There are some who become afraid in tight or enclosed spaces. The cave is natural and cozy to us, but it could seem like a confine to this creature."

Konpeito made a noise that might have been a sigh or a scoff, it said "Suppose it's really just trying to get away."

"Then we should let it get away." Korizato said, "Of course it'd be very silly of it to do so when it still has healing to do. Especially if it's lost and doesn't know where its people are."

Rhubara considered the truth of that, and if Korizato was a healer like these aliens said then it might be able to help restore her tail.

Konpeito sighed, "I guess we can move our supplies into this cavern, it's warm enough."

"And I don't think there's any knife-tails left in the area, that great monster must have killed them all." Misiri—Rhubara Guessed—said.

"That's why I think asking this little thing questions is so important." Konpeito sighed, "We don't know what its connection is to the great monster, and we've never seen one of those before either. It's so much strangeness going on all in one night, and if one of them can speak I don't understand why we shouldn't make it speak."

Korizato laughed what sounded like a good-natured laugh, "I bet it will in its own time. Don't force fate, things will play out the way they're meant to, my love."

But Rhubara was quickly putting two and two together. _I see,_ she thought to herself, _they must have stopped me while I was an Oozaru . . . if they cut off my tail . . . maybe they can't imagine that one thing can transform into another thing, maybe they just assume I'm related to the Oozaru rather than understanding that I_ was _the Oozaru . . . but if they were strong enough to hurt me I'd better play nice._

"I won't run away if you let me stay near the open." Rhubara suggested.

"There." Korizato said, "That seems reasonable."

Konpeito nodded and said, "All right, we'll do that then." It turned to the other two Iwatians, Misiri and one whose name hadn't been said yet, "You should let Bingtang know just in case a pack of knife-tails happens along while we're asleep and ends us. The creature woke and it could speak, it remembered next to nothing, then it was afraid of enclosed spaces so we slept near the entrance of the cave."

"Succinct." Misiri said.

"Well you know me, I hate long stories." Konpeito said with a shudder.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The next few days were fairly uneventful, talking to the little creature didn't yield much but Kori kept trying. It was all too exciting to find a new kind of life form.

The healer would spend hours trying to get answers from the little creature, but it actually seemed like answering questions was more productive, and the little being had a lot of questions.

But one thing that was of concern to the healer was the fact that when Misiri and others brought them supplies and stories they were beginning to tell the same tale each time. Blue-white stars appearing in the sky, smoke on the horizon and rumors of destroyed villages.

Korizato knew the little creature knew something, Kori didn't miss how closely the little being suddenly paid attention when Misiri mentioned the destroyed villages. It was obvious that the little creature was listening and for all its insistence that it never remembered anything it was only making it easier for the aura-reading healer to recognize when its aura took on a shade of deceit.

"What about your name? Won't you even tell me that?"

"I don't remember."

Kori raised an eyebrow. "You don't do you? Should I name you?"

The little creature scoffed. "What would you call me?"

"'Tiny' comes to mind." Kori teased.

The little creature made a weird noise that Kori had learned was its version of a laugh, and the healer leaned back against the wall of the cave entrance and asked, "At least tell me . . . why don't you like being in the cave. Is it because you come from someplace a lot more wide open? Do your kind like plains?"

"I don't remember. Tell me why your kind like caves if you have towns and cities."

"How do you know we have towns and cities?" Korizato asked.

"I saw them." The little creature shrugged.

"And you knew what they were? So does that mean you have towns and cities?"

"I don't remember . . ." The little creature grumbled.

A lie of course. Korizato smiled indulgently, "Well do you prefer to sleep out in the open?"

"No . . ." The creature said a bit hesitantly.

"So you do like having a roof over your head?" Kori reasoned.

"It's not the same thing." The little creature said. "It's fine if I can see the way out, it's fine if I can get out if I have to."

Kori nodded and winked playfully, "That makes sense. So all of your people stay out of caves and keep to big open areas and they don't have cities. I'm learning more all the time."

"No, no, no, we _have_ cities after the—I mean . . ."

Kori smiled, "It's okay you know. You can tell me things . . . I promise I won't tell anyone else."

The little creature raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Oh really? Why wouldn't you tell anyone else?"

"Because it's a secret, isn't it?" Korizato whispered as if they were sharing in some grand conspiracy. "I think we both know you know what secrets are."

The little alien folded its arms and looked out into the forest.

"I want to get out. I want to go out there." It told Korizato.

The healer nodded, "Well I tell you what . . . you know Konpeito tours a perimeter around the cave each day looking out for knife tails, right?" The little creature nodded, "Do you think that you'd be any good at that?"

"Of course!"

"That would make you happy?" Korizato asked, and again the creature nodded. Korizato held out a hand and said, "I'll make Kon take you along if you promise to tell me things. I'll keep secrets if you need me to, even from Kon, but you have to start answering me."

The little creature eyed Kori's hand suspiciously. "No."

"Why not?"

"I can't. I don't remember."

Kori sighed. "You think we'd hurt you or your kind, don't you?"

The little creature's aura showed surprise, then it answered, "No."

"Well that's good." Korizato said, "Because we wouldn't. We just want to know. We're curious. Aren't you curious? You ask me questions and I give you answers, isn't it just fair that you do the same?"

The little creature kept its arms folded and huffed a frustrated sigh. Korizato said, "Tell you what . . . for every question you actually answer I'll answer two _and_ tell Kon to take you on the walk. But you have to answer at least two questions each day starting now."

The creature glowered, "And you won't tell anyone what I tell you?"

"Not if you don't want me to."

"And I can get out? I can go into the woods?" It pressed.

"You could do that now." Korizato pointed out.

"But I don't know where I am." The creature said.

_Aha. So you'd run if you could find your way home . . . maybe that wouldn't be so bad if only I didn't think you knew something about the blue star,_ Korizato thought. The healer said, "Since you don't remember anything I don't know how to help you with that. But if you want to get out of this cave and go for a walk with Kon who can keep you safe from anything that might be out there and guide you back here where you know there's food and shelter we can make that deal."

The little creature seemed to consider for a while and finally said, "Suppose you were taken to another village. Suppose that other village wanted to burn your village down and take all your food, they wanted to know things about your village to help them do that. Do you Iwatians have that kind of concept?"

"You mean raiding? Sort of . . . our ancestors used to raid each others' villages when it was safer to fight each other than it was to risk the knife-tails in the woods. But when we built our walls the knife-tails couldn't reach us anymore, we could grow our own food instead of always having to hunt and forage. Hunting now is a lot safer since our hunters know how to sense energy as well. No one's had to raid for a long time. We don't even have warriors anymore, just hunters."

The little creature made a strange face that might have been a mixture of skeptical and amused. "No civilization can exist without warriors."

"Ours does." Korizato shrugged. "I'm sure some must."

"Until they run into a civilization that _does_ have them." The little creature scoffed.

An odd thought occurred to Kori and the healer asked, "Are you a warrior?"

The creature seemed about to recite the usual line but instead closed its mouth and said nothing. It was quiet for a moment, then said, "If you had warriors you might understand. Warriors don't answer questions no matter what, they don't give in to torture or bribery, a true warrior never surrenders to the enemy."

Kori leaned back against the warm stone of the exit again and sighed. "Do you think of me as an enemy, little one? After I tended your wounds, fed you, helped to keep you safe and sheltered? If you thought that shouldn't you try to go right now? Even if you don't know how to get home shouldn't a 'real warrior' leave all the same?"

"I never said I was a warrior." The little creature said.

"You don't have to, it's obvious." Korizato said casually.

"It is?" The little creature sounded surprised. Korizato felt the eager and hopeful "Really?" that followed worked as well as any verbal confirmation.

"Of course. But shouldn't a warrior only want to think of other warriors as their enemy?"

"Huh?" The little creature was clearly confused now.

"Well I mean when we Iwatians had warriors they fought to kill other warriors. They might take healers and farmers as prisoners . . . but they didn't fight them. So since we don't have any warriors that should mean that none of you have to fight us and none of us have to fight you."

"You can't believe it works that way . . ." The little creature sighed.

"I do." Korizato said simply.

"Well it doesn't."

"Why not?"

"It just doesn't. That's not what we're here for, I . . . I . . ." The small strange creature suddenly slumped in embarrassment.

"Don't remember?" Korizato suggested. The healer glanced down at the little creature.

It was hugging its legs to its chest and resting its forehead on its knees. Its long mane of black hair fell around it like a sort of shaggy cape draped down its back and over its shoulders.

Korizato hesitated for a moment, then said, "You're not stupid you know. You act like you're making mistakes talking to me, and your aura tells me you're getting confused and . . . a little embarrassed."

"You're tricking me." The little creature accused.

"A bit." Korizato said with a slight smile, "But that's not it . . . you're a warrior. Our warriors used to be proud, and brave. They never lied because they never had to. You're not telling me these things because you're a bad warrior, or because you're dumb, you're letting these things slip because you're an honest being, and a proud warrior."

"You're just telling me that so I'll feel better and trust you more." The creature scoffed.

"Well I did say you're not stupid." Korizato said. The Iwatian put a gentle hand on the protruding purple shoulder carapace, "It's hard lying all the time, isn't it? And it's hard lying to people who don't mean you anything but good. I also don't think you're used to having to lie so much. This is so new for you, isn't it?"

"You'd be surprised." The little creature said glumly.

"It's okay to stop . . . no one has to know you did. I want to help you, but I want to learn about you too. I'm a healer, I could never hurt anyone, I wouldn't hurt you or any others of your kind and if I thought my people would do harm to your home I'd never tell them where it is even if you told me I could. More than that I don't even want to know, I only want to know basic things for now, and if you trust me enough to tell me more that'd be so wonderful I wouldn't even have words for it. So for now . . . if you tell me just a little . . ."

The little creature mumbled a faint "I don't remember anything."

Kori smiled, "What is your name? What should I call your kind? If you answer those two questions today you'll go with Kon on his patrol tomorrow. You have all day and until I go to sleep at night to decide whether or not you want to tell me those answers . . . and if you don't we can keep doing this every day for the rest of our lives, I don't mind having such a nice vacation."

It was Korizato's turn to lie now, living in the cave was miserable. The healer missed the village and the safety of the walls and the comfort of home.

And the Iwatian was pretty certain the little creature must feel at least a little similar.

Different bodies, different ways of life maybe, but at the end of the day the healer didn't feel that this little creature was so dissimilar.

Korizato went back into the larger first cavern, leaving the little creature but staying nearby in case it needed anything, or came around. Korizato just began preparing the evening supper using mostly the vegetables from the sack that Misiri had brought the other day. It was almost empty, there'd be more supplies coming tomorrow night but Korizato wished they could all just go home to the village instead of having to wait for Misiri for more food.

Of course even if the little creature had a major breakthrough today Korizato knew Konpeito would probably never let the thing into the village, the two Iwatians were going to be stuck in this cave until that little creature was returned to its kind, a task that would take forever if it wouldn't talk to them.

And with what Korizato _had_ learned today maybe a task that wouldn't be as safe as they'd imagined.

"What's with you?" Konpeito asked at the cave entrance, and when the little creature didn't answer the hunter came into the cave and spoke to Korizato, "I didn't catch anything, why is the weird animal just staring outside? I asked it but it didn't even bother pretending it doesn't remember."

Korizato said, "Hopefully it's thinking. And stop calling it a weird animal, you wouldn't like it if it called you that."

"I'll stop when it tells me what I'm _supposed_ to call it." Konpeito said with a slight chuckle.

"Call it Rhubara." Rhubara called suddenly from the mouth of the cave, "Rhubara the Saiyan."

Konpeito stared, mouth slightly agape. Korizato smirked and asked, "Is that so? Well I'm glad to finally meet you, Rhubara. Konpeito? Tomorrow you're taking Rhubara here on patrol with you."

"Am I? Why?" Konpeito gawked.

"Because I am Korizato the Iwatian, and Iwatians always honor their deals."

Konpeito shuddered and sat down near the fire at the center of the cave, "Fine, as long as dinner isn't this confusing . . . so Rhubara the Saiyan is it? Well since you're feeling so forthcoming, just where are you from, Rhubara?"

"I don't remember."

Kon gestured towards the little Saiyan as if to ask 'what?' but Kori just laughed. "Sorry my love, _you_ didn't make a deal."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Well at least it seems like the plan is working," Leek commented as he sat beside Turles near the cooking fire.

Well, they fire they'd decided to cook on anyway. As usual they'd woken to quite a few burning in the ruined village they'd destroyed the night before.

"Do you remember anything yet?" Turles asked the larger warrior.

"No, it's still sort of like . . . going to sleep and waking up exhausted." Leek admitted, pulling a haunch of meat from the fire. They were beyond knowing what most of their meals were anymore, the Oozaru tended to leave very little identifiable. If it bled at least they assumed it was meat, if it was clothed they assumed it'd been an Iwatian. "It wouldn't be so bad if we could actually _remember_ the fun," Leek commented.

"You will once you've mastered the Oozaru form." Kumber said, appearing behind them and stealing Leek's haunch of meat. He took a large bite then spat it out and tossed the charred meat back to Leek.

Leek frowned, "Do you remember anything yet?"

"Of course I do." Kumber said. Turles raised an eyebrow at him and Kumber said, "At least I feel like I do. It's sort of like having a dream . . . my body is moving and I'm a giant but I can't control my own actions."

"That sounds kind of awful." Turles said.

"I'm sure it won't last. Like any dream once you realize you're dreaming you should be able to take control." Kumber said.

"I always wake up when I try to do that." Leek said.

"You can't wake up form being an Oozaru." Turles pointed out.

"The point is," Kumber said with a sigh, "I'm starting to remember at least some of it. The more we use it the easier it'll be, I think."

"Well we'll keep our tails curled." Turles said with a shrug.

"Actually Turles I was wondering. How did you and that other one learn to summon the false moons?" Kumber asked. "You're low class warriors, that's something usually only the elites know."

Turles shrugged again. "Well I mean . . . you know . . ."

"No I don't, or I wouldn't ask. Elaborate." Kumber said coldly. "Cauli is the daughter of one of the king's advisors and I'm from the same clan as King Vegeta himself and no one ever offered to teach us the technique. We became regulars even at this young age and still no one ever offered. Cauli knew you and Rhubara knew the technique, it's why you're here. How'd you learn it? Why don't you have more control of the Oozaru if you've mastered such a technique?"

Turles tilted his head to the side, "What do you mean?"

"You must not have used it before, right? I mean if you don't have control of the Oozaru just using that false moon could cause all kinds of problems on Planet Vegeta. So how'd you learn it and how'd Cauli know you knew it?"

Turles sighed, Leek decided to take his haunch of mystery meat and go for a walk, leaving the smaller youth alone with the irate warrior.

Turles stood up and said, "All right, all right. Look . . . the principal of the power ball isn't that rough. Anyone could learn it."

"Well _w_ _hy_ do you know it?" Kumber asked again. "Why would a low class warrior, no why would _two_ low class warriors know that technique? It's so potentially dangerous you should be a regular just for knowing it but this is only your first off-world mission. So why?"

" _Because_ I'm a low-class warrior." Turles answered finally. "I needed something to get me off that planet on a mission. Just like you said knowing this should have meant me being a regular just because of its usefulness."

"Nice try." Kumber said archly. "But if that were the case why didn't others know about it? If you thought this would get you assigned to missions why weren't you boasting about it?"

"Because I learned it _before_ I knew we weren't supposed to know it," Turles grumbled, "How obvious do you need me to make it? Look, you're right, the technique is dangerous, okay? That's why only the elites are _supposed_ to know it, but before that rule came out do you really think no one was passing it around?"

"Okay, so how did Cauli know you could use it?"

"I don't know, maybe Rhubara told her."

"And you learned from Rhubara?" Kumber asked.

_Well she's probably dead, not like there's any way this can bite me._ Turles thought to himself, so he said, "Sure. I mean she was pretty talented, she could fight even with me after all."

"And yet she lost to Raditz." Kumber scoffed.

"That was a rumor," Turles scoffed back, "She wouldn't have gotten assigned to this mission if she'd really lost to Bardock's crybaby son."

"Keep telling yourself that." Kumber said. "She was only here because Zorn put her name down personally."

"What? Why?" Turles asked.

"That's the real question, isn't it?" Kumber whispered in agreement. "Anyway if Rhubara knew it how'd she learn it?"

"Her father is an elite." Turles answered quickly, "I mean how did you think she knew Cauli?"

"I hadn't wondered . . ." Kumber admitted. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then said, "All right . . . fine. You learned from Rhubara and she learned from her father. And I guess that explains how Cauli knew you knew it."

Turles wondered why Kumber didn't ask Cauli himself.

Kumber was nodding slowly, still thoughtful. "So you said anyone could learn it. And you're just a low-class warrior so there's nothing you can do that I can't."

_Oh I don't know about that._ Turles thought, but he said, "So that's it then? You just want to learn the technique? Why all the questioning then?"

"Why not?" Kumber asked. "I had to know I could trust you, didn't I?"

_Boy are_ you _a poor judge of character._ Turles thought, but he smiled, "It'll be easy. We'll start practicing it before each attack."

"We'd better. If I'm going to master the Oozaru I want to be able to use it whenever I want as well." Kumber said with a sinister smirk. He slapped Turles on the shoulder and headed back to the cooking fire.

Turles wasn't hungry though, he decided to find a different fire and take a nap nearby. As he walked off he heard Cauli say, "Interesting play, lying to Kumber like that. Hope it doesn't backfire."

Turles scoffed and turned to face the female warrior. She was resting inside of the remains of a hut, its roof and two of its four walls were rubble but Cauli was resting leaned against its remaining corner. Her head was bowed as if she'd been napping, but even so Turles had had no idea she was nearby.

"All he has to do is ask a few questions to know Rhubara's father wasn't an elite." Cauli warned him.

_Blast . . . she's right._ Turles thought. "Why should he care unless you're gonna rat me out?" He asked.

"Me rat on you like some lily-livered Tuffle? Why should _I_ care?" Cauli asked, looking up at him. "If Kumber's up to something that's his business. If he wanted to know how I knew you and Rhuby knew the false moon technique he could have asked me."

_And the fact that he didn't at least implies he's up to something._ Turles understood. "What do you think?" He asked. "Do you think he'll try to move against you?"

_And are you looking for an ally?_ Turles wondered. Having potentially put himself in a dangerous position with Kumber he'd be inclined to support Cauliflora if it came to conflict. After all she was obviously the smarter fighter even if Kumber was stronger.

"I think a lot's gone wrong this mission. I think the inhabitants are stronger than we expected and their ability to absorb our attacks should have been in the briefing but it wasn't. I wondered how they could have survived on a world with such a powerful alpha-predator, turns out they're really powerful in their own right, but we're supposed to believe Frieza's men just didn't want to have to do this job themselves?"

"Yeah but why would Lord Frieza lie about that?" Turles asked. "It's not like he sent us here just to be killed, right?"

"No, of course he didn't." Cauli said. "But he certainly didn't send us here to get any stronger. We knew we'd need to transform but we didn't think we'd have to transform for _every_ fight. Frieza's intelligence was bad." Cauli said. "We're supposed to get stronger from these missions but we don't improve from fighting as Oozaru, we need a good fight to get stronger not something we just floated through or worse didn't remember."

Cauli folded her arms and rolled to her feet. She stood with her back turned to him and she looked at the wall of a ruin as she thought to herself, quietly saying, "Still even with the bad intelligence if Kumber couldn't finish this mission it'd look bad for him. He'd go home an even bigger failure than the rest of us since he was in command."

"Sure." Turles said. "But why do you think he's going behind your back?"

"Who knows? Probably just to stay ahead of me. Maybe he's hoping he'll impress the high ups when he gets back, maybe he's just hoping he can do some solo missions in the future. Maybe he just wanted to know why I knew people who knew the technique but didn't bother to learn it myself, for all he knows the technique saps the strength of its user. It doesn't matter."

"You don't care?" Turles asked.

"I like to know what's what when it comes to planning, sure. If Kumber's trying to learn a new technique in secret it's at least worth some attention, but I don't see it being a problem for me. Just you if he finds out you're lying. Sure would be unlucky for you if I told him."

Turles folded his arms, "So keep you informed on Kumber and you won't inform Kumber on me?" Turles guessed. "What keeps me from just siding with him if it comes down to it?"

"What keeps him from just finding out you lied to him down the road? Wouldn't it be a lot more helpful if I were there to back up your story?"

Turles sighed. "He's hardly a genius. As long as you're not going to tell him he won't find out."

"Sounds reasonable." Cauli said. "Just don't know if it's a chance _I'd_ take."

Turles regarded her with scrutiny. What was she up to? _I know she's smarter than Kumber, but is she smarter than_ me _too?_ He wondered.

Cauli looked over her shoulder at him and asked, "Well what are you staring at? If I knew talking to you would keep you from moving on this long I'd have kept my mouth shut and gotten some sleep."

"How did you know I could use the technique?" Turles asked. "I mean if it's not in my file and the higher ups didn't know how did you?"

"You don't even _have_ a file. Rhuby told me you knew it." Cauli shrugged. "It was ages ago when I first learned she was learning it. I told her we should partner up, go on a mission and she told me to take you instead."

Turles frowned, "Why didn't you?"

"I wasn't a regular then, I couldn't request personnel for missions." Cauli shrugged.

"Your father could have." Turles said.

"My father _could_ have. But I wasn't worth that much to him, not until I proved I wouldn't be a weakling. Once I became a regular it became easier to ask him for things, and even then I have to be careful not to over-ask."

Turles gave Cauli a suspicious look, "But you used your one favor to get Rhubara on a mission with you?"

Cauli turned away again and sat back down in the rubble and ruins. She shrugged and said, "Eh, more or less. But I couldn't just ask for Rhuby. If I made it too obvious that I wanted her along the higher ups might have gotten suspicious. So enter Tullece, or Turles if you prefer. A warrior from her clan on par with her in terms of skill and strength who just so happens to also know a technique that's useful for the mission we hope to carry out. She was here because of me, but you were here because of her."

Turles sighed. "You mean Leek was seriously the only one who actually earned his way into this mission?" Turles couldn't see her face but he heard Cauli laugh a little. "Guess I should thank Rhubara then. I mean assuming we ever see her again. Probably not."

"It's been a while." Cauli said with a suspicious degree of neutrality.

"How'd you two even meet anyway?" Turles asked her.

"She saved me during the war with the Tuffles." Cauli answered with surprising ease.

"What? How could you need her to save you? You're stronger than she is."

"I wasn't when she found me." Cauli said. "I got stronger when I got better."

_Huh, I've heard of that._ Turles thought. _So that's it then, you feel grateful to her. I guess that makes sense, even if gratitude isn't really a warrior's way._

"Is that why you wanted her to go on missions?" Turles asked.

Cauli hesitated, then nodded slightly. "I didn't like seeing her hold herself back. Ever since we met I've had her back and she's had mine, that's rare you know."

"That's how it used to be with me and Tell." Turles agreed.

"That's how it would be with you two if you weren't hung up on stupid nonsense like who's taller." Cauliflora scoffed, "With me and Rhuby it's simpler. I'm stronger and we're both fine with that. But she's still a good partner, she's trustworthy. I knew what she was worried about . . . but I told myself she'd overcome it then we'd rampage through the stars." Cauli laughed, "With her as my partner nothing would stand in our way, we'd make whole planets go the way of the Tuffles."

"What was she scared of?" Turles asked.

Cauli sighed, "I guess there's no harm in telling now . . . Rhuby was afraid of enclosed spaces she couldn't escape, she panics in the space pods because it's confined and she can't get out once it's in operation."

"What? That's . . . what? How could an enclosed space kill you? That's utterly insane!" Turles laughed.

He stopped laughing when Cauli rolled to her feet again, closed the distance between them and punched him in the gut. He fell to his knees gasping for air and she kicked him onto his back and crouched down beside him to look him in the eyes as she spoke.

"I just told you she saved my life, so don't ever mock her. Even if she's dead she's more to me than you'll ever be, so watch it, understood?" Cauli spoke calmly and slowly, but there was an obvious threat in her tone.

Turles nodded and coughed. She stood up and nodded back to him. "Good. Glad we've got that settled."

Turles took a few deep breaths, when he got up it took everything he had not to attack Cauli's back as she walked away.

Though coughing he tried, "You know—ughff—if you need a _new_ partner you probably won't make friends—ughff—punching people like that!"

"I don't!" Cauli scoffed. "I've only got one partner!"

Turles scoffed and walked with a little more difficulty than he wanted to the spot that Cauli had been lying in before they'd started talking. He flopped down and took her place holding his stomach with a slight groan.

_Your partner's probably dead,_ Turles thought, _you'll need a new one, especially if you want to stand any chance against Kumber if he makes a move._

Not that he exactly relished the idea of working with Cauliflora in the long term, but she was smart, she was strong and with a punch like that he wasn't so sure she wouldn't stand a chance against Kumber anymore. Kumber might have the higher power level, but Cauli was close enough that the difference in intelligence might just be enough to tip things in her favor if it came to conflict.

So he'd stick with her . . . after she'd had a little time to cool down.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

_Character Image - Cauliflora_  


_Note: This image of Cauli is meant to make her look fairly youthful and teen-like (difficult to do) so she'll actually have another image for her grown-up self shared to the first chapter of season two._


	33. Trials of the Tree Part Three

**Trials of The Tree  
**

**Part Three**

**Demon Days**

 

Rage was just about all the Oozaru knew. Cauli slammed her massive fist down on an alien hut, crushing the inhabitants if there were any still hiding within. She wasn't aware of it really, it or any inhabitants. They didn't exist, what existed was the challenge.

It was as if the Oozaru looked at an Iwatian hunter that threw its spear at it and it thought, 'Puny little nothing! You attack ME?!' before roaring and stomping the unfortunate brave fool flat into a gross paste. Cauli did these things but she didn't do them, she saw them without seeing them, her mind existed in the Oozaru but it was a small minor thing set off to the side.

The Oozaru had a mind of its own, it had plans of its own, it wanted to kill everything. It was using her body to do it, but at the same time it wasn't her body, it was the Oozaru's body. The hands were the Oozaru's hands, the feet were the Oozaru's feet, none of her remained there was only the Oozaru's mind and awareness and yet she could _feel_ the impact from punching a hole through the village's wall, she could hear the screams and feel the heat of the fires the Oozaru and its pack were setting with their mouth blasts.

She didn't know if this was some new level of awareness or if she always participated to this degree but if this experience was different perhaps the difference was that she was not simply letting the Oozaru lead the charge, Cauliflora was participating, even from her tiny corner of the metaphorical room that was her mind Cauli was actually basking in the rage, it mirrored her own, she was letting the Oozaru's absolute assurance of its superiority and power drown her other emotions and instead they both shared the unadulterated high of pure rage.

_Don't let that one get away,_ the part of her mind that was Cauliflora told the Oozaru part of her brain.

'You're not as fast as me, you worthless insect!' The Oozaru thought, grabbing a fleeing Iwatian and squeezing it to death before hurling it over its shoulder.

Cauli could see she could act, she could be a part of the carnage . . . she didn't fight for control, she just tried hard not to be buried by the rage, to instead lend her own river of anger to the ocean that was the Oozaru's. It was like lending her voice to a crowd participating in a long roar, she could hear them but she could also hear herself, she could feel her own shout even if it was just drowned out by all the rest.

It had been days and they'd seen no sign of Rhuby and every day they rested and she waited, every night they transformed and annihilated the alien population. Perhaps her rage was becoming so strong she could identify with the Oozaru's, or at least that was how it felt tonight. Maybe that was the secret or maybe it was always like this, she didn't know.

She didn't care either, she was enjoying this. She was looking through eyes that were her own but weren't, she could feel the actions being taken but she wasn't the one taking them. The voice in her head was hers of course, so was the 'voice' she was associating with the Oozaru . . . but they somehow really weren't hers. It was like sharing her head with something else, something more primal, more concerned with asserting its superiority, its dominance over the area and everything that moved within it, but somehow not against its brothers.

The other Oozaru weren't a threat, they were brothers, they were friends, they were safe, they smelled right, they looked right, they could live.

Nothing else smelled right, nothing else looked right, everything else was a threat.

No . . . not a threat. They _wanted_ to be a threat, but nothing threatened the Oozaru, she was the mistress of all she surveyed, she ruled everything she saw. Every living thing looked to her and awaited her judgment, but the verdict was always the same: death.

The Oozaru would destroy every living thing and she would do it gladly without hesitation, without remorse or restraint. It felt good, it was _fun_. She was that primal part of the Saiyan brain, that part that _needed_ to fight, to improve, to constantly strive for more only amplified a thousandfold. She was the unstoppable raw rage that fueled the Saiyan race.

Was she some prehistoric ancestor, had the Saiyans evolved from the Oozaru or had they always been joint monsters? Cauli couldn't know, she couldn't even know if learning the answer would remain with her when she woke in the morning, all she knew was that this planet, the entire planet, needed to die.

The Oozaru agreed, things that could never fight back still needed to be destroyed, that tree line needed to burn, the crops the aliens had been growing needed to be trampled. To the Oozaru even non-living things were offensive: that building needed to be rubble, that hillside should be flattened and all of these things the Oozaru was happy to do, almost relieved to do as if acting out its rage somehow eased something inside of it, some sort of secret need.

It all smelled right once it was broken and dead. Death smelled right. She was angry and she wanted to break things, break people, destroy civilizations, everything needed to die because she'd lost something.

They were massacring more than just one village each night, the Oozaru would devastate hundreds of kilometers each night destroying anything they found. It was a large planet, but they'd only have to be at it another week before they were finished.

Their plan was working somehow, the villages were being evacuated and that let the Oozaru travel even further each night. Their scouters confirmed the planet was gradually emptying.

And that meant that there were fewer and fewer high power levels, fewer and fewer chances that Rhubara would turn up one day. At first Cauli had thought 'maybe her scouter broke' but by now . . . there was just no way . . .

And yet she couldn't fully bring herself to believe Rhubara was gone until she saw proof. Part of her insisted that it'd been too long, Rhubara was gone . . . so why couldn't she just accept it?

She didn't know, and that made her angry.

The Oozaru didn't know or care about any of that and it didn't have to, its strength was so immense that the Iwatians, the aliens that had come to represent Cauli's own bad decisions, couldn't hope to stand against it. The Oozaru was their doom, it would take from them their world, their families, their lives, it would take everything that mattered.

And it would do it without any reason.

Just like life itself, for no reason at all it would take away everything that mattered.

_She was here because of me!_ Cauli thought as she tore a building up from its base and hurled it into the woods, _If it weren't for me she'd be safe and sound on planet Vegeta! I practically forced her into that pod!_

Cauli leapt to the top of the village's wall and the weight of her Oozaru body sent the portion of it she was perched on crashing down into the trees, she opened her mouth and shot a blast of energy at the building she'd hurtled finishing off any inhabitants inside that might have survived and burning a leaving a fiery crater in the woods before throwing herself at another foolish hunter who'd tried to throw a spear at her back.

For the poor Iwatian it must have seemed like overkill but the Oozaru's full attention was on him as Cauli threw her immense bulk forward and grabbed the hunter with one massive leathery hand. She raised him up high and then opened her hand and slammed it onto the ground palm first.

One of the other Oozaru, she wasn't really able to tell whom, charged into a building in front of her, it was only waist high to them but it seemed like most of the remaining hunters were trying to protect it. The Oozaru didn't care why they were there but Cauli thought, _You really want to protect that place, you're staring destruction in the face to do it._

The Oozaru wanted to jump on the top of the building and let its bulk crush everything inside then smash the hunters outside like ants. Cauli wanted to kill them first, to give them the death their brave defiance had earned.

But Cauli wasn't running the show, the Oozaru was, _You can't always get what you want,_ she thought bitterly, _sometimes you get to live just long enough to see the things you want to protect die!_

Those hunters learned that in their last moments as one Oozaru stomped on some of them and then a second, Cauli leapt onto the top of the wood and stone building they'd been protecting and craved in its roof coming down on whomever must have been inside before flailing her fists to smash all those that remained in the area.

It was a harsh lesson and one that would benefit them for only an instant before they met their ends, but if she remembered the events of the night it would benefit Cauliflora the rest of her life: The Oozaru was the ultimate truth of the universe, it was unkind, it was unstoppable, it was the veritable embodiment of death and destruction. It was almost indiscriminate but its power belonged to just one race in the galaxy.

The Saiyans.

_And yet we're just as worthless compared to them,_ She thought, _a Saiyan warrior could never defeat a rampaging Oozaru, we may become them but if we were separate we'd just be prey too._

Unless of course she could learn to control the Oozaru, but then again why would she want to?

It felt good to just give in to rage, to let her anger carry her away and to lash out, to act on that anger without any chance of someone stronger stopping her. She was the strongest, the Oozaru was unstoppable, it was death, it was destruction it was the hand of fate.

And even if it made a mistake it wouldn't matter, even if it got a comrade killed it wouldn't matter, the Oozaru didn't think it didn't feel sad, it didn't feel guilty or responsible it just felt rage and a desire to conquer. It was so easy to just give in, to succumb to that will, that emotion, that mind.

_But I_ am _a Saiyan._ Cauli thought to herself. There was no way she'd just give in. If she could fight she'd fight, if she could overcome she'd overcome.

Still she saw in her mind those violet orbs, those strange perfect purple eyes that'd looked into hers years ago, eyes that could make her heart skip a beat just as well as any rampaging Oozaru but somehow didn't make her feel afraid.

Eyes she'd closed forever.

She roared and as unstoppable and overwhelming as the Oozaru's rage was she could swear there was just the tiniest hint of sorrow to be heard in that roar.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhubara lay at the cave entrance listening to the sounds of the night and maybe pouting just a little bit over her failed attempt to find her scouter in the wreckage of her pod. A part of her hoped running off the way she had wouldn't disqualify her from going on walks with Konpeito, she did enjoy getting out of the cave. She felt less like a prisoner when she could actually get out and exercise.

As they'd walked that day she'd gathered through light conversation more or less where the crash site had been, when they got nearer the husks of burnt trees in the area and the smell of death from the knife-tails she'd killed as an Oozaru had helped. The idea of getting back in contact with the others had been too overwhelming, she'd rushed off into the trees and found her broken pod.

She couldn't believe it even seeing it with her own eyes. Certainly she'd lost control and used the false moon inside the pod, she remembered that. But how had it worked? It was supposed to reflect blutz waves but inside the pod . . . what could it have reflected? It should have been nothing more than a pretty light, and Rhubara knew she hadn't just transformed through sheer willpower.

And yet it _had_ worked. It confused her just seeing the wreckage and the evidence, however that hadn't stopped her from looking for her scouter. Unfortunately she didn't realize that Konpeito had tracked her. The Iwatian had yelled at her and dragged her back. The two great gray creatures had discussed her until Misiri came to deliver supplies and stories. Rhubara had listened with great interest to those, they were all about destroyed villages and rumors of monsters under white stars. Rhubara knew exactly what that meant, and she knew what it'd mean for her if she didn't regrow her tail in time.

Honestly she was nervous. She tried to twitch her tail but it wasn't there. She hated it. She felt incomplete, a part of her was literally missing and it was a part she'd taken for granted. She'd never thought about it before, used to just keep it wrapped around her waist most of the time. Now that she lacked it she couldn't stop thinking about it any time things slowed down and "recovering" in the cave was painfully slow.

She'd lost her tail at the worst possible time. As a child she'd regrow it as many times as she needed, but her body was growing and developing into its adolescent phase and no one was really sure just when the ability to regrow tails went away but the consensus was that that was around the time when it did.

She couldn't go back to Planet Vegeta like this, her own people would shun her . . . she wasn't even a _Saiyan_ like this, she was . . . nothing. One full moon and her own people would destroy her without a second thought. Even Cauli.

Lying in the opening of the cave staring at the night sky above the massive moon wasn't quite full. She wondered if, due to its size, some of its light had filled her pod before landing? Who could say. She wondered if Cauli and the others were looking at that same nearly full moon or if they were on the rampage again. It was probably the latter. She wondered when she'd see a blue-white orb hanging in the sky above and hear the roar of the Oozaru coming her way.

_I wonder what that sounds like._ Rhubara thought, realizing she'd never actually heard it in a state of mind that could recall it later.

Konpeito and Korizato were talking in the cave, Rhubara could hear them though she pretended she couldn't, the Iwatians had duller senses than she did and she was trying to leave them with the impression that they were closer in terms of sight, smell and hearing than they really were.

It meant that when they whispered she could hear every word.

"They're headed towards us. The string of disappearing villages." Korizato said.

"Yes." Konpeito answered simply.

"Do you think it has anything to do with the great beast you saw the other night?" Korizato asked, and Rhubara had to work hard not to tense at that mention. If the Iwatians realized that she was a danger it could be all over. Without a scouter she couldn't tell what their power levels were, but the way they could just absorb her energy blasts told her that fighting her way out wasn't wise, at least not without her tail.

_Maybe if I were more of a brawler._ She thought. But she'd always relied primarily on strong energy blasts.

And of course if she had her tail she'd be fine. If the others were succeeding as Oozaru she could to.

"Yes." Konpeito repeated. "I think it does, and I think our little ward here knows more than it's letting on."

"Yes . . ." Kori said. Rhubara's blood ran cold. If she ran Konpeito would find her, the alien had proven that just that morning.

"Curious." Korizato said. "You know, I told it about the tree this morning."

"You did? Why?" Konpeito asked, sounding surprised. Was the tree some sort of secret? If so Korizato was absolutely horrible at keeping prisoners.

Of course Rhubara had accidentally let enough things slip when talking to Kori that she couldn't really feel too superior.

"I thought if I told it something it would tell me something." Korizato answered, and Rhubara relaxed a bit.

  
"Did it?" Konpeito asked and Rhubara kept her expression neutral, but she wanted to smile with pride.

_Not a thing, I've been smart. It's a good thing I've only had to reveal a little bit of information about myself,_ she thought, _Korizato is too trusting, but so far all I've had to give up is my name and my species._

"Yes." Korizato answered and Rhubara's confidence shattered immediately. "It told me it wanted to see the tree. When I told it what the fruit did it said it wanted to taste the fruit." Korizato elaborated and Rhubara breathed a sigh of relief, but felt annoyed at Korizato for making her question herself.

_Well . . . maybe it's not really Korizato's fault. You have slipped up, you're not a very good prisoner. Of course that's just incentive to get away and never be a prisoner again . . . the others never need to know._ She thought to herself while heaving a worried sigh.

Who knew what she'd reveal about herself through casual conversation if she didn't get away soon?

Konpeito didn't hear her and laughed, "Every child wants that. Imagine a monster believing juvi stories."

"I think it is a juvenile, actually. Or maybe an adolescent. Either way it seems to really enjoy stories." Korizato said.

"You don't say." Konpeito said with a yawn, "Well you certainly seem better than me at getting it to speak, my love."

_I guess . . ._ Rhubara thought. Talking to Korizato actually wasn't all that unpleasant, it just wasn't . . . well, the moral thing to do. Rhubara couldn't let herself forget that she was the Iwatians' prisoner, but at the same time Korizato being a healer was obviously trained to feel compassion and it wouldn't surprise her if the Iwatians had put her in a secluded situation with just such a being in order to make her reveal information to a sympathetic ear.

No matter how empathetic Korizato appeared Rhubara knew it was a lie, she had to be sterner with herself about not admitting to anything. Korizato was as much an enemy as all the other Iwatians and when the mission was over either they'd all be dead or Rhuby and the other Saiyans would be. Conquer or be conquered, there was no middle ground, not for a true Saiyan warrior.

Korizato laughed, "Yes, it says such fascinating things. Do you know, it's very eager to regrow its tail."

_Did . . . did I mention that?_ Rhubara stared into space in shock for a moment. _Well . . . I mean . . . telling a healer . . . it's not that big a deal, right?_

"To do what?" Konpeito sounded interested now. That was dangerous. Konpeito made no pretense at being trained for empathy.

"Its tail. It says its tail should regrow, it's waiting for it. It'd be a curious case indeed. I've never heard of creatures regenerating parts of themselves like that."

Rhubara was still staring out into the night when she heard Konpeito suddenly stir, but before she could respond the Iwatian warrior's heavy hand had grabbed her by the back of her armor's collar and lifted her off the ground while yanking her back and turning her so that they looked at each other eye to eye.

"The night I found you there was a blue glow, a light. It's the star everyone's seeing, isn't it?" Konpeito demanded angrily. Rhubara stared, not sure if she should lie or play dumb.

Korizato put a hand on Konpeito's shoulder and said, "Easy my love, don't hurt the poor thing."

"Don't you see? It's dangerous!" Konpeito insisted.

"Yes, of course it is. But it isn't hurting us, so we shouldn't hurt it." Korizato said in a soft and soothing voice. "We're taking care of it, remember?"

Konpeito glared and Rhubara decided to glare back. _If you're going to kill me just do it,_ the Saiyan warrior thought.

"Please Kon, a gentler hand is needed with this one." Korizato whispered, but Rhubara could hear it.

Konpeito hesitated, then set her back on the ground with surprising gentleness. "Apologies, small one. I lost my temper . . ."

Rhubara was stunned. Perhaps she was just insane, but to her it seemed as if Konpeito wasn't acting out of rage, but rather the Iwatian was acting out of fear.

"I frighten you." Rhubara realized, and she was even more surprised and even a little confused when Konpeito nodded. She hesitated. If they were afraid of her . . . maybe there was a chance . . .

_Or maybe they're outsmarting me . . ._ Rhubara worried, but she had to take the risk. She needed her tail, she needed to be complete, she needed to get back to her comrades, she needed to get back to Cauli.

And to do that . . . she might need to be a poor prisoner.

"Okay . . . yes." She said finally. "At least I think so. The night you found me, there would have been a . . . star, as you call it."

"Why?" Konpeito asked.

Rhubara hesitated. Revealing any information to the enemy would be treasonous and admitting why she'd used the false moon technique would be . . . well, embarrassing. To top it all off it seemed like Korizato's ability to read her 'aura' whatever that was, meant she couldn't really lie to the Iwatians, at least not reliably. She asked, "Will you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"No." Konpeito said bluntly. "Tell me anyway."

_If the others learn I'm weak it'll be juts as bad as if they learn I told you things you shouldn't know,_ Rhubara thought. Still she asked, "If you see anyone like me and they ask you a question will you promise not to tell _them_ at least?"

"Fine." Konpeito said, and Korizato smiled at her as if encouraging her to speak.

_Okay . . . okay . . ._ "I . . . was scared. I woke up in the dark underground . . . in a . . ."

Just remembering the scene bothered her, she had to turn and look out the cave's mouth into the open woods around them and at the moon in the sky. To her surprise Konpeito put a hand on her shoulder, though not to roughly spin her back around, instead it seemed like the alien was trying to comfort her.

It was weird, and even weirder it worked. She calmed down enough to continue, "I must have panicked," she admitted, then seized control of herself. _You can't lie outright, but don't tell them too much, or they'll smash your head in with a rock. Don't give them any hints about the Oozaru's nature,_ she thought.

So she said, "I . . . called on the star because I wasn't thinking clearly."

_Boy is that ever an understatement._ She thought bitterly. Suddenly she shouted, "Now I've ruined everything for myself! Somehow I destroyed my pod and lost my scouter, probably destroyed it too and without it I'm lost and I can't even contact—I mean not that it matters, even if I could if my tail doesn't grow back soon I'm just the same as any of you, just prey to the Oozaru!"

"Oozaru? Is that the name of the great beast?" Korizato asked.

Rhubara stared in shock, had she mentioned the Oozaru? Had she just divulged information to the enemy? Konpeito seemed to realize why she was stunned and quickly told her, "You've already said it. What more harm can it do? Tell us and we might be able to help you."

_It's true, they could help you and they don't know everything yet . . ._ Rhubara nodded, "Okay . . . yes. Oozaru is the great beast you saw the night you found me."

"Oh this is fascinating!" Korizato squealed with delight, "Is that the name of a particular creature or of a species? What is your relationship to them, and why did you think it would help you get out of . . . where ever you were? What's this scouter, are you and this Oozaru part of some sort of a symbiotic relationship or is it more of a equenosian and rider relationship?"

Rhubara stared blankly. _What?_ She wondered.

Konpeito asked, "You called on the star?"

"Yes."

"How?" Konpeito asked.

"Why?" Korizato asked.

_Be careful, if you reveal too much you're dead,_ she reminded herself again, _Don't get carried away, just be vague, don't admit to anything directly._ She told them, "Well . . . Oozaru comes with the star." She managed. "I don't really remember everything—really!" She assured Konpeito, "but I think in my panic I thought the Oozaru would. . . free me."

"Free you from what?" Konpeito asked.

"I was . . . trapped underground. It was dark, and I was scared." Rhubara admitted before she could think of a better way to phrase it.

"Why?" Korizato asked with a voice full of concern that sounded sincere.

"I don't like dark confined places, I don't like feeling trapped. It . . . reminds me of a bad time." Rhubara admitted.

"I'm sorry for that." Konpeito said stiffly, "But . . . is it the Oozaru destroying the other villages?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Konpeito growled.

"Wouldn't you blame me?" Rhubara asked, "Or else ask me how to stop it?"

Kori leaned forward, though in an eager manner rather than a threatening one, _"Can_ you control the Oozaru?"

"No. Not even if I . . ." Rhubara paused and realized they didn't mean _her_ Oozaru, the meant the Oozaru in general, but she also had to turn this to her favor so she said, "I mean . . . I could _try_ . . ." She hesitated, "But . . . I would need . . . you know . . . my tail." She reasoned. After all . . . she couldn't so much as interact safely with the other Oozaru if she weren't one herself.

"I've never heard of tails regrowing." Kori said, "I don't know how to help with that. But if you had your tail, you could control the Oozaru?"

"No." Rhubara admitted, "I'm not . . . I mean they say the royal family can . . ." She shook her head and reminded herself that they were not referring to her own Oozaru transformation, but the Oozaru in general. "Sorry . . ." she mumbled.

"Don't apologize, just speak frankly." Konpeito told her, and the alien sounded surprisingly gentle, "What are you trying to tell us, little one? No lies."

Rhubara hesitated and turned away, it made it easier to think of how to phrase things if she didn't have to look into their eyes. "If I can get my tail back, I can call the star and . . . bring out the Oozaru." She told them honestly, "But without my tail, even if I called the star nothing would happen, or if an Oozaru did appear it would just destroy me too."

She took a deep breath and said, "If you can help me regrow my tail I promise I will call the star and you won't have anything to worry about after that."

Rhubara exhaled slowly and swallowed a lump in her throat.

It was all true . . . they wouldn't have anything to worry about once they were dead. But it wasn't as if she wanted to kill them just for fun. The truth was their lives had ended the moment Lord Frieza decided he wanted their planet, they just weren't strong enough or important enough to matter. Neither was she, but she was lucky enough to be on the winning side in the conflict . . . it didn't help when Korizato smiled at her and even Konpeito seemed a little less tense.

The hunter even asked, "All right . . . what do you think would help?"

Rhubara considered. What helped her to heal up usually? "Food, and lots of it!" She decided, "But not the stuff your hunters have been brining . . . I need more fresh meat and . . ." She hesitated and wonder if she'd be too obvious asking, "I don't know, maybe some fruit?"

"Well . . . what do you think, Kon?" Korizato asked.

Konpeito glowered at Rhubara, "Will the star or the beast come after you?"

"I hope not. Like I said, as I am now I'm just prey to the Oozaru, with my tail it'd be a different story. Without my scouter I can't tell you for sure, but by the sound of things . . . well how many villages are there between you and the last one to be destroyed?"

"A dozen or so." Korizato said sadly.

"Then we've got a dozen or so nights to get my tail back." The little creature shrugged.

"Will that be enough?" Korizato asked.

"I don't know. I've never lost my tail before." The little creature shrugged. "It's actually . . . kind of random."

Konpeito and Korizato exchanged glances, and Korizato asked, "You don't like enclosed spaces . . . why is that?"

"I told you." Rhubara said defensively.

"But I'd like you to elaborate . . . what bad time does it remind you of?"

Rhubara hesitated and scowled, "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"You're asking us to trust you an awful lot, why can't you trust us?" Korizato asked.

Rhubara huffed and clenched her fists. She looked down and whispered, "Okay . . . there was a war where I came from. My people and another race."

"The Oozaru?" Konpeito asked.

"What? No. The Oozaru ended the war." Rhubara answered automatically, then hung her head at herself, "I mean we're talking about me, not the war!"

"You brought it up." Konpeito said.

"Yeah now stop interrupting!" Rhubara said and Korizato nudged Konpeito sharply in the side. Rhubara nodded gratefully and continued, "My group were camped in a cave kind of like this one and we were all going to sleep for the night. That's when the others found us, they had scouters so they could find us easily but since they were quiet and we were relaxed we didn't know they were there. They waited until we were all inside the cave and settled down."

"Oh . . . oh my . . ." Korizato gasped, clearly guessing what would happen next.

Konpeito asked, "Didn't you have sentries?"

_For a species without warriors you certainly have no trouble knowing how wars should be fought._ Rhubara thought, but she was surprised when she felt her eyes moistening. She mumbled, "Yeah. We did." She hesitated, and then, for some reason . . . she felt like telling it all. Maybe it was for her, maybe it was for her people, she wanted these poor doomed aliens to know what happened . . . and she didn't know why.

"My father was one of the sentries . . . I was supposed to be deeper in the cave. Most fathers don't care about their kids you know, I mean for my people mostly both parents don't care, we're able to take care of ourselves fast so our parents don't need to be that involved. My mother was like that, not really involved. But my father cared, so my mother had to at least put up with me because they still liked each other. Well she told me to take him a share of dinner and I did, and since he was nicer to me than she was I didn't go straight back like I should have, instead I stayed with him and started to fall asleep at the mouth of the cave . . ."

She took a slow shuddering breath and shut her eyes. She could still see that half-moon in the sky, she could still remember her father turning to her with a smile and saying, "Hey, don't go snoring out here, head back to your mama."

She shut her eyes tighter and felt a tear roll down her cheek, "My father turned around to wake me up, he turned his back and that was when it happened. The Tuffles fired, he fell, hurt badly. They shot the cave mouth with something explosive and it caved in and fell on us. My father shielded me from the rocks with his body and then he gave in to his wounds. I was trapped under those rocks for who knows how long before . . . before everything went black."

"What happened?" Korizato asked her gently. "How did you escape?"

Rhubara frowned. She remembered those blue eyes looking into hers . . . "Cauli . . . the next thing I remember is Cauli waking me up. Her group had attacked the Tuffles and realized what happened. They dug my tribe out."

_No need to mention the rest . . ._ Rhubara thought.

To her surprise Korizato moved forward, the alien wrapped its thick gray arms around her and held her close to its core. It was warm and felt surprisingly nice.

It took Rhubara a long time to realize she was being hugged simply because it wasn't typically something a Saiyan warrior did. Even her father had only ever hugged her once when she was very little.

Konpeito sighed, "All right . . . we'll take you home tonight."

"Home?" Rhubara asked, still recovering from being unexpectedly hugged.

"To our village. I'll explain the situation to the elder, in the morning I'll take you hunting, you won't find fresher meat than that." Konpeito told her. "Our people will do everything in their power to help you get your tail back."

"No more cave?" Rhubara blinked.

"No, an open village protected by large strong walls." Korizato told her.

"Good!" Rhubara said excitedly. She didn't care about walls, she cared about not being in a cave anymore, "You won't regret this, once my tail is back I promise I'll call the star and bring the Oozaru and you won't have to worry about anything else for the rest of your lives!"

The full weight of Rhubara's own words settled in and she frowned for an instant before she snapped herself out of it and went back to smiling. If she could regrow her tail none of the rest of this would matter.

"Don't over-promise." Konpeito sighed, oblivious to her sudden swing in emotions.

"Sorry . . ." She said automatically.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Turles and the others stood at the top of the wall looking down on the Iwatian town as the sun began to set.

It was completely empty. The inhabitants had gathered up their things and fled just as they'd hoped they would.

"Well . . . this is no fun." Leek said. Everyone was silent for a long time before Cauliflora finally answered him.

"Did . . . did you not know it was going to be empty?"

"Well . . . I . . ."

"Didn't check your scouter?" Suggested Kumber.

"Well . . . why would we come here if not to destroy more Iwatians?" Leek asked.

Turles had wondered too, but given the reaction Leek was getting now from the two regulars he was glad he hadn't actually asked. Kumber told Leek, "We've been raging then resting, raging then resting for days now. We don't really remember everything that's happening but here we can actually look around at one of these places before it's been trashed."

"Okay . . . but why?"

"Because I don't feel like sleeping in the woods tonight. Besides, they're doing what we want them to do." Kumber said. "They're running and they're warning others."

"You know we're not paid by the hour right?" Leek asked.

"You get _paid_?" Cauli joked.

"Yeah. That's the other reason we're here." Kumber smirked. "If they were smart enough to run hopefully they ran quickly. Maybe they left some neat stuff in the village. Since we destroy all the other villages it's hard to tell, you know."

Turles smiled, "I get it. Let's go shopping then."

"Oh . . ." Leek nodded, finally comprehending and then looking excited as a child on Frieza day, "All right!"

"Just remember, it has to fit in your pod." Cauli said.

"It's a good thing we're still pretty small then." Turles said. He smirked at Leek, the largest out of all of them as far as size went and added, "Most of us, anyway."

Leek didn't seem to catch on but Kumber snickered a bit.

Cauli looked around and said, "There's a lookout tower . . . I wonder why."

"What do you mean?" Turles asked. "Why wouldn't they have one?"

"Because of how thick the trees are, how much can they possibly see?" Cauli shrugged. She flew slowly off towards it.

"Okay . . . well good talk, dismissed I guess." Kumber said sarcastically but if Cauli could hear it she didn't respond. Turles thought about following her and seeing just what she thought was so interesting about the lookout tower, but the larger part of him didn't care. He was more interested in what kind of loot he could find in the village.

He flew down slowly from the wall, Scouter active just in case any of the big gray stone-skinned apes were still hiding out in the village.

Turles smiled when he saw the interior of one of the huts. The light of the setting sun offered some visibility, but not very much. He could see the floors were swept stone, the walls were smooth though he could see crude decorations on them he couldn't quite make out the details in the dim light.

"They draw on the walls like children." He said to himself. He looked at the interior of the large, circular stone structure. It was a wide room to him, but to the hulking Iwatians it probably wouldn't have been able to fit more than two or three comfortably, and there weren't many belongings in the hut, no bedrolls or anything that might indicate how many occupants it normally had, and Turles supposed they'd probably taken those things with them. All they'd left were some candles, clay figurines of Iwatians and a small stone carving of a tree.

_Their holy-site probably._ Turles thought. He picked up one of the candles and very gently zapped it with a bit of energy to light the wick on fire. He looked at the colorings on the wall now, more easily distinguished with the candlelight.

It depicted that same stone tree but as a large behemoth of a thing with vines that fell down around its massive branches like tentacles from some kind of monster. He could see Iwatians drawn all around its thick roots, they seemed like ants compared to it.

He traveled around the circular hut and saw other paintings. The scythe-tailed pig-monsters they'd seen in the woods, depictions of Iwatian hunters with spears.

It was all mildly interesting but there really wasn't much else of value in the hut so as Turles exited it he tossed a ball of energy over his shoulder, casually destroying the domicile.

"Whoa!" He heard Leek shout. "What are you doing?"

Turles couldn't see the larger Saiyan but he shouted an answer all the same, "I'm just checking off the houses I've already been in."

"Oh . . . good idea." Leek said, then Turles heard another blast and laughter.

He smiled and went to another hut.

This one at least had a large stone bowl with some root vegetables in it. Turles reached in and took some vegetables to munch on as he looked at the paintings in this hut. His candle was gray and it smelled horrible as it burned, but it still had some life left to it. All the same there were candles in this second hut and he stole one of them for later.

The second hut had a similar painting of the tree, but this time Turles saw paintings of little red dots in the tree's branches.

_Fruit._ He reasoned.

He walked around the circular stone structure again, deciding that an art gallery showing was about the best experience he was going to get out of the village—and an exclusive one at that since he was going to keep destroying all the huts he'd already been in—and saw this house showed depictions of hunters holding aloft bumpy red spheres, probably the tree's fruit he thought.

It took Turles a moment to realize that the pictures were showing a bunch of different Iwatians eating the fruit, but rather it was telling a story.

Read right to left it showed the tree, it showed a small Iwatian take a piece of fruit then eat it and become larger and stronger. It showed him killing the pig-monsters singlehandedly, running ahead of other hunters, carrying heavier loads.

_Huh_. Turles thought. _I guess if I had a magic tree with fruit that made me stronger and faster I'd worship the thing too._

He laughed and took the bowl of vegetables—tossing his extra candle in with them—and then destroyed the hut. He carried on, munching on vegetables until they were gone then taking the candle and discarding the bowl a couple of huts later.

He saw the same thing over and over, and now that he knew the Iwatians were telling stories on their walls he'd started 'reading' them and guessing what they meant.

If he was right they seemed to have a theme, life began with the tree then there'd be a hunter, or a gatherer, or a healer or someone, maybe the hut's first ancestor. Some of them ate a piece of fruit and became great, most didn't and just sort of depicted a few events.

If they did eat a piece of fruit the events seemed to depict them being . . . well . . . _better_ than their peers.

After a while it was really pretty impossible for Turles to keep ignoring the theme.

There was nothing of real value in the village . . . but he wondered if there'd be something in the larger house in the center.

It was still standing so he knew no one else had been inside. The doors were massive and heavy, at least heavy enough that Turles noticed that they were. The building was unique to the others in that it was square instead of circular, the roof like all the others was made of wood. He waved his candle around, searching but there weren't many paintings on the walls.

The walls weren't smooth, he noticed. While the other huts seemed like they were carved from solid stone the big communal building was made of carved stones piled on each other, Turles wondered if that was why they hadn't painted on the walls.

There were no stories, but towards the back from the large doors he could see a large stone carving of the tree.

He approached it, part of him wondering if maybe there'd be a piece of fruit.

Maybe he could eat it, maybe then he'd get bigger. Maybe he'd finally be even bigger than Tell.

He approached the stone tree but to his surprise found nothing particularly special. There were more stone carved people, some vegetables and hides and Turles wondered if the Iwatians had left these as some kind of offering to their holy tree before leaving their homes.

He inspected the pile of loot, not really interested in any of it apart from maybe one of the hides to use as a blanket, though none of them seemed particularly warm.

Then he noticed something that sort of seemed to call out to him . . . he didn't know why.

It was just a small brown pouch. It could have been a coin purse if he'd seen any indication that these bumpkins had currency.

He picked it up and looked inside . . .

Three large brown . . . seeds . . .

Seeds . . . were these seeds from the tree?

Turles heard the heavy doors open again and shoved the sack into his breast plate before turning around to see Kumber and Leek.

"Let's not blow this place up, huh?" Kumber said, "I know you two were having fun but let's leave this place so we've got someplace comfortable to sleep."

"Right, yeah." Turles said.

"Did you find anything?" Leek asked eagerly.

"A pile of junk here," Turles said indicating the offerings before the stone tree, "But nothing all that special. Nothing I'd keep, you know?"

"Yeah. That's kind of been this place in a nut shell." Kumber agreed.

"Lots of stupid drawings on the walls." Leek laughed, and Turles wondered if the other boys had been smart enough to recognize that they told a story.

Cauliflora probably would have been, but luckily she had been more interested in that lookout post and hadn't caught up with them yet. Turles doubted Leek or even Kumber would have noticed, let alone come to the same conclusion he had.

"Seemed to me like they told stories." Kumber commented, and Turles tried not to let on that he'd come to the same conclusion. "I think they start off bragging about an ancestor of the person who lives in the hut, then they get smaller and weaker, go to that big tree to die. I guess it's like some kind of resting place for them."

Turles rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Huh. I didn't think of that."

"Yeah, I don't figure you would." Kumber said, sounding a little smug. "You have to be observant to notice things like that. Remember that in the future if you want to be a Regular like me."

"Of course, definitely." Turles said, trying not to let on how ridiculous he found Kumber's conclusion.

_Well it makes more sense than yours,_ Turles thought, _after all doesn't it make more sense that they'd live their lives strong then go to the tree when they're weak? After all every hut depicted the tree, not every hut depicted the fruit. What if the fruit was just a reward for those who lived their lives better than the others?_

"I wonder if the fruit was poisoned then." Turles wondered out loud. _What if the fruit doesn't make you stronger, what if it just makes dying easier?_

"I thought so." Kumber said. "It seemed obvious really. Live an exemplary life and you get a piece of fruit from the deity-tree thing as a reward then everyone gathers to mourn your passing."

_Hmm, that's not totally unreasonable. Maybe it was read left to right instead of right to left._ Turles considered, and then thought of the seeds he was hiding in the breast plate of his battle suit.

_If I can get a tree to grow back home I'll just let Korrard try the fruit first! Or Raditz!_ He decided. If the fruit was lethal then nobody who mattered would die from it, and if it made Korrard strong that'd be fine since Turles himself would be the one eating most of the fruit since it'd be _his_ tree.

_Simple solutions._ Turles thought happily.

The three of them picked out places to bed down for the night in the large stone building, Turles didn't use the hides as blankets, he felt warm enough inside the stone building, but he did lay them out to make sleeping on the stone floor easier. He settled down for the night, turning his scouter off. Since they'd be in a safe secure building he wouldn't need it.

It was pretty late when Cauliflora came in, Turles was still awake but he knew the others were snoring softly. She was briefly illuminated by the soft glow of the fires from the huts they'd blown up. She'd found a candle somewhere though and she was using it to light her way, though it was probably her scouter that had told her where the rest of them had gone.

_Or the fact we blew up most of the huts._ Turles thought.

"You're coming in late. Did you see anything interesting in the village?" He asked her.

"No, you idiots blew up all the huts before I could look at them." Cauli scoffed.

Turles doubted that since she'd found a candle somewhere and since Kumber had said he wasn't blowing up huts. It was more likely that he and Leek had blown up most of the huts and she was just exaggerating, so he didn't feel too bad teasing her over it.

"Your own fault. You wanted to see the tower." Turles said. "Was there anything interesting in there?"

"I dunno. Was there anything interesting in the huts?" Cauli asked rolling her blue eyes in the candlelight.

"Some artwork. Beautiful stuff, stuff you'll never get to see." Turles teased. She'd made her decision after all. "So what was in the tower?"

"Oh nothing. Just some stone figurines and some kind of mural _you'll_ never get to see."

"Did it involve a tree?" Turles asked. "Because if it did we've all seen them."

"No." Cauli said with a shrug as she picked a corner and laid down without putting anything on the ground to soften it. "They were of animals, more than just the knife-pigs. I mean animals we haven't seen in these woods, maybe they're extinct."

"Huh." Turles thought. "Maybe the lookout tower was supposed to be for spotting animals."  
"I still don't think that makes sense. I think it was a signal tower actually . . . there was stuff for a fire at least, but they hadn't set one, so I don't know what they would have tried to signal. I mean if it were danger they should have set the fire before leaving, right? To warn other villages I mean."

"Maybe it's just the opposite, maybe the fire's to signal safety. Like a light house for hunters." Turles suggested.

"That's not a stupid idea," Cauliflora admitted, "but I don't know that they'd see it through the tree cover."

"Well maybe they don't see it." Turles suggested. "Maybe their species has some kind of connection with heat, after all this place is weirdly warm, and they absorbed our blasts. Maybe the hunters can't see the fire through the trees but they can sense the heat from it and it guides them home. But maybe since it's above the tree-line it doesn't attract those knife-pigs."

Cauliflora gave him what might have been an impressed look. "That sounds pretty reasonable, actually, I like it. You're not a half bad thinker," she told him and Turles actually smiled at the compliment as she continued, "I guess the problem with wiping species out without ever talking to them is we won't know for sure."

"Yeah, I guess." Turles admitted.

"I wonder how much we could have learned from the Tuffles." Cauliflora said to Turles' surprise.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well if they'd stayed around with all their advanced technology suppose we'd learned all about it from them before we killed them all. After all about the only thing we did really figure out was the scouters and Lord Frieza was really impressed with them. I kind of wonder if that means maybe the Tuffles had better technology than him."

Turles thought for a moment, then said, "So you think we should have worked together with a weaker species if they had better technology than us?"

"Not forever," Cauli assured him and he nodded to indicate that he hadn't assumed she was _that_ crazy, "just until we learn how it all works. You know, then we could wipe them out when we don't need them anymore. I mean would we have been annexed by Lord Frieza if we had more Tuffle Tech, or would he be the one bowing and scraping before us?"

Turles smirked, "I don't know . . . I kind of wish we could find out. But what could we have learned from the Iwatians?"

"I don't know. Maybe how they hide their power levels . . . or how they absorb blasts. They don't seem to know much as far as tech goes, and we probably wouldn't need to let every race live until we've learned what we can from them. Just the exceptional ones."

"That makes sense." Turles acknowledged. "Well, when I'm an elite off touring the stars with my team maybe I won't massacre every species right away, maybe I'll see if they've got anything worthwhile to offer me first."

Cauli nodded, "That might be fun," she said, blowing out her candle. She yawned and said, "But I don't know if you'd have the time, I bet Lord Frieza would expect faster results than that."

"Maybe he would." Turles admitted. Then he turned off his scouter and set it on the stone floor beside him. It was dark but his eyes quickly adjusted to it and he could see Cauliflora's basic outline lying with her back to him in a far corner on the stone floor as he suggested, "But suppose some day we didn't have to worry about what Lord Frieza expects."

"Oh yeah?" Cauli asked shifting from where she lay, turning to face him and Turles noticed that while he could still hear Leek snoring Kumber had stopped.

He didn't doubt the other fighter had been woken by his and Cauli's chatter and was listening quietly.

Still he'd already said it, he might as well finish the treasonous thought.

He said, "Well win or lose we get stronger after every fight, don't we? So someday we'll probably be stronger than any of Frieza's people . . . someday we might even be stronger than Lord Frieza, and if more of us learn to control our Oozaru to boot we could be a really unstoppable force in the galaxy. There could well come a time when we don't even have to call him Lord, he could just be Frieza to us!"

"Did you shut your scouter off?" Cauliflora asked suddenly, "You should shut your scouter off when you talk like that. You never know if they're listening."

"Yeah," Turles said, "Of course I turned it off."

They were quiet for a moment, then Cauli spoke up and said, "Be careful all the same. What you're talking about . . . a lot of people in the King's clan have said it too, they've said it to my dad, they've said it to our King . . . but unless you've seen him you have no idea what it's like just being in Lord Frieza's presence. He's like our own King times fifty. You don't need a scouter, you can _feel_ Frieza."

Turles frowned. Cauli said, "Of course we have the Oozaru, and we get stronger after every fight . . . maybe someday we can challenge him. But only if he doesn't see it coming until it's too late."

"Only if he isn't using us the same way we're talking about using other species." Turles pointed out. "Learning what he can from us and taking what we have to offer before doing us in."

"Yeah, as long as he isn't doing any of that." Cauli agreed. There was something about the way she said it though that told Turles this might be the first time she'd ever considered the possibility of Frieza viewing the Saiyans as just a temporary tool.

But it made sense now that he thought about it. If Frieza really was so much more powerful than they were didn't that mean by the very same rules that the Saiyans used themselves sooner or later Frieza would either conquer or be conquered? And wouldn't he want to make sure he was never conquered?

"One thing's for sure. We don't get any stronger getting sent on missions like these." Turles said.

"You really think they sent us here with bogus intelligence so we could get stronger?" Kumber asked, breaking his silence. "Just imagine how surprised and off guard we were that first night, imagine the situation we'd be in if we didn't have you for the false moon technique, Turles. Then imagine what we were _really_ probably sent here to do."

"And then try to sleep soundly knowing that even if it's true we can't do anything about it but smile and pretend we don't know." Cauli said brightly before turning over again to face the wall.

Turles did. And even though he was mad at Tell he suddenly worried about what might be happening on Frago.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

_Character Image - Rhubara_  


_Note: Like Cauli Rhuby's image here is meant to seem younger and more teen-aged. As with other characters I actually imagine her looking differently than she does here, more specifically her hair which is as long as I could make it, should be slightly longer, and I picture her bangs being the same as the Hex Channeler from Pokemon X and Y._


	34. Trials of the Tree Part Four

**Trials of The Tree**

**Part Four  
**

**Stargazers**

 

Though the nights were becoming worrisome affairs with some climbing to the top of the walls to watch for the blue star the days remained carefree and even pleasant in the Iwatian village. The forest was lush and prey animals were plentiful, though Rhubara was never really convinced that they had enough to eat.

The hunting party packed a variety of game back to the village on their shoulders. Rhubara liked hunting with the them, they could easily find prey with their sense of smell but they couldn't always easily bring it down, which was where she came in. From the first day she had been out hunting with Konpeito and his comrades her ability to use blasts or to punch something hard enough to render it unconscious had impressed everyone.

The former in particular was something none of them possessed. They could absorb heat and redirect it but apparently that didn't mean the ability to fire energy beams at will the way she could. A few had encouraged her to try using one of her beams on them once they learned that Konpeito had just caught one and absorbed it. Apparently if she shot them they'd be able to redirect it, but the elder Bingtang had insisted that they abstain from shooting each other for fun.

As for knocking her prey out with a single punch, the Iwatians had the brute strength to do it no doubt but preferred to hurl their spears at their prey. Though they were fast their prey was evasive and it turned out that Rhubara was more agile than they were and so better able to catch the long-legged forest bounding creatures that they hunted.

Rhubara had put them all to shame with her heightened senses as well. As long as they could get her close to the prey she could track it and kill it. They were trying to teach her to sense its energy but she mostly got by on smell and sound when she tracked the creatures.

Still although it was fun she hadn't regrown her tail yet and this was her second two-day hunt since she'd come to the village a week ago.

"It was a good hunt today." Bingtang said, perhaps noticing how unenthusiastic she was about their return.

"Yeah I guess. We didn't find any of those . . . knife tail things, though." Rhubara observed.

Konpeito laughed, "You don't want to find one of them."

"Kori said they're a constant danger but they haven't shown up once." Rhubara pointed out, "Just my usual bad luck."

"Bad luck for you is good luck for us." Bingtang agreed. "Very good luck, we have not seen a knife tail at all since you've started coming with us."

"Well why not?" Rhubara complained. She wanted to take on a real challenge if she could.

"Predators will avoid areas where more dangerous predators hunt," Konpeito said, "perhaps the knife tails avoid you because they know you wish to eat them."

"They can't know that until I've done it." Rhubara scoffed. She wanted to try the species before it was gone.

"You're a strange one, Little Oozaru." Konpeito said affectionately, reaching up with his massive long arm to ruffle her hair. She was riding on his shoulders so she couldn't escape, and it was kind of nice. It reminded her a little of how her father used to do the same thing.

Rhubara laughed in spite of herself, though Konpeito seemed pretty sharp. He—she was pretty sure, but she still couldn't tell—seemed to have figured out that she was connected to the Oozaru at a deeper level than she was letting on, had even terrified her when he started calling her a "Little Oozaru" but it seemed like it came from a place of affection.

Misguided but useful affection.

Besides if Rhubara were being honest with herself she rather liked the nickname. The Iwatians seemed to regard it as being on par with calling her a little monster, but for her it was a reminder that she was a Saiyan warrior who could and would someday become a raging Oozaru once again.

She just needed to regrow her tail first.

"Eating the Knife Tail is taboo," Misiri pointed out, "they eat us so if you eat them it's only a step removed from cannibalism."

"Eh. Not for me." Rhubara shrugged.

"I don't think Rhuby would object to roasted Iwatian." Bingtang said with a chuckle and the rest of the hunting party laughed. Rhubara shrugged again, she wouldn't pick it first from the table but . . . well she was a Saiyan.

Meat was meat.

Still, she figured she should change the subject and since Bingtang was some kind of leader she figured she should ask him more about the tree. She could tell it was an important part of Iwatian culture after all.

"So tell me more about this sacred tree." Rhubara suggested.

Konpeito sighed. "Of course. You know it seems to exercise an unhealthy fascination in your mind."

"Well why shouldn't it?" Rhubara wondered. She wanted her tail back after all.

"Because it's only a legend." Konpeito answered patiently.

"But you all told me-" Rhubara protested, but Bingtang cut her off.

"It's not a legend," Bingtang clarified, "the tree exists and remains. Our greatest and oldest elders go there to learn the healing arts, there are no finer healers in all the world. But the tree itself hasn't produced fruit for centuries."

"Well when will it make more fruit?" Rhubara asked.

"It has not for some time." Bingtang answered her.

"Don't you guys understand your own ecology?" Rhubara scoffed.

"Ecology?" Konpeito asked.

"You know, your own plants and wildlife." Rhubara clarified.

"The tree isn't normal for us." Bingtang told her and that got her attention. "We don't know where it came from, one day a star fell from the sky and the next day the tree had grown. At the time it is said that it took all the nutrition in the soil to feed it, and it produced fruit fit for gods. Our great elders ate the fruit and lived longer, our great hunters ate the fruit and became stronger."

"How much stronger?" Rhubara wondered. Could she catch up to Cauli by eating fruit? That'd be crazy . . . just crazy enough to entice the young Saiyan.

"Well it isn't as if we have any measurements. Besides, strength is not a number." Bingtang said.

"It is if you have a scouter." Rhubara mumbled.

"And you do not. That's why you need to learn to sense danger without one." Konpeito pointed out, shuffling a bit to jostle her. Not enough to knock her from her riding position. "Show respect to the Elder, little Oozaru."

Bingtang laughed, "Oh you can't expect a juvi to show respect to an elder like me."

"I would if this were my juvi." Konpeito said.

"You'd think Little Oozaru here _was_." Misiri commented, "You act like a father."

Konpeito shuddered, which Rhubara had learned was sort of an involuntary shrug to the Iwatians instead of the act of revulsion it was to a Saiyan. Konpeito said, "Well . . . Kori likes it a lot."

"Right, just Kori, of course." One of the hunters Rhubara didn't know the name of teased.

"I'm right here." Rhubara scoffed. "You don't have to talk about me like-"

"Hush child, the adults are speaking." Bingtang said teasingly and Rhubara folded her arms and made a face, sticking her nose in the air indignantly. The hunters laughed but then Rhubara got a strange scent on the wind.

It was familiar . . . but she couldn't tell from where. She sniffed the air . . .

"Hey . . . hey what's that-"

"To the trees!" Bingtang suddenly shouted and the Iwatians abandoned their catch to leap into the nearby treetops.

"It looks like you're going to get your wish after all." Konpeito whispered as he clung to a low hanging branch and effortlessly pulling himself up into the tree without knocking Rhubara off his shoulders.

The monster snorted and squealed, it had deadly looking tusks and it looked like a sort of porcine monster with a long tail arched over its back and ending in a deadly looking blade.

_Knife tail . . ._ Rhubara thought eagerly.

"It's a big one, but it's alone. We'll stay hidden, it'll take some of our kill then move on." Konpeito explained.

Rhubara slid down from his shoulders onto the branch and said, "Or . . . and just hear me out . . ."

"No . . ." Konpeito warned her.

"I . . . am going . . . to eat . . . that pig monster." Rhubara informed him.

"No, no," Konpeito said, reaching out to stop her but he was too slow.

She threw herself out of the tree, gathering her energy in both hands as she flew towards the knife-tail. She raised her hands and shouted, "Omega Blast!"

Not all Saiyans named their attacks, Rhubara hadn't until she'd started working with Cauli. It'd turned out that working with a partner it became useful to shout out what technique you were going to use, so even though her partner wasn't with her now Rhubara wasn't really able to break the habit.

Two bursts of blue energy shot from her hands and hit the big monster as she came in for a landing in front of it.

She kept the blast up for as long as she could, almost five whole seconds and during that time the knife tail seemed utterly flabbergasted, as if it genuinely couldn't understand what it was seeing.

_My name's Rhubara, I'm a Saiyan Warrior, and as I understand it I killed a whole bunch of your friends my first night here!_ Rhubara thought with a sneer.

Her blast ended, the creature was singed but not dead and the long whip-tail shot towards her over the creature's back, she dodged it easily and said, "Okay . . . usually that's my finisher . . . let's try-" she was about to unleash a barrage when suddenly the tail swept out and struck her far harder than she'd expected.

She flew into a tree and hit it so hard she heard her armor crack. It knocked the wind out of her and she fell to the ground wit ha gasp. The knife-tail charged for her with a loud sound somewhere between a squeal and a roar, it prepared to gore her with its tusks.

She rolled out of its path and behind the tree and began to gather energy for another blast, the monster struck the tree with full force and Rhubara heard the trunk crack and splinter.

_Uh-oh!_ She thought and started running. She leapt up and then was knocked back down again by the long tail.

The blade cut into her armor but didn't penetrate it, still it sent her flying into the ground.

She'd lost the energy she'd been gathering, she rolled to her back and began to gather more as the monster stamped the ground and snorted threateningly.

Rhubara smiled, her Saiyan blood was boiling and she rose to her feet still charging the blast. "Here piggy piggy, I've got a treat for ya!"

The knife-tail charged with a loud roar but just then a half dozen spears struck its left side and another four slammed into its right side as the hunters hurled their spears from the trees down at the monster. It staggered and Rhubara thrust her hand forward to finish it off.

At least she hoped so, he Omega Blast hadn't done more than singe it after all.

But as she thrust her hand out and fired her beam of energy Konpeito appeared in front of her, clearly he'd leapt from the tree to try to grab her and get her to safety, probably assuming that another blast wouldn't finish the creature.

Rhubara felt an unexpected instant of panic, as the blue blast of light from her Shredder Lance hit the Iwatian hunter instead of the knife-tail.

Just as he'd done before he caught it in surprise and with greater speed than before absorbed it. However this time it didn't _stay_ absorbed, this time Konpeito held his hand out towards the oncoming knife-tail and unleashed the energy.

Rhubara's blast was magnified ten times in size and the heat and power from it were so much that even she could feel it, the knife tail stopped in its tracks, the beam burned the spears in its sides away and then slowly but surely it began to damage the knife-tail as well.

Rhubara quickly ran to Konpeito's side and using what energy she had left threw another "Omega Blast!" into the mix while the hunters in the trees cheered them on.

There was one last agonized squeal, and then the knife-tail was swept away in the stream of energy. Its carcass flew backwards through the woods, which Rhubara noticed were being rather badly damaged—though mostly from Konpeito's blast than from hers, hers was far more restrained in size—but when they stopped the knife-tail lay dead.

And cooked.

Rhubara was panting, she turned to Konpeito and smiled, "Heh . . . so I guess . . ."

She had been about to say "I guess we make quite a combination" but now that the rush of battle was over weariness overtook her. She was still very small and she had taken quite a few hits in addition to using her "ultimate" move twice.

She fell to her knees and passed out as the Iwatians emerged from the trees, she vaguely heard cries of concern and confusion before she blacked out.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The sun was setting and the huge green moon began became more visible. "It'll be full soon," Kumber commented, "at least I think it will."

"It's barely gotten any fuller and we've been here for ages." Leek said.

"Yeah . . . that's weird." Kumber acknowledged.

The four of them were sitting atop a tree staring down into the village before them. It was different than the one they'd explored, this one had huts made of wood instead of wood and stone and it had much larger fields. _Probably a larger population._ Turles guessed.

Maybe that was why they hadn't evacuated. According to the scouters every place they were pretty sure a village had been before had been evacuated already. This village though remained resolute, it was one of only a few in the area that had refused to evacuate, and since it was the biggest with the strongest power levels within it Kumber had decided that it should be the one they took out that night.

Cauli and Turles had agreed, Leek hadn't cared.

"They've got some big power levels down there. This would have been a fun fight." Leek sighed.

"It could have been but we just can't do it without the Oozaru." Cauli told him.

"I know that." Leek grumbled, "It's just . . . frustrating!"

"I know, I know." Cauli sighed, patting his muscular shoulder.

"Right, well if we're done complaining," Kumber spoke up, "You guys might see a village full of tough fighters you'd like to fight but I just see a village full of vermin and we're the exterminators. This is our job so let's get to work. Ready?"

Everyone nodded and got ready. Turles took a deep steadying breath. He wasn't getting any better at controlling his Oozaru, in fact he was starting to hate the form.

But Kumber was right, they had to do what they had to do.

Kumber turned to him and said, "All right, so show me again."

Turles nodded, the others gathered around. "You've got to focus, you're not making a blast or a light yourself," he explained, "You're making a mirror. Just like that giant moon is reflecting the blutz waves from the sun all you've got to do is make something that'll do the same thing. So it can't be clear, it's got to be reflective."

Turles went through the motions and created the glowing sphere in his hand. Kumber did the same, but didn't quite manage to pull it off.

It looked okay, but Turles knew it wouldn't reflect strongly enough. Kumber looked like he thought he pulled it off and Turles decided discretion was the better part of valor and carried on the lesson. "So now just throw it into the sky," he instructed, throwing his own as well to be sure they'd transform.

They both threw their artificial moons into the sky, Turles said, "Now . . . just burst open!"

The twin stars lit up the night sky, one of them shone more brightly than the other but the dimmer star was the one that reflected properly.

_Okay, he's making it too bright, that's the problem._ Turles thought. _Maybe I'll remember that._

He couldn't say for sure of course. Being the Oozaru was like being an entirely different person and he didn't like it. He didn't understand how anyone could keep control when that monstrous consciousness emerged.

The four of them looked up at the twin stars and Turles felt the changes beginning. His body began to increase in size and he struggled to keep in control, _I can at least master it,_ he thought to himself, _I have to try!_

He was growing in size, it felt like flying up but his feet never left the ground. His tail twitched and came free from being wrapped around his waist becoming long, large and strong enough to knock over trees. His mouth and nose elongated into a snout, his teeth rearranged, his canines grew in size.

His fur sprouted from all over his body and it itched but he had no power to scratch at his arms and legs, his arms were already no longer his own.

This was the part he hated, the feeling of powerlessness in his own body that made transformation feel light a nightmare before his mind finally submerged and the Oozaru properly took over.

He heard one of the others roar and it set something off inside him as well, or at least inside the Oozaru.

He opened his still transforming mouth and let out a loud tree shaking roar of his own, the others followed suit.

Turles finally faded away as the Oozaru took control, its body fully transformed and ready to deal death to the Iwatian village bellow.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"How are our patients doing?" Bingtang asked that evening. Korizato sighed.

"Well Rhuby here is surprisingly resilient," the healer said, "I barely had to do anything, the Little Oozaru just needed a nap and Kon's arm is coming along nicely."

Apparently Rhubara had just been worn out from using too much energy, but the strain of absorbing so much energy and then amplifying it had actually managed to burn Kon's right arm.

The elder crouched nearby them beaming approvingly at the two hunters—Rhubara was more or less considered one of the village's hunters now—Bingtang even reached out and affectionately ruffled Rhuby's mane, "You two pulled of quite the miracle today."

Korizato nodded agreement, the healer had heard all about it. Defeating a knife-tail, even a lone one was quite the achievement. Usually it took an entire hunting party, and while the others had tried to help they all agreed they hadn't been needed.

"I thought I could do it alone, I didn't expect it to be that strong. I knew you could absorb my blasts, but I didn't know Kon could _amplify_ them." Rhuby said.

"Neither did I." Bingtang told the little creature, "It's not a usual ability. We can all absorb heat and use it for ourselves but it's a special Iwatian that can redirect and amplify it too."

"I have to admit, I didn't know I could do it either." Konpeito said. The young hunter shuddered and Kori lightly slapped his unburnt shoulder to remind him that he was being healed and should sit still, "Ugh-sorry, that is I just sort of acted on instinct. I knew I could redirect the blast, but it was just . . . so much bigger than I expected. I damaged the forest."

"Yes but you damaged the knife-tail more." Bingtang told him. "We were able to stop the fires and the forest will restore itself in time. But we couldn't have replaced the two of you, I'm glad you were safe."

Korizato nodded in agreement and Rhubara said, "I'm glad I finally got to fight a knife tail. Too bad I passed out before I could try some of it."

Bingtang laughed, "Always thinking with your stomach. Why aren't you by the bonfire eating?"

"I'm watching this." Rhubara shrugged, indicating Korizato's healing Konpeito's arm.

"Ah yes, the healing arts." Bingtang nodded. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"I've never seen anything like it." The little Saiyan admitted. "I know you said you healed me, but I wasn't awake for that. How are you doing it?" Rhuby asked.

Korizato felt a little awkward being on the proverbial spot, the Iwatian healer hesitantly explained, "Ah . . . yes, well we all know that our ki helps us to heal ourselves from injury, the skill of a healer is to use their own ki to heal others from injury. By using my own ki on the injury I can speed the process up and encourage my patient's ki too."

Rhuby nodded slowly, observing. Korizato suddenly wondered if the little Saiyan was actually trying to learn the technique.

The healer worked a little slower to give the little one the opportunity. Rhuby could already do all sort of things that Iwatians would have thought impossible, including using ki for energy blasts instead of absorbing heat from fire or the environment, if the little creature could just . . . _learn_ to use ki to heal others . . . maybe that was why the gods had sent the little creature.

_Maybe the Saiyans don't have healers._ Korizato thought. The healer worked to finish healing was not exactly a stern worshiper in the gods, but the healer accepted their existence the same as everyone else. The whispers in the village were that the falling stars had been the Gods crying at the weakness of the Iwatian people, the Oozaru that Rhubara talked about were their punishment and the hope was that little Rhuby was somehow the tool they had offered the Iwatians to save them.

But Kori believed that there was a sort of balance to the universe. If one wanted to receive one needed to give. They'd given Rhubara food and shelter but neither of these were things the growing Saiyan had expressed any interest in. Really regrowing a tail seemed to be the only thing Rhubara cared about.

But the tail was what would save them, so the tail couldn't possibly be the payment they'd owe in exchange, the Iwatians would need to give Rhuby something of that Korizato was relatively certain. The hunters had taken Rhubara hunting and tried to instruct the Saiyan in sensing the ki from creatures but it wasn't working out and it probably just wasn't what the Saiyan was meant to learn from them.

_So why not teach the little one to heal?_ Kori wondered and smiled noticing Rhubara was very subtly trying to mimic the hand gestures Korizato was using.

"Well if you _do_ get hungry Misiri brought you back a bit of a surprise from the hunt today."

That got Rhubara's attention. Korizato laughed an said, "You might as well, we're finished here."

The small warrior rushed off for the bonfire and Bingtang laughed. "It's hard to think that one's only been here a short while."

"It's been longer for us." Konpeito said dryly, and Korizato gave him a light affectionate shove.

Bingtang's smile became a little strained as the elder looked back to them and said, "Well . . . I've been thinking. The knife-tail in the woods today . . . it's not a good sign."

"There's always been knife-tails in the forest," Kon said, "I would have thought seeing it would show you that the Oozaru that attacked us didn't deal lasting damage. The knife-tails are returning."

"It does that," Bingtang admitted, "but if they're coming back that means it'll be more dangerous to evacuate the village."

"Evacuate?" Korizato asked.

Bingtang nodded, "Most of our neighbors have already started to flee. They've been going to the Great Tree, maybe they just can't think of anything else to do besides turn to the gods as village after village is wiped out . . . the largest village in our region remains and I'd thought that as long as they stayed we should be brave too."

"But the Knife-tail has given you other thoughts." Konpeito sighed, and Bingtang nodded.

"You tried to tell me before," Bingtang said, "but I thought we'd be safer behind our walls. Now I know where we see one knife-tail there might not be a pack, but seeing that one after weeks without seeing any makes me think that if we want to go we'd best do it now."

"Now?" Korizato asked in surprise.

"Now. Especially since Rhubara has helped us secure extra food. Besides, if the others are correct and the little creature needs to regrow its tail to save us what better place could we go than to the healers of the Great Tree?" Bingtang asked.

Korizato nodded slowly, "I must admit there's nothing I can do for the little one. Who else knows we're evacuating?"

"Only you two." Bingtang said, "I didn't want discuss it without discussing it with you first. I wanted to know if you agree, if you still think we should risk the journey, Konpeito."

Korizato watched Kon's reaction, knowing full well what Bingtang was implying; Konpeito was being asked to help the Elder make a decision . . . Bingtang intended for Konpeito to be his replacement someday.

For the Iwatians the role of Elder fell upon a village's leader but the Elder didn't have to be old, Bingtang wasn't even _that_ old. Bingtang was sort of at the top of the hill of life and hadn't yet started to travel down.

Konpeito nodded and stood up, "I think you're right, Elder. If the knife-tails become more numerous again we wouldn't make it safely. I'll tell the other hunters, we'll get everyone packed before bed and we'll set out at first light."

Bingtang shook his smiled, "You've had enough trouble for one day, Konpeito, let me break the news to everyone instead. You rest and prepare yourself for the journey."

Konpeito nodded and Bingtang left. Korizato resisted any urge to suggest to Kon what Bingtang might have intended from including him in the final decision.

_After all,_ Korizato thought, _I may be wrong._

They stood together in silence for a moment before Konpeito said, "Well let's go warm ourselves by the fire before we start packing."

Korizato nodded and the two of them headed towards the large fire in the center of the village.

"What's that you've got there?" Korizato asked Rhubara who was coming back to them holding a rather large haunch of meat.

"Misiri," The little Saiyan's voice sounded different, a bit strange and Rhubara's slender small fingers wiped moisture away from its eye, "Misiri brought back some of the knife tail for me, cuz I wanted to try it."

Kori wanted to point out how disturbing that act had been, Iwatians did not eat anything that would eat them and they certainly shouldn't encourage Rhuby to eat things that ate them. That it would even occur to Misiri to save some of the knife-tail's meat and cook it felt wrong no matter how badly Rhuby had wanted to try it.

But something in Korizato resisted the urge, there was something about Rhubara's aura that made the healer abstain. Even though Rhuby was different than an Iwatian in a lot of ways Kori was learning that the little creature's aura was very similar to an Iwatian's in a lot of ways so even though it was harder to tell what Rhuby was thinking or feeling at a given time—and aura reading really only gave a healer the broad strokes anyway—Rhuby seemed to have the aura of someone who was both moved and heartbroken.

Konpeito, who could see all of that without reading an aura said, "That was very thoughtful of Misiri."

"Yeah . . ." Rhuby said.

"But you seem upset. Does it not taste good?" Kon asked.

"No it's great . . . it's just . . . it was really nice." Rhubara said.

Korizato and Konpeito had only seen their small ward wipe away eye moisture once before when Rhuby had explained why caves were so frightening.

Kori frowned and put a large comforting hand on the little creature's back. "Well I'm glad you enjoy it," Korizato said, not feeling any need to mention any of the cultural disgust that came with eating such an animal, "Eat up, okay? You need your strength. We're going to pack our things tonight, we're going to the tree in the morning."

"Tree?" Rhuby asked, looking up a little confused.

"Yes, the Great Tree. Bingtang's decided it's the safest place for us, and he knows if anyone can get your tail back it has to be the healers in the tree."

Rhuby wiped away more eye moisture and nodded numbly. Korizato felt sad just knowing the little Saiyan was sad. The healer couldn't heal everything though.

Rhuby said, "I'll just finish this . . ."

"Stay where we can see you." Konpeito said gently as Rhubara walked slowly away from the fire into the dark.

Korizato said, "Things will be better in the morning, the trip should be exciting."

"I doubt it'll be exciting my dear," Kon sighed, "but hopefully our ward will cheer a bit once we're on our way to the tree."

"I hope so too." Korizato said, glancing back at Rhuby.

The healer whispered, "I don't know that we can really give the poor creature what it needs though."

"What do you think that is?" Kon asked.

Kori frowned and whispered, "I think Rhuby is lonely. Rhuby's aura is the same as anyone who sees their mate go on a hunt."

"I thought so too," Kon said, "even though I can't see auras the way you can. Whenever I'm on a hunt I think of you a lot, if I see something interesting or something that would have interested you far more than me I wish you were with me to experience it."

"And our ward has been experiencing an awful lot of things that the rest of the Saiyans aren't." Kori nodded slowly.

"Maybe when this is all over." Konpeito said. "Once the Oozaru are dealt with perhaps we can find our little ward's people and show them everything. Even knife-tail meat."

Kori smiled and squeezed Konpeito's hand. "That would be nice. Our two people living in peace and sharing everything freely. Do you think it's really possible?"

"With hard work why not?" Kon shrugged.

Though still concerned for Rhuby and keeping an eye on the little creature who sat and ate alone appearing to be in deep thought the idea that one day both their species would live in companionship lifted Korizato's spirits a bit. It was a nice thought, and one that the Iwatian healer would treasure until the end.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The Iwatians traveled in a large group, Konpeito said it was in the hopes of dissuading any knife tails from attacking them, But Rhubara knew it would only attract the attention of the scouters. It made her uneasy, they were like herd animals hoping a predator would only pick off one or two of them but that would only work with a predator that only wanted to fill its belly.

For a predator that wanted the complete and utter annihilation of the species herds were wonderful.

It wasn't just the village that had taken Rhubara in though, she would have understood that but they had joined with other bands sometimes traveling additional distance to gather up other groups on their way to the Great Tree. Bingtang had told her "It's our way; when danger nears we gather together and our hunters unite to protect all those who cannot protect themselves and we create a force so strong nothing can do us harm. It has worked throughout our history."

Well their history hadn't included her own people until now. All the things that everyone told her to reassure her only made her more uneasy.

The journey would take them three days and Rhubara understood them to be on their second day, but how could it possibly matter when they kept stopping and taking detours? Had the detours been factored into their travel time?

She wanted to get to the tree, she wanted her tail back.

She didn't even care about hiding information anymore, all she could think was that she needed this to work or she was as doomed as the rest of them.

But ironically being more loose-lipped had helped pass the time more easily. Rhuby knew she was letting Kori and Kon learn a lot about her own people but at this stage it hardly mattered and besides she was learning all sorts of things she'd never thought she'd learn.

"So let me get this straight . . . you two are mated for _life_?" Rhubara asked incredulously.

"So far." Korizato said with a smile. Rhubara was riding on Konpeito's shoulders so she couldn't see what his expression was but he made a noise that might have been a chuckle. "Do your people have any sort of union?" Korizato asked.

"Not really," Rhubara said, "I mean a formal agreement to mate with only one person for the rest of your life? No way, I can't even think of any Saiyans that would want that."

"They'll never know what they're missing." Kon chuckled. "It's reassuring to know I'll come home to Kori after every hunt."

"But Kori would be there whether you had a formal agreement or not, right?" Rhuby asked. "And without the formal agreement if either of you got bored you wouldn't have to stick with it. I mean we have favorites and all, we can have preferred partners it's just . . . weird to reject everyone else because of that. You want to have kids with the strongest partner so you have the strongest kids after all."

"Mostly what you describe Saiyan mating as is more like . . . well it's a bit of a bad word for us, but rutting. That is just a physical act to perpetuate the species or relieve stress, some people find happiness with just that, not everyone has to find a mate," Kon told her, "but . . . well being mated is entirely different. I mean for example if simply producing offspring were the goal Kori and I would never have become mates since we're not capable of producing children together either."

Kori shot Kon a stern look and said, "Rhuby doesn't need to know about _that_."

"I wasn't going to go into detail." Kon said with what sounded like a chuckle, Kori looked embarrassed.

But Rhuby was intrigued, "So . . . even though it wouldn't help your clan or your species you two can be mates?"

"Of course. It's not about making children for everyone, for some people, like us, it's a partnership. It's about feeling a strong connection with someone and wanting to be with them and knowing they want to be with you on a deeper emotional level." Konpeito explained.

"Besides I think I'd be pretty upset if Kon had any other partners." Korizato said with a shudder. "Don't your people ever get jealous?"

"Oh all the time," Rhuby said, "but that just means a fight, and everybody loves those."

"This is roughly the tenth thing that results in a fight, don't Saiyans have any other ways of resolving their issues?" Korizato asked.

Rhuby smiled, "What other way would we need? Fighting is a lot of fun, at least to Saiyans. For us might makes right, if you can't defend it you don't deserve it, conquer or be conquered, that's our way."

"That sounds horrible." Kon told her. "How can your society function?"

"Well there are some rules," Rhuby said defending her people. "But competition makes us stronger and stronger all the time and strength is everything."

"We Iwatians see fighting as a last resort, but then you Saiyans do seem more physically resilient than us." Kori said. "But there's more to it than just who you uh . . . physically intermingle with, it's an agreement to be partners in all things, to work together with this one person to know that you can tell them anything and that they can tell you anything, that you'll accept their weaknesses and flaws and balance them with your strength and to ask them to do the same for you not just physically but emotionally, spiritually, mentally. To know they'll be with you even if you're wrong . . . but also not hesitate to to tell you that you're wrong."

"Like a best friend!" Rhuby realized, "I have a best friend!"

"Well it's _like_ a best friend, but it's still . . . well, more deep than that." Kori said. "It's someone who stays in your thoughts even when they're not around, someone who makes you want to improve yourself, makes you want to be _more_ than you are even if they tell you that who you are is more than enough."

_If I had to protect you I'd just protect you_ . . .

Rhubara frowned. All that just made her think of Cauli . . . Cauli was her person she worked together with, they'd agreed to be partners and have each other's back all the time . . . Cauli was the person she missed whenever she was on a mission, the person she was excited to see whenever she came back, the person who'd asked her to face her fears just to be with her and share her adventures.

"You're probably still too young to really understand these things," Kon said, "try not to worry about it. What's your best friend like?"

"Huh?"

"You said you had a best friend. Tell us about your friend." Kon asked.

Rhuby sighed, but she smiled too for some reason, she said, "She's from the same clan as the King so I never would have even met her if it hadn't been for the war . . . or if we met we'd have been fighting. Instead because of the war we met as friends and we fought together. We're partners, she always watches my back and I always watch hers. We're a good team. She's stronger than me, smarter than me, but I'd do anything for her anyway because I know she'd do anything for me."

Kori gave Kon a strange smile but Rhuby didn't stop to ask what it was supposed to mean she just carried on, "Her hair is black like mine, but it's shorter and it's straighter, not so long and wavy and unruly like mine, she looks more organized more on top of things which makes sense because she's a lot more organized and on top of things than me. She has the bluest eyes I've ever seen, I didn't even know blue mattered until I saw her eyes . . ."

"Didn't you say blue was your favorite color?" Kori asked, still smiling that strange smile.

"Yes." Rhuby smiled, for a moment she forgot about all the danger of the road and just thought about Cauli's blue eyes. "Actually that's why my blasts are blue, I learned how to change their color while she was on a mission . . . I thought she'd be really impressed but I never got the chance to show her. I shouldn't have agreed to come with her on this mission, but . . . I knew if I didn't come I'd just miss her the whole time and think about her wishing she'd stayed and knowing how selfish that would be. So instead I went with her and we got separated, I lost my tail, I lost her and without my scouter I can't find her and she can't find me."

Kon reached up and ruffled her hair, "Well we'll get you back to her."

Rhuby sighed, "If I don't have my tail I think I'd rather just perish than even let her see me . . ."

Despite what she'd just said Kori actually giggled. Rhuby looked at the Iwatian healer in surprise, "What's funny about dying?"

"Nothing, Rhuby. But you Saiyans are different than us Iwatians, that's for sure. But I'm thinking not quite as different as it seems at first glance. Maybe I'm wrong but something tells me she would probably be happier to see you safe even without your tail."

Rhuby made a skeptical face, "You think so?"

"Well if Kon were hurt on a hunt it would matter more to me to see him come back alive than come back whole, he could lose an arm and a leg and I would still want him brought back to me, I wouldn't care that a part of him were missing."

"I would." Kon pointed out. "It's different for the person missing the body parts, Kori."

"Well I'm not wishing it on you, and Rhuby's tail will come back." Kori said with a laugh, "I'm just saying you mean more to me and I'd rather see you come back from the hunt half an Iwatian than have you wander off into the wilderness never to be seen or heard from again."

Rhuby laughed, "Well _you're_ mates, _she's_ just my best friend."

"Mm-hmm." Kori smiled. "You're still young."

Rhuby wasn't sure what Korizato meant by that, but Konpeito spoke up adding, "Friendship is an important thing to the Iwatians. Our strength comes from working together. We're stronger together than we are alone."

"For Saiyans we're supposed to be strong alone so we don't need to work together." Rhubara shrugged.

"Maybe that's the Saiyan way. But you're a Saiyan who learned from Iwatians, just like we're Iwatians who've learned from a Saiyan. We'll keep some of the things you've taught us, you can keep this."

"But what's in it for you if you have weak friends?" Rhuby asked.

"Friendship." Kori answered. "Having weak friends still means you have friends and they can get stronger too. Sometimes just having someone you care about is all the reward and benefit you need, sometimes that's what makes all the difference, even if they are weaker than you. Friendship doesn't always have to have an end goal, sometimes the goal is just to have that person you can trust at the end of the day."

"I didn't even know that was a thing!" Rhubara gasped in astonishment.

"Well of course it's a thing!" Korizato had said. "You have parents, don't you?"

"Well yeah . . ."

"Your mother stayed close to your father even after they made you, didn't she? She even saw to it that her mate got a portion of supper that night, she didn't just have a child and then move on with her life and find other mates. She stayed close to him even after their . . ." Korizato seemed to fish for a word and came up with, "biological imperative was accomplished. She looked after you too even if you think she didn't want to she still did it."

"Yeah . . ." Rhuby frowned. She thought about her mother. She hadn't seen her for a very long time . . .

"Do you miss them?" Korizato asked.

"No . . ." Rhuby said slowly. "I know I'll see them again soon."

"Both of them?" Kon asked.

"Yeah. You know, when it's all over . . ."

"Ah." Konpeito seemed to understand. "So you believe that you are united when . . . everything's finished?"

"Of course. It's just like in life, once your mission is complete you go home. So once our life is complete we'll go where the rest of our ancestors went and brag about how we outdid them!" Rhubara smiled, then thought about Planet Vegeta. "When we're done here and we go home . . . I hope my tail is grown back . . ."

"When you're done here, or when you're done everywhere?" Konpeito asked.

Rhuby didn't answer. She just thought about the future . . . as a warrior she understood her end could come at any time but if she died on a strange planet . . . would she go to Planet Vegeta's afterlife, or the alien afterlife? Would she see her family or would she be alone?

They walked in silence for a while, it must have gotten awkward because eventually Konpeito asked, "So what else did you want to know?"

"How far is the tree?" Rhuby asked immediately.

"We should reach it tomorrow, just as I said this morning, and at the midday meal." Kon laughed.

"Sorry . . ."

"It's fine." Kon said.

The group stopped and everyone took a rest, some began to unpack provisions, Rhubara was hungry and she loved food but an evening meal already? That meant it would be sunset soon, would they _really_ reach the tree in time?

"You're excited, truth be told I am too." Kori told her. "I don't think there's ever been a bigger gathering of our people, and I've never seen the tree up close before."

"What do you mean up close?" Rhuby wondered.

"Well right now the canopy hides it from our view, but if we were above the trees we could actually see it from here it's so massive." Kori told her.

"Whoa . . . and do the elders live at the bottom or the top?" Rhuby asked.

"At the base of course," Korizato smiled, "no one lives at the top. It's far too high for even the best climbers."

"So . . . no one's been to the top?" Rhuby wondered, thinking to herself.

"No. We can't fly like Fulcrums, little one." Korizato told her with a smile.

Rhubara punched her fist into her palm, "The top! I'll bet if there's any fruit left it's up there!"

"Yes little one, I'm sure that's where it all is. If you could fly you could probably have some." Konpeito said. Rhubara smirked as they sat down together.

They ate and the troop prepared to bed down and go to sleep, Rhubara couldn't sleep at all but she closed her eyes anyway and tried to practice sensing energy.

As she did she thought more about Cauli, remembering the times they'd spent together in the ruins of that Tuffle building. She remembered the sort of feeling she got whenever she was there and Cauli showed up . . . was that like sensing energy? Somehow she could feel something familiar . . . something that made her feel safe besides just the presence of Konpeito and Korizato and the other friends she'd made . . . there was something that called out to her on a more primal level. It reminded her of the Tuffle ruin she and Cauli spent so much time in, the warmth and familiarity of home.

She sat up suddenly, shocked as she realized that just as Konpeito had always said it was easier to sense something you're familiar with.

"Nightmare, little one?" Konpeito whispered.

Rhubara hoped she was wrong, hoped thinking about Cauli had just made her mind play tricks on her . . . she held a finger to her lips and then put her other hand to her ear signaling to Konpeito that he should listen quietly, which he seemed to do but his senses weren't as sharp as hers.

She hoped she was wrong, she hoped she couldn't really sense what her heart told her she was sensing, she didn't really know what it felt like to sense energy maybe it was just her imagination.

Then . . . distantly, faintly enough that the Iwatians might not even hear it . . .

An Oozaru's roar.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

As the team of young warriors landed in a small clearing Cauliflora screamed in frustration. She closed the distance from the center to the edge of the clearing in a stride and punched the nearest tree so hard that a portion of its trunk shattered into splinters and it toppled over.

She spun around and tore her scouter from her ear and hurled it into the air over the tree tops, she screamed after it too.

The other three looked at her in abject shock. Turles and Leek certainly wouldn't have ever seen her so angry, even Kumber might never have seen her so angry.

Cauliflora realized that she might never have _been_ so angry.

"Calm down . . ." Turles said, hands in the air to show her he wanted to be seen as a friend. She almost punched him just for making a bigger deal out of her outburst than it needed to be, but that would have done more to further his stance than hers.

So instead she just scoffed, "Like you've never gotten angry before."

"We do . . . usually for some _reason_. What's the matter with you?" Kumber asked.

Cauli glared at him, she wasn't above attacking him right then and there just to relieve her frustration and her anger. He'd beat her, but at least then she'd have a reason for hurting besides sheer disappointment. She thought to herself, _It's your own fault for getting your hopes up, stupid_.

Finally she stood up straight and told the others, "Look, it was just malfunctioning, okay? It doesn't matter."

"Okay . . ." Turles said cautiously. Was she that out of sorts? "It's just . . . now you're down a scouter."

That was certainly true, and Cauli had loved her scouter. It was hers, it was a symbol of everything she'd worked towards since becoming a warrior, it was _hers_. A part of her knew she'd regret throwing it away later.

Later she'd be sad that she'd lost it and probably damaged it.

Later. For now she shook her head and said, "Look it doesn't matter. I must have misread it, whatever. There's a lot of Iwatians all gathered in the forest about a mile away, power level of a couple hundred on average, one beastly twenty four hundred."

Turles got a look like maybe he'd guessed her real source of frustration but Kumber and Leek still seemed uncertain. Kumber said, "Well it still shouldn't be a problem for the Oozaru. Whoever that champion is they won't be able to do much once we transform. I know their power levels rise when they fight but I don't think we need to worry."

"You're right." Cauli said, "So let's go kill them."

"What? Why?" Kumber asked. "I feel like you missed the point or something."

"I thought you guys wanted them to go to the tree." Leek added in agreement.

Turles backed her up though, he said, "If they've got a champion that strong who knows what else might be at the tree, we should start squashing the bigger ants before they can swarm us."

Kumber folded his arms. "I don't know . . ."

"Why would you hesitate now?" Cauli demanded.

"We're getting close to the tree, I wanted us to try to conserve our energy for that fight." Kumber said. "I thought you'd agree, we can't afford to make any mistakes in the final fight, we can't afford to go into it worn out or some of the vermin might get away."

It was true, Cauli would have agreed and someday she might even be proud of Kumber for coming to that conclusion on his own but that would be then, this was now and right now she was still very angry and she didn't dare stop for fear of what emotion might overwhelm her if her fury abated.

Kumber said, "Even if it's ten times the size of the average bug twenty four hundred is still nothing to the Oozaru, and we've seen nothing from any of the villages that have evacuated to even hint that there's anything stronger than that."

_Exactly!_ Cauli thought angrily, _We haven't seen a single Iwatian with a resting power level over two thousand, it_ should _have been her!_

She'd detected the power level from a distance that made it seem as if it were alone, it was higher than Rhuby's had been but that would have made sense if she'd hurt herself in the crash and recovered, or if she'd been surviving alone these past few weeks fighting knife tailed pig lizards and stuff.

But now that they got nearer the power level was moving with the herd of Iwatians so it couldn't be Rhuby, she'd never have traveled with them. Cauli had thought for an instant that maybe Rhuby was their prisoner but she'd had to stop that wishful thinking. She couldn't be a prisoner, if she were she could just summon the power ball transform into an Oozaru and free herself.

She turned away from the others because her eyes were starting to well up as she finally realized she need to accept that her partner was gone forever. She had to accept it and those Iwatians might not realize it but they'd played a terrible trick on her, now she was going to pay them back for it. "I want to kill them." She said. "I want that whole herd of bugs scattered and squashed and why not? Some might escape the Oozaru, then they'll go on and spread terror. Once they're all at the tree we can just watch and wait to attack at our leisure but if these are the last stragglers they'll be our last chance for sport."

"That's a good point." Leek admitted. "There's probably six or seven different groups too, even if we all split up we could all have our fill of fun!"

"You can't even remember the fun!" Kumber reminded him and Leek seemed to shrink a bit.

"Then think of it as one last chance to practice before the main event." Cauli suggested.

Kumber sighed and then smiled a clearly forced smile. "Yeah . . . all right. Let's do it."

He summoned the power ball this time, it was still imperfect but it would do the trick.

Cauliflora eagerly looked into its light and surrendered her mind and sorrow once more to a more terrifying, primal being of pure rage. The Oozaru didn't need anything to be angry about, it was just angry and there was tremendous feeling of freedom in that.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

_Character Image - Leek_

__

_Note: He should be thicker-limbed, sort of like Nappa_.


	35. Trials of the Tree Part Five

**Trials of The Tree**

**Part Five  
**

**End of All Hope**

 

Rhubara watched as Konpeito hurried over to one of the trees where Bingtang was on lookout. With her sharp hearing she could hear Bingtang's surprised, "What do you want?" There was silence for a moment as Konpeito probably gestured that Bingtang should look or listen, but then Bingtang asked, "What are you doing? Come down!"

Rhubara could hear Konpeito climbing and she could hear the Oozaru in the distance. She flew up into the trees near the canopy but even before she did she could see the blue glow.

But it didn't really stir anything in her . . . without her tail she couldn't transform but she didn't feel anything.

It meant that she could look at the beauty of it . . . standing at the top of a alien forest looking across miles of green treetops that soft blue glow coupled with the bright green moon above was actually quite beautiful. The soft red glow of the fires beginning to catch in the woods made it almost seem as if the sun were rising in the distance.

She could see flashes of light in the distance, energy blasts and probably Iwatian hunters taking the heat from the fire in a futile effort to fight the Oozaru. Rhuby could hear all and with her sharp eyes she could see the four black silhouettes in the firelight. Part of her heart reached out to her own kind, but another larger part of it recoiled in fear. She'd never seen an Oozaru and even so distant they were terrifying.

"What do you see?" She heard Bingtang ask beneath the canopy. She looked over and saw Konpeito had climbed to the top of the trees and was looking across the treetops.

She floated over cautiously and took a perch near him. He was clearly in conflict with himself as to whether or not to charge off and help his cousins. She had to warn him, "If you go you'll die."

Konpeito turned to see her and seemed so surprised he nearly lost his footing. Rhubara reached out to catch him if necessary but he righted himself. "What?" Konpeito whispered.

"You'll die. All four of them are there, I can see them. They might not know we're here, but when they finish with what they're doing they'll be drawn to us if there's nothing else." Rhubara whispered back.

"I . . . I've never abandoned cousins in need." Konpeito said nervously.

Rhubara shook her head, "You can't help them. You might be able to make it to the tree if you all run . . . your cousins might die, but their sacrifices will buy you time. With any luck they'll go after knife tails next, I think that's what's been slowing them down. So many big powerful wild animals would distract the Oozaru's hunting brain."

Konpeito looked at her with an expression that seemed almost pleading. He asked, "You can really stop all this with your tail?"

Rhubara frowned. She looked at the large, powerful alien that had saved her and done his best to care for her. She knew that if it came to it between her or him she had to choose herself and her own kind . . . but . . . she owed him so much.

She couldn't tell him. She just remained silent.

"You're sure we couldn't do anything?" Konpeito pressed.

"Nothing. You can only run. You . . . _we_ need to run, Kon." Rhubara told him firmly. "I can't let them see me like this, they'll kill me too. I need my tail back, if your sages can help that's the only way this doesn't end in total tragedy."

She felt bad saying it like that . . . but it was true. There was still a minuscule chance. True it was a betrayal of their trust, but she would remember them, she would tell their story and hold them as dear allies for the rest of her life if she survived.

It wasn't worth much, but it was better than nothing, and nothing is what they'd all be if her own comrades killed her too.

Konpeito growled and then whispered down to Bingtang, "There's danger. We need to move out now."

"What?" The elder demanded. "I'm coming up."

Konpeito said, "You hear the roars, elder. They're on their way to us, we need to make for the tree."

"What if they attack the tree?" Bingtang asked.

Konpeito looked to her for an answer. She offered one but it was as much a guess as anything, "They might, but it'll be the safest place. If all the people are gathered there they might be trying to wipe out smaller groups like this one before they make the final attack."

"What final attack?" Konpeito demanded, "You mean they're planning all this?"

"I think so . . . you're not the only village evacuating to the tree. So that means most of your people will be at the tree . . ."

Konpeito stared off into the distance for a second, then looked at her and whispered, "They're driving everyone to the tree, aren't they? This is . . . this is all planned . . . they're driving all of us to the tree to kill us all at once, aren't they?"

Rhubara frowned, and something in her face must have given it all away because a look of comprehension and horror came across the Iwatian hunter's face as he whispered, "You . . . knew, didn't you, little one?"

She couldn't stand to look him in the eye. She looked down and whispered, "No . . . but it makes sense. It's what they would do . . . it's a good plan, it's probably Cauli's, she's really smart."

Konpeito seemed taken aback, "Cauli? That's a name, isn't it? You know their names?"

"Of course . . . don't you know Kori's name?" Rhubara confessed.

The Iwatian's black eyes stared into her purple eyes and though they were aliens to each other Rhubara knew she was looking at a true warrior, one who would sacrifice everything for Kori and the others. Kon was a warrior like her father, brave and willing to protect the ones he loved even with his last breath.

It was the sort of warrior she should have tried to be. It was the kind of warrior she wanted to be; the sort who' protect all the people who were important to her.

All of them.

Konpeito had leapt down from the tree, he and Bingtang were talking about running for the tree, Rhubara leapt down landing easily beside them in time to hear Kon say, "We need to run, but we can't cause a panic."

"If they hear everyone fleeing they might stop whatever they're doing and come after us," Rhubara agreed, "you have to listen to big brother now."

Bingtang nodded. The order was given quietly, and quickly.

Luggage was abandoned, children were carried, and the small herd of Iwatians began to run through the night.

The hunters led the way, Konpeito was at the head of them blazing the trail for the tree and Rhubara was by his side with Korizato not too far behind.

But the roars of the Oozaru were coming nearer.

"You hear that?" Bingtang asked as they ran.

"I think we all do now." Korizato panted.

"They'll catch us unless someone does something . . ." Bingtang said.

"We just have to keep going!" Rhubara told him, "They won't get too close to the tree, I'm sure of it!"

"Kon . . . I want you to lead our people well until I return." Bingtang said.

"What?" The hunter nearly stumbled, taken aback by the elder's words. He stopped and Rhubara and Korizato stopped with him. The others ran on around them.

Bingtang reached out with one large arm and ruffled Rhuby's black hair one last time, "Grow your tail back and save my people, little one."

"What!?" Rhuby almost shrieked, realizing what was happening, "Don't talk stupid, Grandpa! Come with us!"

"Lead our people, Konpeito!" Bingtang roared, "Get the young and the weak to the tree! Us old timers will buy you all the time we can!"

"Elder!" Korizato pleaded, but it was too late.

Rhubara stared in shock as the old Iwatian turned back along with several other older Iwatians. It seemed like all of the older generation, hunter and non-hunter alike turned to face their doom just to buy their loved ones a few precious moments more.

Rhubara was going to stay, some mad instinct in her was too overwhelmed by the sacrifice of these true warriors and something stirred inside her. She would stay and stand with them in their last moment and-

Korizato grabbed her hand and ran on, Rhubara was shaken from her urges and realized the stupidity of what she'd been thinking.

She needed to get her tail back . . . she had to . . . someone had to remember Bingtang's sacrifice when the last of the Iwatians were gone.

She felt tears rolling down her cheeks as they ran, but she didn't understand why. After all she hadn't been injured . . . was she sad? Was she sad that the Iwatians she knew were going to start falling along with the ones she didn't? Or was she just afraid that she'd fall too?

_Warriors are never afraid._ She thought to herself, but she knew it wasn't true.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Korizato was exhausted when the tribe finally reached the roots of the Great Tree, but if the healer hadn't already been out of breath the sight of the tree would have taken it away. The roots extended for miles from the trunk only ending where the forest began. The forest surrounded it and almost seemed to keep a respectful distance from this monarch of trees. Its trunk stretched up into the sky and its vines fell around it like serpents.

"Are you sure this is a tree?" Rhuby asked, "The forest just stops then it's an ocean of giant roots all leading to a trunk like a mountain! It seems more like it's a whole different planet!"

"Some say it came from the heavens," Korizato told her, "but it's definitely a tree."

"These roots should provide us some safety at least." Konpeito said, "They're large enough to be an obstruction to the Oozaru, but they protrude from the ground high enough for us to run under them."

"Must we run?" Korizato complained. "Almost everyone is too tired, Kon. We've run for so long, not all of us are hunters."

"I understand that, but we can't just relax." Konpeito said. "We have to press on, Bingtang and the others sold their lives to buy us time, we cannot squander it."

"But most of us just can't continue." Misiri told Konpeito, "Kon—er . . . well, elder, we're just too tired."

Kon's aura changed then, the sheer weight of responsibility finally seemed to rest on him and Korizato felt an instant wave of sympathy.

He looked at them all and visibly steeled his resolve. He asked, "How many strong backs do we have? If we can't run we need to at least walk. Anyone too tired to move forward at all can be carried, but even if it's just a slow walk we cannot stop."

There was immediate complaint, but Korizato shouted, "You heard your elder! I don't like it any better than you do, but Kon is right! Bingtang and the others died for this, and here we are! We have to continue."

With some reluctance the group continued their walk. Rhubara led the way, the massive trunk was easily visible now without the forest's thick canopy overhead to block out the view. There was no question where they were going and the little Saiyan seemed transfixed by the massive tree.

Korizato was too. It was a heady moment to be sure, the healer had always had ambitions of someday seeing the sage tree of the greatest elders and healers. Kori couldn't help but share Rhuby's fascination.

The sun was rising in the sky and the blue star remained in the distance, though Konpeito didn't hear the Oozaru anymore.

"When will the star disappear?" Konpeito asked.

Rhuby seemed surprised, "What?"

"The star, when will it disappear?" Kon insisted.

"Soon. Near as I can tell they called it not too long after sunset, but we've been running most of the night."

"Which is respectable for non-hunters." Korizato whispered to Konpeito and the two of them joined hands for a brief moment and Kori could see the newly appointed Elder soften a bit.

"You all did very well." Konpeito said, "But I'll feel better when we're to safety."

Korizato agreed and the group struggled on in determined silence.

"The people must know they're in danger." Rhuby said, "Is there any sort of defense at this tree? An army or anything?"

"We told you we're not a race with warriors." Korizato said.

"You'll find only the greatest elders and healers, there's never been a need for anything else." Konpeito said. "In ancient times our people had armies, but resources became more scarce and supporting large population centers wasn't possible around the same time as the tree appeared."

"So every city and nation broke up into smaller villages, those villages help each other when they can but mostly just keep to themselves. We have hunters, but no real warriors." Korizato added. "Still the tree will have the largest collection of hunters there is, it might be like an army."

"Good." Little Oozaru said thoughtfully. "You'll need it."

Korizato didn't doubt it. About the time they'd made it halfway to the trunk Misiri noticed that the blue star had finally faded away and disappeared. That was when Kon finally let the group stop and rest.

It was a grateful rest indeed, though some wept for their lost loved ones others simply collapsed in exhaustion in the shelter of the large roots. Korizato was tired too, but still tried to lend a healing hand wherever necessary.

Konpeito conferred with Misiri and the remaining hunters, but Rhuby climbed on top of a root and stared at the tree. Kori was starting to get concerned, "Little one, what are you doing? Don't wander off now . . ."

"I won't." Rhuby said, "I just . . . we're so close . . . what if they can't do it? What if they can't give me my tail back? Even worse what if they wont?"

"If they won't we'll make them!" Korizato said with force and honesty. "They'll give you your tail back so that you can save us all!"

Rhuby didn't have anything to say to that, she just stared at the tree. Konpeito whispered, "Don't put too much pressure on the little one . . . the way our ward talks about armies I suspect we might have to save ourselves."

"I trust her." Korizato whispered back, "Her aura is even more turbulent than yours but she feels the same weight of responsibility."

"Bingtang did charge her with saving us." Kon admitted. "Do you think she'll take it seriously?"

"I don't think he could have made her take it any more seriously if he tried. He gave his life for her as much as for the rest of us, and I don't think she's blind to that."

Konpeito looked skeptical, "I hope not. But I still don't expect there's much she can do . . . the power from those creatures, they're a hundred times stronger than any Iwatian I've ever known, ten times stronger than any knife-tail. They're dangerous, what can a tail do to help her stop them?"

"We'll find out." Korizato said firmly.

When the group resumed their travels they found the base of the tree was crowded with refugees. Some had set up small camps nestled in the tree's roots, others had dug out scoops of land to use those same roots as shelter.

Their group didn't have much trouble reaching the shrine of the elders, no one got in their way or tried to slow them down. Most of these refugees had seen villagers travel to the tree before and likely knew they planned to see the elders. Some stared with curiosity as Rhubara but most were going about their own business. No one asked them for help or for food, which gave Korizato some hope that the elders were at least providing rations since most of their tribe had been forced to abandon their supplies when they fled.

Unimpeded it didn't take long for them to reach the base of the tree's trunk. There was a tunnel dug into the ground that would lead into a subterranean chamber where the sage elders would be waiting, Korizato had heard of it and the healer was excited to see it all even if it were under such tragic and dire circumstances.

There were several servants guarding the entrance to the tunnel, they wore vibrant red sashes to mark their status as servants of the Wise Elders themselves. Konpeito rushed forward, Rhubara perched on the former hunter's strong shoulders and said, "Quickly, it's urgent, we must see the Elders."

"No." The servant Konpeito had asked said simply.

"No?" Korizato gawked, "Just like that?"

"Just like that." The servant nodded. "Please, if the Wise Elders choose to make an address you will be certain to hear it but they do not have time-"

Konpeito interrupted, "But this is important, we have to stop these monsters attacking our villages, and our ward here must be seen by the Elders."

"There are many injured, and we will do what we can for yours of course," the servant said, "but your creature will not be welcomed in these hallowed caverns. The Wise Elders' healing arts are for the Iwatian people alone."

"What do you mean?" Korizato roared, taking a menacing step forward. "I know this creature seems strange, but it can help us! How dare you refuse it aid!"

"Our own kind must come first." The servant said very slowly as if he were speaking to some sort of a fool. Kon, Misiri and several of the others bristled at the insult not just to their healer but to their "little monster" as well. As one village to have their members insulted was an insult to their entire tribe no matter who it was doing the insulting.

Kori spoke slowly too, "I am a healer, I will help any injured while the sages see to this one! But it's for the good of our race that you help!"

"Our own kind must come first." The servant repeated. "The Wise Elders are busy seeing to as many of the hurt and injured as they can, they simply cannot help this strange monster. Your pet must-"

"My pet!?" Kori roared, Misiri quickly got between Korizato and the servant who simply stood and stared without showing any signs that he was at all intimidated by Kori's outburst.

Surprisingly Konpeito was the diplomatic one. The newly appointed Elder stepped forward hands outstretched to show no malice and said, "I am the leader of this village by the command of Bingtang who surrendered his life so that we could reach this place and so that this creature—who is no pet—could reach this place. I assure you, this creature knows about the attacks, it understands and it can stop them if we can restore its tail."

"Even if the elders had the time to spare I don't think they could restore a limb unless you had the severed limb with you." The servant said, but at least now he sounded a bit more apologetic.

"I don't need the old one back, I need the new one to grow!" Rhubara suddenly spoke up, sliding down from Konpeito's shoulders and taking a menacing step towards the servant, her small hands clenched into fists. Kori was surprised by the aggression visible in Rhuby's aura and then by the visibility of the aura itself when it sparked and Rhubara appeared as if surrounded by blue flame.

The servant saw this too and took a step back in surprise. Rhuby seemed to remember herself and quickly backed down. She lowered her gaze sheepishly, "Please, I have to have my tail back. Without it . . . I'm just not complete without it. I need it!"

The servant was quiet for a long time, standing in stunned silence. Finally just as Kori was about to speak up the servant said, "I have only ever seen the elders make their auras visible like that . . . whatever your crea—uh your companion is, clearly it is special. Weak, but special."

Little Oozaru glared when it was called weak, but Korizato said, "My ward is stronger than you know. But we still need the help of the Wise Elders."

"I . . . will tell them . . . but I do not know that they will choose to lend aid. And in any event even I cannot simply approach them, there are . . . hierarchies and channels to go through." The servant admitted. "If you tell me where your band will be camped I can have word to you no later than nightfall . . . but no sooner than midday."

Konpeito nodded and said, "Thank you," before Korizato could complain or argue. "That will be enough. We don't know where we'll be camped, but either I or one of my people will be here waiting for you until nightfall."

The servant nodded and rushed off, Konpeito told them, "Midday to nightfall is better than nothing."

"Nightfall is when the attacks happen." Korizato reminded him.

"I know." Konpeito said. He looked at Rhuby and asked, "Will that be enough time for you to stop the Oozaru?"

She folded her arms and said, "I don't know . . . but I've got an idea."

"What?" Korizato asked.

"The fruit. The fruit might heal me, right?"

"Yes, according to legends at least." Korizato said hesitantly. Kori had no idea what Rhuby's aura was at the moment but it didn't feel . . . right. It felt . . . almost dangerous. Not threatening, but dangerous.

"And the tree might have some fruit left at the very top." Rhubara continued.

"Yes but we could never climb that high." Konpeito sighed.

Rhubara looked up and said, "I don't need to climb."

Without another word Rhuby grabbed Kon and Kori by their wrists and before Kori could even cry out in surprise the three of them were rising into the air. They continued to rise, higher and higher up the trunk. Korizato couldn't believe what was happening, couldn't believe that little Rhuby could carry the both of them so easily.

And the healer wasn't at all convinced that Rhubara wasn't doing it just because that servant had called her weak. Still the Iwatian was amazed at the Saiyan's strength and actually thought that maybe, just maybe there really was something Rhuby could do about the Oozaru. This magical juvi who had come from lands unknown who could use a visible aura like the very greatest of sage healers . . . Korizato couldn't help but stare at Rhubara in awe.

Which was good because Kori didn't want to look down.

"Kori . . ." Konpeito said breathlessly, "You always dreamed of flying."

"Yes . . ." Korizato said, holding tight onto little Oozaru's hand, "But would you believe . . . I know now that I'm afraid of heights, Kon!"

"I won't drop you." Rhubara grunted, "You've been too kind to me for that. Besides, I don't know what the fruit looks like."

"The fruit of the gods . . ." Korizato whispered breathlessly. Fear traveled up the healer's spine at the realization that every legend the Iwatian people had ever told their children every legend Korizato had ever heard for that matter might well be proven true in mere moments . . .

"You're flying us to the top of the tree?" Konpeito asked.

"Thats right! Could a weak creature do that?" Rhubara sneered, confirming what Korizato had suspected.

The healer decided to offer a bit of praise to help the little Saiyan forget the servant's ignorant words, "You are a truly amazing being, my little one!"

Korizato was still clutching Rhubara's small hand tightly but dared to look down. The ground was so far down below . . . but Korizato had to trust Rhuby as they flew upwards.

It was a very long way to the branches and leaves at the top, but they reached them. Before they went into the tree's greenery Korizato couldn't help facing the fear and looking down from what was perhaps one of the highest points of the world in amazement at the forests below. The healer could see the smoking craters where the Oozaru had battled the previous night, there were six of them and one was far larger than the rest, visible even from so high up in the tree. Korizato thought sadly that six different groups might have been attacked.

The craters were so close . . . it was horrifying. They might well attack the tree that very night, Korizato could guess which crater had been Bingtang and the other elders, it was the closest clearing of all. Korizato also noticed that the forest wasn't ablaze . . . the craters were wide, but hadn't spread fires very far the way the healer would have expected. Still the might of the monsters was horrifying and there was no chance that they were something that had always existed and simply not been noticed before.

They were a punishment from the heavens, that was what the stars had meant, Korizato realized. "The gods must be weeping at our weakness." Korizato said solemnly as Rhuby took them into the tree's branches and leaves.

"What do you mean?" Konpeito asked.

"So much destruction, and us powerless to stop it. We're too weak." Kori explained.

Konpeito sighed, "The strongest of the strong can stand before the storm and still perish. It is not unwise to seek shelter from forces you cannot contend with. Rhuby is our only hope."

"No . . . fruit is." Rhubara said. "I need to find some . . . what does it look like?"

Korizato had only ever seen pictures in shrine villages when training as a healer, and the tree was large. They searched for more than an hour carefully watching their footing on the broad branches.

Korizato was trying very hard not to be too far from Rhuby, after all it was a long way down. The three companions were near the very top of the tree and close to the trunk when they saw the small light orange spheres dangling from the topmost branches from thick stems still attached to the green leafed branches.

"There!" Korizato said, "That must be it!"

They were round and covered in bumps. Rhubara floated over to one of the pieces of fruit. Korizato saw the small creature look at them for a moment, her aura was alive with conflicted emotions. Happy, excited . . . and yet regretful as well.

"Go on," Konpeito urged, "this is what you came for . . ."

Rhubara nodded and reached out for the bumpy fruit the little Saiyan tore the orange orb from its stem and took a deep breath. Korizato looked out through the leaves at the midday sun, if Rhuby's tail grew back they would have plenty of time before the night came and the next attack to send the Oozaru away.

"Uh . . . well . . . can you climb down from here?"

"Are you serious?" Konpeito gawked.

"I don't know what'll happen, what if I bite into this and die?" Little Oozaru said.

"Well maybe we should go down first," Korizato said, offering an herbs satchel to Rhubara. "Take the fruit down and eat it there, that way if you do get sick the elders can heal you."

"Wait, gather more pieces than just that one." Konpeito said, "A few extra pieces of fruit should really get the elders' attention."

"Good idea." Rhubara said and, taking Kori's satchel plucked more pieces of fruit.

Then, taking the hands of the two Iwatians the smaller creature began to descent from the treetop, it felt less terrifying than the ascent had been. Korizato actually took comfort as the ground got closer. It was a controlled descent but it did feel distinctly like falling all the same Korizato watched the world beneath them rise up to meet them.

"This is amazing . . ." Korizato whispered.

"I guess it's pretty neat if you've never done it." Rhuby said lightly, "Maybe I can teach you . . . I mean . . . well I don't know . . ."

"That'd be . . . I don't know if I could even learn." Korizato whispered, "I don't know if I'd have the courage to do it even if I could."

"Don't be silly, of course you would." Konpeito scolded, "You're very brave, my love. Brave enough to spend weeks in a cave in the wilds with me and what we all thought was a demon."

"You were the one brave enough to take that demon in." Korizato said, "Maybe you should learn to fly."

"You could both learn." Rhubara said dryly, then added, "I mean . . . maybe. I've never taught it before . . . if this works, and if you survive . . . I'll teach you."

"What do you mean 'if' we survive?" Konpeito asked. "Aren't you going to stop the Oozaru?"

"We don't know that it'll work." Rhubara reminded Konpeito.

"That's what the extra fruit is for, if it doesn't heal you it might tempt the sages to do the job instead." Konpeito said.

"I just want my tail back . . . I'm tired of being afraid." Rhubara grumbled. "I'm tired of feeling confused. I just want this all to be over . . ."

"Me too." Korizato said soothingly as they reached the ground to the shock and awe of many, many Iwatians. "Now, quickly!" Korizato said, taking a piece of fruit out of the satchel and handing it to Rhuby.

Rhubara took the fruit and shut her eyes. She swallowed a lump in her throat and with shaking hands raised the fruit to her mouth and took a bite . . .

The moment she swallowed her aura began to blaze with distress, her body seemed to spasm and her muscles inflated to over-sized proportions for several seconds that looked cripplingly painful, she fell to her knees screaming but no new tail sprouted.

"Little one, are you all right?" Korizato asked desperately, She was like that for several seconds and Korizato wasn't sure what to do, every instinct in the healer said not to touch the poor creature until the pain was over.

Finally after perhaps a couple of seconds that felt like an eternity Rhubara's muscles relaxed and shrank down to a size only slightly larger than normal. Her body was larger, not by much but enough for Kori to notice. The fruit had had a lasting effect, she looked stronger, slightly taller. She was shaking for a moment, then she steadied herself.

Konpeito seemed stunned, Korizato couldn't sense energy but if Rhubara's aura was anything to go by her strength had increased by more than anything anyone could have ever imagined.

Rhubara seemed surprised, "I . . . I feel great!" She declared, "Uh, my tail! Do I have my tail back?"

She spun around trying to look at her rear end past its large purple shoulder pads. She twitched her bottom evidently trying to move her tail and her disappointment was evident even before Konpeito said, "N-no little one . . . it's still missing."

Rhubara slumped. "No . . . " She whispered, "I . . . I needed . . . they're here, the attack could come at any time . . . what am I going to do now?"

She was shaking, and then suddenly she let out a roar that could have rivaled the Oozaru. A wave of power came off of the small creature that pushed like a wall of physical force. It threw Korizato and others back like a powerful win, Konpeito caught Korizato by the hand and stood through the proverbial storm.

"Wh-what was that?" Konpeito stammered, looking around in surprise. Most of the Iwatians around them were elders or children and had been thrown away, but a few of the stronger looking hunters had managed to avoid being completely thrown.

Rhubara clenched her fists in anger, her aura was visible to all again like a blue fire raging around her, "What am I supposed to do when the Oozaru show up? Without my tail they'll just attack me!"

"Maybe you're strong enough on your own . . ." Kori whispered reassuringly. Did Rhubara not realize how much stronger she'd become? She seemed less like a child and more like a force of nature now.

But Rhubara seemed about to argue when someone in the crowd of staring Iwatians pointed to the sky and screamed, "Look! Look it's the star of death!"

"What?" Konpeito and Rhubara said together. Korizato looked too and the healer had never felt such fear. Their time had come . . . and Rhuby had no tail. The judgment of the gods was descending upon them and their savior . . . could Rhuby save them?

"Why now?" Rhubara gawked, "What's going on? Why so soon, they can't have recovered yet, it's not dark!"

But there was no denying the star in the sky.

Or the roar that followed it.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

With such a massive number of scurrying prey to catch the Oozaru had simply had a field day in the woods. When Kumber finally came to the sun was already up and he'd simply collapsed beside a tree to fall asleep. The others weren't anywhere near, his scouter said that Turles was off on his own and Cauli and Leek had stayed relatively close together. They were nearby but Kumber would get some rest before he went to them.

He was too exhausted, but he knew the night wasn't a waste. They'd been right to do it because at last he could remember. He hadn't been in complete control but he'd begun to share the Oozaru's mind instead of simply being shoved aside and now that it was over her could recall it all.

He truly was ready.

He leaned against a tree and let his heavy eyelids droop shut.

He wasn't sure how long he managed to sleep and he was still tired when an alarm noise woke him.

His eyes slowly opened as his scouter screamed at him.

"Thirty six . . ." The young Saiyan mumbled to himself. "Thirty six . . ." He yawned and sat up. He was hungry, he took his scouter off and rubbed his eyes. He cracked his neck and knuckles, then put the scouter back on. He'd get some food and round up the others before he went back to sleep.

"Thirty six thousand . . ." He mumbled, "Who is that? That's . . . that's way too high . . ."

Slowly it dawned on his groggy mind that the power ball had disappeared from the sky, the others were all at their usual power levels . . . the thirty three thousand was coming from the tree.

Kumber swallowed a lump in his throat. That was too high. That was even higher than his power level in Oozaru form.

_But . . .but this is the mission!_ He thought, _Whatever that is . . . I'm strong enough to face it as an Oozaru, I can control it now, this is destiny!_

He clenched his fist. His mind felt blank, there was only one course of action. He didn't bother to put his scouter away, instead he called on the power ball and hurled it into the air. The others would see it, they'd come to his aid, he'd use their help to destroy this high power level.

He looked into the power ball, ignoring his own weariness and embraced the beast. He would be in control, he was a true Saiyan elite.

He could do this. He would do this. His size began to increase, he rose until he emerged from the canopy. He was taller than the trees, he was mightier than this world, the rage of the Oozaru came boiling out in his own brain but he quashed it and instead focused on his target. The tree . . . he had to destroy that tree and all the people around it.

The coarse dark brown fur sprouted as his muscles expanded and he continued to grow but now he knew this wasn't the strength of some primal monster at the back of his mind it was his own, he was the Oozaru.

When the roar erupted from his fully transformed mouth it was _his_ roar.

_I am coming for you, Iwatian!_

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhubara saw the power ball in the sky and her heart sank. She knew it was all over. She didn't know why they'd attack so soon but she knew there was nothing the Iwatians could do.

She felt stronger it was true but Kon was crazy if he thought she had the strength to stare down even one Oozaru. Her only hope would have been to grow her tail back and . . . and what?

She didn't want to destroy the Iwatians, they were a strong people and they deserved to live . . . but she had wanted to rejoin the others and Cauli, she'd wanted to be with the other Saiyans . . . if Kumber had ordered her to attack the Iwatians she'd probably have obeyed, he was the leader, he was the strongest.

Not that any of that mattered anymore. It was time to face death.

_A warrior doesn't fear death._ Rhubara thought, imagining it as just the sort of thing Cauli would have told her.

The Iwatians climbed to the top of the large tree roots to point and gawk, Rhubara knew with their dull eyes they wouldn't see much. She flew up to one where Konpeito and Korizato were climbing and stood beside them at the top of it.

"What's happening?" Korizato asked.

"They're attacking, or at least one of them is." Rhubara said peering into the distance. She could see a single black shape coming towards them. Taller than the trees of the forest the Oozaru was a sight to behold. In a weird way Rhubara thought to herself that there wasn't much more she could ask for as a warrior than to be slain by a powerful foe.

Who would do the slaying though? And why were they alone? "I can't tell which one, I don't know why there's only one."

"Perhaps elder Bingtang and the others slew the rest?" Konpeito suggested.

"No way!" Rhubara gasped. There was no way the Iwatians could have killed the others, no way they could have killed Cauli . . .

"Get below! Get beneath the tree!" Someone was shouting. The Iwatians began to rush as fast as their short legs would carry them into the network of tunnels.

"Th-that's where we should be, Kon." Korizato said.

"It'll get here before they're done . .." Konpeito said grimly.

Rhubara punched the tree root beneath them with far more force than she'd realized she possessed. It splintered and shook. Both Konpeito and Korizato stared in surprise and held on tight until the shuddering stopped.

"They won't be stopped, not even by this tree. Don't you get it? This was the plan, they were driving everyone here, they want to wipe you all out at once and now I'll die too . . ." Rhubara frowned . . . if she were going to die there would be no more lies or secrets. She admitted, "I thought I might at least hide you two from them . . ."

"What do you mean?" Konpeito demanded.

"Your whole race is doomed, those falling stars you told me about, I came from one of them. We're world enders, it's what we do but sometimes a few individuals slip through the cracks . . . you two took care of me, I wanted to let you go, you and the old elder, Misiri and the others . . . I didn't want it to end like this, I really thought . . ."

Rhubara suddenly went from sad to angry, she was outraged that she'd learned so much from the Iwatians only to now die with them. No, she wouldn't just go quietly she was going to fight.

She stood up straight and let her aura spark for the world to see, she wouldn't hide her power with battle upon her. "Well all right, if this is how I die then I'll die like a true Saiyan, facing death head on like a warrior! I might not be able to do much . . . but maybe I can be like Bingtang and buy some time." She was going to make her final moments so memorable that even buried beneath the Oozaru's mind and rage Cauli would remember her and know she'd been a true warrior.

"Buy some time? For what?" Korizato asked, "If we're all going to die anyway we should try to get beneath the tree, take as much time as fate is willing to give us before the end to just . . . be together, like a family."

Rhubara frowned, "You are family. But I'm sorry . . . my kind don't believe in that sort of thing. We don't make peace before we die, we just die and that's all there is. My ancestors are waiting for me to die well, my father is waiting for me . . . I won't be ashamed when I see him." She turned to the Iwatians and said, "But you're not warriors and you don't deserve to die in fear. Neither of you do. Go beneath the tree, spend your last moments praying or doing whatever gives you peace. I'm a Saiyan warrior and I have to go."

"No." Konpeito said sternly. "I have no intention of dying or of letting my race die. You've told me some dark things my little ward and we will have to discuss them further at a later time . . . but I am an Elder now, in title if not necessarily in age, and I will protect my people. _All_ of my people. I'm going with you."

"I'll come too!" Korizato said.

"No, you're no hunter, Kori . . . you need to get beneath the tree, I'll fight better knowing you're safe. Besides, me and the juvi are going to need someone to patch us up when we come back." Konpeito said.

"You haven't slept, you're weary, you can't fight like that!" Kori said and Rhubara realized the truth of it. She felt fine but Konpeito must be exhausted.

She understood, "The fruit! Give him a piece of the fruit!"

"What?" Konpeito seemed hesitant.

"It rejuvenated me, I feel better than I ever have." Rhubara said.

Konpeito hesitated then nodded. Korizato reached into the satchel and handed the hunter soon to turn warrior one of the tree's fruit.

Konpeito ate it and like Rhubara had he surged with power and strength, the piece dropped to the ground and Konpeito too grew massive but didn't seem as bothered by it as Rhuby had been. He was stronger now, Rhubara could feel it.

"Elder!" Misiri shouted from below with some of the other hunters Rhubara recognized and many she didn't, "What are we going to do?"

Konpeito threw Misiri the fruit, "We're going to fight! With the fruit of the Gods we're going to banish these demons to the underworld!"

Kori's gaze was very stern. "Don't talk like you're coming back unless you're coming back."

The two Iwatians pressed their foreheads together, Rhubara had come to understand it as not so much a form of kissing as it was a calming act. Down below Misiri and several others took bites of the fruit, like Konpeito they shuddered and grew massive for a moment as the strength of the tree's fruit revitalized them.

When Kon and Kori's foreheads separated Konpeito said, "We'll be together again. All three of us. In this world or the next."

Korizato nodded slowly, then holding the satchel of fruit they had taken from the tree top leaped down into the crowd rushing beneath the tree.

Konpeito patted Rhubara's armored shoulder and said, "Don't make me a liar, child."

Rhubara nodded, though she didn't fancy their chances as the Oozaru grew closer and closer. Konpeito turned to the rushing crowd and roared as loudly as he could, "Iwatians! Hunters! Hunters of every village, hear me! That demon out there means to destroy us all, to end every life under this tree! There are three others like it, this is only one! Let us show it the folly of attacking an entire people by itself, come with me, fight with me, let us destroy this monster!"

Not one in ten of the Iwatians dressed and built as hunters answered his call at first, but some did. The hunters from his village did of course, and a few others. Some climbed or leaped to the top of the tree roots as he had done and as their numbers swelled more, including those who couldn't have heard him over the din of the mad rush to get beneath the tree joined them as well.

Rhubara would guess there were maybe a hundred of them . . . it might be enough if the Oozaru was Turles or maybe Leek . . .

_Please be Turles,_ Rhubara realized. If they could kill Turles the others would have no one who could use the power ball, they wouldn't be able to conquer the Iwatians without Rhubara's help . . . she realized she could dictate the terms . . . she'd have all the power if she could kill Turles and they weathered this current power ball in the sky.

The roar of the Oozaru was too close to delay any longer, Konpeito surprised her by asking, "Are you with me, little one?"

"No." Rhubara scowled, Konpeito seemed shocked and she smiled to show him she was teasing, "But you can be with me if you want, big brother."

Konpeito smiled and ruffled her hair. "All right. Let's go . . . little brother."

With Konpeito leading the way the Iwatian hunters charged. They loped along the exposed tree roots to avoid the river of fleeing villagers, gathering more support along the way and swelling their numbers but it didn't matter to Rhubara numbers wouldn't matter against the Oozaru.

Rhubara was just starting to see detail on the Oozaru when it opened its mouth and shot a beam of energy that tore into one of the tree roots and burned several Iwatians to death, their ability to absorb heat useless at that magnitude.

"Don't let that light touch you!" One of the hunters roared to the rest as they continued to charge.

"Armor . . . armor . . ." Rhubara growled trying to make out the color of the Oozaru's armor and identify the wearer

"What?" Konpeito asked as they ran together.

"Armor . . . armor is . . . green! Not Cauli though, that's Kumber, Kumber's the strongest! No wonder he thought he could come alone!"

Rhuby felt at least a little better knowing Cauli wouldn't be the one to kill her. As Oozaru the Saiyans were harder to distinguish without their armor, Kumber and Cauli both wore the same sort of newer fashionable armor with shoulder straps instead of pads but Kumber's legs were bare and Cauli wore short tights and Kumber's armor was more of a lime green than Cauli's darker forest green.

His red eyes seemed to zero in on them, Rhuby wasn't sure if Kumber could see her from that distance but somehow she felt like he could and she felt like he was targeting her specifically. She doubted he had any control of the Oozaru mind but if he did she supposed he must think her a traitor.

He wasn't wrong really. He smashing his massive fist down on a root in front of him, breaking it to splinters and took a large chunk. He hurtled it towards them.

Thinking fast Rhubara grabbed Konpeito and they flew into the air narrowly avoiding the projectile. Kumber blasted another group of hunters and using another broken piece of root as a club swept one front-runner away to hurtle through the air screaming.

Several others were able to dodge, dropping to the ground only to be smashed when the club was brought down on them, Kumber was definitely more efficient and calculated than Rhubara had ever imagined Oozaru to be, she wondered if he had any measure of control.

As she wondered this his giant red eyes seemed to settle on her and Konpeito as she flew towards him.

"We need an avenue of attack!" Konpeito said.

Rhubara wouldn't disagree. Instead she responded, "There's one, but we have to be closer!"

Kumber the Oozaru watched them and Rhubara would swear he smiled before he opened his massive mouth and Rhubara saw the powerful energy. _Okay . . . so you know it's me,_ she thought.

"Can you dodge?" Konpeito asked.

"Not when I'm weighed down . . . "

"Drop me!" Konpeito urged. At least one of them might survive.

"That's the plan." Rhubara said, throwing the Iwatian hunter towards Kumber's tail, "Go for the tail!" She shouted, hoping Konpeito would hear her. She braced herself, she had to dodge the attack at just the right moment or-

Before she could so much as think a wave of intense heat washed over her, she felt her armor heat up and her shoulder pads melt, she braced her arms in front of her as Kumber's blast enveloped her.

But the end didn't come.

When the Oozaru closed its mouth it made a grunt of frustration, but no one was more surprised than Rhubara. She actually smiled and shouted at him, "Was that really your best shot Kumber? Looks like you're not as tough as I thought!"

The Oozaru's mouth moved, Rhubara was shocked when she realized Kumber was trying to talk. He clearly didn't know how to make proper words with his transformed snout but he managed a garbled, "Rrrrbrrrahh . . . . yrr trrraaatttrrrr . . ."

Rhuby was stunned. The last of her doubts disappeared, Kumber was in control if only slightly. He clearly couldn't control the Oozaru's anger because if he could have he wouldn't have attacked her on sight, he might have backed off and tried to approach her as a comrade instead.

Or maybe he just didn't care what happened to her. So why should she care what happened to him?

Kumber roared and started trying to swat her out of the sky, Rhubara used all over her speed to keep just out of his reach. When she saw an opening she rushed down and kicked him hard between the eyes. She didn't expect the kick to do much, mostly she'd hoped Kumber would be so caught up in attacking her that he might strike himself in the face but he didn't need to, instead he actually staggered backwards a pace. Rhubara stared in awe of herself as Kumber raised a hand to his face to rub the spot she'd kicked.

_I_ hurt _him?_ She realized in amazement.

He roared in fury and now many of the hunters were on him, using their spears to stab at it or their knives to cut at it. They weren't going to make it through the his armored boots, though and it seemed like compared to her they were just an annoyance to Kumber. He raised his leg and Rhubara spotted Konpeito clutching onto Kumber's thigh plate for dear life as Kumber stomped down on the Iwatian hunters, crushing several of them and nearly knocking Konpeito loose.

Rhubara heard a roar in the distance . . . were the others coming now? Had they planned to attack from different sides? There were answering roars, Rhuby knew all four Oozaru were here and coming on the attack.

Rhubara shouted to Konpeito, "What are you doing? I told you to go for the tail!" He was close and the way Kumber's tail was twitching he should be able to jump out and take it.

But Konpeito looked up in surprise, "What?"

"The tail! Quick!" Rhubara shouted.

He made the leap, Rhubara actually froze watching him but he made it jumping through the air and narrowly catching hold of Kumber's tail. His momentum yanked it backwards and Kumber roared in pain as a result.

Kon seemed to realize the reason Rhubara had directed him to the tail, "The tail! Attack its tail!"

Kumber seemed almost totally paralyzed with pain, but was still able to swing one massive arm backwards to swat Kon away from his tail. The blow probably would have killed Konpeito if it had been at full strength but Rhuby knew Kumber's might was sapped by the pain of having his tail squeezed.

Konpeito hit the ground and rolled, Rhubara rushed over to him. Kumber was recovering quickly, he was coming for them but Rhubara had an idea. She told Kumber, "Just like the knife tail, think you can do it?"

Kumber shook his head to clear it then nodded, "It's that or we die, do it!

Rhubara leapt back far enough to give Kon room to prepare to redirect her blast. She said, "I'm sorry, squad leader, but it's you or me! Omega Blast!"

Her massive blue blast was even more powerful than it had ever been, it scorched the ground around them and left a ditch as it traveled to Konpeito who held his hand out to catch it and aimed his other hand to blast Kumber in the face. The Oozaru staggered back roaring in agony and Rhuby dared to hope that the amplified blast would be enough.

But it wasn't. It did noticeable and horrible damage, but Kumber's head was still on his shoulders. His red eyes were shut and soon thick red tears began to flow from them and from his nose, but he roared again, showing that he was still alive.

Rhubara was surprised less by Kumber's survival than she was by the amount of damage they _had_ done to him. His fur and face were burned, he had to be in incredible agony. He staggered forward shrieking and flailing, Rhubara reacted without thought and shoved Konpeito forward out of the way of Kumber's flailing fist. The Iwatian flew out of the way of danger but Rhubara herself wasn't quick enough taking the blow to the side of her body and being hurled through a tree root and into the ground.

Rhubara couldn't move, the blow had been too much. A part of her brain knew she was about to die.

She looked at the scene before her as the Iwatians attacked Kumber's tail bringing him to his knees then toppling backwards. Blinded by the blast he couldn't fight back effectively. She heard Kon roar and leap onto Kumber's chest with a spear, he said something but over the din of battle even Rhubara's sharp ears couldn't hear it. She felt her eyes getting heavy and not because she was exhausted from her blast.

It was time. Her battle had been fought, her race had been run. She heard the roar of triumph from the Iwatians and she knew they had finished Kumber, they knew now how to finish the others. It hurt her knowing she'd be the reason Cauli might not make it . . . _I'm sorry Cauli . . . I'm sorry Kumber . . . Tullece and Leek too, all of you . . . at least you're not going alone._

She finally let her eyes close.

 

**To Be Concluded . . .**

_Character Image - Kumber  
_


	36. Trials of the Tree Part Six

**Trials of The Tree**

**Part Six**

**Overburdened**

 

The alarm in his scouter roared and Turles' eye shot open. He'd barely settled down for a nap when the scouter started to go crazy, he pressed a few buttons to see what it was so concerned about.

_Huh . . . Kumber hasn't transformed back yet?_ He thought at first until he realized the Scouter was picking up Kumber's power level of just over three thousand as well. Turles realized there was something on the planet even stronger than Kumber when he transformed

_Okay, we're going to need to be careful,_ he thought. He stayed in the trees and flew towards the place where the tree-line ended and met the massive gnarled roots of the Iwatian god-tree. He had only a moment to wonder if he could fly up to the top of it and look for one of their pieces of fruit before his scouter alerted him that Kumber's power level was rising.

_You idiot,_ Turles thought, _your power level is lower than that one even when you transform and the wild unfocused aggression of the Oozaru won't be enough, you should have waited until the rest of us recovered!_

Turles tried to avoid looking at blue power ball in the sky but he failed. He had just enough time and presence of mind to stow his Scouter in his battle jacket along with his pod remote before the changes started. He still couldn't control his Oozaru state and a little bitterly he realized that that was probably about to get him killed.

_Thanks loads, Kumber you fool!_ Turles thought as his transformation began. Distantly he could hear Kumber's roar and it stirred in him something primal. He roared back though he still had a normal Saiyan's lungs, his body grew and the changes began. Turles had to take solace in the fact that the Oozaru would probably be too angry and stupid to realize it was charging to its own death.

But since it wouldn't realize it it probably wouldn't care. He could at least take some solace in the fact that he wouldn't really be awake for his death. It bothered him though, he wanted to be conscious, to face his death like a true Saiyan warrior.

Still Turles let the angry mind take over, allowing his own consciousness to be pushed aside believing that when next he opened his own eyes it'd be in the afterlife. _Maybe I'll see big ears there . . . at least I won't have to be embarrassed alone._

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Cauli had lost her scouter so when she heard the annoying beeping alarm noise she realized it was Leek's.

She'd gained a measure of greater control over the Oozaru and when the others had scattered chasing prey she had had the foresight to keep by at least one of her comrades, though she couldn't tell which one it had been until they had transformed back, collapsing in a clearing away from the fires they'd set. Though the forest hadn't blazed the way she'd hoped it would.

Leek stirred grumpily Cauliflora managed to climb to her feet and walk over, reaching into the larger Saiyan's battle jacket and retrieving his scouter. She held it up to her face and pressed the button, it immediately warned them of a high power level.

_Thirty six thousand? I guess that makes sense if Kumber hasn't transformed back yet. Looks like we are getting stronger here after all, just not by much . . ._ Cauli thought, tossing the scouter back to Leek.

"It's just Kumber running around like an idiot." Cauli said.

Leek yawned, "Why would he do that? He should have turned back by now."

Cauliflora shrugged and Leek put his scouter on and pressed the button again. He said, "Wait a second, that's not Kumber."

"Huh?" Cauli raised an eyebrow. She turned back and looked at Leek, "What do you mean?"

"I mean Kumber's about a mile away from us in that direction," Leek pointed but with no real bearings Cauliflora wasn't sure whether it was to the north or the south or wherever.

"How's that possible?" Cauliflora demanded and Leek shrugged helplessly. "Nothing on this planet should have a power level higher than Kumber's when he's transformed, heck nothing on this planet should have a power level higher than _mine_ when I'm transformed!"

"Or mine, but that's what it says." Leek said. "Should we go tell—whoa!"

"What?" Cauli demanded after Leek just stared in shock at his scouter for a moment. She was annoyed that he would react without telling her what he was reacting to.

Of course nobody made her break her own scouter, her perfect, beautiful purple scouter. The symbol of her status as a Regular and she'd thrown it away in a temper tantrum.

"No way!" Leek gasped, "That's insane, what is he thinking?"

Cauliflora grabbed the larger Saiyan by the collar and yanked him down to her eye level. Her own actions and regrets weren't Leek's fault, but that didn't mean he could keep racting without informing her, "What are you talking about?" She demanded, showing him her fist so he realized what the consequences would be if he didn't start telling her what she wanted to know.

Leek stammered, "K-Kumber's transforming! His power level is spiking, he's going after that high power reading!"

"That's insane!" Cauli gawked.

"That's what I said!" Leek agreed.

"Does he have control? I mean without it he's going to get himself killed against a higher power level!" Cauli said.

"We've got to help him!" Leek said.

"We'd die too, we have to plan!" Cauli said.

"He's the squad leader!" Leek scolded her, "I'm going to help him, no real Saiyan backs down from a fight!"

Cauli scowled, but she knew her father would have told her the same thing. She said, "I'm not backing down from the fight, I'm trying to make sure we win it! Let's at least survey the situation before we transform, we won't be able to control ourselves once we're Oozaru," she lied. She would be able to control herself, Leek wouldn't.

But the big brutish Saiyan nodded his agreement and the two of them ran through the tree-line keeping beneath the canopy to avoid accidentally looking into the power ball and taking in the concentrated Blutz waves.

"Turles is transforming now!" Kumber said after a moment.

Cauli swore. Turles too? She thought he was smarter than that. "This isn't good," she said, thinking out loud.

"We've got to transform too!" Leek said.

Cauli checked to make sure her pod's remote was in her battle jacket and nodded. She knew she'd have at least some control, she'd have to keep her head on her shoulders and fight smart. "All right," she said, "let's do it!"

They leapt above the canopy taking in an eye full of the bright blue light. It was enough that when they landed back in the forest the changes were already starting.

Coarse dark brown fur grew all over her skin, her chest barreled out and her size increased rapidly. Her eyes got stronger and sharper, her sense of smell became so good she could smell the blood from the last night and the fresher blood being spilt now. Her hands became enormous and wide, capable of ripping trees straight out of the ground with ease.

She kept control as she changed asserting her mental dominance. It was easier now that she'd already done it before. When the Oozaru's rage boiled through her brain she embraced it but let it take a back seat to her own. The Oozaru was not some entirely separate consciousness, she understood that now.

The Oozaru was _her_ without reservations, it was a bestial primal portion of her brain, pure instinct and proper Saiyan aggression asserting itself over reason and civilization but it was still her. Her reason and her sentience remained she just had to have the strength of personality to assert them.

This planet had given her that, Cauliflora had spent enough time as an Oozaru to understand how to handle it and as a result she could fight at ten times her normal strength and still have her wits, but that didn't mean she was just a giant hairy version of herself, she was still in an entirely different body and relying on her Oozaru instincts a bit helped her to control it. She'd spent over sixteen years getting used to her Saiyan body, the Oozaru was definitely different.

She and Leek let out roars to answer the calls Turles and Kumber were making, their Oozaru bodies fully formed they charged through the forests in broad daylight clearing the tree-line and leaping and bounding over the maze of roots and soil surrounding the great tree.

It was a sight to behold, it could almost have been made for the Oozaru and Cauli had to confess to a desire to just climb it and swing from its branches. It was such a bizarre desire it actually caught her off guard. _I want to_ play _in that tree!_ She realized, thinking to herself. It actually made her laugh and the sound of a laughing Oozaru wasn't something Cauli had ever expected to hear.

As she and Leek rushed into battle the distance they needed to clear was massive, the tree's roots went for miles. Being giants they would close the distance in minutes but Cauli saw a flash of blue light hit Kumber, she'd never seen anything like it. It was a massive blast, greater than anything she'd ever seen from any Saiyan warrior. _The Iwatians have a champion of some sort,_ Cauli thought, _and I don't think we want to get too close to him . . ._

But she'd stay by Leek and see what she could do so far as damage went, if the position became untenable she'd have to fall back and now that she actually was an Oozaru that didn't feel as if it'd be as easy as she'd thought at first. Even though her reason remained the aggression and instinct of the Oozaru were very powerful and she balked at the idea of running. It was difficult for the reasoning portion of her brain to convince her ape body that there could be anything more powerful than it was.

They closed the distance to where Kumber had gone down, Cauliflora's Oozaru nose could smell blood, both the blood of enemies and Oozaru blood. Somehow the Oozaru brain knew the difference and the scent drove the rage instincts even further. 'A threat, there is a threat,' _I have to destroy the threat!_ Cauli thought to herself, or her Oozaru mind asserted over her reasoning mind. As her mastery over the Oozaru grew it was less an internal conversation and more of a steady stream of thought with the occasional unexpectedly aggressive urge.

And at least in this matter both her reasoning side and primal side were in agreement; they needed to destroy the threat. Cauli just needed to be extra careful to keep an eye out for what that threat was. She doubted sheer weight of numbers alone had helped the Iwatians to defeat Kumber.

_Or kill him. He doesn't smell 'defeated' he smells dead._ Cauliflora thought grimly, the Oozaru part of her didn't really have a lot to say about a dead comrade. The dead comrade was dead and served no further purpose, but whatever killed it needed to be destroyed. That was about as much as the primal Oozaru was able to weigh in on things, and it explained why Leek was just blindly attacking anything that moved.

He wouldn't know or possibly even care that the Iwatians had a greater champion somewhere, he'd just smell the blood of the fallen Oozaru and rage at everything around himself hoping to stomp the threat out. Cauli had the strange realization that in this instance the power of their race was a liability; what good was power without reason to guide it?

A number of Iwatian hunters were coming for her, she saw Leek leap up and expel a blast of energy from his mouth, blasting several of them away but they were like ants swarming now.

It shouldn't have mattered, they had faced numbers before but this time it seemed like the Iwatians attacked with purpose. Had they ever done that before? Cauli had the distinct impression that they'd always fought with desperation before.

But it seemed like they had a plan now. The young Saiyan realized that if they'd taken down Kumber they might have found some flaw in the Oozaru . . . but short of it being an unreasoning berserker, something they'd proven powerless to exploit before, what flaw could the aliens possibly have found in the Oozaru form?

Cauliflora realized she could only think of one. _My tail! My tail is just as sensitive as an Oozaru! But I don't know if I can wrap it around my waist like this!_

She realized she was going to have to be very careful, or as careful as a giant monster monkey could be. She threw herself at the Iwatians and saw they certainly went after Leek's tail now. She swatted them away, as long as she could keep both their tails safe the two of them should be fine.

But Leek was hard to predict, he was a creature of pure rage and instinct, if he'd been in control they might have made a lethal team fighting back to back instead it felt more like babysitting. She wished Rhuby had made it . . . she would have loved to fight back to back with Rhubara again.

And remembering her fallen partner only made the Oozaru's rage stronger, the Oozaru was herself after all so her own anger amplifying meant the Oozaru's blind rage got more powerful too.

The Iwatians swarmed them like ants and Cauliflora swatted them and slaughtered them like ants. She'd kill them all and if this champion showed himself she'd do her best to kill him too and if she couldn't she'd flee and tell everyone.

Thirty six thousand was tough, but it was nothing compared to King Vegeta or even officers like her father or General Nappa when they transformed. The Saiyan race were the greatest in the galaxy, they wouldn't be shamed by these primitives.

Cauliflora raged on it never occurred to her that she should try to herd Leek towards Turles, it never occurred to her that as much trouble as she was having keeping hers and Leek's tails safe from attack there was no one to watch Turles' backside.

So Cauliflora didn't see when Turles finally went down, she only focused on protecting herself and Leek. Though a hundred if not a thousand Iwatian spears, some of them thrown by stronger hands than usual were cutting her and starting to slow her down she had killed so many of the Iwatians it was hard to believe they weren't breaking and running.

_Oh . . . you idiot!_ She thought of herself. They had nowhere to run to, just like the warriors she could vaguely remember giving their lives to protect their fleeing comrades when the Iwatians ran out of places to run they'd fight even knowing they'd die.

For the rest of her life she'd remember that a cornered enemy was a dangerous enemy, but it seemed like the rest of her life wouldn't be very long. Cauliflora swept her hand out, knocking away several Iwatians but she saw Leek had gotten too far from her and they'd gotten him by the tail.

He was on his knees, Iwatians were cutting at, biting and just clubbing his tail and it sent weakened pained moans from the Oozaru's snarling mouth. Cauliflora wished she didn't have control, she wished she wouldn't remember what she was seeing. Dozens of primitive lizard apes bringing down the strength and pride of the Saiyan race . . .

She had to fight on, she twitched her tail and tried to keep it from being a stationary target, she threw some of the Iwatians she caught at the ones swarming Leek but it didn't seem to matter anymore.

She was bleeding from a thousand cuts, she'd been exhausted before but now the Oozaru was starting to slow down from loss of blood. A part of her brain noticed Leek go down but she didn't care anymore, neither of them was going to conquer they were about to be conquered.

She started to stumble around, she could feel her brain shutting down from the constant pain in her tail and the loss of blood. With what energy she had left she blasted indiscriminately like some sort of crazed fire breathing demigod, it didn't matter to her what she hit. She hit tree roots, she hit Iwatians, fires caught and fires were absorbed and shot back at her as heat blasts.

_This is it . . ._ she realized. She could smell more blood, Leek was down and the Iwatians had probably made certain he'd stay down. _At least I'm going to die in battle._ Cauli thought. A strange portion of her even thought, _I'll see you soon, Rhubara . . ._

She felt her tail come off, if was quick and it was painful but she didn't have the strength left to react to it. She shrank, her body slowly became her own again. She was surrounded and Iwatians swarmed her to attack her, fighting for position as her shrinking form gave them less surface area to batter.

She closed her eyes falling unconscious before the transformation was complete.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The tunnels and caverns beneath the three were massive yet they were still packed to the brim with scared Iwatians. Korizato was tending injuries a few had received from the shoving and fighting to get into the caverns. Fear was thick in the air, though Korizato didn't need to read anyone's aura to tell that. Besides Korizato's ability to see auras had a certain limit, and it wouldn't be worth wasting the energy seeing too much.

A pair of hunters burst through the tunnel one of them shouting, "Make way! We must reach the elders, this creature is in need of our help! Make way!"

Korizato saw what creature they meant, the healer's hearts stopped seeing Rhubara's limp form being carried by a pair of strangers. Kori rushed forward, "What happened?"

"We have to take this creature to the sages, please!" The second hunter insisted, "Elder Konpeito gave us orders!"

"Konpeito?" Korizato gasped, following along with the pair of them, "I'm his mate, this is our ward!"

"You can come with us," the lead hunter said, "but we must get to the elders! Make way!"

Korizato had seen some of the wise elders, they had been trundling in and out of the cavern attending to whomever they could, they had been using their power to heal injures here and there but they never seemed to be able to stay in one place for very long. Still the hunter seemed to know where he was going and people got out of the way as they rushed through.

The healer went with the two hunters all else forgotten as Kori tried to heal Rhubara as they ran. Other hunters were making their way out now that they knew there was a coordinated defense but there were still so many others in the tunnels that progress was difficult. Iwatians were trying to make space for them but there was not a lot of space to be made.

But finally they found one of the Wise Elders tending an obviously broken arm. The Elder glowered in their direction, "Stop making such a racket, Nabat! What are you doing rushing down here like this?"

"Great Wise Elder Sage," Nabat, the first hunter cried urgently, "The village elder leading our hunters in defending this great tree sent this creature to you to be healed, he says she is the gift from the gods that we need to survive this terrible ordeal! If we can help her to regrow her tail she can stop the demons!"

Murmurs filled the cavern as the Iwatians wondered whether or not it could possibly be true, or what manner of creature had been brought before their Wise Elders.

But the Wise Elder scowled, "This creature is not of us . . . take it away."

"Did you not hear what was just said?" Korizato exploded, "You old fool, my ward is our salvation!"

The Wise Elder blinked once and returned to tending the broken arm. "Our own kind must come first, if this creature is of the gods let the gods preserve it."

"No," the injured Iwatian said, "Never mind my arm, if that creature can save us all . . ."

"The gods only show us a path, we must choose to travel it!" Korizato insisted.

The second hunter set Rhubara down on the ground, Kori could see Rhuby's aura was faded so far that the healer thought, _it might be too late to save her really . . . maybe that's why the Elder won't try . . ._

But Korizato couldn't just let Rhubara die. This stranger from the a strange place, this creature that had become family. The healer knelt down beside the dying Saiyan, Korizato tried to heal Rhubara but the task was beyond the village healer's skills.

Another healer trundled over and lent their hands too, and then a third, Nabat and the other hunter stepped away and watched anxiously.

Finally the Wise Elder said, "Don't just stand there like a simpleton, Nabat, find the others. Regrowing limbs would take all of us working together."

Korizato almost didn't want the Wise Elder to help given how long it had taken the old fool to come to their aid but the Elder just smiled a toothless smile and said, "Don't be an idiot, the best all of you could do is keep this one stable. Oh but if you could see more than just the aura of moods, if you could see the mind's words . . . this creature is no friend."

"She is my friend," Korizato said, "she is my ward, my little one, I won't let her-"

"Yes, yes . . . but your so-called little one has pulled many strings from the tapestry of life . . . if I heal her she will pull many many more."

Korizato looked down at Rhubara and said, "She's a warrior born to a race of warriors . . . but she's a good soul, who are you to say the strings she'll pull in the future won't be evil ones?"

"What is good and what is evil?" The Wise Elder asked, but he did put his hands down on Rhubara's chest and begin to pour healing power into the limp Saiyan's form.

Almost immediately Rhubara's breathing improved. Her eyes slowly opened a bit but they were weak and unfocused. It occurred to Korizato that seeing the inside of a cavern wasn't going to be the first thing Rhubara would want to see, the healer needed something to distract the Juvi's attention from their location.

Korizato had a strange idea. The healer reached into the herb pouch and pulled out the last piece of fruit they had plucked, Korizato held it out in front of Rhubara and said, "Come on Rhuby, you can do it. Just look at this and remember the treetop, remember how wide and open it was, the sky Rhuby, remember the sky."

It seemed to work, the bright colored fruit gave Rhubara something to focus on and Kori could see her aura getting stronger.

"Is that . . . is that the fruit?" The Wise Elder looked stunned. "You plucked fruit from the Tree? Where? How?"

Before Korizato could answer Nabat returned with two more Wise Elders, "The others are coming!" He said, "Sires you must hurry we-"

"We've slain one!" Another hunter cried, Kori could see Rhubara's eyes weakly open, her aura was coming to life again.

"Slain one?" Someone asked.

"The demons!" The hunter cried, "I saw from the mouth of the tunnel, the one with the great brown and black carapace! There was a second with it with brown and green, they had cut off its tail, it was shrinking it will-"

He didn't finish the rest, Rhubara's eyes shot open fully and her purple eyes focused.

She reached out and took the piece of fruit from Kori's hand and reached upwards with her other hand. Blue light gathered in her palm and then surged forward cutting a clean hole through the rock and dirt above them, Rhubara just flew up and out of the hole she'd made in the cavern ceiling.

But she wasn't healed and her tail was still missing. Kori didn't want to imagine what would have seemed more important to Rhubara than being whole again, something horrible must be happening on the surface even I the report seemed good.

"We can't just let her wander off on her own," Kori told Nabat and the hunter nodded.

"Come on, we'll find her on the surface and bring her back."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Turles returned to himself in a moment of shock as he tumbled through the sky, his Oozaru's rage dissipated and instead he felt just weariness and pain.

He struck the ground hard as his body continued to shrink and revert back to normal. He made a crater as he crashed and he lay there exhausted and terrified. His body wasn't broken but he was too tired to move. He could hear the roars of two Oozaru in the distance, but only two . . . had one of them fallen? Who had it been?

His body screamed for rest, his eyes were heavy and he wanted to just sleep, even if that meant death.

_No!_ He shouted to himself. He struggled to sit up. He couldn't rest there, he needed to find a place to rest, a place where the Oozaru wouldn't crush him if they won and the Iwatians wouldn't find him if they won. It was hard and he was in pain but he struggled to move, crawling his way out of the crater with the strength of one who knew that to slow or wait would mean death.

He understood that his tail was gone, it had been cut off and for the first time he was glad that he wasn't through his adolescent growth yet after all; he could still regrow his tail in time.

He struggled from the crater, he heard the sound of something approaching, a deep guttural voice growled, "It can't be . . . you fool, you _fool_!"

Turles had just enough time to wonder if the voice was referring to him before he heard the Iwatian close the distance and grab him by the head. The creature held him up to look him in the eyes and roared, "Saiyan!"

"Y . . . yeah . . ." Turles mumbled, managing a little bit of a smirk. "I . . . see you've . . . heard of us . . ."

Turles wanted to be brave in the face of death but the truth was he was scared. He was too exhausted to fight even though adrenaline was rushing through his body he couldn't get free of this Iwatian's grasp. The alien glared at him with pure and probably justified hatred and Turles tried to glare back with defiance.

_If he's going to kill me I wish he'd just hurry up and do it already._ Turles thought.

He could hear the roars of the Oozaru in the distance, but now they sounded pained, one of them sounded very weak. _They must have realized they need to cut off our tails,_ Turles realized. _These stupid ape lizards aren't so stupid after all._

"Do you hear your pack in the distance? Do you hear them dying?" The Iwatian growled at him.

Turles could only shrug weakly. "I . . . don't know . . . how you hid . . . such a power . . ."

"You mean the strength of our race?" The Iwatian demanded.

"No . . . that power level . . . if we'd known one of you had . . . a power level over thirty thousand . . . we'd have sent . . . elites . . ."

"Gibberish!" The Iwatian roared and Turles felt the claw-like hand grip his head tighter, "Your kind came here to destroy us! But you've failed! We will cut your tails we will kill you all! I will kill you!"

"Then . . . do it." The Saiyan growled. "I am a warrior . . . born to a race of warriors . . . I am ready. My . . . ancestors are . . . waiting."

The Iwatian glared at him, "I hope you do not feel ashamed when you meet them," He snarled, but he was hesitating.

"What . . . are you waiting . . . for?" Turles snarled.

But the Iwatian hesitated, Turles felt his grip loosen as if he actually meant to let him go.

_And why not, he's stronger than I am and without my tail I can't change that,_ Turles thought, but the idea of being a prisoner was unacceptable and it stirred an unexpected fire in Turles' heart even stronger than the Oozaru's rage.

Adrenaline was pumping through his system and he wouldn't die in the grasp of some soft-hearted alien. He wouldn't be looked down on, he wouldn't accept pity. There was a flash of blue light in the distance, Turles wasn't sure what it was but the Iwatian looked towards it and Turles struck, blasting him in the chest with almost everything he had.

The Iwatian staggered back, hurt but not dead. His grip on Turles was loosed and the small Saiyan flew towards the tree. He knew he'd be safe there, he could find a spot and rest, he could recover, he might even be able to find fruit.

After all if he was right and the fruit made him stronger . . . he'd do anything to survive and get off of planet Goulder.

And if it was Kumber who was right and the fruit ended his life at least he could go out on his own terms like a true Saiyan warrior.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhubara could feel them, she could feel the others, she could sense their energy.

The Wise Elders were healing her, Korizato was healing her, the whole world seemed to be spinning until Korizato held one of the fruits out. Rhubara focused on it and sensed the others' energies . . .

Leek was fading fast, Turles felt normal which meant he wasn't an Oozaru anymore. Rhuby could still feel Cauliflora, she was still fighting, she was still strong . . . for the moment.

But she'd be overwhelmed.

Contrary to what others would think it really wasn't the announcement that Leek had been killed that snapped her out of her trance, she'd _sensed_ Leek's death, she knew about it when it happened.

What snapped her out of her trance was sensing Cauli lose her tail. That was when even getting her own back stopped mattering.

Cauli was in danger, Rhubara needed to save her best and dearest friend.

She took the fruit from Korizato, Cauli might need revitalizing, she took off not even really hearing anything anyone was saying and not even registering in her mind that she was underground in a cavern and traveling through tunnels. All that mattered was getting out, getting to Cauli.

So she . . . sort of made a short cut.

She blasted a hole through the ceiling of the cavern and flew out of it, she saw her blast had tore through the tree as well, but that hardly mattered to her. She scanned the battlefield and saw the spot where Leek had gone down, she saw Cauli's shrinking form.

She shot off like a bolt of lightning, the Iwatian mob were clubbing and striking at Cauli's limp Saiyan form.

Rhubara landed right on top of Cauli knocking several of the Iwatians into each other, but that was not enough. She felt her energy overflowing and she spread her arms out. She released her energy in a dome of force blasting everyone back, she shouted, "Leave her alone!"

The blast was bright and more powerful than Rhubara had expected it to be but she didn't care. It had the intended effect of pushing the Iwatians away and distracting them from Cauli.

Rhuby looked down at Cauli, who was frighteningly still. She could sense the life energy in her but Rhuby could tell it was even fainter than her own. Rhubara had the piece of fruit she'd taken but if Cauli wasn't conscious enough to eat it the fruit was useless.

As bad as the situation was Rhubara was glad to see Cauli again. She tried to mimic Korizato's healing technique but no energy flowed from her to Cauli.

The Iwatians were closing in around them now, most of them probably wouldn't know not the harm her, they probably didn't understand that she and Cauli were harmless without their tails.

Rhubara let her aura glow, she couldn't quite manage to make it burn. It gave the aliens pause at least, but she knew it'd only last as long as her energy did.

_You idiot,_ she thought, _you're holding a piece of revitalizing fruit!_

Rhubara laughed weakly, she said, "It figures I didn't really master Korizato's technique . . ." Rhubara held up the piece of fruit, "if you could just take a bite of this . . ."

She took a bite of the fruit but swallowing it didn't help her, in fact it made things worse.

She couldn't keep it down and coughed it up, she shuddered and collapsed on top of Cauli's still form.

Rhuby could feel Cauli's chest rising very slightly. She was breathing. _I need energy,_ she thought. She tried one more time but again she couldn't swallow it and she was starting to feel sick.

_Maybe I can't eat more of it,_ Rhubara realized, _maybe my body won't accept it because I've already had some . . . maybe you can only eat so much at once . . ._

She coughed it out again, but this time she caught it in her hand.

Rhubara was running out of energy and she and Cauli were both running out of time. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I know it's gross . . ."

She couldn't swallow more of the fruit but maybe Cauli could.

She pushed the chewed fruit into Cauli's mouth as the last of her aura gave out around her. She struggled as her body slowly began to give out watching to see if Cauli would swallow.

She saw the other girl's throat move, and they she saw her beautiful blue eyes slowly open. She heard the most wonderful voice in the universe whisper, "Rhuby?"

Rhubara smiled and then collapsed as the world went dark.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Korizato and Nabat raced out from the caverns beneath the tree, Nabat pointed and shouted, "There, the strange creature!"

Kori looked where Nabat was pointing and saw a battered creature floating above the ground towards the tree. How it had avoided detection all this time was a mystery because it was not moving quickly. It was small, about the same size as Rhubara and its carapace was similar though far more intact. It had the same skin-tone and same color of black mane only its mane was much shorter and its build was somewhat bulkier.

"That's not my ward . . ." Korizato warned.

Nabat didn't seem to listen though and approached cautiously, "Crea—uh . . . Elder Konpeito's companion," Nabat called cautiously.

The creature, obviously another Saiyan turned a wary eye to Nabat. Korizato could see its aura was faint but frightened, the healer doubted the Saiyan was a threat.

Nabat held his hands out and cried, "Are you not the same creature that Elder Konpeito tasked me with bringing before the elders? How do you soar in the sky?"

The creature stared at them for a moment, then asked, "You can't fly?"

"No!" Nabat said in shock.

"Good." The Saiyan smirked. Korizato was about to speak when suddenly there was a flash behind them so bright that it stunned the healer and Korizato's eyes shut themselves against the harshness of it.

When the Iwatian opened them again the Saiyan was soaring up the tree trunk much faster than it had approached it, Nabat was gawking but Korizato shook the hunter and said, "No, never mind that one!"

"But the Great Tree is aflame, it will surely perish!"

"Then let it perish," Korizato said, doubting that it actually would, "it's no concern of ours, let it go."

The hunter nodded and turned around, spear at the ready for combat. Korizato turned too just in time to see another falling star drift towards the ground.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Cauliflora went from a dreamless painful purgatory to suddenly feeling amazing. She wondered, _Am I dead?_

She was lying on the ground and Rhuby was on top of her. She looked at the unconscious form of her partner and eyed the approaching Iwatians.

Cauli snarled and reached into her battle jacket. Her armor was damaged and cracked and if she were the praying sort she would have prayed that her remote was still intact.

It was. She'd never felt more grateful to fate for anything in her life.

_Well . . . almost._ She thought as she regarded her own unexpectedly continued survival and the unconscious but living Rhubara lying across her lap. She carefully draped one of Rhuby's arms over her shoulder, Rhubara looked as beat up as Cauliflora felt and Cauli couldn't help noticing that Rhuby too was missing her tail.

_I don't know how you survived without it . . . I don't know why you're here . . . and I don't care. All that matters is that you did and you are._

She could see Leek's still and lifeless Oozaru form not far away and she remembered seeing Kumber go down. What about Turles? Without her scouter she couldn't be sure but she knew if her survived he was smart enough to realize it was time to give it up and make a run for it.

_I don't hear any roaring, he must have gone too._ Cauli thought. She was supporting Rhuby with both hands and one of the Iwatians tried to rush her but she held her hand out letting energy gather in her palm. She'd expected to drop Rhuby but actually the girl had never felt lighter. Cauli for that matter had never felt it easier to gather energy.

She snarled at the Iwatians again, the one that had seemed about to rush her backed away.

"You win, ape lizards," Cauli said, "you can keep this dirt ball."

_For now. We'll see what King Vegeta has to say about all this._ Cauli thought bitterly. She was still battered and bruised but she felt full of energy, she felt as if she could take on every one of the Iwatians surrounding her if she had to.

Their giant tree was on fire, many of them were fighting to put out the flames though surprisingly they weren't turning their heat beams on her. But they all seemed more concerned with keeping a distance, they milled around her but didn't try to attack. She knew better than to try to blast them, she just held Rhubara close and waited for her pod to arrive.

Once it did she squeezed into it with her partner, holding Rhuby close and pressing the buttons to send them into space. She wanted to go straight home to planet Vegeta, but she programmed the nearest healing planet into the computer instead, she knew she and Rhuby were both going to need some patching up, Frieza's goons would no doubt be accommodating.

She only hoped Rhuby could make it, the other girl's breathing was shallow.

She didn't watch the planet through the window as they lifted off, she'd seen enough of it. Instead Cauliflora looked at Rhuby. _Am I dead? Am I dreaming? Will I wake up and realize you're still gone?_ She wondered. She held her best friend tighter, and an unexpected tear rolled down her cheek. She said, "I thought you were gone . . . but we're together again so don't you die on me now Rhuby."

Cauli pressed the button to initiate hibernation, she held Rhuby close and whispered, "I'll be here . . . when you wake up."

She might have imagined it, but it felt like Rhubara held her back just a bit before Cauliflora fell asleep.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

_How did it end up like this?_ Turles wondered, coughing up a bit of blood. _Lost on an alien world, my tail's gone my team's gone . . . I'm alone._ The Saiyan looked up at the dark night's sky and groaned painfully.

_At least Cauli made it . . . maybe . . ._ He guessed. _How could we have succeeded in this mission? Were we ever meant to succeed? Did Lord Frieza really send us here to die?_

There was a flash of lightning and clash of thunder near one of the tree's many roots. The tree was already aflame, a fitting pyre for a Saiyan warrior. The small Saiyan shuddered but not from fear of the weather, just from the shock of the sound.

Turles saw something sort of orange and spiny in the tree. _Fruit . . . that's just what I need,_ he thought. He didn't care anymore if it made him stronger or if it killed him, he wanted it. Learning the answer to the question that had ruled his mind for days now might well be the last mystery he ever solved.

Floating rather than walking across the high branch the small warrior plucked a piece of fruit from the tree with a slight sense of relief.

_I_ am _hungry. Being beaten near to death takes a lot out of you. I'll have a bite and wait out the storm, when the weather's calmed I'll find one of the pods and get out of here. I'll get a new squad . . . the toughest squad there is, no one will be able to stop us._

It sounded good but it was difficult to make it sound _believable_ to the young there was really was to eat something and hope to regain strength, so the young Saiyan ate a piece of the fruit. It tasted pretty good. There was another flash of lightning and the sound of thunder drowned out the beginnings of the shocked scream the Saiyan let out as the fruit took affect.

His muscles grew larger and stronger, he dropped the fruit and roared as his body rapidly expanded.

And then he was fine . . . better than fine . . . it was like getting a zenkai boost, only better. He landed and though he still had his aches and pains he wasn't feeling so tired.

_This fruit!_ He realized, though even in his own mind he couldn't form words. It was simply . . . amazing. He'd never felt stronger.

He was carried away with the sensation of strength that he didn't notice the new warrior approaching him until it was to late.

The warrior before him wore a skin tight blue suit like the sort Frieza's officers sometimes wore and white and yellow armor similar to the new style Cauliflora and Kumber had wore. That kept Turles from attacking him on sight.

"I'm not an illusion. I'm a fellow Saiyan, and I'm here to rescue you." The warrior said, though Turles had never met a Saiyan with lavender hair, and couldn't help notice that he lacked a tail.

_Well so do I now._ Turles thought. He stood up and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Trunks . .. I'm the son of Prince Vegeta."

"You mean King Vegeta?" Turles asked skeptically.

"I'll explain later." Trunks told him.

"Are you sure I'm not hallucinating you?" The smaller Saiyan asked.

Trunks held out his hand, "We don't have long. Come with me if you want to live."

"Well if you put it that way," Turles said, knowing his chances were better with whoever this was than they were alone on an alien planet, "Pleasure to meet you Trunks, my name's Turles."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The forest was dressed in the colors of spring and all of its brilliant greens and blues. The sun was setting over the canopy and the light of the pale green moon would soon bathe the village in a soothing green glow except for the light from the torches.

Picking up the pieces of their lives had been difficult at first. At first the homes of those they had lost were a solemn reminder of the price their species had paid for its survival and yet till they knew others had lost even more.

But there were many displaced Iwatians and soon the vacant homes in the village had been filled, soon once more the village was flourishing.

Korizato stood by the gates watching the youngsters play in the clearing outside of the walls. The knife-tails were far less of a danger now, their villages had strong warriors to protect them instead of only hunters to feed them. Never again would monsters, knife-tail or Oozaru do harm to their villages.

Konpeito, Misiri, many of those who had eaten the fruit of the tree had become powerful fighters, no longer just hunters they were some of the first Iwatian warriors in generations and Korizato had to admit to being proud if a little wary now that Konpeito's job was not to avoid danger but to seek it out and keep it away.

They were hardly unique as many of the first hunters to rise to the challenge of facing the Oozaru at the base of three had shared the Fruit of the Gods had become strong and the knife-tails had learned to be wary, and the Oozaru had not been seen again.

Many of the parents called out to their children, Kori did as well.

Though what Kon had told Rhuby was true, that Kori and Kon weren't capable of producing offspring of their own there had been no small number of little ones without a home or parents to care for them after the battle in the shadow of the Great Tree. Kori and Kon had taken in in as many as they could reasonably devote their time and affection to and after raising a Saiyan for weeks raising a family of Iwatian children would be easy.

Not that Korizato was ever flippant about the responsibility, though Kon certainly could be. The young Village Elder would take the children on the most daring of adventures to the sight where he had battled the first Oozaru where he would retell the story to them over and over.

They could never get enough and with how powerful Konpeito and many of the others had become the children were in no danger. Still Korizato always waited to greet them at the gate when they returned.

The Gods had judged them worthy of life and the Gods worked in strange ways sometimes. Korizato understood that Rhubara hadn't meant to teach them anything but the little Saiyan had at least taught Kori and Kon that they could be parents, and even that they could enjoy it. The Saiyan had helped Korizato to fly and even if the healer had been too afraid to make the most of the experience it was still an unforgettable one.

And it seemed Konpeito, who was never given over to much interaction with children or telling of long tales had had a stern change of heart.

Rhubara had taught them so much and she had helped them to reach up into the heavens and pluck the fruit of the Gods. Korizato only hoped that they had been able to teach the young warrior something. Korizato hoped that Rhuby had made it away safely.

The Great Tree had burned and broken, the Gods had taken away the gift that once had turned the mightiest heroes and healers into great legends to give their fruit to the Iwatians one last time and it seemed never again as no attempts to plant new seeds had resulted in a new tree.

But in exchange the forest had bloomed with new life. Though never barren before now the forest flourished and produced such an abundance that life had become almost too easy.

Korizato believed that the star that had risen in the sky had been Rhubara returning to the heavens. A warrior from a race of warriors she had said, but Korizato hoped that she had found her place and peace.

The healer smiled as the procession of children and hunters came back to the village, little ones rushing into their parents' open arms. Kori embraced two of the three little ones that had come to be part of the healer's own house, the third and youngest rode on Konpeito's shoulders but patted the healer's head as they passed.

When they had found him he had been so small and alone, his parents both lost in the battle. There were none from his home village who would claim him or even name him and so the youngest of their children had actually been the first that Korizato and Konpeito had taken in and the only one they had named.

Of course there were many good Iwatian names that would have served the child well but they had settled on something rarer.

"Did you have fun in the woods today, Ruby?" Korizato asked. The little Iwatian giggled and nodded.

"Of course he did," Konpeito said confidently, "They all did, they were with me, after all!"

"Oh really?" Korizato said with feigned doubtfulness. "And just what sort of fun things did you all do?"

"We went hunting for knife-tails!" Their eldest child declared happily, Kori's eyes were wide with shock and Kon shook his head vigorously.

"N-not seriously!" Konpeito said quickly, "I only showed them how a hunter senses energy! They never would have been in any danger!"

"Yeah," Their second eldest agreed, "we weren't in any danger cuz papa already taught us how to throw spears!"

"What!?" Korizato gawked. This was definitely news.

"Um . . . not Ruby?" Kon offered with a disarming smile. The smallest child giggled some more, Ruby was too small to hold a spear let alone throw it.

It was alarming news to be sure but Korizato trusted the children's safety in Kon's hands and couldn't resist a smile. The healer sighed, "You four hooligans . . . at least you had a good time."

The children all agreed enthusiastically so Korizato smirked wickedly and said, "Well I'll bet you'll have an even better time washing up for supper!"

This was met with decidedly less enthusiasm, "Aw, no!"

"We're just going to get dirty again!"

"Not tonight you're not," Konpeito laughed, "Go on and do as you're told."

"Oh you too." Korizato ordered.

"Yes, right away." Konpeito nodded, not prepared to argue.

Misiri laughed, "Our healer is the only one who can make our Elder act just like a juvi."

"The spear throwing was Misiri's idea." Konpeito called over his shoulder. Korizato fixed the young warrior with a stern gaze.

Misiri smiled sheepishly and said, "I uh . . . I better be going."

Korizato laughed as Misiri rushed off, a few of the other parents laughed too. As the sun set and the gates closed Korizato looked out at the darkening night sky and the pale green moon one last time watching for any falling stars.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The desert landscape around the villa was far different from the civilization of the main city some miles away and Tathy enjoyed the peace even if she'd never been made to deal with the heat. The vast expanse of stony pockmarked desert so different than the vast oceans of her home and though she missed them even those oceans had been noisy and dangerous with unexpected threats presenting themselves from anywhere in a three dimensional space.

But the desert was two dimensional, which was to say a threat would come from across the desert and from the high hill their villa was perched on no threat could find them unprepared.

The orange sun was setting in the sky and soon she'd be called in but for the moment as she stood in the yard with her fellow fighters watching the sun set behind the mountains she enjoyed the noticeable difference in temperature that the night brought.

Her comrades came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes from the giant Bass to the diminutive Poi and they had come from so many different places.

"What is that?" Bacore, the hulking feline-featured creature nearest to Tathy asked, pointing a claw at the sky.

A falling star shot across the twilight. White at first and then bright red as it broke through the atmosphere, it plummeted towards the ground then struck in the distant desert.

It wasn't far away and it clearly struck the ground hard but it made no shock wave or large cloud. The ground didn't shake the way it would whenever a normal meteorite struck, which was a thing that happened with some frequency thanks to the gravity shields that surrounded the planet.

But the planet's shields also had a tendency to snare ships that came too close, and Tathy knew that had been a ship dragged down by the gravity shields, not some random space trash.

So she smiled at Bacore and answered him, "That, my friend is an adventure."

"Perhaps one for another time." Poi told her turning away from the scene.

But Tathy looked into the distance where the ship had landed—or crashed, more realistically—and said, "Silly, you don't choose. The adventure finds you."

Several of her comrades gathered around her, the villa guards as well. She pointed off in the distance towards the place where the ship had crashed, "Who else wants to see what or who the War World has ensnared now?"

 

**Tale's End . . .**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little bumper tale, if you did then I'd love to hear about what worked and if not I'd love to hear any suggestions to make it work better. Next week we'll be back to the regular chapters. Assuming they're ready by then.


	37. That Same Old Song

**Season Two**

**Episode One**

**'That Same Old Song'**

 

The in-joke that Capsule Corporation's headquarters were starting to resemble a super villain's lair had been passed around the staff for months, and the reasons for it hadn't been lost on the young warrior as he walked through the hall from the cafeteria towards the elevator. The upper floors of the restored facility were the same as they'd ever been: a place for science and the Briefs family to oversee the world's most powerful corporation.

But the ever expanding subterranean levels were dedicated to a very different purpose. With wings for prisoners, training and target practice as well as some of the more delicate science projects, like the improved time machine Trunks had to admit that if he didn't personally know that he had no intention of taking over the world or holding the moon ransom he'd be concerned.

Not that there was a moon to hold ransom anymore anyway. Still he could understand why the King was assigning a platoon of Royal Guard to start providing "added security" but he wasn't entirely sure what they hoped to accomplish.

To put it simply if he wanted to rebel there wasn't a single person on the planet who could stop him. He held the fate of earth in his hands and pretty much his hands alone. That was the whole _reason_ he'd come forward to start training more fighters six months ago.

He got into the waiting elevator with a sigh—from it, not him—and pressed the button for the bottom basement floor. He wanted to check up on everything before the King's soldiers arrived. Their commanding officer would probably want to tour the facilities and while Trunks didn't feel like he had anything to hide he still wanted to make sure everything looked presentable.

He folded his arms as the elevator descended to the final floor where the prisoners were kept.

Or prisoner. At least for the moment. If his guess was right Karuto would be working with his mother on locating New Namek with the ship's computer and Genora would be working on repairing their captured PTO Command Vessel along with his mother's top assistants Basil and Thyme.

Trunks was more than a little surprised and twice as suspicious at how easily two of the three alien invaders had simply submitted to his superior might. He understood that it was preferable to death but simply swapping sides felt too . . . well, alien.

Maybe that was why he liked Chillax a little bit better. Like Karuto he-she-who knew really, was the same race as Frieza, and probably the second strongest being on the planet. Unlike Karuto who was happy to be helpful Chillax kept to his cell and refused to answer most questions.

As the elevator doors opened Trunks walked out and down the line of cells. Each one had its own gravity control settings since the power between the three prisoners was pretty radical and keeping the strongest restrained without crushing the weakest to death had proven impossible.

Of course keeping Chillax restrained to a level that made him seem . . . well, human in terms of power had required one hundred times earth's gravity. Karuto had only required twenty and Genora five.

The Arcosian as Trunks had learned they were called was lying on a metal cot looking through the scouter that Trunks had managed to scrounge from the captured PTO command ship. It'd been part of Chillax's terms for not just blasting his way out of his cell.

It also meant that he was able to see just how strong Trunks' students were becoming, and part of Trunks hoped that would keep him in line in the future as well.

Chillax looked similar to Frieza's first form, which Trunks had never seen in person though there were images of it in the ship's computer. Chillax's coloration was different, where Frieza had had a purple dome on his head Chillax's was blue and his skin was a slightly lighter shade of blue as well. The Arcosian sat up when Trunks stood outside of his cell and pressed the button on the side of the scouter and smiled slightly with lips that Trunks had learned were just naturally black.

"Five today? You like that number, at least when you know you're being watched."

"You'd know better than me." Trunks told him. "I don't rely on numbers."

"It amazes me how you manage to live with anything that small." Chillax said and Trunks shrugged in response.

"I don't have any need to show off." Trunks said. They'd had this conversation before. He asked, "Do you feel like cooperating today?"

"I will continue not blowing up your planet." Chillax said.

"Good enough." Trunks nodded. "I'll probably be back later with someone else, be nice."

"Why?" Chillax asked.

"Why am I coming back or why should you be nice?"

Chillax shrugged, "Both I guess."

"We'll have a guest later, you need to . . . not make them think you need to be executed."

"Ah. What if I'd prefer death?"

"You'd have done something to make it happen by now." Trunks answered.

"Fair enough. But it's going to cost you."

"What?" Trunks laughed.

"I'll tell you when you get back." Chillax said and laid back down on his cot. Mission accomplished at least, Trunks turned and walked away. He got back into the elevator and pressed the button for the first basement floor. The training room.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Bulma stood behind the console as Karuto worked. The ship's computer had been connected to the Capsule Corporation's network and she could access its information from her own computer but the little Arcosian seemed to have an far easier time working from the on-ship consoles.

"These areas here are protected by the Galactic Patrol," Karuto was telling her, pointing out a region of space on the ship's view screen. "If you can find a way to contact them you can see if they know where New Namek is, at least if it's in their space."

"You've mentioned them a few times in the past," Bulma said, "how do they measure up to your own organization?"

"Eh they win about a third of the confrontations. At least now. Back when Cousin Frieza was around they never won a single one!"

Bulma nodded slowly, "So if we contact them they might just be willing to play ball if Trunks and the others agree to help them increase that win to loss ratio."

"No, not really. Not if they find out you've got a full blood Saiyan on your planet, or that Mister Trunks is half Saiyan."

"They don't like Saiyans?" Bulma asked.

"No one likes Saiyans." Karuto answered.

 _So no help there unless I give up plan Wolf Pack._ Bulma thought. "Okay, so we want to fly under their radar and we won't have detailed information on Galactic Patrol sectors, do we at least know which ones are inhabited?"

"Um . . . Genora might?" Karuto admitted. "I never paid much attention to that. It didn't seem important to learn. But it's not as many as you'd think, at least not that are inhabited by civilized races. Lots of planets just have vicious wildlife."

Bulma sighed. "At this rate we'll need to ask them in the past."

"If you can do that why don't you?" Karuto asked.

"I would have if your cousin were less likely to blow us all up the moment Trunks is gone. It was a mistake giving him a scouter, he knows our every move and he's watching and waiting for his chance." Bulma told Karuto.

"Well at least he can't send a message with the scouter as long as the ship is jamming him." Karuto pointed out.

"Sure, but if we can find New Namek on our own it'd be better. It takes a while to recharge the machine, if we use it to go back in time and they can't tell us . . ."

"Sorry." Karuto sighed too. "But you know the problem is that if we knew where New Namek was we'd have already attacked it. If anything it's a good sign that we don't have many leads in the computer."

Bulma forced a smile, she'd already realized that ages ago but Karuto was just a little kid so she'd be gentle with him. "That's a good point, and most of these planets would take our ship months to reach them anyway."

"It bothers me that your technology is that good." Karuto admitted.

"Well we based this ship off of a Saiyan Space Pod . . . at least the original."

"Oh! Then it's just Arcosian technology . . . that's okay then." Karuto said happily.

"What about this ship?" Bulma asked, "Could it reach these places faster?"

"No, no way. It's actually a little slower than a battle pod, it's meant to move larger numbers of troops. It has bigger engines but they work harder. It's not as slow as a carrier though, that's why it'll take General Boreal's ship so long to reach us."

"So theoretically if we do find New Namek Trunks and the others could get there and back before your reinforcements arrive?"

"Yeah . . . except that'd be pretty stupid." Karuto said.

Bulma was surprised. "Really? Why?"

"The same reason you don't want to send Mister Trunks back in time: who would guard Chillax?" Karuto asked. "He's the second strongest creature on this planet you know, if Trunks left he could destroy everyone on this world."

Bulma had to laugh, "Good point. Well maybe by then it's a good thing we've got other people to send to New Namek."

"Turles you mean?" Karuto asked.

"He's growing fast, isn't he?" Bulma smiled. She had to admit to feeling a little smug, they might have questioned her decision at first but so far Turles had been a major boon to their forces. In the months since they'd brought him from the past his power level had risen nearly three times its original thirty thousand. He wasn't as strong as Chillax yet but he was going to get there quickly.

He'd grown physically too, when he'd first arrived he was small, no larger than Karuto really but his Saiyan blood and Saiyan growth spurt was in full effect and after just a month he was already as tall as Trunks and likely to get even taller. His resemblance to Goku, apart from his darker skin tone and denser muscle mass, was just becoming more and more striking as well. Bulma wouldn't be surprised to learn they were related.

She'd thought that if she did send Trunks to the past to ask about New Namek she might ask if they knew who Turles was, but it had eventually dawned on Bulma that whoever or whatever Turles might have been in her own time-line's history she'd saved the Goku and others from the alternate time-line from ever facing him by plucking him from their past.

"It's frightening." Karuto said. "When he arrived we were comparable, now he could kill me with a flick of his wrist."

"Trunks wouldn't let him do that, you're a good guy." Bulma assured him. "But if he keeps getting stronger I could send Trunks to the past or to New Namek without any concern for Chillax. I definitely think Trunks would be a better negotiator than Turles in both instances."

"Then if we find New Namek and you leave Turles in charge of Earth I want to go with Trunks." Karuto said.

"Have you been having problems with Turles?" Bulma asked.

"No . . . but that makes me feel uneasy." Karuto said. "Turles is bothered by what Cousin Frieza did to his planet but not enough . . . I mean he acts like he doesn't care all the other Saiyans were killed, but I see him reading through the personnel files sometimes and he always seems angry when he does it."

Bulma said, "He's a warrior, he's keeping his feelings to himself. Maybe if you got to know him better he'd be more open with you about how the destruction of his planet makes him feel."

Karuto didn't have a visible mouth, his carapace came over his face like a sort of mask but his large eyes were very expressive and the expression he gave Bulma then was definitely a skeptical one, "Because having him be more open and honest about what he thinks about my cousin killing everyone he ever knew is going to be a _good_ thing?"

Bulma smiled, "I see your point. All right, if and when Trunks goes I'll make sure he takes you with him."

"Thanks." Karuto said.

"But try not to be scared of Turles," Bulma added, "he's one of us. As far as I'm concerned you are too, you're helping us after all. I don't know how things are for your old team but on this team we don't hurt each other."

Karuto seemed to think about that for a while, then said, "I don't know if I want to be on a different team from my family. I didn't think about it, but I guess I really shouldn't help you . . . but it doesn't seem like what you're doing is wrong. You've been nice to me, I think my papa would spare you for that."

Bulma was a lot less sure about that. But she didn't let her doubt show.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The scientist and the young Arcosian weren't the only ones discussing the new Saiyan, the remnants of Trunks' students could barely stop talking about the alien, even during gravity training and sparring.

"Look, I'm not saying that rescuing more Saiyans is a bad idea . . . just an unnecessary one." Rhyce said as she took a swing to the left at Schip and a kick to the right at Kodva.

Her two teammates were polar opposites, Schip was scrawny and fairly short—about as tall as Rhyce herself—with dark brown skin and wild curly black hair. Kodva was muscular and taller with a shaved head and pale parchment-like skin.

Rhyce herself had shoulder-length gray hair and lighter brown skin a tone sort of in between the two of them.

Schip caught her punch and began to throw one of his own, but Kodva caught her kick and threw her forward into Schip, knocking them both to the ground.

"We haven't been given any reason to doubt them as allies." Kodva pointed out.

Schip shoved her off of him and Rhyce rolled to her feet.

The scrawny youth said, "Are you serious? Turles is like a used car salesman. I knew a dozen like him on the streets, they're nice to your face when you've got the upper hand but it's only because they're looking for a way to get one up on you."

Rhyce nodded in agreement, "He keeps his head down around Master Trunks but he's got no problem looking down his nose at us even though we've been here for months longer than him!"

With that Rhyce and Ship both leapt at Kodva and began throwing a flurry of blows that the older martial artist was able to catch or deflect with great difficulty, it was only when Rhyce finally managed to kick him onto his back—and then Schip breaking their brief alliance kicked her onto hers—that Kodva answered them as he rose to his feet.

"We've been training here longer, that's true," the former monk said, "but remember that Turles is a warrior from a race of warriors, he's spent his entire life being a fighter and having to make sure others didn't try to take him on. Looking down on others or bragging is probably just a normal way of keeping from having to take on lots of lesser opponents."

"Are you seriously going to say that we're lesser opponents?" Rhyce demanded. "We're all at least ten times stronger than we were when . . ."

"When the attack happened." Schip piped in when Rhyce trailed off.

It still bothered her to talk about the Arcosian invasion of Earth, the battle where they'd lost half their team, where she'd lost her older brother Gurein.

In truth they'd lost more than half their team because of the nature of Anavill's injury. The once cheerful baker turned Martial Artist powerhouse had been forced to give up training and despite Master Trunks' urging she'd left the compound too to return to her parents' home. According to Schip, who was the only one she'd still see she'd utterly given up on being a fighter and didn't want to believe that Master Trunks really could get her back the use of her legs.

Rhyce didn't want to believe that Master Trunks really could get her back her brother either, or anyone else they'd lost because for so long death just meant . . . well, the end. Afterlife maybe, but Rhyce had never thought too much about that.

But Trunks had told them he would teach them to fly and he'd done it, he'd told them he'd teach them to shoot energy blasts from their hands and he'd done it, he'd said he'd make them super heroes, so far Trunks had delivered on every promise he'd ever made to them so no matter how unrealistic anything he had to say might sound Rhyce couldn't stop herself from believing him.

But she supposed her situation was different from Anavill's.

The three remaining members of Blue Team had stopped training, instead just standing in the heavy gravity when the door to the training room and Master Trunks entered.

"How's everyone doing?" Trunks asked them.

Rhyce straightened up and said, "We're doing well sir!"

Trunks nodded, "All right well let's call it a day. The uh . . . the King's new military liaison will be here soon."

That sent another pang of sadness through Rhyce as she and the others remembered their team's former leader. Soda had been the King's previous military liaison to the Earth's Defense Force and after months of training and bonding with her her loss was felt keenly especially when they trained.

Kodva said, "We'll be showered and presentable, Master Trunks. I'm sure this meeting will go well."

Trunks nodded again, "Me too," he said, "we're doing great things here, _you guys_ are doing great things here. The King understands that."

Rhyce smiled, she hoped Trunks was right. A new liaison might not be as understanding as Soda had been.

Maybe it was because there hadn't been an alien attack before but compared to how frequently officials were pestering them now Soda's hands-off and trusting approach towards Master Trunks and his training was almost as missed as she was.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Far across the vast black reaches of space two ships raced towards the planet Earth.

They weren't traveling together intentionally and they might not even have been aware of each other. One was a white sphere with a circular window at its front, the other was more of a oval shape and colored red and white with a bulging cockpit near its top.

They seemed to ignore each other, instead rushing towards the small once utterly insignificant little blue-green planet that had recently become so important to the galaxy.

The Frost Clan and their Planet Trade Organization had offered up a hefty bounty for the eradication of life on Earth, bounty hunters brave enough to risk the last known surviving Saiyan—even if he was just a half-breed—were on their way to try their luck. If they succeeded the bounty the Arcosians were willing to pay would mean they'd be set for life. If they failed . . . well they wouldn't have long to worry about it.

And though these two were only the first they were the vanguard of a vast armada of star ships burning their way towards earth, their occupants just some of the army of warriors eager to try their luck at a better life for themselves by exterminating the lives of others.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks was fairly confident that they were ready for their guest until he finally got to the main hall and saw Turles waiting in full armor.

"What are you doing?" Trunks asked.

"You said to wait for the King's liaison." Turles said.

"But I said to dress nicely." Trunks reminded him. "We got you new clothes, didn't we?"

"Yes but I am a Saiyan warrior and this is a high ranking Earthling warrior. I plan to meet this military officer as a warrior would: armored. I'm surprised you're not wearing your armor, Prince Trunks."

Trunks shook his head, "I don't need it, and I told you not to call me Prince."

"Of course, Prince Trunks." Turles nodded. Trunks gave him a stern look and Turles corrected, "I mean, Trunks."

Trunks was actually really surprised by Turles, the young Saiyan was already about his size despite looking like a child when they'd found him in the past. It'd been three months now and Turles appeared to have regrown his tail and doubled in age, according to Mother and Karuto this was pretty normal of Saiyans but it was jarring for Trunks. He felt as if _he_ himself should be older every time he saw Turles.

Still he understood the culture-shock must go both ways. "You can wear the armor, but try not to be too intimidating. This person represents an ally we want to keep."

Turles nodded, Trunks saw his other students emerging from the stairway that led to their sleeping quarters upstairs.

Though the EDF had started out sharing quarters Capsule Corp HQ had been expanded enough that everyone could have their own room, and even the fallen members of the team had quarters with their names on them. Even Anavill who refused to come back.

Trunks nodded to Kodva, Rhyce and Schip, all of them dressed in typical office attire as if they were pencil pushers instead of Capsule Corporation's mighty Defenders of Earth.

Three fighters, the survivors of his team. He wished Master Roshi were still with them.

Not that Master Roshi had succumbed to age in the past few months, but rather with the EDF properly trained the old Turtle Hermit had returned to his home for a while, claiming he'd be back before too long but it had already been weeks without word.

Trunks would have liked to have him around to help him greet the new liaison.

"Where's Basil and Thyme?" Schip asked.

Trunks wasn't sure, but if he had to hazard a guess he'd say his mother's two assistants were tinkering on the PTO control ship, their octopus-headed alien prisoner Genora along to make sure they didn't break it.

"They're probably working," Trunks said, "but don't worry. As long as we're here it should be fine."

He wasn't sure where his mother was either, she was probably looking for New Namek again. Trunks knew she was reluctant to use a fuel charge for the time machine just to go back in time and ask Goku for directions but with half of his team in the other world and one of them unable to continue training Trunks wasn't remotely above asking for directions to the place that might yield up a new Guardian to help them make new Dragon Balls.

"All right everyone, I think we're-" Trunks began until her heard his mother's voice over the building's PA.

"Trunks! Everyone, the ship's sensors are picking up high power levels approaching Earth!"

"How high?" Trunks asked, then blushed realizing that his mother couldn't hear him to answer him.

Turles who was wearing a red scouter along with his battle armor pressed a button and reported, "I'm not seeing them yet so at least they're not that close."

"There is one power level over one hundred thousand, and one over forty thousand." Bulma said over the PA, "Trunks they're coming in fast, you're going to need to take a Scouter and intercept."

Trunks didn't need a scouter to sense energy and he didn't like using them. The idea that battle power could or even should be relegated to a number was ridiculous, he wasn't going to let a number lull him into a false sense of security, any opponent could turn dangerous.

After all Captain Kalt hadn't been very powerful compared to Trunks but he'd done a lot of damage.

"They're splitting up." Bulma reported.

Trunks sighed, "Of course they are." He grumbled. This was just what Kalt had done sending his strongest warriors to distract Trunks in Yunzabit Heights while the rest of his crew attempted to attack the population of West City. Was this typical PTO tactics?

Well Trunks wouldn't fall for it again. Most of his students weren't dressed for battle so he told them, "All right, suit up and be ready to defend the city, Turles intercept the lower power level I'll handle the big guy."

"I'll bring you his head on a platter." Turles said with a smile, he glanced at Kodva, Rhyce and Schip and said, "You three, make yourselves useful and find me a platter."

"No, you three get into position to defend the city if anything gets past us." Trunks reminded them, even though he knew there was no chance of them going along with Turles' joke, "Turles, don't kill your opponent if you don't have to, I want to know who these people are and what they've come for, they might not be from the PTO."

Turles nodded, "All right, I'll try to bring the whole thing back breathing."

Trunks nodded and Rhyce handed him a Scouter she liked to carry around with her. He nodded gratefully and said, "I know they won't get past _me_ , but if they do I know I can count on you three."

"Give 'em hell, Master." Schip nodded to him and Trunks nodded back.

The Earth's mightiest hero stepped out of the Capsule Corp. headquarters attaching the scouter to his left ear. He pressed the button to activate it, but he could see the two ships burning through the afternoon clouds like shooting stars.

He could see Turles already zooming away towards one of the ships, it seemed like it was heading for what used to be North City, he glowered at the slightly larger shape, it was heading for the ruins of South City. _Yep, opposite directions. They're playing that same old song._ Trunks thought and he sped off for the ruins.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks and Turles meet their respective opponents, but even they won't be as intimidating as the King's new liaison._

 

 

 _Season Two Character Images_  
General Boreal  


_Notes: The good General Boreal was actually designed by a friend of mine. This is a different friend than the one who designed Kartuo. This version of Boreal looks a bit different than his, but this time it's more intentional, Boreal might . . . reach his "true" form in the future._


	38. A Loyal Subject

**Episode Two**

**'A Loyal Subject'**

 

The planet bellow was ugly and bizarre. The warrior in his spherical ship found the blue oceans and green grass backwards and strange.

But he'd made it. _Earth,_ he thought, _I'm finally here._

He landed in one of the most rundown places he'd ever seen. As he emerged from his ship he realized they were ruins of an old city, but whatever battle had reduced them to rubble had happened years ago.

_So not Frieza's men._ The warrior thought. _Still, there might be someone here._

He took a deep breath of the strange heavy air as his lungs grew accustomed to it. He smiled for only a moment before he sensed the powerful presence rapidly approaching him.

_The natives,_ he thought, _I expected this, but this power is . . . overwhelming._

The warrior tensed and prepared himself when the creature in black and lavender armor appeared before him, soaring through the air surrounded by a purple aura and striking the ground like a meteorite. He rose from his landing and slowly turned with a large smile on his face. "Well well well . . . my Prince will be pleased when I bring him _your_ head."

The warrior just looked at the black armor and curled his lip in disgust as he started to power up, "I won't make it easy for you!"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Turles has converged on the lower power level, it's spiking but I think he can handle it." Trunks heard his mother's voice through the scouter, "Trunks that other ship is going to land, we already have one computer if you want to take the ship out before it lands . . ."

"No, I've got this!" Trunks answered, "I want to see if I can talk to them, maybe we can work something out!"

His mother didn't ask him if he were crazy, she just said, "If that's what you want. I've got faith in you my son, the others are suited up and ready to back you up."

Trunks smiled and said, "Just have them in position like I said, but tell them no to worry, someday this sort of thing will be _their_ problem."

"I don't think alien invaders will ever stop being _everyone's_ problem." His mother said dryly.

Trunks saw the red and white ship come in for a landing, he sped up wanting to arrive when it did. "I'm intercepting them, no more time to chat." He told her.

"Good luck." His mother said, "Try not to break the planet."

Trunks smiled in spite of himself.

The ship landed on the outskirts of the city and Trunks landed not far from it.

He hadn't taken the time to find his sword but he hoped he wouldn't need it anyway. Besides if he needed to resort to intimidation he could turn Super Saiyan, that usually did the trick.

The ship had a darkened tinted dome at the top of its oval shaped hull. That dome popped open and a feminine creature with blue skin and what seemed like tentacles for hair leapt out. She wore a black outfit, loose fitting pants and a vest with teal trim and a pair of what looked like suspenders hanging at her sides instead of over her shoulders. The irises of her eyes were yellow but the white of her eyes was as black as her pupils. Trunks didn't feel intimidated by her strength but the scouter told him she was no slouch. Sporting a power level of nearly twenty thousand she was stronger than any of his students apart from Turles.

_But not the bigger power level the ship detected._ Trunks thought. That came next. Another female, this one looking more human with shoulder length raven hair and pale beige skin emerged. She leapt from the ship and landed between Trunks and the blue alien, she looked at him with one blue eye. It was her left eye, the right side of her face had something of a curtain of bangs but Trunks could see a scar going over her right eye and a patch covering it.

Her outfit too was primarily black, but she wore a hunter green scarf and a pair of black and white bracers. She was tall, maybe even taller than Trunks actually by an inch or two.

"Hello there. You don't look like a PTO soldier." Trunks called out to them.

"And you don't look like the last Saiyan." The human-like woman snarled. She held out a hand and said, "Go fetch him for me or it's the end of the line for you."

Trunks offered a forced and empty smile, "Looks can be deceiving. If you're here looking for the Saiyan you've found him."

The woman smirked and put one hand on her hip, the other she kept raised at Trunks and he could feel she was gathering energy. "Oh have I? Funny . . . I don't remember many of my people with lavender hair and lacking tails."

"So you're a Saiyan too?" Trunks asked skeptically. "I don't see _your_ tail."

"Tragically lost when it was too late to get it back." The female Saiyan told him, "But it's helped me avoid getting put down by the Galactic Patrol and the PTO. So I guess I should be grateful. Is that what happened to you?"

Trunks shook his head, he'd pretend this was a friendly encounter for as long as he could, though in reality things were quite tense. He wasn't sure if the woman was just trying to distract him but his response actually seemed to distract her instead. He said, "I don't think I ever had a tail. Maybe it was removed at birth."

She actually stopped gathering energy for a moment as she shuddered, "Ugh . . . that's monstrous! To just . . . just cut away a part of a child's body for literally no reason? This world doesn't even have a moon!"

"It used to," Trunks said, defending his planet in an unexpected way. "Anyway what are you doing here?"

The woman smirked and said, "Doing what Saiyans do. I'm here to conquer or be conquered. It's our way, isn't it?"

With that she unleashed a blast that Trunks easily took, he let her energy wash over him when he sensed the other alien had gotten behind him. Her arms stretched out and she grasped his wrists. She tried to pull them back but Trunks didn't let them budge, he stood like a statue.

_Show them they have no affect on you and maybe this can still end peacefully._ Trunks thought to himself.

He looked over his shoulder to see the blue-skinned alien was nearly thirty paces behind him and still walking backwards, obviously straining. Her arms were stretching like giant rubber-bands and Trunks had to admit to being surprised by that.

Not intimidated. Just surprised. "Whatever you're trying it won't work." He sighed.

The scouter bleeped a warning, Trunks had just enough time to register the number three hundred thousand as he glanced back towards the Saiyan who sprang forward and struck out punching him in the stomach hard enough that he actually felt it.

He heard a sound like rubber bands snapping and felt the blue woman's knees hit him in the back.

It was an effective team attack, unfortunately the two just didn't know who they were dealing with.

Trunks coughed, an unconscious acknowledgment that he'd _felt_ what they'd done . . . but it hadn't _bothered_ him much. He turned Super Saiyan, blasting both of them back from the force of his aura alone.

"Oh my gosh . . . Cauli that's-" The blue woman began but her partner cut her off.

"It's nothing! It proves nothing!" The human-like woman, Cauli, he supposed, snarled.

But Trunks smirked, his warrior's blood flowing more freely now that he was a Super Saiyan. He taunted them, "That wasn't a bad tactic, but you're just a flea to me. Maybe this will help you out . . ." He tossed the Saiyan woman his scouter, "You _do_ know how to use one, right?"

She scoffed, but she put it on. Trunks knew already the scouter would be showing her that he was a lot higher in numbers than she was, he was just glad it could record him without exploding. _Numbers might not matter too much to me, but since I know they matter to you let me show you the magnitude you're dealing with._

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto was watching the scene play out from the ship's bridge. Genora and Missus Bulma's two human slaves had come up from tinkering with the engine room to put up a full display.

"This is insane!" Genora gawked, "A bounty hunter with a power level over three hundred thousand? That's even higher than Commander Chillax!"

"She says she's a Saiyan," Missus Bulma said, "how can that be?"

But Karuto already knew. He rushed for the console, shoving past Genora and activating the communicator. Mister Trunks had given the Saiyan his Scouter so Karuto knew he could talk to her. He shouted into the controls, "Cauliflora! I know it's you, you have to stand down!"

"W-what? Who is this? How do you know my-"

"I'm a friend of a friend," Karuto said, then realized it was probably more like a friend of a friend of a friend but he decided not to over-complicate things. He told her, "You _need_ to stand down, you can't win and whatever you're trying to accomplish it wont work! Don't fight us, join us!"

The Saiyan woman seemed to hesitate for a moment before she finally raised her hands and shouted, "Tathy, stand down. We've gotten what we wanted . . . he's a Saiyan after all."

Mister Trunks smiled and Basil whooped in celebration.

Even Genora whispered in awe, "Another Saiyan . . . a survivor that just slipped through the cracks? But with a power like that . . . she must have been a really successful bounty hunter, can you believe it?"

Karuto looked to Missus Bulma, she was smiling at him approvingly. "Well then . . ." She said, "if this works out it looks like we might just have a proper prison guard now thanks to you, Karuto."

Karuto smiled, "Happy to help! Oh! But I've got to talk to Cauli, I've got to know what happened to her!"

"How do you know who she is?" The tall human male Thyme asked him.

"Well Konpeito told me a story once, she was one of the characters. I memorized her face going over the personnel files, I had to know more about her and how she escaped Goulder . . . now I have a chance!" He turned to Missus Bulma, "I mean if you'll let me . . ."

The human matron smiled and said, "I think you've earned a question or two. But let's take it slow, we should make sure she's safe before you pester her too much." Bulma asked Genora, "What about Turles?"

"He's got his opponent down already, he's bringing him back alive it seems." Genora answered. "I'm not detecting any other high power levels or other ships. It looks like the threat is over."

"So why would the PTO just send two ships and three fighters?" Missus Bulma asked.

"They wouldn't." Genora said. "These were bounty hunters, it's more likely that the Frost Clan decided to try to keep you busy while they geared up for a full assault, but it doesn't make a lot of sense since Saiyans get stronger the more they fight and sending opponents to get slaughtered peace-meal is only going to make your fighters stronger."

"Could they up to something else?" Basil wondered.

"Could be. Who cares?" Thyme asked. "Didn't you see Trunks? He's not a fighter he's a force of nature! As long as we've got him we're not in any danger at all."

"True," Missus Bulma said, "but remember what happened to us when we _didn't_ have him."

Thyme actually seemed to shrink and he nodded solemnly, "Y-yes ma'am, I'm sorry."

Karuto was sorry too. He'd had time to learn that the earthlings took all their losses very hard. He wondered suddenly if that was why Cousin Chillax was being so uncooperative. _Is Chillax resisting because he doesn't want to submit to a stronger force, or is he resisting because Mister Trunks wiped out his squad?_ Karuto wondered.

The little Arcosian would have to ask when he got the chance.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks had filled the two fighters in as they flew back to West City. Cauliflora was more than a little surprised to learn he was descended from her King, Trunks was more than a little surprised to learn she was sixty seven. She barely looked any older than him.

_Saiyan aging is ridiculous!_ He thought, but he kept it to himself. Instead he asked her, "So you knew my grand father?"

"Yeah, actually. We were from the same clan, the stories I could tell you about him and how he led our people!" Cauliflora said actually sounding wistful, "My father was one of his advisors, I even had a chance to meet _your_ father before he was sent off to serve Frieza."

"What was he like then? He would have been a kid, right?" Trunks asked.

Cauli said, "He was . . . a gifted child. Very powerful for his age. He was my Prince, but if he's passed as you said then I suppose that makes _you_ my Prince."

They'd arrived back at Capsule Corp. and were on the stairs just outside the main doors when Cauli fell to one knee and said, "As the daughter of Zorn, advisor to your grandfather I pledge myself to your service, Prince Trunks!"

Embarrassed Trunks urged her to get up, "Uh no need to be so formal, if you'll help me protect this world I accept your pledge but please don't call me Prince."

"Yeah, if the King and the King's son are both dead that makes him King Trunks." Tathy pointed out.

"N-no, not that either!" Trunks said, waving his hands. "Look there'll be time to explain later, but right now we're expecting some really important visitors so we should probably get cleaned up. Come with me."

The young warrior led his two new companions into the building and Trunks was greeted by the amazed faces of his three students.

"You captured the both of them, Master?" Schip gawked.

"They're our guests," Trunks corrected, "They came peacefully . . . after a while."

"Turles didn't have as much luck with his." Rhyce said. "I'm sure he'll tell you all about it himself though."

"Turles?" Cauliflora asked but the booming voice from the top of the stairs cut off further query.

"Tell him myself? Just you try and stop me, Earthling!" Turles shouted, "You should have seen it Prince Trunks, you would have been impressed! The green man's power level spiked to nearly double what it was but it wasn't enough and I put him _down!_ Or at least I would have if I hadn't remembered that my Prince wanted him brought back alive so at great risk to my own body I—Cauli?"

Trunks smiled a bit, it was fun to see Turles thrown off his stride mid-boast. "You two know each other?" Trunks asked.

Cauli folded her arms, "He knows me, but there's no way that's the Turles I know. You've barely aged!"

_Look who's talking._ Trunks thought, considering that Cauli was even older than his mother.

But Turles protested, "I'm over a head taller, now!"

"But you still look so young!" Cauli gawked.

Tathy cleared her throat and said, "You know introductions would seem to be in order . . . I mean it's not every day stone-heart here is this emotive but really I'm feeling lost."

Trunks nodded and Turles said, "Cauliflora and I were both assigned to clean Goulder, you know, the world you found me on three months ago. She escaped just before you found me."

"Three months? Turles, that was fifty years ago!" Cauli gawked.

Turles smirked, "Not for me it wasn't. I got here the quick way. I've been training with Prince Trunks in all that time and look at me, I'm already his second in command."

"Whoa there, when did that happen?" Rhyce demanded.

"It hasn't." Trunks assured her.

"Well I just assumed since I'm the second strongest," Turles said sounding deflated and only slightly apologetic, "I mean-"

"You _were_ the second strongest, now I am." Cauli said sharply.

Turles' tail came free from around his waist and he said, "Oh? What happened to your tail?"

Cauli actually seemed to hesitate. She folded her arms and said, "Well then . . . I guess maybe you're a bit stronger when you transform."

"A bit?" Turles grinned.

"But you can't control it yet, can you? Maybe if you'd gotten here 'the long way' you'd have practiced enough to be in control but if you really got here from Goulder I doubt it. All the power your tail provides is useless if you can't manage it."

Turles shrugged. "Stronger is stronger."

"Wow, I'm _so_ happy that now we get to watch _two_ Saiyans brag about the size of their-"

"Power levels." Schip interrupted Rhyce who glowered at him then nodded.

"Yeah, that." The nomadic girl sighed. Trunks offered her an encouraging smile.

"Saiyans advance quickly but remember with hard work you can close the gap." Trunks said.

Cauli took a challenging step towards the Blue team and snarled, "That's right, stop sniveling with jealousy and commit yourselves! If you want to be better then _be_ better, if you want me to call you warriors in the service of my Prince then earn my respect, Earthlings!"

"Warriors in the service of your _Prince_ , is it?" A new voice scowled from the stairs behind them, "And here our King insisted you had no delusions of grandeur, Golden Warrior."

Trunks frowned and turned around to see a pair of women standing at the bottom of the stairs. One of them was short with spiky black hair, the other was about his height with long straight black hair. Both were wearing the uniforms of the royal army, though the taller woman was also wearing a uniform greatcoat.

Trunks smiled as disarmingly as possible and said, "Uh you must be the King's new Liaison . . . this isn't what it looks like, I promise. We just-"

"Averted another world crisis? I noticed." The shorter woman said sternly. She looked like she would have been from the same generation as Gohan actually so Trunks hoped she wouldn't see Turles' Saiyan armor as a threat. He quickly descended the stairs to greet her.

"I'm Trunks, uh this is Cauliflora and Tathy, they just arrived from outer space, but they've decided to be friendly." Trunks said reassuringly, "And these are my students, Kodva, Rhyce, Schip and Turles." Trunks explained, naming everyone as they came out of the Capsule Corporation building to stand to the left and right of him.

Tathy whispered a quiet, "Yay! Now I know everyone. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Shut up." Cauli hissed at her, then at the two women in uniform she barked, "Your King is not _my_ King, the only authority I'll recognize on this world is my Prince's, now tell me _your_ names before I execute you in _his_ name."

"No, no, we don't want that!" Trunks said urgently waving his hands, "They're friends, this is _their_ world," He told Cauli, "I am a _loyal_ subject to the King."

"What?" Cauli gawked at him. She shook her head, "You need me more than I realized . . ." She folded her arms and went over to Turles, a whispered argument was held between them, he caught the words 'you didn't tell him' from Cauli and 'I assumed he knew' from Turles but Trunks ignored them and smiled at the soldiers.

"I-I'm so sorry, she just arrived, she doesn't understand how things work here yet. But I really am loyal to the King, I assure you. Can I maybe have your names?"

"I'm Captain Videl, this is my second in command Lieutenant Mai."

"Pleased to meet you!" Trunks said bowing slightly, this elicited a disgusted gasp from Cauli but it actually made Videl smirk.

"It will be an honor to serve alongside you, sir." Mai said as Trunks stood up straight. She was pretty but her dark eyes seemed somehow older than she looked. Like Cauliflora Mai seemed like a much older person in a body far too young, she seemed about his age but her eyes were as weary as his mother's.

Not that he doubted she was human of course. That look of world-weariness could have come from witnessing any number of atrocities while the Androids had run the show. Even if she were exactly as young as she looked though that wouldn't have surprised Trunks, Soda had said that most of the command staff of the Royal Army were promoted ahead of their time to fill empty slots in the chain of command.

Turles scoffed, "You're a captain? You don't seem like much. When the others tell me about their Captain Soda she sounds like a real warrior but you just seem like a tiny old woman."

Videl's smirk widened into a smile, "Soda was a hot shot and a fast riser. I was one of those who said she wasn't ready to be a Captain but I'll agree that she was a real warrior to the end. All the same everything you taught her I expect you to teach me."

Trunks was surprised, "What? I uh . . . I mean I guess, but you two will be pretty far behind."

"Not the both of us." Mai said helpfully, "You'll only have to train her."

"You trained Soda," Videl scoffed, "So did I. Besides I'm the daughter of Hercule Satan, the mightiest warrior of Earth before you came along."

"Oh!" Trunks realized, "Hercule? Oh . . ." He hesitated. Was there a delicate way to tell Videl that her father hadn't been anything near what even Soda had been when Captain Kalt showed up? He decided not to bother. Instead he said, "Well if you've got some martial arts background we can try. I assume you plan to repeat that training to the Royal Army?"

"It shouldn't matter to you if I do." Videl said simply. "Unless of course our King's faith in you is misplaced."

"It isn't." Trunks said. He turned to his two Saiyan . . . well, subjects he supposed, and told them, "I am loyal to the King of Earth."

"Of course." Cauliflora said. "If Prince Trunks is loyal to the King of Earth then Cauliflora is as well."

She hit Turles in the stomach and he quickly added, "So am I! In serving my Prince I will serve your King."

Videl smiled, for a brief moment Trunks suspected there was a softer woman beneath the exterior of the battle hardened soldier. He smiled back at her and at Mai and said, "Well uh I'll show you to your quarters."

"Mai." Videl said.

"Y-yes ma'am," Mai said, she seemed to have been distracted by something and the look Videl gave her suggested that wasn't normal. She recovered and checked her clipboard, "We'll need housing for at least a full platoon of soldiers."

It wasn't unexpected, the Royal Guard had posted a couple squads temporarily before, "How many are in a platoon?" Trunks asked.

"Forty." Mai answered. "That's not including our command staff."

"Count yourself lucky," Videl told him, "I'm a captain, I command a much larger force than just a platoon, I brought the minimum force I felt necessary to show the people that this facility is under Royal jurisdiction."

"Mother's not going to like this." Trunks muttered.

"I don't like this either." Videl told him, and Trunks was surprised she'd heard him, "But that's how things are going to be, _Prince_ Trunks."

Trunks was having second thoughts about Videl having a softer side but he nodded, "We'll figure something out if you give us time. We can just house them in Capsule Houses on the grounds if that's what it takes. Shall we begin the tour?"

"Yes, right away." Videl nodded. "Come along, Mai!"

"Yes ma'am!" Mai hurried after her.

"Prin—um Trunks," Turles said, "I know how to read a room and I know this didn't go as well as you planned, but I suggest you forestall any attempts to salvage a bad situation and let the bald man lead the tour. You should come with me, you're going to want to see the prisoner I brought back."

Trunks nodded, " _Kodva_ ," he said, emphasizing the name as a hint to Turles to start referring to the others by name, "Can you show everyone around? I need to look in on our uh . . . other new guest."

"Yes, Master Trunks." Kodva said.

"Oh it's _Master_ too is it?" Videl teased.

"Yes, it is." Rhyce told her, eying her fiercely. The two were about the same height so Rhyce could glare her in the eyes, "And if you want to train under him it'll be Master Trunks to you too, it's a matter of respect."

Videl smiled and nodded, "Ah, so that's what you mean by it. Well all right then, that's not so bad."

Turles smirked as the others were led away, Cauliflora and Tathy lingered but Trunks said, "Go with them, please let yourselves get acquainted with the place too. But don't kill anyone or destroy anything."

"There are two subjugated Arcosians in the facility, one of them is our ally the other is our prisoner, Pr—Trunks wants them both spared." Turles added.

"I understand the concept of prisoners." Cauli scoffed but she turned and caught up with the rest of the group.

Tathy lingered a moment longer and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll make sure and smooth talk the Cap'n for you!"

Trunks wasn't sure if he liked that idea or not but he didn't argue. He also fought down the urge to ask Tathy just what she was anyway. Obviously some kind of alien, but she wasn't Saiyan and it'd probably be rude to just ask.

He turned to Turles who was still smirking. "Don't worry, when you see what I captured it'll make today one of the best. After the day you added me to your ranks that is."

"What'd you do, find a working Dragon Ball?" Trunks joked.

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks meets his newest prisoner as Bulma meets Videl, and Karuto finally gets a chance to meet Cauli, but what is Master Roshi up to?_

 

_Character Image: Cooly_

__


	39. You've Named Them?

**Episode Three**

**'You've Named Them?'**

 

Trunks stared in shock at the green alien lying on a couch in the lounge. He was slender and tall with sharp pointed ears and antenna, his skin was green with bunches of pink that looked like exposed muscle.

In short, he was a Namekian. Trunks looked at Turles, "How?"

"He showed up and I remembered you and Lady Bulma talking about looking for Namekians. Now we have one we can question."

"The Namekians were always Earth's allies—well, at least since Piccolo and Goku joined forces." Trunks said. "Why would they attack?"

"I don't know, but he was in possession of a PTO Battle Pod and he clearly recognized my armor."

Trunks nodded, "If he was from New Namek he probably remembered the attack from Frieza and his forces."

"Perhaps, and perhaps now that I've shown him to you I should make myself scarce, after all when he wakes up he might well try to attack me and that could cause trouble with our guests."

"Right." Trunks said. "Does my mother know?"

"She hasn't seen him personally, but they would have been able to observe him from the command ship, it links in to all the scouters so they could see what I was seeing just as they could see what you saw when you fought Cauli."

Trunks hadn't known that, but he nodded, "All right. You're right, Turles, you should make yourself scarce. Great job though, this is honestly the best thing to happen to us since . . ."

"Since you recruited me." Turles supplied breezily, though Trunks had meant to say 'since the attack' he nodded since the two events were close enough anyway and he didn't want to bust Turles down when he'd just done so well.

"Go and get my mother, be polite."

"I'm always polite to the wife of our late Prince Vegeta." Turles said, sounding affronted.

"No, I mean be polite to the Captain." Trunks said honestly, "If I know my mother she'll be butting heads with her by now, after all this isn't just a corporate headquarters this is our home."

"Right away. But if I may ask . . ."

"What?" Trunks asked.

"Why does this Captain show so little respect to you? As the defender of this planet it should be obvious you're not going to harm its people, if it weren't for you and your team she and the rest would be dead."

"You'd think that's obvious." Trunks admitted. "Maybe she's just trying to assert her authority. Maybe she thinks that if she can bully me early on she can force a lot of allowances that I'll have to negotiate her down from. It won't work with mother though."

Turles nodded approvingly, "As befits the wife of the previous Prince of All Saiyans."

Trunks smiled and nodded, "She'd probably be glad to know that."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Oh I see, you're joking!" Bulma said and laughed a very loud, very obviously fake laugh. She carried it on a bit longer than necessary, eventually the new blue alien joined in too and she stopped.

The scene was tense, Bulma and the King's new liaison were glaring daggers across the room at each other. Thyme and Basil had arrived to take over the tour from poor Kodva but Videl had brought proceedings to a halt in order to read off a list of demands.

Bulma had responded with all the diplomacy and tact she was willing to offer the woman.

"I am hardly joking." Videl told her, visibly bristling.

"You know when Soda joined us she didn't make these kinds of demands. We _liked_ Soda." Bulma said.

"Well I suppose that's good for her, but the difference is you don't need to like me. You're my assignment, and it's in your best interest to cooperate." Videl told her. "That includes handing over any and all information you've deciphered from that alien vessel."

"So that you can do what with it, exactly?" Bulma demanded, "We've given the King's men full access to the ship's armory and his scientists have, I'm sure, knocked together some version of the blaster and the scouter to make you all happy, haven't they?"

"Guns and gadgets are all well and good," Videl told her, "but we need more than that. We are more or less at war with the Planet Trade Organization, we need to know where their bases are, where their home world is so that if the opportunity should arise we can go on the offensive. They threatened to destroy our home world, maybe we should do the same to theirs."

"You can't blow up New Arcoss!" Karuto cried, "My whole family is there, daddy would stop you!"

Bulma didn't miss that Karuto wasn't crying out in panic, but more in caution. Still she put a hand on his shoulder, "No one is blowing up your home, Karuto. Isn't that right, _Captain_?"

"I won't count out the possibility that it might become necessary, but the fact that that prisoner is walking freely in this compound is another cause for concern." Videl said tensely.

"Karuto is on probation, so is Genora." Bulma explained.

"Oh, you've _named_ them?" Videl scoffed.

"Careful." Rhyce told her and if Videl could sense energy she'd know that Rhyce's was rising.

As it was Bulma couldn't sense energy, but she'd been around fighters long enough to know, if Videl said anything else Rhyce's aura might spark.

"You might be top dog where you're from, but here you'd do well to show some respect." Kodva agreed, though he wasn't as riled as Rhyce was. Unlike Rhyce Kodva had a pretty even temper.

It was surprising though, Rhyce hadn't taken to the aliens much, which Bulma understood given the loss of her brother. Still perhaps the collaborators had won her over, Genora certainly seemed to get along well with Thyme and Basil, the people with whom she spent most of her time out of her cell, and Karuto was difficult to hate.

"Good manners cost us nothing, Captain." Videl's aide whispered, but Bulma managed to hear it. That girl was awfully familiar, she reminded Bulma of someone from her past.

_Maybe I knew her mother. I'll have to ask her later._ Bulma decided.

Videl finally relented and nodded, "I'll apologize for that remark, it was out of line. I lost a lot of good men at the battle of the bunker, but that's no excuse."

Bulma allowed the beginnings of a smile to crease her lips, _You see,_ she thought, _it won't kill you to play nicely._

"However," Videl said sharply, "I will not apologize for my request for those files. You are a citizen of this world you swore fealty to her King, you will do as he orders."

"I will." Bulma agreed, "which is why I won't give you those files. See the King has visited us multiple times and never once has he attempted to take control of our operation. Let's not pretend you've got more authority than you do, Captain. You're here to give orders to your people, not mine, not my son's."

"Well we are all on the same team," Videl's aide tried piping up, but Bulma shut her down.

"You're _not_ part of our team yet. Soda was, but she _earned_ that, and if she had asked me for those files she'd have them because I know she'd use them properly."

"And how am I any different?" Videl demanded.

"You're speaking _for_ the King instead of on his behalf, she never made that mistake." Bulma told her, folding her arms defiantly, "the King has made it clear that he trusts my son and he trusts me, your presence here is to reassure his advisors, not him. Of course I won't give you the files! I'm sure the King knows that if we're at war we don't stand a chance of winning the conventional way, if you could even build a ship let alone one that could take you to New Arcoss there's nothing you can do to the place. Send every bomb on the planet, the Arcosians will treat them like firecrackers! I'm sure he knows that my son is currently our best defense and offense and only his training these fighters up to his level can we even hope to call ourselves truly safe. If he didn't he could just tell me over tea."

Videl clenched her fists at her side, it was pretty obvious she wasn't used to being disobeyed or talked down to.

Bulma didn't care, and she added the reason why, "This isn't just my place of business, this is my home. The people who live here are my family or my friends and while this military bluster might work elsewhere you'd better understand that here _I_ am the commander in chief, you don't give orders you make requests, you're not here to instruct you're here to learn and you're not here to wage war you're here to _defend._ Clear?"

Videl glowered for a moment, then nodded. She bowed slightly, and her words were practically forced through gritted teeth, "Understood, ma'am. You have my apologies."

Her aide bowed too. Bulma smiled triumphantly and she didn't miss the appraising look the new female Saiyan was giving her. _That's right, I'm the top dog here, wolfie. Step out of line and I'll handle you just the same._ she thought. To Videl she said, "Good. Now the first step to being more accepted in our circle is to understand how we run things. Karuto and Genora are helping us with the computer which means they don't need to stay in uncomfortable prison cells all the time. We treat our friends well because know that's how you keep them from becoming enemies."

"One could argue that the . . . Arcosians?" Videl paused for confirmation, and Bulma nodded so she continued, "are already our enemies."

"They are, but we hope they won't be forever. After all, Karuto isn't. People are individuals and he's made an individual choice to help us." Bulma said simply.

"And that Arcosian in the cell below?" Videl asked, "Chillax was it?"

"He isn't helping but he is cooperating." Bulma admitted.  
"In what way is he cooperating, might I ask?" Videl asked.

"He hasn't blown the planet up." Bulma said with a slight smile.

"I beg your pardon?" Videl gawked, "After everything you just told me-"

"Oh come off it, do you really think Miss Bulma doesn't have fifty different defenses down there to make sure he doesn't?" Rhyce exploded.

In fact Bulma did not. She'd programmed his cell and a scouter to increase and decrease the gravity according to how much power he was using or gathering to make powering up uncomfortable for him, and theoretically speaking if he should try to destroy the Earth he'd crush himself to death under there hundred times Earth's gravity . . . but if he could survive that kind of force and if Trunks didn't get there in time to stop him he could definitely destroy the planet.

Not that anyone else needed to know that. Bulma wouldn't lie to Videl about it, but she wouldn't correct Rhyce either. She just shrugged, "As you can see, Captain, we're not exactly a bunch of yokels here."

Videl nodded. "All right then. My apologies for the . . . intensity of our first meeting, Mrs. Briefs. I would be honored if you'd continue the tour of the facility."

Kodva nodded to Thyme who in turn nodded to Videl.

"All right, madam, if you'll follow Basil and I, I'll point and she'll explain."

"Of course, make me do all the work!" Basil cried.

"If you insist." Thyme said lightly and attempted to abandon the tour group, but the tall man stopped under Bulma's withering glare. He smiled and said, "Sorry, just joking."

He led them to the stairs just as Turles came down them. He stepped aside to let Captain Videl pass and even stood at attention as she did. Bulma didn't know him well enough yet to know if that had been a joke or a genuine act of respect, but it was still very odd to see. Goku would probably never have done it, and Turles looked o much like Goku that sometimes she almost found herself asking, "Goku what are you doing in that getup?"

Thyme and Basil led Videl, her aide and the two new aliens on up the stairs but Kodva, Schip and Rhyce went to the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Bulma asked them.

"Since we're done giving the tour we're going to train in the gravity room," Schip explained, "it was what we were scheduled to do after the meeting was over and since we're already dressed for it . . ."

Bulma nodded, "All right, train hard you three. What is it, Turles?" She asked when he rushed over. He bowed slightly, which she'd asked and then told him not do, if he didn't stop soon she'd move on to ordering it. Such as it was she was a bit annoyed by Videl and she actually enjoyed the deference.

"Lady Bulma, Prince Trunks has asked that you come up to the lounge and see his new prisoner."

"Oh hell's bells I hope the tour group isn't going to the lounge!" Bulma realized.

"I'll go stop them!" Karuto said and sped off before Bulma could tell him not to.

Instead she called after him, "Show them the ship but don't let them touch _anything_!"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto rushed after the tour group, easily catching them.

So easily he almost barreled into them as he shouted, "Not the lounge, Missus Bulma says show them the ship!"

"Well at least there's that." Captain Videl said sourly.

"Careful little mister!" Cauliflora's alien companion told him, "You should take it easy or you could impale someone on those horns!"

Her tone was playful and Karuto was never _that_ careless so he just smiled and said, "Never happened twice in one day!"

The strange alien—and she was strange because even he had no idea what she was—smiled back. Cauliflora on the other hand was much harder to read. She asked him, "You're the one who talked to me over the scouter, aren't you?"

"I am!" Karuto said.

"So you knew me because of Turles." Cauliflora reasoned.

"No," Karuto admitted, "I studied the team that went to Goulder when I learned that some of you might have survived."

Cauliflora folded her arms and eyed him suspiciously, her comrade told her, "Um I think the tour group is going to leave us behind . . ."

"Go after them then and tell me more later." Cauliflora ordered. Tathy did so without question or hesitation, but to Karuto the Saiyan female said, "So your people knew we'd survived?"

"No." Karuto told her, "You were recorded as KIA, but our ship's mission was to conquer the planets your kind didn't finish. When we finally conquered Goulder one of the survivors told me about the Saiyan he took in and so I heard about you and the others."

Cauliflora actually smirked, "You must have met one of the ones that looked after Rhuby then."

_So it_ was _Rhubara then?_ Karuto thought. He decided he'd better keep it to himself that Turles was the wrong Saiyan for now. He just nodded to her, "Yes, Konpeito told me all about the things that happened on Goulder. I was trying to figure out where you went after, I thought you might have survived!"

"Well I did." Cauliflora said. "I didn't know the PTO kept a file on me."

"We had files on all the Saiyans we sent out." Karuto explained. "Turles has been pouring over them trying to find good candidates to rescue."

Cauliflora scoffed, "There aren't any others out there you know. Why do you think I became a bounty hunter? I chased every Saiyan bounty I could find just hoping to find another of my own kind. I mean I thought I was on Turles' trail about two decades ago, heard about a Saiyan with a gang of pirates but the trail went dead and it obviously wasn't him because he looks like he's been in hibernation this entire time."

Karuto decided not to go telling all of Mister Trunks' secrets, "Well you might be surprised. Where did you go after Goulder though?"

"After Goulder? I tried to take Rhuby to the nearest PTO base to get her healed up. I was in bad shape too but at least I was conscious. It was a tight squeeze, good thing she was out cold . . . I put us into hibernation hoping we'd be able to hold out until we arrived but we never made it."

"Where did you go?" Karuto asked.

Cauliflora shook her head, "I don't know if I really want to talk about this."

"Why not?" Karuto asked. "I'm not going to endanger anyone who might have helped you."

"I'm not worried about the planet, no one's left there." Cauliflora told him, "I killed them all. All except Tathy, and I _tried_ to kill her."

"You failed?" Karuto asked in surprise. "But her power level is the same as _mine_! And you're ten times stronger than she is!"

"I was a hundred times stronger than her at the time. But let's just say when you smash her she doesn't stay smashed for very long." Cauli explained.

"Well then why don't you want to talk about it?" Karuto asked, "It sounds like an exciting story."

Cauliflora was quiet for a moment, she seemed to be appraising him with her solitary eye so he tried to smile and look like a good little Arcosian who deserved to be told a story. Finally she answered, "I don't like remembering that story because I made mistakes. I don't like making mistakes, I'm a Saiyan Warrior, I'm from the same clan as the royal family, that makes me practically a cousin to Prince Trunks, I need to be the best, I need to be perfect . . ."

Cauliflora stared off into space for a moment then whispered, "I didn't mean to . . . I didn't exterminate that world on purpose . . . I just lost control. What happened there was so horrible, and it was my fault . . . I loved that world, I loved it and I never wanted to leave."

Karuto sensed he might get his story after all, he asked, "Why?"

"Because it was like I'd died and gone to some perfect afterlife!" Cauliflora explained. "I had my best friend with me and the aliens that captured us wanted just one thing; that we fight! We fought and we killed new enemies almost every day, we were showered with praise and glory, we were like goddesses to them! Rhuby and me, we were unstoppable in the arena and . . . and I loved it. It was an ideal existence . . . until it stopped."

"How did it stop?" Karuto asked again.

Cauliflora lowered her gaze, "I really don't want to talk about it, little one. Do not ask again, I doubt you're as durable as Tathy."

Karuto frowned. "Okay," he recognized a threat when he heard one. He was disappointed, but he also recognized that Cauliflora was a lot more even-tempered towards him than he'd expected, especially for someone who'd just admitted to exterminating an entire planet, apparently during a temper tantrum. So he added, "Thank you for being so patient with me."

She smirked and nodded, "It's . . . fine. I sort of owe you, you got me to settle down and accept that Prince Trunks really was a Saiyan . . . now I'm not the last, now I'm not alone."

"I'm glad." Karuto told her honestly.

"If you really want to know what happened to us after Goulder Tathy can tell you." Cauliflora told him, "You basically just have to feed her and she'll do anything you want until the food runs out."

"Really?" Karuto asked excitedly, "What does she like to eat?"

"Anything and everything." Cauliflora grumbled. "Anyway it's better you bother her than me, she's got boundless energy and I'm getting old."

"Konpeito was old too, I still thought of him as friend though." Karuto told her.

"Rhuby did too." Cauliflora sighed. "She talked about them sometimes. Kon and Kori, Misiri and Bing."

"Misiri?" Karuto blinked. "Who was that?"

"Konpeito's best friend." Cauliflora shrugged. "Apart from Korizato I guess."

"He never mentioned him . . ." Karuto said thoughtfully.

"Well I can't guess why not. Ask him yourself." Cauliflora suggested.

"I can't, he died in the battle for Earth . . ." Karuto frowned.

"It was a hard fight, wasn't it?" Cauliflora said. "The reports said the entire PTO crew was massacred, I take it you lost friends?"

"Yeah . . ." Karuto sniffled. So many people he knew had died . . . everyone he'd spent his time in space with was gone except for Genora and Chillax and he could only spend time with Genora because Chillax was being so stubborn. He missed Konpeito, he even missed Uncle Kalt, even if his uncle had sent him on a mission there was no way he'd return from.

He bet Genora missed her sisters too and he knew Chillax missed his squad. The humans were all sad because of their friends, but Karuto had lost friends too. He mostly got by by not thinking about it, keeping himself busy and being happy that most everyone was so nice to him. He didn't want to be like Genora or Chillax who clearly couldn't stop themselves from thinking about it. He didn't want to forget them, he just didn't want to be sad all the time.

To his surprise Cauliflora read his mood and said, "That. That's why I can't tell you the story."

"Okay." Karuto acknowledged.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The beauty of West City was something the Turtle Hermit had come to miss in the months he'd spent back home on his island setting things to right and making sure Oolong and Puar hadn't either eaten him out of house and home or staved to death.

Or both.

But now that things were set in order he had other business to attend to. He stood outside a wooden door and tapped it gently with his staff. There was quiet for a moment, then sounds of movement from the other side.

Slowly the door opened to reveal a colorful room with fluffy red carpet and orange walls that, if he were being honest, wouldn't have been Roshi's first choices. The wall was at least covered in posters and pictures of a wide range of interests.

"Oh . . ." The room's inhabitant said softly, "I . . . didn't expect to see you, Master Roshi."

"Hello, Anavill." Roshi said with a smile. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Um . . . well no, but-"

"Good." Roshi said, stepping into her room. Anavill wheeled her chair out of his way at least, rather than refuse him entry and he judged it a good sign. He asked her, "So how have you been doing since the last time I saw you?"

She was quiet for a moment, then she muttered, "Fine."

The old turtle hermit turned to her and raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure that's what you meant to say? Because I think what you wanted to say was 'how do you think I'm doing you stupid old fool!'"

Anavill looked surprised for a moment then she smiled slightly, "Well . . . pretend that's what I did say then."

Roshi smiled, "It's a fair response. But I've come to make you an offer."

"I won't go back." Anavill said. "I can't go back to Capsule Corp, I don't want them all . . . I can't train anymore, they'll all just try to pretend they don't notice, or they'll feel sorry for me, or they'll talk about that miracle cure I know doesn't exist."

Roshi frowned, "I don't know much about alien technology, but I do know that if Trunks finds out how to get the healing liquids for those tanks the entire Planet Trade Organization wouldn't be able to stop him from keeping his promise to you."

Anavill averted her gaze, but she nodded. "Okay."

"Anyway that's not my offer." Master Roshi told her. To save her from having to ask he said, "I want you to live on my island for a while. Help manage it, you know? Your parents too if your bakery can spare them, it's beach front property, and beach rear and beach side!"

Anavill looked at him for a moment, then said, "I don't . . . I don't think beaches are really my thing anymore." She laughed a short, bitter laugh, "I mean I can't exactly swim . . . or feel the sand between my toes."

"No." Master Roshi agreed. "But you can continue your training."

Anavill's eyes narrowed, "Are you joking?"

"No." Master Roshi said again. "Listen to me, I didn't just pick you for no reason. You have potential. You were one of the strongest students Trunks trained."

"And now I'm the weakest." Anavill said. "I mean apart from the ones who don't count anymore. Gurein . . . Bocan . . . Pastel . . . Soda . . ."

"Who told you they don't count anymore, young'un?" Roshi asked her. "Do you think training stops when you die? Not for Earth's Defenders it doesn't."

"Then it sounds like this job came with a terrible afterlife." Anavill said bitterly. "Look at me," she said, indicating her wheal chair, "I can't train, how can you possibly think I can train like this?"

"How can you possibly think I'd be the strongest man on the planet as old as I am?" Master Roshi asked. "Well . . . at least I used to be, I'll bet Kodva or Schip has passed me by about a mile by now. But the point remains you don't need to give up on your training. You just need a new way to train."

"Well thank you, Master, for trying to cheer me up and for your visit," Anavill told him, "but you know I think I want to get some rest. There have to be other people you can train, people who won't be such a waste of your time."

Roshi sighed. "You're weren't a waste of time, young'un, and you still aren't. I didn't expect you to be ready already, I'd have been amazed if you were. But my offer is on the table, when you're ready to take it let me know."

"You'll be waiting a long time." Anavill told him.

"I don't think so." Roshi said with a smile, "I chose you for a reason. I saw more than just an artisan baker when I saw you. When you're ready I'll be at Capsule Corp."

"Thanks for visiting." Anavill said in a hollow tone.

Roshi nodded and took his leave. As he'd said he hadn't expected to convince her on the first try.

But he'd be back. Because he chose her for a reason.

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On The Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks and Bulma have words with their new green guest, but his news isn't good. Meanwhile an old mentor will oversee some new recruits._

 

_Character Image: Icebreaker_

__


	40. Fruit of the Gods

**Episode Four**

**'Fruit of the Gods'**

 

The palace chambers the twins shared on the lavish world of New Arcoss were large and comfortable, and Frostburn would miss having them all to himself. His twin, Frostbite, had been too distraught to emerge from his quarters ever since the news of Kalt's failure had reached them. Where Frostburn had simply accepted the news of his son's death and sent his condolences to Frigus and Cooly, Frostbite had locked himself away in his chambers to mourn.

Frostburn hadn't been pleased with him for that. They had an empire to run, there was no time to mourn a single child. This was really the sort of reaction the Arcosian Overlord would have expected from a race that actually contributed more to the conception of their offspring than throwing some DNA into an incubation machine. It wasn't as if Bite had carried Karuto inside him for months . . . how would that work?

How would the child get out? Maybe he'd burst out of his parent's chest like—anyway the important thing was that Frostbite had been acting like an idiot moping in his chambers for ages.

But having the chambers to himself had been nice. Frostburn had indulged himself touching anything his brother would normally forbid him from touching, had broken a few of Frostbite's things just for fun and blamed it on servants he didn't like, sat in Frostbite's favorite chair for the last time before "a servant" destroyed it in a fire.

Good times.

But they had had to come to and end and when his twin had emerged from his personal chambers with that old fire in his eyes Frostburn had thought that they would be out conquering planets again in no time.

And he had been wrong.

They were twins, but they were far from identical. Frostbite was large bearing a striking resemblance to King Cold except for coloration. His carapace was gray, his skin was dark purple and his dome was blue. He did not match the old King for size, but he was closer than the more diminutive Frostburn.

Frostburn in turn was far more similar to Lord Frieza in appearance, and he knew it rankled his brother that their servants naturally looked to him first—especially the ones still left—after all Lord Frieza had been the stronger. Frostburn's own coloration was darker, a dark gray almost black carapace with a midnight blue dome and dark blue skin. He had a far more slender and diminutive figure and was usually mistaken for a female by races that hadn't yet evolved to single-gendered perfection that the Arcosians had achieved. It made him glad, if the Arcosians hadn't been a race of one gender then he might have been female and barred from fighting as so many female creatures were.

That would have been to the clan's disservice though, where Frostbite was sheer unstoppable force Frostburn was unrelenting power, where Frostbite struck blows that could shatter a mountain to dust Frostburn could shoot blasts that would vaporize that mountain instead. Neither would have gotten as far as they had or lasted as long as they had without the other to watch their back.

And sometimes that was all that kept them from killing each other.

Other times it was their differences that gave them strength. Frostburn had gotten the report of Kalt's failure and moved on with his life, but Frostbite had obsessed in his chambers. He had poured over every message, every journal entry Karuto had recorded mourning the loss.

And then he had noticed a strange gap in Karuto's journal entries . . .

There was something Karuto wasn't recording, and so Bite had gone to the ship's security recordings and he had heard the story the Iwatian traitor had told his minuscule offspring.

A deal of it anyway, but there was one thing that Frostbite _had_ heard very well.

_"Well at least you're out and about. Finished grieving, Bite?" Frostburn had asked._

_"I will be finished when I hold that Saiyan scum's skull in my hands, Burn." Frostbite had snarled upon exiting his chambers._

_"Yeah? And how will we do that? Or did you see everything_ but _the ship's recording of his power level?" Frostburn had asked skeptically._

_"By getting stronger." Frostburn told him._

_"You intrigue me. Go on." Burn urged._

_"I have poured over everything from that computer over the past week since the news reached us. I read all of Karuto's notes, poured through the pages of his diary."_

_"Right. Because_ that's _healthy." Burn had scoffed sarcastically._

_"Is it not?" Bite sounded genuinely curious._

_"Why would reading dead people's journals be a positive thing?"_

_"Because it helps me to remember him in life, and it's not all reading some of it is video. I miss hearing his voice, you know." Frostbite had said with only the slightest hint of embarrassment._

_"You disgust me. Have a stronger child and tell him to focus on fighting instead of journal keeping." Frostburn had rolled his eyes._

_Frostbite scowled, "Never mind that, we can't all be blasé about losing a child, Burn!"_

_"Well I'd had mine longer, and he never wrote. Harder to miss I guess," the smaller overlord offered by way of making peace. "How do we get stronger, brother?"_

_Bite smiled slightly, "There is a tree on one of the planets that Kalt conquered. It's probably dead now, but there might be seeds."_

_"Wow . . . are we going to make a wooden sword to bat the scary Saiyan away?" Frostburn teased._

_Frostbite laughed, which was rather unexpected, "No brother we're going to eat its fruit! Karuto wrote it all here, it seems like not all of his notes made it, but he says the fruit increases strength by at least fifteen times."_

_"Well what do you know? Your son was a creative writer." Frostburn said, then raised his hands in surrender, "I'm kidding of course. Of course I blindly believe the space stories my grieving brother read from his dead child's diary. But even if we were fifteen times stronger we wouldn't be as powerful as that Saiyan."_

_"That's why we eat a lot of fruit," Frostbite said, "and we share it with the Clan. Only our most trusted of course, the rest will fight like furies to win our favor with such a prize! When the time is right the Frost Clan will descend on Earth like an unstoppable plague, no longer a race of mortals but a race of gods!"_

_"You sound insane, but curse my hide if I don't love the enthusiasm." Frostburn said with a reasonably affectionate eye roll. "All right brother, I will follow you down this road and see where it leads."_

_Bite nodded. He stood up and asked, "Well then brother? Shall we begin our revenge?"_

_"Revenge to your mind, a diversion likely doomed to failure to mine. But by all means let us prepare an expedition to this planet and find ourselves a tree."_

And that hunt had led them along with one of the surviving Iwatians to Goulder to track down the very last seeds of their great tree which they'd handed over to Frostbite's favorite scientist, Glacien.

Glacien had a very bright color pattern, a white carapace and skin of the same shade with teal-blue bands under his eyes and an ice blue dome. Glacien was slender and of a similar build to Frostburn which had on occasion left the Overlord to wonder if their species tended to be more intelligent the less muscle mass they had on display.

"Well, Glacien?" Frostbite asked urgently.

Frostburn glowered at the small seed that his brother had dragged him halfway across their Empire to find. " _That_ is supposed to grow a giant tree?"

"A planet shattering one actually," Glacien told him, "at least if my tests are right, my Lords. I've run tests on the soil of Goulder as well, but even without it it's clear that what plant life exists there suffered a tremendous catastrophe at some point in their past, likely from the tree being planted."

"So it drinks a lot?" Frostbite had asked.

Frostburn stared at his brother, "Plants don't drink you idiot!"

"Actually in a sense they do, and it does." Glacien said, causing Frostburn to scowl at the embarrassment of being wrong. "Only this tree doesn't drink water it drinks energy. I don't think most planets could sustain it, actually, Goulder was a rare and special case and even then I'd guess only its hardiest species survived."

Frostbite grinned wickedly, "So there's some possibility that the story was true . . . fruit from a tree fed by pure energy? Could that increase our strength?"

Frostburn listened carefully, eager himself to know the answer but not wanting to seem as if he'd been taken in by his twin's mad plans.

"Definitely." Glacien told them. "I mean if we could find a world to grow the tree on and it produced fruit I believe the fruit would not only increase its owner's strength it would increase . . . well everything about them. Physically that is. Your body would increase in size just to contain your new power, you might well unlock a new transformation from eating this fruit."

"Fruit of the Gods for a race of Gods." Frostbite said with a cruel grin.

"A race of Gods?" Burn scoffed. "Brother . . . be real . . . we can't let just _anyone_ have this fruit."

"Obviously, we share it with only our most trusted, our most loyal," Bite agreed but Burn shook his head.

"Why share it at all?" Burn asked. "With this kind of power things can go back to the way they were! You and me brother, ruling the Clan. The rest can relax in luxury, we'll handle the universe!"

"And while they're relaxing no one will rise to challenge us." Frostbite smiled.

Frostburn smiled back. They were far from identical and their differences were their great strength . . . but they had their similarities.

"Still . . . as long as the Saiyans remain a threat," Glacien ventured, "perhaps it would be wise to share the fruit? You can always just eat more of it than anyone else."

"Or we can force them to compete for it, impress us." Frostburn laughed.

But they'd see . . .

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Bulma rarely found herself at a loss for words but she had reached one now.

After all, what could one say to walking into their lounge and finding a young Namekian lying unconscious on the couch?

"Do you think he can help us find New Namek?" Trunks asked her again.

"If he can't I don't know who could. And you said he came in a battle pod?"

"Turles said so, and he'd know." Trunks told her. "Weren't you guys watching his scouter?"

"No, we were watching yours." Bulma admitted. "I mean if I'd spotted a Namekian I'd have told you, obviously." She shook her head, "This . . . this is amazing though, I mean we've been trying to find New Namek and now a Namekian found us."

"Cauliflora says the Frost Clan put a bounty out on us, he could be a bounty hunter."

"Maybe, but I'd wait until he proves a threat before putting him in a cell." Bulma cautioned her son.

"Well . . . what now?" Trunks asked her.

"You're asking me?" Bulma asked. "Don't you have any ideas?"

Trunks was a grown man after all, he couldn't keep coming to her for advice on _everything_. She'd help him as much as she could, obviously, but she wanted to know that he had a direction to travel before she gave him the keys to the car so to speak.

"I'll have Rhyce take Genora out to the pod and recover its records if such a thing is possible. We might get the spacial coordinates from there, I mean he must have come from New Namek at some point." Trunks said. "Though not necessarily in that ship. I don't know of any good way that he'd have gotten it."

"I think the Namekians have larger problems if they're traveling in Saiyan battle pods." Bulma agreed. Then to move on to brighter subjects, "This guy reminds me of Dende. A bit older of course, but still . . ."

"Do you think that's who this is?" Trunks asked. He seemed to take a harder look as if he were trying to recognize what might be an older Dende.

Bulma shook her head, "No, I feel like I'd recognize Dende even after all these years. He's similar though."

He truly was. The young Namekian was smaller than Piccolo and wore a slightly baggy pair of white slacks and brown cloth shoes similar to the sort Piccolo had always worn. He lacked the dramatic cape and turban though, wearing instead a simple black tunic. His clothes had obviously been torn, but that could have been Turles' doing.

"Do you think we should try to wake him up?" Bulma asked.

Trunks seemed to think for a moment, then he nodded. "Yes. I mean if you can think of a way to do it, mother. I know I can't."

"Well a bucket of cold water would ruin the couch," Bulma joked, "but I have some smelling salts in my first aid kit."

"Why?" Trunks asked.

Bulma was surprised by the question, "Why not? They're useful for rousing people."

Trunks folded his arms thoughtfully, "I didn't know that. Maybe we should start carrying them into battle . . ."

"I doubt they'll work quite that well, but it's a thought I suppose." Bulma smiled. She opened her capsule pack and selected a small capsule that held her first aid kit. She tossed the capsule onto the coffee table and it transformed into a large white box almost large enough for Bulma herself to crawl into.

"That's quite the first aid kit!" Trunks exclaimed.

"Well that's why I don't carry it in person." Bulma told her son. She opened it up and carried on, "With fighters training the way you and yours do you can never be too prepared. It's important to have the right supplies when you can get them and even things you might not think you need because you never know if you'll run into someone who will need it."

Trunks didn't say anything, but Bulma could imagine he was probably nodding at the good advice. Or rolling his eyes at seeing her digging through the large kit, either response really would have made sense to her.

But still it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. She came out of the kit and shut it, the weight of the lid coming down made the coffee table buckle a bit. Bulma decided not to worry about that and instead brought the salts over to the young Namekian.

"Stand back," She told Trunks, "Give him some room."

"Be careful." Her son told her, his voice tense. "He did attack Turles."

"Turles is a Saiyan who still wears his Saiyan armor," Bulma reminded him, "if this fellow is from New Namek there's a chance he was from Old Namek and remembered that distinctive style of armor."

"Yeah," Trunks agreed, "I thought so too but still, please be careful, mother."

Bulma nodded. Her son had lost almost his entire team in one day, and while she might know that they would easily bring them back with the Dragon Balls she understood that for him there was a lot less certainty until the moment he held one of those glorious golden-orange orbs in his hands.

Besides it was nice to have her son care about her wellbeing. Lots of mothers and sons grew apart over time, some parents couldn't even get their kids to call them on the phone after all.

The young Namekian's eyes opened slowly, he looked around in a hazy confusion but he didn't become aggressive or try to attack.

"Bu . . . Bulma?" He mumbled.

_Aha, so he knows me. He must have been from Old Namek then,_ Bulma thought, and she nodded to him. "That's right, I'm Bulma."

"Th-then I made it? I'm on planet Earth?" The young Namekian gasped, sitting up only to fall back down again clutching his head with a groan.

"Yes, take it easy." Bulma told him. "You're safe on Earth."

The Namekian nodded slowly, "Good . . . no, not good, not safe . . ."

He tried to sit up again, much slower this time. He held his head and mumbled something in Namekian that Bulma didn't catch.

Trunks was quiet. He stood by, obviously ready to act if necessary but clearly not wanting to put undue pressure on their new friend.

"I'm sorry," Bulma said, "you remember me but it was a long time ago and there were a lot of Namekians . . ."

"Huh?" The youth seemed surprised then he nodded, "Oh! Sorry, my name's Cargo. You and your friends rescued my older brother Dende back then. I was killed but I got wished back by the Dragon Balls. I spent some time with you all here on Earth, then I went to New Namek with the others."

Apart from his name Bulma knew all that but she let him continue uninterrupted in case it helped him to collect his thoughts.

She smiled, "It's good to see you again, Cargo. You have no idea how badly we've tried to find you and your people."

"I think I've got _some_ idea considering how hard I've been trying to find you!" Cargo said. "There's a bounty on this planet, I think another ship came in when mine did,"

"They did, we dealt with them." Bulma reassured him. "Did you come to warn us about the bounty?"

"No, the bounty just helped me find you. Those of us on New Namek don't really know where Earth is any better than you probably know where we are." Cargo said. "But I had to find you, I knew you could help."

_Oh no . . ._ Bulma thought. "Has something happened to New Namek?" She asked him.

Cargo nodded. "About two months ago we were attacked."

"Attacked? Who attacked you?" Trunks asked, speaking up for the first time.

Cargo turned to look at him, clearly not recognizing him Bulma told him, "This is Trunks, he's my son. He's the Defender of Earth now."

"What happened to Piccolo and Goku?" Cargo asked.

"They were killed years ago. That's why we don't have any Dragon Balls." Bulma told him. "That's why we needed to find you."

Cargo's antennae drooped a bit and he lowered his head. He said, "Our Elder, Moori,"

"Your father?" Bulma remembered.

"Brother. But I guess he raised me and Dende like a father would have. But we were all from Guru . . . anyway he was one of the first ones killed. We don't have any Dragon Balls either."

Bulma's heart stopped for a moment and she looked at Trunks in horror. Trunks clenched his fists at his sides, and he asked again, "Who attacked you?"

"They called themselves the Frost Clan, they're just like Frieza," Cargo told him, "Frieza's people found us!"

 

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

 

Far far away from the Capsule Corporation and the challenge that Trunks and Bulma would have to deal with now a different warrior sat and prepared to deal with a different sort of challenge.

The warrior sat on a tree stump smiling slightly as his four new challenges arrived.

He stood up to greet them, watching them stumble for a moment.

"Welcome." He called out to them. "Ninety days . . . took you long enough."

"Yeah well you know," One of them, a woman with pink hair called out, "We don't have a slick classic car to drive down that road, and we had to get used to the whole 'being dead' thing."

"I can imagine." The warrior told them. "It's been eight years for me now and it's _still_ weird."

"Great." Another, a tall man with long blond hair said. "So . . . are you King Kai?"

The warrior smiled, "No. My name's Gohan, and even though I was the one who trained Trunks initially I'm not the one who's going to train you here. But you're in the right place, and I've been waiting."

"Waiting for us?" The third, a tall muscular man with silver-gray hair asked.

"Of course. Before you get to meet King Kai I felt like I should prepare you."

The four warriors tensed, "Is he that intense?" The blond man asked.

Gohan smiled, "Well . . . he's _something_."

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Cargo tells his story to Bulma and Trunks and begs for their help, and Turles knows just the place to find new recruits . . . if Trunks is willing to use the Time Machine for a visit to Frago._

 

_Character Image: Frostburn_

_Note: Before the bombshell that Arcosians reproduce asexually Frostburn was actually meant to be . . . let's just say "very social." Fun Fact: The opposite of Sharrot, Burn was originally envisioned as female. Though Arcosians have no gender unlike the Namekians who are all just male it's clear that some of them regard themselves as being male which left me to wonder if maybe some might regard themselves as being female. So I'd say that some Arcosians just sort of "feel" feminine, like the Irkens from Invader Zim it has no affect on their appearance (female Irken have longer eyelashes and sometimes curl their antennae, both just cosmetic changes) and the species still lacks any physical sex, and Burn was originally going to be "female" in much the same manner. However when I saw that Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama had decided differently I chose to respect the source material and thus Frostburn became male with just a small acknowledgement that he might have been female if it were an option._


	41. Whale Talk

**Episode Five**

**'Whale Talk'**

 

Cargo looked down at his feet as Bulma handed him a glass of water. Trunks leaned in and asked him, "Please, tell me about the attack if you can."

The young Namekian nodded at him. "Well there were three ships, and as you know we Namekians aren't very numerous. There really aren't many more of us now than there were. Moori is—uh he was a good leader but when the enemy arrived there was nothing he could do. He tried to negotiate, tried to convince them to leave but they wouldn't listen."

"And what happened to Moori then?" Bulma asked.

"He was killed. First him then all our warriors when they tried to attack. I should have gone with them but my training wasn't finished . . ." Cargo told her. "Most of us who survived did so by going into hiding."

"How have you managed to hide?" Bulma asked. "Don't they use scouters to find you?"

"We thought they would but they haven't." Cargo said. "Those of us they left aren't real warriors so we can't try to fight them off but it seems like they don't care about us hiding out. They just fought our warriors and ignored us, I don't know what they're doing but they're not interested in us since our power levels are so low."

"Low?" Bulma asked. "But your power level is more than forty thousand, maybe thirteen or fourteen times what I heard your warriors had twenty years ago."

"It is?" Cargo seemed surprised. "I had started training with the fighters because I wasn't cut out for being a sage but I didn't realize I'd gotten that much stronger . . . my training wasn't finished, they told me not to fight with them!" He seemed bothered, "If I knew I was so much stronger-"

"Easy," Trunks told him, "if you're just a trainee the warriors that went down were probably even stronger. They wouldn't have told you to sit it out without good reason, not with a fight like that to go into."

Cargo's gaze fell back to his feet but he nodded slightly in acceptance.

"Still if the average power level of the Planet Trade Organization is between five hundred and one thousand it's possible they're ignoring the Namekians in the hills—so to speak—because they're not strong enough to do anything about them. The Arcosian leaders themselves probably did most of the fighting against the Warrior Caste." Trunks' mother said.

"It might also mean they didn't destroy the warriors because of power." Trunks said. "Whatever they're on New Namek for it's not planetary extermination."

He frowned though and thought to himself, _if his power level is over forty thousand and he can't stand up to them how can my fighters? Other than Turles and Cauliflora at least._

Months ago he would have scolded himself for thinking about Kodva, Schip and Rhyce in terms of their numbers but after the battle for the bunker he had to accept that there was at least _something_ to the magnitudes of power levels. He could breeze through a thousand fighters with power levels at a thousand but he doubted his fighters could.

"If the grunts can't bother the Namekians then it's the Arcosians we need to worry about. Hopefully they don't get bored and decide to terrorize the locals."

"I wouldn't risk it for long." Cargo said, "They might still be busy with something else but I don't want to think about how they're treating my brothers or what they'll do whenever they're finished with . . . whatever it is they _are_ doing."

"How many of them are there? If you know." Bulma asked.

Trunks folded his arms and listened as Cargo explained, "There are three creatures like Frieza, they're more powerful than anything I've ever seen other than Frieza. I don't think they're as strong as Frieza was, at least not if I remember right, but I definitely believe they wouldn't see me as a threat. They seem to have some lower officers, but our warriors were stronger than they were, it was the three like Frieza who did the damage."

"How many Namekians are left?" Bulma asked.

"There were maybe thirty or forty of us left." Cargo said. "It's hard to say because we weren't all together and it's hard to sense each other's energy since we've been keeping our power levels low. Just for safety we split up into groups of five or six. I was with Dende and some others when we spotted some of their battle pods just lying around. There were only two guards and I was able to overpower one of them while the others overpowered the other. Most of the pods were destroyed in the struggle, but I took the last one left to come and get help."

"And you came straight here?" Bulma asked, and the young Namekian nodded. "Then the pod's computer should at least know where New Namek is."

Trunks nodded to his mother. "I'll go, no reason to risk the others. I'll destroy these three Arcosians and their grunts."

"You have every reason to take the others with you." His mother insisted. "This is the kind of fight they need to be fighting and besides you'll want the ship to bring back the surviving Namekians."

"Bring them back?" Trunks asked.

"Bring them back?" Cargo agreed. "You want us to live here again?"

Bulma shrugged, "The safest place until the Arcosians are dealt with is here on Earth with my son and his fighters to help protect you. Here you can use our old Dragon Balls to wish back the others and our fallen fighters too."

"You still have functioning Dragon Balls?" Cargo asked, sounding excited.

"No." Trunks told him. "Ours aren't working ever since Piccolo died, but now that you're here . . ."

Cargo blinked, "Oh no . . . not me. I couldn't, I don't know how, you would need Moori or Dende, not me! I was training with the warriors for a reason, I'm not cut out for the sage life!"

Bulma nodded, "All right, all right, but that does mean that as long as Dende is still alive we can bring him back here. One Namekian Sage and we can make our Dragon Balls work again."

"And if we can get our Dragon Balls working we can get theirs working too by wishing back Moori." Trunks understood. He shook his head though and said, "Still I won't need the others and our ship. I can just bring them back on one of the three ships there."

"Cargo how long did this trip take you?" Bulma asked.

"Uh . . . just over a month of your time."

"I can get there and back before General Boreal's forces arrive." Trunks assured his mother.

"No, no, wait." Bulma said. "How did these Arcosians get even closer to us than Boreal?"

"What do you mean?" Trunks asked.

Bulma frowned, "I mean why would they attack New Namek and not try to make a wish on the Dragon Balls? Do you think they just didn't know what they'd found?"

"It's possible, isn't it?" Trunks asked.

"Not from what Karuto's told me." Bulma told him. "The Arcosians know what Namekians are, they know what they look like and they've been trying to find them. What's weird is the fact that they didn't try to make a wish on the Dragon Balls. Maybe they just didn't realize harming Moori would make them ineffective or maybe there's more to them leaving the rest of the Namekians alive in hiding even though they've got no shortage of Scouters. One thing's for sure, I doubt it was just a coincidence that Cargo here was able to get away in a single space pod that just happened to have everything he needed to bring him here."

"What are you saying?" Trunks asked.

"I think she's saying that this is almost definitely an attempt to lure you out." A voice from the doorway said.

Trunks turned in surprise to see Master Roshi. He heaved a sigh of relief and even smiled despite the serious situation. "Master! I'm glad you're finally back!"

"Seems I've arrived just in time to boot." Master Roshi told him. "I only caught the tail end of that story, but it does sound like they're trying to lure you away from us. I think you should stay here, Trunks."

"But you can't!" Cargo cried, "I thought you would help us, our world and all of our people are in danger! If I'd known you wouldn't help I wouldn't have left!"

"Don't worry," Trunks told him, "I won't just stay here, I _am_ going."

"We _will_ help you." Bulma told him, "But we do need to think things through. Now they did say Boreal could be here anywhere between six months and a year, if Boreal is the one who attacked New Namek he'd not only have to somehow know about it but he'd have to have gotten within just over a month of Earth about a month ago meaning he was only three months away to begin with, either our friends and prisoners lied, which I don't think, or we're not dealing with Boreal."

"Even if it's not Boreal does it matter which Arcosians this is?" Trunks asked.

"It does," Master Roshi said, "because if this _is_ somehow a ploy to get you away from Earth they might plan on keeping you away while Boreal finishes us off, or they might be willing to sacrifice three of their kind to create the opening the General would need. They don't need to beat you, just strand you by destroying your ship, then Earth is defenseless. Remember, they don't care about whether or not they actually kill you, killing all the rest of us still means they win."

Trunks shook his head, "So you think I should stay here and let my fighters handle this? Even if they're not ready? Just throw the four of them at an alien invasion force on another world without me there to keep them safe?"

_Because that went so well three months ago._ Trunks thought.

"They'll have more than a month to train in our gravity ship along the way." His mother told him. "If Chillax really is one of the stronger Arcosians then Turles will be strong enough to handle it by then."

"What about the others?" Trunks asked. "I have to be there."

"Then who is going to protect Earth?" Master Roshi asked. "If Boreal comes who can stand against him?"

"You haven't met Cauliflora yet, her power level is massive." Trunks said. "Let her train a bit and-"

"We don't know if we can trust her _that_ much." Bulma told him. "Karuto might know her somehow and Turles might have fought with her in the past but she's been a bounty hunter for a long time and she was a mercenary before that."

Trunks felt as if he were drowning. They were talking about sending his students away without him, talking about sending them to fight Arcosians on their own and it was as if none of them realized how insane that sounded.

"We shouldn't decide now," His mother said suddenly, perhaps realizing his distress, "let's call the others in, that obnoxious Captain too. Let's talk about this and properly plan. Maybe you will go, Trunks, but I think we should really all work together to discuss how we're going to help New Namek."

Trunks nodded, "All right. I think we should have Karuto here as well, he might know who we're dealing with."

"Karuto of course, but what about Chillax?" His mother asked him, "Do you think he'd cooperate?"

"I'd be careful asking either of them for help," Master Roshi spoke up, "you can only get someone to go against their own interests for so long and for so far. You're asking these boys to betray their own kind with every bit of information they give you, Karuto is young and innocent but Chillax is old enough to know better. That's why Karuto is helping you and I'd guess the situation with Chillax hasn't changed."

"It hasn't." Trunks acknowledged.

"Then we find a way to make it in their best interest." Cargo suggested. Even though Trunks knew he didn't know the specifics of the situation it was a sensible enough answer.

"How?" Master Roshi asked.

"What if we exchange them for the Namekians?" Bulma asked.

Trunks was surprised, "What? You mean just hand them over?"

"Once we have a Namekian Sage to restore our Dragon Balls it's all over." Bulma told him. "Once we have Dragon Balls again that's the ball game, we can wish for Earth to be invisible to Arcosian Scouters, for them to forget where we are. We can wish for the Planet Trade Organization to lose to the Galactic Patrol, once we can make _wishes_ again it's over. The Arcosians' biggest mistake was finding New Namek and not being more careful not to make their Dragon Balls ineffective."

"But that's an awfully big mistake to make." Trunks said.

"Isn't it, though?" Bulma agreed. "All the more reason to get Chillax, I think. I want to know what could possibly cause them to make a blunder that big that falls so firmly in our favor."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Word spread through Capsule Corp. quickly and before long a "war council" was gathered in Bulma's lounge. Chillax had, ultimately refused to be helpful but Bulma would question him in person later.

Maybe it was better not to have him present since the lounge was already fully packed. There was Basil and Thyme, her assistants, Kodva, Schip and Rhyce, Trunks' remaining students, Karuto, Cargo, Turles and Cauliflora, the aliens, Master Roshi, Videl and . . . Videl's aide, Bulma would really need to find out what the girl's name was eventually.

It was a crowded room and the stress of it all certainly made her crave a cigarette, but she'd been cutting back lately. Instead she chewed lightly on the button end of a cheap green retractable ballpoint while Cargo explained the situation and Roshi explained the suspicion that it was all a trap to lure Trunks away.

"That makes sense," Videl said, Trunks looked annoyed but Bulma was glad an actual soldier agreed with her and Roshi, "They used a similar tactic at the bunker; they got you out of their way so they could proceed with their actual mission."

"But New Namek is the one place even more important than Earth," Trunks said. "That's why we needed to find it."

"It's the place that will let us bring the others back, right?" Rhyce asked.

"That's right. At least it would have. Now we need to rescue the surviving Namekians and bring them back here to pull it off." Trunks told her.

"Then I'm in, let's go, let's rescue them!" Rhyce said.

"We will," Master Roshi assured her, "but we have to be smart about this. If the enemy wants us to send Trunks away that's all the more reason to keep him here."

"Karuto," Bulma asked, "do you know who these three Arcosians might be?"

Karuto seemed hesitant and Bulma worried that Roshi had been right and that they might be asking too much of Karuto.

But finally he mumbled, "There were lots of ships at Alpha Station, a lot of the Clan were there. General Boreal only has one ship."

"There are three ships and three Arcosians. That's one per ship. Is it typical for a ship to have just one Arcosian?" Videl's aide asked, "Didn't yours have three?"

"Yes but Chillax was the first officer and I was just an apprentice." Karuto mumbled. Bulma resisted the urge to tell him to speak up in light of how difficult it might be for him to help them plan an attack on his own people. He did speak up and say, "If there are only three of them showing themselves it's possible that it's just the first officers and the captains are staying aboard their ships the way Uncle Kalt used to. He let Cousin Chillax do the fighting. So there could be captains"

Videl nodded and said, "All right, so what's the plan? When do we move out?"

"We?" Rhyce scoffed. "Who invited you, rookie?"

Videl stood up to her full unimpressive height and somehow still managed to look intimidating. She said, "Going undetected while evacuating civilians from stronger enemies? You're describing my day-to-day for years young lady. I'm here, I'm your military liaison, this is obviously going to be a military operation. Anyway people need help, I'm not just going to stand around."

Bulma tilted her head, she could approve of that sort of sentiment. _We might make a proper Earth's Defender out of you yet, Videl._ She thought.

"I think Basil and I can crew the ship with Genora." Thyme said. "We can bring the ship in, maybe even bluff them, make them think we're just another PTO vessel. If they've been ignoring the Namekians then Captain Videl and some of her troops might actually be able to seek out and rescue the remaining Namekians without being attacked. We can be in and out without any need for fighting."

"Assuming this isn't all a trap." Bulma said. "I do think we should have our fighters go along. We have our ship with its artificial gravity drive so they can train on the way."

"That sounds good to me," Rhyce said. "Turles is already nearly stronger than Chillax and if he's an above average Arcosian we'll just need to train hard to back him up."

Trunks shook his head but Bulma quickly put a hand on her son's shoulder. "Trunks," she said quietly, wishing he'd understand, "they need to be able to stand on their own and this is the time."

Videl folded her arms and said, "So we leave the Golden Warrior behind to protect Earth and trust in four fighters to fight off potentially six planet killing aliens?"

"There would be five," Cargo said, "there's no way I'd just stand back this time. To help my brothers I _have_ to fight. But can you all really win against them after just a month's worth of training? We'll be outnumbered and I'm nothing compared to them."

"We'll be outnumbered no matter what," Videl said, "I think our odds are better if my troops and I can do this on our own and avoid a fight all together, drawing attention like that is going to get us all killed."

"Even if we don't make a spectacle of ourselves you'd be safer having us along." Kodva pointed out.

"And actually . . ." Turles spoke up, "well . . . we don't necessarily have to be _that_ outnumbered."

Bulma raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, "What do you mean?"

"Well, P—Master Trunks . . ." Turles hesitated, which Bulma found a bit odd. Turles was confident to the point of being overly so, why would he seem almost nervous now and at such an important meeting?

_He can't be intimidated by Videl._ Bulma thought. Then she wondered if it were Cauliflora instead. _Is it because he's just the third strongest Saiyan now?_

Whatever the reason Turles said, "I . . . want to suggest the planet Frago."

"Frago?" Trunks asked. "What about it?"

"We don't have time to worry about some other planet," Rhyce complained, "this New Namek is the place we need to be."

"Right," Bulma said, "Captain Videl why don't you and my son's fighters go and make preparations?"

Rhyce looked confused but luckily Schip realized what Bulma was trying to accomplish. He stood up and said, "Captain, Lieutenant, we'd better start drawing up a plan and figuring out how we're going to get this done."

Videl nodded and Roshi adjusted his sunglasses as most of the people in the lounge cleared out. "Kodva," Bulma said, "can you show Cargo to a room? I'm sure he's exhausted."

The former monk nodded and Cargo went with him, looking back long enough to say, "We really have to hurry to New Namek, I don't know how much longer they have."

"We'll go soon," Bulma assured him, "Once everything is ready. Now try to get some sleep."

Cargo nodded and left, leaving Turles, Trunks, Bulma, Master Roshi, Karuto and Cauliflora.

"You should probably go with them and get some rest too, Cauliflora. You had a long trip . . . where's your companion?" Trunks asked, seeming to notice now that the strange alien female wasn't in the room with them and hadn't been throughout the meeting.

"Probably still exploring your compound, our tour was cut rather short and I told her to report everything to me." Cauliflora said with a shrug. "I will catch up with them, my Prince and find Tathy once I've been shown our quarters."

Trunks sighed and said, "Okay. Well what did you want to say about Frago, Turles?"

Turles straightened up and said, "We can . . . we can get reinforcements from Frago. A full squad of Saiyan warriors and then some."

"What do you mean?" Trunks asked, "How will that help?"

"How won't it?" Turles asked. "The Blue Team, Cauliflora, the green man and I can train in heavy gravity to take on the Arcosians but we'll still need real fighters to handle the grunts, won't we? The team on Frago, their power levels are between fifteen hundred and three thousand, add to that the benefits of over a month's training in heavy gravity . . ."

"They could be a powerful force." Trunks nodded. "Especially if their growth is anything like yours."

Bulma frowned, why had Turles been so nervous about this recommendation? "What's the catch?" She asked.

Turles hesitated then said, "Well . . . we might have to decide who lives and who dies."

"What?" Trunks asked.

"If your machine can only carry five in addition to yourself and the other machine could carry maybe an extra one or two . . ."

"How many Saiyans are on Frago?" Bulma asked.

Turles shrugged slightly, "A five man team of warriors was dispatched there along with a pair of elites. Later when the campaign kept going on another pair of regulars went in to reinforce them. There are nine Saiyans on Frago and we could bring back maybe seven."

Trunks lowered his gaze, "Mother, could we . . . could we force nine into our two machines?"

Bulma shook her head, "I . . . I don't know. I mean if they're still small the way Turles was . . ."

"They won't be." Turles said. "That's . . . the problem with this mission, my Prince. Because if we go to Frago there is one Saiyan I have to insist we save."

"Who?" Trunks asked.

Turles folded his arms, "My brother Telluce. He's not the strongest, if we were looking at them by pure numbers he might even be the first or second one to be left behind."

Trunks shook his head, "I'm not leaving someone behind just because he's a bit weaker."

"Can't we go back before the two regulars showed up to help?" Master Roshi asked. "We can get them later."

"You'll _want_ these two regulars," Turles told him. "They can fight like a pair of raging Oozaru without even having to transform, they're unstoppable!"

Bulma asked Turles, "Are you sure this would work?"

"It's a large group and I know them," Turles said, "I can guarantee they'll fall in line behind Prince Trunks the minute I tell them to, they're weaker than I was when you found me but in a month of heavy gravity training they'll be ready for the fight on New Namek."

Bulma chewed her pen in contemplation. She didn't like this, the way Turles said it it sounded almost like these Saiyans would be more loyal to him than to Trunks.

_But what could that matter? If they step out of line Trunks will put them in their place anyway. Trunks is the Alpha, he's the strongest Saiyan there is._ Bulma thought. She looked at her son.

Trunks said, "If I can't save the Namekians I want to at least do everything I can to make sure the mission succeeds. At least six Saiyans, nine if we can somehow fit them all in . . . let's do this."

Karuto spoke up, "Why go there at all?"

"Pardon?" Bulma asked.

Karuto shrugged, "If you have the coordinates for New Namek now why not go back before my cousins showed up? Take this Moori person and bring him back here, then use his Balls to move everyone else."

Trunks blinked and looked at his mother. Bulma shook her head.

_Damn you and your whale talk, Basil!_ Bulma thought, "I . . . don't know what that would do. I mean we've gone back to the same alternate time line each time but if we take Moori from that time line when the PTO probably never found New Namek we might be wasting a trip or we might create a whole new alternate time line. In that time line your people never tried to come here because Goku and Vegeta are still around, Earth's Defenders are all as strong as Trunks."

She didn't say "stronger" because she didn't want to bring her son down in front of Turles given her uneasiness about his proposal, but Trunks, ever the honest son said it for her.

"They're stronger than me. Goku, or you'd know him as Kakarot died at the end of the Cell games but his son Gohan and my father Vegeta were both even stronger than me."

"Kakarot, the Saiyan assigned to Earth, the one who first beat Cousin Frieza? He was even stronger than you?" Karuto gawked.

"Well maybe not in this time line." Trunks said, "But speaking of time lines, if the Time Machines are ready I think we'd better use them. Get it done tonight so we can start integrating them and planning the attack."

"Let me come with you!" Turles insisted.

Trunks nodded, "They'll need a recognizable face, even if it'll be a bit older than they expect."

Turles smirked, "Tell will know me the minute he sees me."

Bulma nodded to Trunks, "All right then, let's go. We'll program the machines and have our new recruits back in time for breakfast."

_More wolves for the pack._ Bulma thought. _I just hope this rescue goes well, maybe then Trunks will be a little more confident about letting the others go to New Namek without him._

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks_ _has serious doubts about the time machines and alternate time lines and Chillax has time to contemplate. Meanwhile King Kai appears to offer the fallen heroes their first test._

 

_Character Image: Frostbite_

_Note: Designed by the same friend who designed Karuto, Frostbite was meant to be the brawn and Frostburn was meant to be the brains. He is also meant to be more emotionally connected to his offspring than his twin, though._

 


	42. Make Me Laugh

**Episode Six**

**'Make me Laugh'**

 

"Well . . . looks like the man himself is here." Gohan told them. Pastel steeled herself for the meeting taking a deep breath.

It was . . . strange, to say the least. As best as she understood it she and the others had physical bodies repaired of the damages they'd suffered before their demise . . . but they weren't actually alive. Still she felt the need to breathe, to eat, to sleep . . . Gurein had suggested that perhaps they felt the need out of habit rather than actual necessity but really none of them understood it.

She took a deep breath all the same as a short fat attendant emerged from the pretty looking dome house. He wore black and had a hat with strange antennae.

Or maybe they were his antennae, Pastel had seen all sorts in the afterlife so far.

He approached them and when Gohan actually bowed to him Pastel realized _Oh . . ._ he's _King Kai?_

She _had_ seen all sorts in the afterlife so far . . .

"Heroes," Gohan said turning to indicate the short fat blue man, "Allow me to present King Kai. King Kai, these are-"

"I know, I know," the little old man said waving Gohan's word's away, "Don't be so formal, you know there's no need for it."

Gohan smiled, "Well I was trying to set the mood."

King Kai looked at the four of them through his black lensed glasses. He didn't seem to have a nose to hold them up but they stayed in place over his eyes just the same.

"So," King Kai said to them, "You're the brave heroes who gave their lives defending the Earth from Frieza's evil family."

"That would be us." Bocan acknowledged. "It's an honor to-"

"Tell me a joke." King Kai demanded.

"I . . . what?" Bocan blinked. He looked at Pastel and she shrugged.

"I've never met a god before." Pastel whispered.

"Tell me a joke, make me laugh." King Kai told them. "I don't just go giving my training to just anyone."

"Well just what kind of training are we talking about?" Gurein asked. "Master Trunks was training us in heavy gravity, and I can definitely feel the gravity here, but what will you do?"

King Kai seemed to puff up his chest and snarled, "Trunks is a kid guessing his way through training fighters for the first time in his life, I'm King Kai, _King Kai,_ my training will make you twice as strong, three times as strong, ten times as strong!"

"Ten times a hundred still doesn't make a million." Gurein said. "If we're to be any use to Master Trunks and the others we need to be able to catch them up in training. If you can help us do that, and the man behind the desk said that you would . . ."

King Kai scoffed. Gohan said, "I don't think you understand what he's really telling you. Let me try to put it to you this way . . . when I do this," Gohan said, suddenly turning his aura and his hair gold, "my power increases fifty fold."

"He taught you that?" Bocan gawked.

"He's the one that teaches that?" Pastel was probably gawking as well but she wouldn't admit to it.

"No." Gohan told them, turning back to normal. "But what he teaches does the same thing . . . only how effective it is depends on how well you master the teachings, how well you can use them, how strong your discipline is. With the Kaioken you can be increased twofold, tenfold, it depends on you. My father mastered it and he could go as high as thirty."

"Thirty?" Pastel frowned. "So you can go straight to fifty but we're stuck struggling for maybe thirty someday?"

Gohan shook his head but King Kai was the one who answered. "You don't understand. Goku did amazing things, I didn't think thirty would be possible. But when he didn't need to push this technique any further he stopped. This is a dangerous technique, if you lack discipline if you can't control yourself as well as it you could be torn limb from limb by the power you'll generate! But if you can master it who knows what you can accomplish? Even I don't know! Kaioken times thirty, Kaioken times fifty! Kaioken times a hundred? The potential of mortals like you four has been amazing me for years!"

Pastel had to admit that was pretty exciting. "Then when do we start?" She asked eagerly.

"When you make me laugh." King Kai said with a shrug. He sat down on the tree stump that Gohan had sat on earlier and held out his hands, "Whenever you're ready."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The Commander was pacing back and forth in his cell. It wasn't a long walk but he tried to make the most of it.

_You know something's up,_ he told himself, _who is this three hundred thousand power level? That's almost as high as General Boreal._

He'd watched the earthlings power levels rise just as the Saiyan had told him he would and he'd watched one of them skyrocket from thirty thousand to ninety.

At first he'd assumed it was Karuto, but it wasn't. Still it meant one of the earthlings had the potential to rise in power about as quickly as an Arcosian, maybe slightly slower.

Now there was a new massive power level, a forty thousand and another thirty thousand, something insane was going on, strong fighters were just popping out of thin air and he was trapped in a cell because his Arcosian pride and the loss of his team wouldn't let him cooperate the way Karuto and Genora had.

He could have at least been a spy if he could get out of the cell, and now that he realized how dangerous it would be for his people to attack again he knew he had no means of rescue other than to get out of the cell. And now they were asking him if he'd be willing to talk about which of his kind might be the closest to Earth, he'd been too stubborn to say yes.

_It's not even like I'd be helping them by telling them who is most likely to reinforce Boreal, I might even intimidate them into releasing me._ Chillax thought. _After all their best bet is to let me and Karuto go and hope we tell the Clan about how suicidal it would be to attack their world._

Not that he suspected General Boreal would actually try to attack Earth. He wasn't stupid, even Captain Kalt had always been ready to admit that. Boreal was a clever tactician, there was a reason he was favored by Frostburn's faction.

Still it was killing Chillax to wonder. How were they increasing their power so quickly? Nothing he'd ever heard about Earthlings had implied that they were capable of such feats, was this really the result of training? Had General Boreal been right? Had the rumors that that was responsible for his strength been true?

If so then Chillax was probably just getting weaker and weaker in his cell. Sitting around in heavy gravity wasn't doing him any favors, he would occasionally try to exercise a bit in the confined spaces, simple push-ups or sit-ups, but it seemed like if he ever started to get a proper workout from it they just increased the gravity until it was too tiresome to continue.

Not that he wasn't afforded the chance to leave his cell and exercise periodically, apparently they thought—or rather he should say they realized because he agreed—that it was too cruel to just keep him caged at all times and so they would allow him to leave the cell under the Saiyan's strict supervision.

Chillax knew better than to give the Saiyan any excuse to finish him off the way he'd annihilated his team, but sometimes it was tempting just to make a run for it. He knew he wouldn't be fast enough to escape, but he'd at least die with some degree of resistance to his foe.

He sat up on his cot when the door slid open and the Earthling matriarch entered. Chillax's own race didn't have matriarchs, but he'd encountered enough races that did to recognize the role. This one was called "Bulma" and she rarely visited him in his cell. Usually it was just her son, the Saiyan, occasionally one of his students to try to get information from him.

Karuto rarely came by, Chillax suspected that seeing him imprisoned made the younger Arcosian feel guilty, maybe made him feel like a collaborator, which on a level Chillax agreed that he was but mostly he recognized his cousin as a victim being misled by these savage Earthlings into servicing their ambitions, likely under some delusion that they could be friendly someday. After all, hadn't the Saiyan told him that he wanted to release him so that he could stop the extermination of weaker races?

Chillax did want to turn his kind towards greater ambitions than simply living in Frieza's shadow, and part of that shadow was keeping Frieza's profession. They were the greatest race in the universe, they were the strongest on average and only their Empire could even stand up to the Galactic Patrol.

But the Earthlings, Bulma in particular, were far more formidable than Chillax had been led to assume. He rose to his feet when the Earthling Matriarch approached. She stood in front of his cell and asked, "How are you doing today, Chillax?"

"I am surviving." He said, having little else to say that he could think of.

"You refused to participate in our meeting earlier. I think I can understand why, and it's for the best anyway," Bulma told him, "But I do still need questions answered. Are you willing to cooperate?"

Chillax was quiet for a moment. He had to stop himself from blurting out "As much as I ever am" which would technically have been true but . . .

"When he came to see me earlier today I told your son that I would require something of him in exchange for behaving in front of your guest." Chillax told her. "If you want my cooperation, understanding that I will tell you nothing that would endanger my people, you will need to meet my request."

Bulma folded her arms. "Is that so? Well first I'm going to tell you what's happening and we'll see if maybe you realize that cooperating without making demands is the better bet."

"Hardly demands." Chillax scoffed but Bulma fixed him with a glare that silenced him.

"Three of your ships attacked New Namek." She told him.

"Then the Twins have wished for Immortality and you're hoping that by releasing me I'll encourage them not to exterminate you after all?" Chillax guessed. He knew it was wrong of course.

Bulma shook her head, "Actually they killed the Namekian elder and made their Dragon Balls nonfunctional."

"Idiots . . ." Chillax muttered, then hesitated. He thought, _there isn't a single Arcosian alive who doesn't know better than that . . . why would they have done that?_

"i agree." Bulma said. "I wanted to know just why your people would make such a big mistake. Karuto implied that you all know what Namekians look like and what their survival means to the viability of the Dragon Balls. So why, if you'd found New Namek, would you be so careless as to just kill some of its people and potentially destroy the Dragon Balls?"

_We wouldn't._ Chillax thought. But he told her, "I can't imagine."

"We're preparing a war party." Bulma said flatly. Chillax tilted his head questioningly at her. "A force of our fighters, our allies and Earth's soldiers are going to New Namek to liberate the surviving Namekians and bring them back here to make our own Dragon Balls functional."

"Good for you." Chillax shrugged.

"Trunks intends to go with them. I suspect this is an attempt to draw him away from the planet." Bulma said. "Is that something your kind would do?"

"That depends, how did you find out about the attack?" Chillax asked, genuinely curious himself.

"A survivor stole a space pod and reached us, he found us thanks to the bounty your leadership put out on human lives."

"Ah . . ." Chillax thought for a moment and suspected he was starting to make sense of the situation. "You think the attack on the Namekians is to draw your son away so that the bounty hunters can do their jobs and wipe out humanity?"

"Actually I had suspected that your own race planned to do it, but bounty hunters makes sense." Bulma shrugged. "Would your own kind put themselves at risk, more importantly would they put the Namekians at risk just to get the job done?"

"No." Chillax answered without thinking. He cursed himself for it, but then decided it wasn't going to do him any good to try to be evasive.

He folded his arms too and said, "If I know my progenitor the bounty will be to thin your herds and probably even force your son to ware himself out or provide a proper and accurate reading of his power level, but New Namek is too valuable a prize to go in guns blazing, not a single Arcosian in the Clan would have done something that stupid, much less three captains with three ships. I can't imagine who would have done it or how strong they'd be if that's what you want. They wouldn't have risked destroying the Dragon Balls until they had their wishes granted."

"The Namekian Dragon Balls did have three wishes, maybe they each wished for immortality before they destroyed the Dragon Balls."

"Maybe." Chillax said. "But not likely. If they had succeeded where Frieza failed they'd have destroyed the planet immediately to keep anyone else from replicating their feat, there wouldn't _be_ a New Namek to liberate. They'd also have tried to challenge the Twins so they wouldn't be waiting around on the planet for you to catch them."

"Then what is going on here?" Bulma asked. "It seems like a trap, but what kind of fools would try to trap my son?"

"What kind of fools indeed." Chillax agreed. "I can't tell you, I don't know . . ." He hesitated, he would hate himself for it later but he had to know, "What makes you think my people found New Namek?"

"Never you mind." Bulma said.

Chillax shook his head, "I'm hardly going to use the information to hurt you."

Bulma folded her arms and said, "All right. I guess you'd know if you'd agreed to come to our meeting anyway. A Namekian turned up on our doorstep so to speak. He told us about what happened."

Chillax frowned, "The survivor you mentioned was a Namekian? That's madness. My people know the Namekians, we'd never just randomly kill them we'd certainly never kill their elders. We'd threaten them, we'd kill their young and their warriors but not their elders, we'd force _them_ to tell us where their Dragon Balls were and how to use them."

"So could it be bounty hunters that set up the trap?" Bulma asked.

"If it is a trap . . . maybe." Chillax allowed. "But if they did stumble upon the location of New Namek and destroy the Dragon Balls with their carelessness they'd stand a better chance of survival begging to join you than ever expecting to collect a bounty from my people, we'd exterminate them and their home worlds just to make the point."

"And what point would that be?" Bulma asked.

"Don't ever deny us what we want." Chillax said simply. Then he shrugged, "I mean unless you have some off-the-charts borderline deity being in your arsenal."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

"Why did Kahlua fall off the swing?" Bocan asked.

"I don't know. Why?" The fat little man asked back.

"Because she had no arms." Bocan said solemnly.

The little man stared from behind his small black glasses, "How is that supposed to be a joke?"

"You're right, that was heartless, let me try this instead . . . Knock knock." Bocan said, miming knocking on a door.

"Who's there?"

"Not Kahlua." Bocan said, cracking a sly grin and holding his arms behind his back.

Pastel would never forgive herself for laughing. The little blue man seemed to be feeling guilty about it too because he turned away from them to try to hide his snickering before turning around and regaining his composure making just one noticeable snickering noise in the effort.

"Not funny, but unexpected. I'll let it slide this time." The little blue man decided. He looked at Pastel, "So then? That leaves you young lady."

Pastel hesitated, "Uh . . . well . . . um . . . I witnessed an attempted murder . . . luckily only one crow showed up."

Gohan laughed. No one else did. "Oh come on!" Pastel scowled.

She was the last one. The others had made the old man laugh, even solemn somber Gurein. She knew she could crack jokes she just . . . wasn't really having any luck thinking of any at the moment. Pastel shook her head slowly, "A murder of crows?" She offered, hoping they'd finally just _get_ it.

"Oh, I get it now . . ." Bocan said but she could tell he was lying. That or he still didn't find it funny.

"Don't patronize me." Pastel grumbled.

"Sorry." Bocan said. He sounded sincere, so she nodded slightly.

"If you've got to explain it you know it's not funny. Try again." The little man commanded.

Pastel sighed. "Okay . . . why did the tomato blush?" She asked. She waited a beat and then tried, "Because he saw the salad dressing."

This time Bocan really did laugh, it made her feel a bit better. She smiled and said, "You know you guys it's hard to be funny when I'm dead, okay? I mean dying wasn't fun for any of us but for me? I sure didn't want to die in a fiery explosion, okay? I mean I always wanted to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather . . . not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, and then the snickering noise again, slight at first and then louder until King Kai could no longer suppress his snickering and laughed openly.

Only for a moment before he adjusted his glasses and shook his head, "Dark humor's terrible, your minds are definitely going to need to be in a brighter place if you want to master my techniques."

"But," Gohan pointed out, "you did laugh."

"I know that!" King Kai cried, "I'm a Kai of my word, of course I'm going to teach them!"

Pastel smiled, "Then we're ready to learn!"

"Good." King Kai said. "When I'm through with you the four of you will be ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Trunks and even Gohan here!"

Gohan raised his hands, "Easy there, Trunks is actually a lot stronger than me now."

"Haven't you been training these past eight years?" King Kai accused and Gohan looked at them apologetically.

"Actually I've been doing a lot of reading." He scratched his head in embarrassment, "I didn't think I'd be making a comeback, you know."

"And are you?" Gurein asked. "Going to make a comeback I mean. Are we?"

"I don't see why not." Gohan said.

"Take my word for it," King Kai said, "I invited you all here for a reason, Snake Way was just one of your many tests but they're all for a purpose. You're not going to rot away in the otherworld, you're going to learn my technique and return to life. Trunks and the others just need to collect the Dragon Balls, and soon they'll have them. When that happens you can all go home."

Pastel smiled at Bocan. They could go home . . . they could be alive again.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The bridge of the ship was dimly lit by the computer screens as Thyme, Basil and Genora worked at the bridge controls for all the world as if the three of them had always been meant to work them. That might be true for Genora but it did impress Trunks how quickly Basil and Thyme had taken to the ship's controls. They might just be able to successfully pilot it to New Namek after all . . .

They brought up the files on Frago, a jungle world, and then the Saiyans. Trunks looked over the profiles for each Saiyan in the computer.

Nine . . . more than they could bring back even if they squeezed.

No matter what, just like Turles said they'd have to leave someone behind.

To add to that there were teams of Frieza's own soldiers on the planet too, but the records said that they were wiped out as well.

_So if we do run into any of them we can take them out without worrying about it,_ Trunks thought. He watched as Genora brought up the Saiyan profiles on the screen.

The first five Saiyans, each with a name above their image on the ship's large computer screen all seemed young, around Turles' age. One bore a striking resemblance to Gohan, but with the same darker skin Turles had. He had a scar over his left eye and on his right cheek, and Gohan could see he was Telluce, Turles' brother. Another similarly scarred pale skinned female with straight locks that went just past her shoulders was named Sharrot, a muscular looking male with a messy mop top of hair was called Routz, a scrawny looking Saiyan with hair like Goku and a jaundiced skin tone was called Korrard and the first one Turles pointed to, Lamson, was another pale female with spiky black hair and long bangs.

"So you've been over their files?" Trunks asked Turles.

"The ones I don't know personally." Turles said. He pointed to the various Saiyans on the ship's computer screen. "Lamson was the team leader, Routz was the second strongest. Sharro and my brother Tell were both just as strong as me before Goulder; two thousand back on Planet Vegeta but Korrard was the weakest, one thousand."

"I don't care about their power levels, we'll increase those." Trunks said. "What were their personalities like?" "Lamson is smart and ruthless, I got on well with Routz he was always willing to bust Tell down a peg if he was picking on me." Turles said thoughtfully, "Sharro and Tell are inseparable, have been since we were kids in the war. They're a good team, I wouldn't split them up. Korrard is the weakest member of their team but they were always really fiercely protective of him, I don't think they'd leave without him."

"So the five of them are coming back." Trunks acknowledged. "Why don't we just take them before the others?"

"Because they're the five weakest and without them the others might not go at all." Turles said. "The two upper class warriors here," He pointed to a pair of profiles, one of a bored looking female Saiyan named Beeta and a round looking male named Quash, "Both are over Three Thousand, they'd have been in King Vegeta's elites if they'd been on the planet when Frieza showed up."

Turles smiled, "Actually Beeta there was the one who gave me my first Scouter. She was just as bored as she looks in this picture."

Trunks folded his arms, looking at the remaining two, both had the same spiky hair with bangs that came down to frame the sides of their faces, they shared Turles' skin tone and one of them, the male, had a goatee. Both looked solidly built and muscular, though not quite so much as Routz. He asked, "And the last two?"

"Oni and Kayle, the Evil Twins as we knew them during the war." Turles said. "They're from my Clan and they're sort of . . . oh I don't know how to describe it. Reckless maybe? But they can rage like an Oozaru without actually transforming into an Oozaru, they'll fight against stronger and more numerous opponents and they'll fight without fear, without seeming to notice the damage they're taking, they're scary really, and they . . . have been known to do damage to their own comrades if they're not careful."

"But you tell me they're the ones we need the most?"

Turles hesitated, "Well they're the two that would make the biggest difference on New Namek. They're good natured enough out of combat, all you need to do to earn their respect is take a punch or else hit them hard enough to knock 'em off their feet. You'll have no trouble there."

Trunks nodded. "Okay . . . we do have the time machines of course, so if we leave those two elites this time we can go back for them without them even realizing any time has passed."

"So you agree to my plan?" Turles asked, "We'll go back for them?"

Trunks sighed. "I think it's what my mother wants, to get as many as we can take without history noticing. And I think I can trust your judgment."

Turles smiled, "I'm glad you do. So . . . should we go get them?"

Trunks thought carefully. This was a tremendous burden he was about to take on. But he nodded.

"Let's do it." He said. "Basil, please come with us to set up the machines."

The shorter engineer saluted, "Right away, Time Travelers!"

_Time Tamperers more like._ Trunks thought. _But if it's what I have to do it's what I have to do . . ._

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks and Turles take both time machines back to rescue the Saiyans on Frago, but the situation might just be a bit more dangerous than they expected when they learn that their scouters are all but useless. Trunks will need to sense their energy himself on a planet teeming with life on the next exciting episode of COED!_

 

_Character Image: Glacien  
_

_Note: Designed by the same friend that designed Karuto, I really like that Glacien seems to be wearing a lab coat. Fun Fact: This is actually my favorite of the Arcosian character images._


	43. Left Behind

**Episode Seven**

**'Left Behind.'**

 

“Get down!” Korrard shouted, grabbing Routz by the tail and yanking him back.

The giant Saiyan roared in pain being grabbed and pulled in such a sensitive place but he fell backwards into the ditch with Korrard in time to avoid the spiked vine that would have taken his head off.

“Another one? Light it up!” Lamson ordered, and Sharro and Tell opened up with blasts of red and yellow energy beams. Their attacks combined and took on the look of fire as they struck the large spiked tentacle vine and set it to flame.

The plant monster roared in pain and withdrew its tentacle. It was like a giant tree with two splits down its wide trunk so that the three legs would walk. Its branches shook as it roared, its long tentacles swayed from the thick leaves covering the branches.

Or at least that seemed to, closer inspection revealed that the leaves were a sort of scale and covered a body in several layers of armor, those long vines were tentacle arms able to whip with such force that they could knock a Saiyan off their feet and still leave a gash in their armor. That was when they weren't covered in razor thorns in which case Lamson had seen them completely ensnare an Appullatien then constrict its vines cutting him to pieces.

It looked for all the world like a living tree, but it was some kind of carnivore with impressive camouflage and it wasn't even the first one they'd encountered _that day_. For all their experience running into them over the past week they were no more adept at spotting them until they moved, even scouters didn't help since the monsters seemed to have the same power reading as the forest around them.

Lamson had discarded her scouter some time ago, more by accident than design, but it'd been useless anyway. The entire forest gave off energy readings and the camouflaged monsters were just random predators, they weren't even the sentient species they were looking for. They'd yet to see any sign of their actual targets which meant either that they were hidden very well, and with how well the wildlife could hide Lamson could believe it to be the case, or they'd been wiped out by said wildlife ages ago and they were on a wild anatide chase.

She could also believe Frieza's teams hadn't been able to clear the planet yet, even for their team it was proving difficult and they couldn't use the Oozaru transformation since if they lost control they'd be killing everything in sight but they'd fail to find and kill the sentients.

Or so they'd been told. Lamson was getting very close to doing it anyway. After all she was a proud Saiyan warrior raised to believe in the unstoppable power of the Oozaru. Even if the dolt in charge for the PTO forces on the planet had warned her that transformation would only cause problems she knew transformation would probably help them far more than it would hurt them.

Routz staggered to his feet and punched Korrard hard in the shoulder. But he told him, “Thanks.”

“Any time.” Korrard grumbled, rubbing his shoulder, “Lamson, what's our plan?”

“I'm thinking. We'll stay in the ditch for now, you two keep us covered! Where are the others?”

“Frieza's teams haven't said anything for a while,” Korrard said, holding his scouter while he listened for transmissions, “Oni and Kayle are on their way.”

“What about the elites?” Lamson asked.

“They're investigating something.” Korrard said. “They didn't say what, but they were talking about a weird power level spike a moment ago. They went to check it out.”

Lamson scowled. “Keep an ear on them Kor. Routz you take point, I'll be right behind you. Kor you take center and _keep your eyes open_ while you're listening, let Oni and Kayle know we're moving out. Tell and Sharro, you've got the rear, watch each other's backs, we've got to head back to the canyon.”

“Why the canyon?” Routz asked.

“It'll be easier to see these three legged brutes coming for us there,” Lamson answered, “and we'll be able to wait for the others.”

“And then what?” Sharro asked.

“Then I think it's time we ape out.” Lamson said. “I don't care if we waste all night clearing away forest, it'll be safer in the long run than wandering through it like idiots!”

“But our orders were not to destroy the forests!” Tell told her.

“I know what our orders were but I'm more interested in survival. If Quash and Beeta can't think of a better idea we go with mine!”

“Yes ma'am!” Routz agreed, leading the way through the ditch.

They'd only have so far to travel through it before they'd have to risk blazing a trail through the forest again, Lamson knew, but they would be able to build up their energy while they went.

Her main concern was getting her team off the planet alive at this point, Lamson didn't much care about their orders anymore. This planet would be the death of them all if they weren't careful.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks had never seen a world so alive with life. It was like a rain forest as far as they eye could see in every direction.

There was a rocky canyon where he decided to set the time machines down, but their search wasn't going to be as easy as he'd expected. Turles spoke the reason aloud when he emerged from the larger machine.

“My scouter isn't able to detect specific power levels, there's too much interference from those forests.”

“Mine too.” Trunks said. “They're not going to do us any good.”

“Maybe they will,” Turles said, “if I can figure out what frequency everyone is using I can use the Scouter to communicate with them.”

“Work on it.” Trunks told him. He started to focus on sensing ki. “There are a lot of really powerful creatures around here . . . I think you'd better stay with the machines, Turles, don't let anything happen to them, they're our ride home.”

“Right.” Turles said. “Are you sure you don't want me to find them? I can get them to come along a lot faster.”

“Maybe, but I think this forest is a lot more dangerous than it looks. After all according to those files everyone on both sides got wiped out in one night.”

“I'll be on my guard.” Turles assured him. Then he held his hand up to his scouter and said, “Aha, I think I've found them! PTO forces, do you read me?”

Trunks didn't hear anything until Turles held up four fingers then two to tell him the frequency. Trunks switched his scouter to forty two and just like that he could hear.

“Intercepting strange power levels, might be our missing civilization.” A woman's voice said in a sort of bored tone.

“Negative, those strange power levels are us!” Turles said, “We're . . . reinforcements. This is Turles!”

“Turles?” Another voice came on the line, “What are you doing here? You should be safe on Goulder!”

“Goulder was anything but safe, Korrard.” Turles said dryly, “I'm here to rescue you. This mission is over. Come to my location, everyone!”

“That's easier said than done, how are we supposed to _find_ your—oh!” The second voice, Korrard, Trunks gathered, had been saying before suddenly a band of Saiyans emerged from the forest line near the canyon they were waiting in.

They were Lamson's team, Trunks recognized them from their profile pictures. Turles waved at them and they approached cautiously.

The Saiyan in the lead was enormous, he stood well over six feet tall and had broad muscular shoulders that were about twice as wide as Trunks was. His armor looked more like Trunks' own Earth Pattern with shoulder straps instead of full pauldrons. It was black as was the armor of the rest of the Saiyans but his straps and stomach were gray as was the single tasset he wore to protect his groin. He wore black armored armbands and thick armored boots to match the colors of his breastplate, or battle jacket as Turles said they were called. His chest and legs were bare and covered in small scars with a few fresh new cuts as well.

The next Saiyan in the group was their leader, Lamson. She actually wore unarmored gloves and boots like the sort Trunks was wearing, her armor was the more traditional Saiyan sort, missing only its front tasset leaving her with the two side tassets. Like Routz her legs were bare except for the red cord she wore around her thigh, it seemed like most of their squad were wearing them, Trunks supposed they might be a method of identifying themselves as teammates. Lamson's armor colors were black and yellow with her yellow gloves and boots matching the yellow of her armor's shoulder, stomach and tassets.

The third was Korrard, gifted or cursed with Goku's same hair style but looking no less pale and sickly than he had in his profile picture the Saiyan seemed like he'd collapse under the weight of his armor. Like Lamson he wore gloves and boots that matched the dark green of his shoulders and tassets. He was the only one to lack a red band and as soon as they were a certain distance from the forest line and safely into the rocks he doubled over and started panting.

The next was the other female, Sharrot. Her armor was black and red, or perhaps more of a dark orange, Trunks wasn't entirely certain. She wore her band on her shoulder and a pair of leggings and armored knee pads. She wore armored boots, but her bracers were either made of or covered in dark red cloth. They looked sturdy, as if they were armored under the cloth. Her boots were clearly of the armored variety.

And last was Telluce who didn't take his eyes off the tree-line. His armor was black and blue, like Sharrot he wore red cloth bracers but he wore his red band around his thigh. His legs and arms were otherwise bare and his boots were of the armored variety. His hair was spiky and straight up with a lock of bangs coming down between his eyes. As much as Turles looked like a younger darker skinned Goku Telluce resembled a younger darker skinned Gohan, or at least the version of Gohan from Trunks' own time.

_I guess even family resemblance is pretty close in Saiyan DNA . . . I wonder if there's someone who looks just like me . . . apart from the hair._ Trunks thought.

As the group approached Trunks was very carefully watching their behavior and mannerisms. As Korrard bent over to catch his breath Telluce and Sharrot stood to either side of him watching the tree-line, protecting their weakest member. Trunks liked that. Lamson and Routz came towards him and Trunks didn't miss that while Lamson was taking the lead Routz kept himself between her and him, clearly he trusted Turles but not Trunks, and Trunks could accept that for now.

“You've grown!” Lamson said in surprise when they reached them, and Trunks assumed she was speaking to Turles who had indeed grown since he'd picked him up on Goulder.

Routz said, “Well anyway good thing you're here, saves us waiting for the elites to use the Power Ball.”

“The Power Ball?” Turles asked. “You're planning to transform to Oozaru here?”

“I'm sorely tempted,” Lamson said, “I've had it with this forest, I hate it! I don't care if it ruins the resale value of the planet I want to rip everything down and get the job done before I lose someone.”

Her stress was understandable from a commander in the field but Trunks wasn't a fan of her willingness to just wantonly destroy things she didn't need to destroy.

_Then again she's been fighting here in this forest for weeks, I've only just arrived and even I feel uneasy about it._ Trunks realized. He also realized with a bit of a chill down his spine that he was judging these Saiyans on first impression, he was deciding whom he'd need to leave behind if he needed to leave someone behind.

“Where's the rest of your team? Who is this?” Routz asked.

Turles hesitated, “Uh . . . well Goulder was a total loss, I barely got out of there alive. Prince Trunks here saved me.”

“Prince Trunks?” Lamson raised an eyebrow. “What's he Prince of?”

Turles seemed about to answer but Trunks said, “Actually I think it's better if we save that explanation for once you and your comrades are safe. We're here to rescue you.”

“Rescue us?” Routz scoffed. “No one short of Lord Frieza himself could clear these woods, that's why we need to transform.”

Trunks shook his head. He had a sneaky suspicion that their transformation had historically been the reason they were all wiped out in a single night.

Lamson seemed to think so too. She put a hand on one of Routz' enormous muscular forearms and said, “Easy big guy, we've got to get our heads on straight. With how many ambush predators there are in this forest we need to keep our wits about us, don't you think?”

Routz nodded, “Yeah, all right. I guess that makes sense . . . still I thought that was why you wanted to come down to this canyon.”

“I wanted to regroup with the rest and try to think of a plan.”

“Thinking isn't something the Twins are known for.” Turles pointed out.

“Don't let them hear you say that.” Lamson cautioned.

Turles just smirked, “I'll say what I want in front of those two, I'm at rough estimate thirty six times stronger than they are.”

The others had come over now and Telluce raised an eyebrow skeptically, “Someone got cocky on Goulder. Let me guess, your squad got wiped out, you barely survived and now you're riding that zenkai boost high? Trust me little brother you might be taller but--”

Before anyone could react Turles closed the distance between himself and Telluce, he struck hard punching Telluce in the stomach so hard that he flew back several feet hitting the rocky wall of the canyon hard enough to leave an imprint.

Trunks would have been more shocked, maybe even angry but he knew Turles hadn't used his full strength, just enough to make the point.

Turles closed the distance between himself and Telluce again but this time he offered his brother a hand, “It's not 'little brother' anymore, agreed?”

Telluce coughed and took his brother's hand, “I guess it isn't . . . what _happened_ to you on Goulder?”

“It's not what happened on Goulder,” Turles said, “it's what happened afterwards. And it's not what happened to me, it's what's going to happen to all of us.”

“What are you on about?” Sharrot demanded, coming over to stand by Telluce's side even though Turles wasn't being aggressive.

Turles pointed to Trunks, “Prince Trunks has been training me for the past three months and under his tutelage I've come this far. You can to, but first we've got to get you off of Frago.”

“Our pods are just a ways down the canyon,” Korrard said, “but what do you mean three months? We only separated a month ago on Planet Vegeta.”

Trunks told them, “It's complicated but we'll explain everything once we get you to safety.” He indicated the new larger time machine and the older smaller one, “We've got to find some way to fit every Saiyan on this planet into those two machines, Turles and myself included.”

“Space isn't an issue, like Kor said we've got our own pods.” Lamson said. “Why do we need to leave?”

“Because you're all going to die here.” Turles explained, “And we're not just traveling through space.”

Trunks noticed that he hadn't heard the voice he'd assumed to be Beeta's for a while and he hadn't heard anything from the Evil Twins. He asked no one in particular, “Can you get in contact with anyone else? We need the Twins and the Elites down here now so we can leave.”

“Well hold on,” Turles said, “Maybe just the twins. We can come back for the elites.”

Trunks shook his head, “No. No one gets left behind.”

“Will your time machine be able to lift off if you overload it?” Turles asked quietly.

“Hopefully.” Trunks whispered back, knowing that the Saiyans would hear them anyway, though hopefully not well. “But I think if we leave the elites they'll just play out history.”

Turles nodded understanding and tapped his scouter, “This is Turles calling all Saiyan warriors, all Saiyan warriors return to the canyon and be on your guard.”

“We've found the sentient lifeforms,” Lamson added, “repeat we've found the sentient lifeforms.”

“Weren't the elites closer to us than the rest?” Trunks asked.

“They were on their way to intercept us.” Turles said, “I don't know how far they were.”

There was a moment of intense quiet where all of time seemed to stand still. Trunks realized in that moment that with Sharrot and Telluce distracted by Turles and with Korrard trying to reach the Twins on his scouter no one was watching the tree-line, more importantly he realized that the sounds of the forest hadn't stopped even once since he'd arrived.

Trunks hesitated, “I've got a bad feeling about this . . .”

And then a trio of Saiyans emerged from the tree line, two in armor similar to Trunks' own style but with armored gauntlets and boots, a male about as muscular as Routz though a head shorter and a female wearing dark green and yellow with their black armor respectively. Their dark skin and wild hair marked them as the Evil Twins and the third Saiyan in the blue armor Turles said was worn by officers and elites like Nappa with green shoulders and stomach, tassets over her thighs and clearly weighted boots and fingerless gloves.

As they emerged from the tree line she spun around and blasted the forest itself which seemed fair enough because the forest itself moved after them.

A wild collection of monsters came charging out of the forest, some were like giant walking trees with razor thorned vines, others were like tangles of bush with gapping slobbering maws and many were reptilian creatures easily ten feet tall and wielding spears that shot energy blasts.

“Hey, we really did find the sentient life!” Lamson chuckled.

“More like they found us!” Routz said, rushing into the fray.

“There's nothing we can do, we can't let them damage the time machines,” Trunks said.

He saw the elite begin to call up a blue ball of light, “Stop her!” Turles shouted suddenly, “She's using the power ball, we'll all transform and lose our wits if she does that!”

Trunks was already moving, with the same ease Turles had used to close the distance between himself and his brother Trunks closed the distance between himself and this female Saiyan. He grabbed her wrist just hard enough to distract her and make her lose control of her technique but not hard enough to hurt her as he hefted her over his shoulder and held a hand out at the oncoming horde of wildlife led on by their primitive masters.

_Not so primitive,_ Trunks thought, noticing that their spears were clearly technological. He powered up to Super Saiyan and collected power in his free hand. “I don't want to do you any harm,” He told them all, “I don't know if you can understand me but if you come any closer I'll blast your entire forest away.”

Turns out they either didn't care or they just didn't understand. Trunks hated to hurt them, they were just defending their home world the same as he intended to do but if they wouldn't stop . . .

Then he thought, “Everyone shut your eyes!” He'd never tried it before, but he hoped he could pull it off. “Solar Flare!”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Basil, Thyme and Genora all waited for Trunks to return, and they'd been waiting quite a while.

“Doesn't it bother you at all?” Thyme asked Genora, “being expected to help pilot the ship to attack your own kind?”

“Of course it bothers me, but what are my options?” Genora asked. “If I don't go you two won't manage to make it there, or worse you will and my one useful function disappears and I'm in a cell for the rest of my stay on Earth. If I do go at least I can be useful.”

Basil didn't voice her concerns that the fish-like alien might try to escape from them once they reached the planet, she sort of assumed they went without saying. Still she hadn't heard anyone express them, and she noticed that Genora hadn't even implied that she might try to escape herself.

Granted it was mostly with Genora's help that they'd learned as much as they had and had learned to stop Chillax's scouter from being used to communicate with any of the others, or with anyone further away in space. That didn't mean that Basil trusted her.

She could trust Karuto because he was utterly without guile, even if he wanted to be sneaky she suspected he'd do something to give himself away the way that small children usually did. Genora on the other hand was good at keeping from being noticed, she was quiet and kept to herself. She didn't volunteer too much information, but she didn't seem to withhold it either. She was the cross between Karuto who was totally willing to help and Chillax who was utterly unwilling to help, Genora would follow orders but she wouldn't go out of her way.

“Maybe when we get there we can release you to them.” Thyme suggested. “You could carry our terms and be free.”

Genora scoffed, “Then I'd just be on the losing side of the war. And don't make any mistake you walking eel, this is still a war.”

Thyme shrugged. He watched the time machine's place in the garage the same as Basil. Since it seemed he wasn't going to say anything further Basil decided to ask Genora, “Do you have any idea who we'd be running into out there?”

“There were five ships docked at Alpha Station when we were there, _Frieza's Fist, Arcoss Avenger, Frozen Vengeance, Dry Ice,_ and _Polar Express._ ”

“Polar Express?” Basil laughed.

“What?” Genora asked. “What's wrong with that name?”

“It just . . . means something different here on Earth.” Thyme said with a rare smile. “You certainly like your cold theme though.”

“They are the Frost Clan.” Genora shrugged. Then to Basil's surprise she laughed too and said, “Funnily enough I always assumed that Arcoss and New Arcoss must be frozen wastelands but when I went to New Arcoss it actually had a really rich temperate atmosphere. It was like the tropical islands you have here on Earth, only it was like that everywhere.”

“That is strange.” Thyme agreed.

“What was your ship called?” Basil asked.

“Does it matter?” Genora asked.

“Not really.” Basil admitted. “It'll need a name though, a new one I guess. What about Earth Defense Force One?”

“Implying there's going to be an Earth Defense Force Two?” Genora asked.

“Well there's the gravity training ship.” Thyme shrugged. “But we had that one first, even if it wasn't fully operational when we captured your ship. So shouldn't that be Earth Defense Force One and the captured ship be Earth Defense Force Two? It's a mouthful either way though.”

“No no no, it's like it's Earth Defense Force Prime, you know, One, the Alpha, the Absolute, you know?” Basil tried to explain.

Thyme folded his arms and said thoughtfully, “I wonder if we should let his majesty name it, you know as sort of a gesture to calm Captain Videl down.”

“He'd probably call it something officious and silly.” Basil sighed.

“It _was_ called the _Cold-heart_ if that helps.” Genora finally grumbled.

“No that's no good for us.” Basil said. “What if we put it to a vote?”

“We'd need candidates wouldn't we?” Thyme told her.

“Well maybe we ask everyone in Capsule Corp to suggest a name then we let the King decide what works best so it still throws him that lifeline of inclusion without tying us to something too boring.” Basil suggested.

“I guess that could work.” Thyme said. “We can suggest it to the Boss in any event.”

And with that a sort of silence fell over the three of them. Gone was the conversational topic to keep their minds off the fact that Trunks still hadn't come back.

Basil started to whistle to herself while she waited for the time machines to return. It was entirely possible for Trunks and Turles to return to the very second they'd left but for the sake of their personal chronology the decision had been made to let them return after however much time was needed had passed.

So when it had been about a half hour Basil had started whistling to keep her mind off of the fact that their two strongest fighters had gone on a milk run and hadn't come back yet. After all they only had to show up and grab a few Saiyans, how hard could it be?

So when the machines did finally return she felt no small amount of relief, still she shouted as if she hadn't been concerned at all, “Took you long enough! Help us name the ship!”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

_**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ _The fighters on King Kai's planet take a break to get to know Gohan better, and Bulma puts her foot down about who will be staying to protect the Earth and who will be going to rescue New Namek._

 

_Character Image: Tathy_

_Note: Tathy is clearly a female Majin on Xenoverse, in this story however this is . . . less the case. It's still a bit of mystery what Tathy is in-story, she's an alien of some kind, and we'll learn more about her as things go on._


	44. Take a Knee

**Episode Eight**

**'Take a Knee'**

 

Gohan was pleased to see things progressing so well. The fighters hadn't needed to get too used to the heavy gravity because they'd trained in ten times Earth's gravity back on Earth. Of course existing in that kind of heavy gravity constantly instead of simply training in it for a few hours was going to be a very different experience for them and they'd discover that as time went on.

It was still good to see what suitable choices Trunks had made in his students. Of course he knew Master Roshi had helped but Gohan was still glad. _I wonder if it would have gone so well if I were there._ He thought to himself. _If Trunks could just rely on me even as a partner would he have tried to train new fighters? Would I? Was my dying maybe the best thing for the Earth?_

Of course he knew he'd need to get training if he was going to catch up to Trunks. There was simply no questioning it, Trunks had far surpassed him and sitting around wasn't going to do him any good.

He jumped off of his stump and approached the four fighters as they trained with King Kai. “If you don't mind, I think I'll just join you for a moment.”

“Knock yourself out,” King Kai said, “but don't go bringing them down or throw them off.”

“Me?” Gohan laughed.

“I think he means don't go showing us up so badly that we give up in frustration.” Bocan told him.

“Oh . . . you know me better than that, King Kai.” Gohan scolded.

King Kai scolded right back, “If you want to train along with them you'd better watch it and don't break their concentration!”

Gohan waved his hands in surrender, “Of course, of course!”

They were focusing their ki and Gohan stood with them and joined the exercise. It went well for a while, and then came the questions.

“So you trained Trunks?” Gurein asked him.

“Somewhat. I think he had other teachers when he went to the past though.” Gohan admitted. “Besides a lot of it comes down to being part Saiyan.”

“Right, what's that mean?” Pastel asked.

“Well we're part alien.” Gohan explained.

“How does that work?” Bocan asked.

“No, no, no! This is what I was talking about,” King Kai stomped his foot, “This won't do any good! You don't need to worry about Saiyans you just need to worry about training!”

“But shouldn't we know as much as we can?” Pastel asked.

“Goku was my star pupil and he knew less than most.” King Kai said evenly. “If you spend too much time in your head it becomes harder to fight. I'm not calling him a simpleton but he had the ability to focus on what mattered. You'll need to learn that if you want to accomplish anything. Focus on the moment, focus on what matters, you can worry about the rest later.”

“There's a time and a place for everything.” Pastel quoted.

“That's correct.” King Kai nodded approvingly.

“It's called 'college'.” Bocan said and King Kai snickered.

“Well no matter what you call it it isn't here or now, so here and now focus on what requires focus.” King Kai said. “There's no need to worry about Saiyans when they're already extinct except for Trunks.”

“Extinct?” The fourth fight spoke up for the first time.

“Yes, more or less. Only four Saiyans were known to survive the destruction of Planet Vegeta, and all four of them are dead now.”

“But weren't there any others?” Gurein asked.

“Well periodically a spare survivor or two would pop up,” King Kai admitted, “But they hardly count.”

Gohan smiled, “But there could be hundreds of them out there that you just don't know about, right?”

“Not a chance.” King Kai snorted. “I'm the Kai of the North Quadrant, if there were that many Saiyans running around I'd know about it!”

“That's a shame.” Pastel said.

“Not really.” Gohan said gravely, “The Saiyans I met when I was alive were almost all pretty bad guys. I don't think they're the sort you'd want to try to make friends with, my dad was only as good as he was because he hit his head as a baby and got amnesia.”

“What about Master Trunks?” Bocan asked.

“His father was . . . pretty proud. He tried to destroy the Earth but when he failed eventually he started helping to protect it. But I wouldn't expect that kind of behavior from very many--”

“What did I tell you!?” King Kai roared and jumped out of his skin—metaphorically speaking of course.

“Sorry King Kai!” He cried and shut his eyes trying to focus on his ki. The others all did the same and King Kai muttered to himself.

“Kids these days . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“My kitchens weren't prepared for this . . . this massacre!” Asiago, the chef at Capsule Corporation complained pitifully, “They've eaten all the leftovers and everything I'd prepared for this morning's breakfast and the sun isn't even finished rising in the sky!”

Trunks rubbed the back of his head and chuckled apologetically, “Sorry, Cookie. But they've come a long way and were nearly massacred themselves by a lot of walking salads.”

“Well I can see how salad would be their weakness!” Asiago cried indignantly. Trunks actually laughed in spite of himself.

“Trust me, you wouldn't want to serve these salads to your worst enemy.” He told the aging chef.

“It does beg the question though, how are we going to stock the ship with enough food to feed them?” Thyme asked.

“I . . . honestly I don't know . . .” Trunks admitted watching the Saiyans devour the food presented to them. Asiago had acted like he was afraid to lose a hand handing over the food and Trunks didn't blame him. The famine faced mob was clearing though everything as if there was no bottom to their stomachs. They ate in a manner that defied logic.

Turles, who'd eaten dinner with the rest of the EDF hadn't needed to fall on the feast with the same sort of will that his comrades had, instead he was talking to them, explaining what had happened to their home world, explaining who Trunks was and everything that he'd learned had happened in the fifty years they'd been . . . well, dead.

It had been a very tight squeeze but they had managed to make it back with the Saiyans excluding Quash whom they hadn't managed to find. Beeta said they'd been separated and she'd found the Twins when she'd tried to find him, but in the end Trunks had decided they'd be tempting fate enough just jamming who they had into the ships. Quash, if he were alive, would have to be rescued when they got back from New Namek.

It had been tricky fitting everyone into the time machines, in the end it had been a bit awkward but they'd managed to fit everyone into the two machines. Trunks had had to let Korrard, the smallest and scrawniest sit on his lap as they came back.

Again, it'd been a bit awkward.

“Sit down already, Turles,” Lamson told him, “We get it, he's the Legendary Super Saiyan, we believe you.”

“It explains the hair and the golden aura I guess,” Routz grunted, looking around to see if there were any more food and grumbling irritatedly when he saw that there wasn't, “But what's that mean to all of us?”

“It means he's your Prince!” Cauliflora shouted from the entrance to the cafeteria. Turles smirked and nodded.

“Like the lady says.”

“Cauliflora?” Lamson gawked, “Is that you? What _happened_ to you?”

“Six and a quarter of our years happened to me. Fifty Earth years happened to me. I got here the long way you lucky snots!” Cauli told her, glaring with her solitary eye. She stalked into the room and said, “So you managed to bring almost all of them back somehow . . . I should never had doubted the son of Prince Vegeta . . .” She nodded to Trunks then turned her eye back to the gathered Saiyans, “And neither should the rest of you! You're his subjects, he's your Prince! Now I want you all to act like it!”

“He helped rescue us,” Oni yawned, “but he hasn't even got a tail! Doesn't seem like a Saiyan Prince to me.”

“And you don't seem like a _corpse_ to me but looks can be deceiving and a lot can change in ten seconds.” Cauliflora snarled. “He's the blood of King Vegeta, he's the son of Prince Vegeta, he is our Prince and he's plucked your worthless _dead_ selves from the afterlife to protect his kingdom! Make no mistake, I've _been_ to Frago looking for your sorry hides and all I found was an overgrown forest and death.”

Cauli stalked up and down the table glaring at each of them until they turned their gaze away in submission, as she did she snarled, “I spent years searching the cosmos for any of you, all of you, any other Saiyans in a desperate bid to try to rebuild some semblance of our world but there was nothing to find. Frieza's minions took care of that. It's by the miracle of Prince Trunks' techniques that you're alive now, that our kind can find any measure of restoration. You all know me, you all see I've got no tail. Tails get cut off, it's harsh but it happens, it doesn't make me any less Saiyan, doesn't make me any less the warrior you fought with against the Tuffles! So tail or no tail don't you dare question his Saiyan blood.”

“I-I didn't mean it like--” Oni began but Cauliflora slapped him somewhat hard on the back.

“No, you didn't, and I know you didn't because I know you,” She told him. She glared at each of them again in turn and said, “And you all know me. You know what I'll do to you if you defy your Prince. Now my suggestion? Take a knee while you still have knees.”

The Saiyans all stumbled out of their seats and did as they were told, all falling to one knee in front of Trunks lowering their gaze and raising their fists in salute, “All hail Prince Trunks!”

Trunks felt himself blushing, he wanted nothing more than to tell them all to stand up and never call him that again.

But . . . he understood he couldn't just be their buddy. Not if he wanted to win their loyalty and make them guardians of Earth. Turles had been a different story of course, like Karuto had said Turles had turned his back on the Saiyan way before he was ever found.

But none of these had. Trunks knew they were still mercenary space pirates, they'd respect him for his strength but he'd need to exhibit a strong personality to keep them in line as well. He couldn't be their equal, he needed to accept being their superior, at least until they fell in line.

Luckily Cauliflora was there to do most of the barking. _She's right, I needed her more than I thought._ Trunks realized.

After they cried his name three times Turles was the first to rise. He told the others, “Prince Trunks killed Frieza, but that wasn't the end of the PTO. You all know how massive the Planet Trade Organization was, and you know none of us wanted to be stuck living under it forever!

“It's not right for a Saiyan,” Turles continued, “to serve an alien master, _we_ are the masters! Now here we are and all these years later our home world, planet Vegeta, was utterly destroyed by Frieza. Now Frieza's dead and we have a new home, and a new Prince. But the war isn't over, Frieza's kind are still running around and they—stupidly—think they can challenge us here, stupidly think they can take our new home from us, from Prince Trunks! But we're Saiyan warriors and we're not about to let them get away with it, are we?”

“No!” Routz growled, “I'll kill every last one of those Arcosian scum for Prince Trunks!”

“You tell us where they are and we'll put 'em down like Tuffles without tech!” Oni agreed.

Trunks folded his arms, he was a little surprised by how quickly Turles had managed to rile his fellow Saiyans up.

 _He's a talented speaker, I'll give him that,_ Trunks thought. He nodded to them and said, “First thing's first, I accept you into the service of Earth. Now I don't rule over this planet, Earth has a King,” Trunks began but Cauliflora interrupted him.

“Prince Trunks and the Earth King are close allies, it is out of _respect_ to Earth's King that Prince Trunks doesn't claim his own rightful title as King, but make no mistake, he is _no_ subject. The Earthlings are a hardy people and their champions are all worth ten of you as you are now.”

Trunks nodded thankfully to Cauli. If _she_ could accept the King under those terms maybe the rest of them could too. It wasn't strictly speaking _accurate_ to imply that Trunks was the King's peer but Trunks would cross that bridge when he came to it. He told the collected Saiyans, “We're going to attack Frieza's forces on a distant planet to help more of our allies. The Namekians were attacked on their new home, and we're going to go and help them along with Earthling warriors. When we succeed we'll come back here to enjoy the rewards of success.”

“What kind of rewards?” Beeta asked, speaking up for the first time since he'd stopped her from using the Power Ball.

She was fairly tall, though not quite as tall as Cauliflora, her hair was short straight and black, it was actually not too dissimilar from Trunks' own style, though actually a bit shorter.

Trunks frowned, “Your rewards will be a home on this world safe from the oppression of Frieza. The Earthlings aren't to be bullied or trifled with, but they're a good people and they can prepare food just as good or even better than what you've eaten just now.”

“As good or better? Than what _I've_ made?” Asiago scoffed.

“You're an Earthling,” Trunks told him with a slight smile, “Well in any case they can make a lot more of it. Fight for me and you'll never go hungry!”

It got a good response from the Saiyans, but Trunks heard Basil whisper in the corner with Genora and Thyme, “Ooh not a good sign.”

“Of what?” Genora asked.

“I keep telling everyone we're really super villains.” Basil whispered, shaking her head.

“Only villains use the 'stick with me and you'll never go hungry again' line.” Thyme explained in a whisper.

“Are you two serious?” Genora whispered back.

“Almost always.” Thyme said gravely.

“Almost never!” Basil said lightly at the same time.

Still Trunks decided to come off less like a villain and said, “Treat the Earthlings like proper allies, don't bully them or attack them and we'll be able to give you whatever you need, you'll have places to train and fight, food to eat, you can all get stronger together just like Turles has. When we've beaten the Planet Trade Organization if you want to explore the stars on your own I won't hold you back, but no more exterminating species. That's what I'm offering you. If you don't want it tell me now.”

“And what if we don't want it?” Beeta asked, raising her hands quickly to show she wasn't a threat and saying, “Not that I don't, but what about those of us who don't want to just fall in line? What happens to them?”

“You're all already dead.” Turles told her coldly. “I can show you the data report myself. It's only by serving Prince Trunks that you can win back your lives.”

“A life serving someone else isn't much of a life.” Beeta said. “I can serve a Saiyan King or Prince but I haven't even met any of these Earthlings apart from the weak ones over there and the useful cooking one. Why should I serve a Prince who serves their King?”

Trunks folded his arms and tried glaring at her, but she didn't seem moved. He was about to tell her that she could always enjoy a holding cell when yet another voice barked from the doorway, “Your Prince doesn't serve our King, they're partners! And don't count out us Earthlings, we might not have the same battle power you do but we've got other skills, and right now our fighters are all a lot stronger than you.”

Trunks hadn't ever thought he'd be glad to see Videl.

Videl, her assistant and his students to be more precise. Kodva, Schip and Rhyce came in dressed in full armor. Beeta regarded them with a slight shrug and turned back to trunks with her same bored expression, “I was just asking for information.”

Trunks nodded, “That's fine. Now you know. Now I'm offering you the chance to train with me and my students, to grow stronger the way Turles has. I'm offering you access to our training techniques and styles, but in exchange you're going to have to help me to save New Namek and to protect the Earth. Do you agree?”

Despite her nay-smithing Beeta was the first to say, “I agree.” The others followed suit quickly.

Trunks nodded and said, “In that case . . . I think I'd better split you up into three groups.”

“Three groups?” Rhyce asked. “You're splitting eight people into three groups?”

Trunks had to admit this would have made more sense if they'd found Quash. Instead he said, “Cargo is going to be the ninth man.”

“You're splitting up my squad? Uh . . . my Prince.” Lamson said, protest clear in her tone even if she tried to sound like she spoke with deference.

Trunks nodded, “It's necessary. My three Earthling students are going to show you the ropes and help get you caught up to speed, consider them your squad leaders. We'll train you to be stronger but we're also going to teach you how we do things in the Earth Defense Force, and by training under these Earthlings hopefully you'll see that they're not to be taken lightly.”

 _Hopefully they'll earn your respect at least, and they'll work even harder not to let you get ahead of them._ Trunks thought to himself.

Turles was giving him a look of wounded pride, Trunks knew he was probably wondering why he wasn't going to be leading a squad. In truth it was because Trunks didn't see the need, Turles was already stronger than his students and besides it wouldn't help the new Saiyans to respect Earthlings if their squad leader was another Saiyan, that was part of the reason he'd decided to split up Lamson's squad.

But he knew he needed to extend something to Turles and he knew exactly what it should be. “Turles, you're not leading a squad but you're still important. Just like Videl is our liaison to the King of Earth I want you to be my liaison with my own people, if there are any problems, any complaints, any misunderstandings going on I want them to come to you and you to come to me.”

“Does that mean I get to be a Captain too?” Turles asked.

“I don't see why not.” Trunks decided. “Sound good?”

“Yes, Prince Trunks.” Turles said, ambitious glee shining in his eyes, but Trunks would let it go, Turles had the right to a bit of harmless ambition after all. Besides letting him work with all three teams would let them see what they could accomplish under Trunks' training.

“So how are we splitting our teams?” Rhyce asked.

Trunks folded his arms and said, “I'll let you know before lunch . . . but it's looking like we'll have to go our for breakfast.” He nodded to Videl and her aide, “I'd like you two to help me with that actually, since you've got military experience.”

Videl scoffed disinterestedly, “Oh I think I've got enough to do. But Mai can help you out with that.” She patted her aide's back and shoved her forward a bit. Mai seemed surprised, but she saluted smartly while avoiding eye contact.

“Yes sir.” She said, “I'll help however I can.”

Trunks smiled at her and nodded, “I'd appreciate it. Cauliflora, if you'd help out too . . .”

“Are you asking me or telling me, my Prince?” Cauliflora asked, her tone hinting at which the answer should be.

Trunks told her, “I'm not a tyrant. I'm telling you by asking.”

Cauliflora folded her arms but nodded, “All right then. I'll do what I can. Over breakfast. _Some_ of us haven't eaten.”

“There's no breakfast left!” Asiago cried.

“There's probably a restaurant or two . . . come on, everyone who hasn't eaten yet.” Trunks said.

“What about all of them?” Rhyce asked, indicating the Saiyans.

Trunks smirked. He asked, “How many of you are still hungry?”

The answer, predictably, was all of them. Trunks said to Asiago, “We'll be out of your hair, you'd better get something nice whipped up for my mother though, she's probably not going to be pleased when she finds out what kind of duress we're about to put the company card to.”

“She can afford it.” Asiago grumbled, “I just don't know if _I_ can afford to feed eleven Saiyans!”

 _Eleven?_ Trunks thought to himself, realizing that counting himself there were that many . . . he hadn't even realized.

“Videl,” Trunks said and the older woman raised an eyebrow at him, “Do me a favor and talk to His Majesty about maybe holding another Golden Warrior's Tournament, I think we're going to need more Earthling fighters to balance things out.”

“Do we have time? I thought you wanted to get underway to New Namek as soon as possible.” Videl told him.

“That's true, but Master Roshi will be staying behind and he can judge. I know it might be asking a lot of him but I trust him and I know he'd do a good job. We'll be gone for two months, one there and one back so that's plenty of time for him to round up a new squad of fighters, not counting the ones we'll get back once we have Dragon Balls again.”

“This is sounding a lot less like an elite team and more like you want numbers. Numbers don't guarantee victory, and I think you'll find when your cup runneth over you worry a lot less about the size of your sips.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” Trunks said.

“And on the subject of who is staying behind,” Videl said, “shall I take it that you consider the matter closed as to your own staying or going?”

Trunks smirked, “Of course. There's no reason to think anyone strong enough to threaten Earth will show up in two months, and I won't let my students go into danger without me.”

“Sometimes an officer has to know how to delegate, even if it means asking others to take risks.” Videl told him. She said it quietly so others wouldn't hear, and it sounded like friendly advice, or at least more-so than anything else she'd said.

So Trunks almost felt a little bad telling her, “That's right. That's why I'm delegating judging the tournament to Master Roshi while I save New Namek.”

Nothing would stop him from being there with his students and these new Saiyans when they faced new threats on New Namek. He wouldn't lose any more of them, he _couldn't_ lose any more of them.

He shook his head, clearing away his sad thoughts and forced a smile to his face, “Don't worry. I won't leave Earth totally undefended.”

He already had a plan for how to deal with Boreal if he did show up early.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Mai tries to cope with being asked for her personal opinion by none other than the Golden Warrior and help him separate the Saiyans into squads, and Karuto tries to convince Tathy to tell him the story of the War World all over one of the largest breakfasts ever put to the Capsule Corporation's corporate card . . ._

 


	45. Just Trunks

**Episode Nine**

**'Just Trunks'**

 

The restaurant was boisterous to say the least, but Mai wasn't bothered by the raucous Saiyans.

She found Trunks far more distracting. When the Androids had been destroyed joining the Royal Guard had seemed like a natural choice, the work was similar to the sort she'd done while resisting the Androids and she was partial to the uniform's greatcoat. Still she never thought it'd mean meeting let alone working with the hero who destroyed the Androids and saved the world _twice_.

That alone would have been enough to make most people nervous but that he wanted her advice was almost too much to allow her to focus.

Well he'd wanted Captain Videl's advice but he'd specifically asked for hers as well.

Well . . . he'd said “you two” it could have been because she was standing next to Captain Videl and he didn't want to be rude. It made an already distracting situation even worse not to know if he actually had an interest in her input or if he'd just been being polite. Captain Videl for all her fine qualities . . . sometimes failed to accept differing points of view.

The waiter brought her a cup of coffee with sugar and cream on the side, without a thought she just took a sip of it and nearly choked.

“I didn't figure you for a black coffee drinker, Miss . . . Mai.” Trunks said, clearly fumbling for a last name.

Mai had been so distracted she didn't even think to add any cream or sugar to her coffee. She coughed and stared warily at the cup. She had a very difficult choice to make now: she could either admit she'd made a mistake in front of Trunks or act as if she always drank her coffee this way.

_You're just going to have to tank it, as Captain Videl would say it's all you girl!_ Mai decided, taking another sip of the vile substance and in the most professional voice she could manage saying, “Yes. L-Lieutenant Mai will do, thank you sir . . . o-or just Mai . . . if that doesn't seem forward.”

Trunks shrugged with a slight smile, “All right, Mai then.” Trunks tilted his head down the long table, “What's your first thought about them?”

Trunks meant the new Saiyans and Mai had to admit she was almost helpless. She didn't know them except what she could gleam from a first glance and what she'd been briefed on. She watched them for a moment and said, “I'm torn, sir.”

“Just Trunks is fine.” Trunks told her.

“Yes. Well it seems to me that with two officers already in their number that could cause trouble for whichever squads they're assigned to. Your students might prefer to let them take control but that would be a disaster for the chain of command. Especially if your goal is to integrate your two commands. We saw a bit of this in the Royal Guard when male and female squads were integrated.”

“Really?” Trunks asked. “I didn't know your squads were integrated.”

“Yes.” Mai said then scolded herself. _I say 'yes' too much, I need to think of some other word that means the same thing but doesn't make me seem so boring . . . um . . ._

“Affirmative!” She tried then immediately regretted it. She took another sip of her coffee, this time as a form of punishment. _Cool it will you?_ She thought to herself. _So he's the greatest hero of our world and he wants_ your _opinion, it's no reason to go acting like an idiot._

She took a deep breath to steady herself. She looked down into her coffee cup to avoid having to look at him and said, “The problem initially was that they couldn't get along, too much competition with the men trying to prove they were better than the women, the women trying to prove we were better than the men.”

“So what happened?” Trunks asked.

“We worked together and focused on proving our squad was better than the other squads. Then we we had the opposite problem, everyone got along _too_ well. Especially when they thought they'd be facing certain death every time they went into the field. You'd be surprised how many hard as nails soldiers regardless of gender fell for the 'this could be the last time we have together' line.”

Trunks laughed. “Confessing anything?” He asked.

Mai blushed, “No. Never me, I'm too old fashioned for that kind of thing, besides Captain Videl and I were part of the King's personal entourage the same as Soda so we didn't get many opportunities for that kind of fraternization.” She took another sip of her coffee and said, “But you may have a similar problem on your hands, these Saiyans and your Earthling students all seem to be very young, in peak physical condition, once they start respecting each-other . . .”

“Noted, we did have a couple of couples spring up before too.” Trunks nodded slowly. “So should I segregate the squads by gender? Soda said that wouldn't solve anything with the original team, but then she changed her mind once we ran into . . . well, that problem.”

Mai nodded slowly, considering it. Finally she said, “Rhyce is hotheaded and aggressive, as long as you talk to them to explain the chain of command keeping the two lady officers with her might not be the worst idea as long as they don't try to seize control or override her. Add to that the female twin for some added firepower and maybe she and Rhyce can master their hotheadedness together with two experienced officers to lead the way by example, if they can't they'll learn when they fall behind the other squads.”

Mai glanced sideways at the table and said, “The remaining twin and the big guy from the other squad would be good under Kodva, he's very patient and he's the strongest of your own students in case they get out of line. He can also help them master their hotheaded natures with meditation, which I understand him to be quite good at. For their third man Cargo would make some sense as he's strong enough to keep up and provide added assistance for Kodva if the two bruisers get boisterous.”

“That leaves Schip with Turles' brother, the remaining girl and the smallest.” Trunks reasoned.

“You don't agree?” Mai asked, her heart speeding up as she tried to figure out whether or not she'd made a mistake, “They seem like the most intermediate team and perfect for Schip who is the most laid back. He'll have to work harder himself to keep up with Kodva and Rhyce, and since the three of them are already teammates they probably won't let their third man fall behind either, as I understand it he's very weak.”

Purposely avoiding making eye contact Mai couldn't see what Trunks' expression was but he sounded like he was smiling as he said, “No I agree. Actually I noticed when Turles and I rescued them that they'll definitely look after their weak link, and Schip is used to fighting stronger opponents and coming out on top so he'll be a good teacher for Korrard.”

Mai breathed a sigh of relief. She made the mistake of looking up from her coffee only to have her heart skip a beat when her eyes made contact with Trunks'. He told her, “I'm impressed you got to know my squad so well in just one day, and that you can tell so much about the Saiyans this quickly.”

_His eyes are so blue . . ._ She thought dumbly, her mind unable to properly function for a moment, _what is wrong with me? I didn't even react this way to meeting the King for the first time! Or Captain Videl, they're both celebrities too._

Mai said, “It's my job to pay attention and help Captain Videl so I got to know your teams as well as I could while she was blustering around. It was all for a purpose, she needed to see how you'd all respond by being upset it kept you from being too reserved or polite, through it all Rhyce was the most likely to get riled, Kodva was very calm only speaking out when necessary and Schip was almost disinterested unless his teammates got riled, then he stood by them.”

“So you guys had a plan when you showed up.” Trunks said, sounding like he was a mixture of impressed and upset.

“Sorry.” Mai said, just in case he felt slighted. “The Captain knows its best to see what people are really like, not how they want to be perceived. The latter is useless on the battlefield. But as you can see in the face of a crisis she drops the act in favor of getting things done. As for the Saiyans I'll confess I'm generalizing from first impression but I didn't want to have nothing to offer you.”

Trunks laughed, “Well thanks, I think your suggestions are great. What do you think Turles?”

The Saiyan warrior had been completely silent the entire time and Mai had actually forgotten he was there. But he nodded, “I agree. It's smart to split the twins, they only encourage each other, and Routz and Oni definitely are the two biggest bruisers, great for a brute squad. But don't count Sharrot out, she's an even bigger scrapper than Tell.”

“Do you think they'd encourage each other the same as the twins?” Trunks asked him.

“Like I said I wouldn't split them. If you want anyone to care about Korrard's safety then it needs to be someone from his team, neither of the twins will and Beeta is an elite she doesn't care about any of us really. She might care about Cauli since she was from the King's clan though.”

Trunks nodded. “Well then . . . good enough for me.” He held his hand out to Mai and said, “Good job Lieutenant.”

Mai hesitantly took his hand, it felt like a jolt of electricity ran through her and she felt her cheeks flushing yet again, _Oh . . . it's not because he's a celebrity,_ she realized.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do about that.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto was more than a little surprised to be invited to breakfast with the Earthling warriors, he wasn't really sure how he was supposed to behave. Was this a formal event? He had to keep his tail wrapped around the chair so it wouldn't trip the serving staff who scrambled around taking orders from Saiyans who largely didn't know what they were ordering and just went off of whatever the Earthling fighters told them had lots of meat.

Most people had wanted something called coffee so Karuto had asked for some of that. Surprisingly no one seemed afraid of him, he supposed because the vast majority of humans hadn't _seen_ any Arcosians in the fighting so he and Genora just seemed like . . . well, strange creatures.

And Earth had many of those. They did get strange looks but nothing Karuto would consider rude or aggressive, just curious and he wouldn't grudge them a curious look or two.

He was lucky enough to be sitting across from Cauliflora and Tathy though, and he remembered what Cauliflora had said about persuading Tathy so Karuto asked, “Excuse me, Miss Tathy?”

“Miss Tathy's my mother's name, you can call me Queen Tathy!” The strange alien declared, then she reconsidered, “Empress Tathy!”

Cauliflora lightly backhanded her shoulder without looking over and Tathy sighed, “Just Tathy is fine I suppose. What's up miniature overlord?”

“Just Karuto is fine.” Karuto told her. “I was wondering if you could tell me the story of what happened to Cauliflora after Goulder.”

“Ooh yeah, I wanna know that too!” One of the Saiyans, Sharrot said leaning over. She was sitting next to Karuto and he had to tilt his head to avoid poking her with one of his horns as she leaned across the table, “How'd she get those wicked scars? Come on Cauli, why don't you--”

“I'm not going to talk about it.” Cauliflora warned her sharply, “If Tathy wants to that's fine.”

Tathy smirked, “I can start the story but you're going to be going into battle before it finishes.”

Sharrot frowned. “Quick version then? Why's Cauli all scary?”

“Because.” Tathy said with a feline smirk. Karuto expected this to result in an annoyed Saiyan warrior sitting right next to him but surprisingly Sharrot just laughed.

It might have been enough for her but not for Karuto. He tried again, “Um, excuse me but can I have the long version? I'm not going into battle.”

“I don't like telling it.” Tathy admitted. “It's kind of a drag, my way of life comes to and end, my comrades are all massacred, oh and Cauli loses an eye.”

“And a tail evidently.” Another Saiyan sitting on the other side of Karuto, this one was Korrard he understood. Korrard asked, “Has anyone tried to heal it?”

“Way too long since it's been lost,” Tathy said, “besides losing it let her blend with the typical humanoids and let us get work as mercenaries and bounty hunters without the Galactic Patrol or the PTO after us. Of course we did steal a Galactic Patrol ship on the way here . . . some jerk named Jaco, got a little suspicious of Cauli so we left him stranded at a noodle stand.”

“They have noodle stands in space?” Rhyce asked sitting next to Tathy.

“Of course! Did you think you Earthlings invented them?” Tathy asked.

“Yeah, kinda.” Rhyce admitted.

“Trust me, everyone's figured out noodle stand technology, it's not that complicated. On the list of civilization progression it's right up there with banging the rocks together.” Tathy said, Rhyce glowered at her but Tathy shrugged it off.

“Um . . . about the story,” Karuto said, “I understand you don't like remembering something so sad . . . but could you please tell me anyway?”

“Why?” Tathy asked.

“Because.” Karuto said brightly.

Tathy smiled, “Oh, well if you put it that way . . .”

The entire table actually fell silent as Tathy began to tell her story. “It was a dark night on the War World when the Fighters of the Stobler House saw a star streak across our sky. But this was not a sight unknown to us, we had seen many fall from the heavens and we knew what they really—Oh!”

Tathy stopped her story instantly as the trays of food were brought to them. She winked cheekily at Karuto, “Sorry little mister, no time to chat, food's here!”

Karuto pouted. “But . . . but . . .”

“You can't always get what you want.” Cauli told him, “Now I suggest you eat, maybe try again later.”

“But . . . but . . . she was beginning it!” Karuto cried, “You can't just stop that early!”

“Cliffhangers are fun.” Tathy told him brightly.

“No they're not!” Karuto protested.

“Oh don't torment the kid,” Rhyce said, “After all he _is_ only a kid.”

Cauliflora smirked. She steepled her fingers the same way Uncle Kalt used to if he were thinking. Finally she said, “All right, all right. I'm sure you wanted it this way in the end, didn't you, Tathy?”

The sky colored alien didn't answer instead she shoveled food into her mouth and eyed Karuto's plate with what was obviously less than innocent intent.

But Karuto was surprised when Cauliflora sighed and leaned towards him. He leaned in close to hear her as she whispered . . .

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The alarms in the pod started blaring and Cauli snapped awake from her hibernation. She felt Rhuby stirring in her arms and held her tight, the last thing she needed was one of Rhuby's attacks wrecking the pod. “No-no-no, you stay out, and _you_ ,” she snarled at her battle pod, “Straighten up and fly right!”

The pod however had other ideas. It was hurtling towards a nearby planet at surprising speed. It wasn't the planet she'd set a course to, she wasn't even sure what planet it was. Cauli felt the pod break the atmosphere before she saw the white-blue and then finally orange and red flames engulf them, she held her injured comrade close as the pod began hurtling towards a desert landscape faster than it was ever meant to.

“I know these things are meant to land rough but we're going to _crash_!” Cauli realized out loud then she regretted it when Rhuby started to stir.

“W-where . . . what am I . . .” Rhubara's eyes opened up slowly but Cauli barked at her.

“Shut your eyes, hold on to me as tight as you can!”

“Cauli?” Rhuby mumbled in confusion but luckily wherever the bulk of her wits were as she emerged from hibernation she had enough of them to follow instructions.

Cauliflora didn't want to imagine what was going to happen to them without their ship, how they'd get home or how they'd even call for help.

But she wanted to imagine what would happen to them if they were still _in_ it when it crashed even less. The ground was getting increasingly close now, it rushed up to meet them with such enthusiasm she would have swore she owed it money.

Wrapping one arm around Rhubara she held her other hand up above her head, she focused her energy and blasted a hole in back of the pod. She thought of Rhuby, _And here was me thinking_ you'd _bust the pod if you woke up._

She was sucked out to breathe in the heavy air of this new alien world, still holding Rhubara in the dark as their pod slammed into the ground not far from them she tried to fly them gently down but the gravity was too intense. It had to be double or even triple the gravity of planet Vegeta, she felt as if she were flying with weights on, never mind having to hold on to Rhuby.

They sank quickly but not nearly as quickly as their pod had. When they touched down Cauli was able to stand for a moment before she collapsed. Rhubara was on her knees trying to rise and failing.

They heard the shuffling sound of feet across the hard dirt they'd landed in, and Cauli could smell aliens on the approach. She felt her Saiyan blood boiling, the urge to fight this new threat was overpowering and no matter how heavy the gravity felt. She began to power up, letting the spark of her own aura light the night and reveal the enemy as they approached.

Rhubara, still badly injured tried to do the same but she couldn't rise to her feet. Cauli held a hand out to stop her and said, “I've got this one, you can take the next one, partner.”

“I . . . I can fight.” Rhuby assured her but Cauli knew it wasn't true.

Still she said, “I know, but let me be the first to stretch my legs.”

The creatures that approached them were covered in hard blue shells with thick long armored tails that seemed to curl underneath them. they had six insect-like legs with two pairs of arms. One large shell covered pair that ended in deadly looking claws and a slender pair that seemed more like a fourth row of legs ending in slender delicate looking hands. Their eyes were on stocks and they had long antennae.

Still they weren't large, they were maybe just over one and a half meters, or around five feet tall.

They pointed what were clearly rifles at them with their slender delicate hands but clacked their claws together eagerly.

One of them scuttled forward and began talking in a strange language, Cauli didn't know what he was saying but she decided it was as good a time as any to greet them in her native tongue.

By which of course she meant blasting its ugly blue head off. She held out a hand ready to fire and then with the sound of several rifles being cocked at her she realized that they were prepared for it.

And while she wasn't afraid of taking a shot or two without her scouter she couldn't know how strong they might be and with the gravity being so heavy she couldn't fight as effectively as she wanted. More importantly with Rhubara as hurt as she was she couldn't risk any more harm coming to her.

So she raised her hands instead. “I'll let you live,” she boasted, “but only if you can get my friend help. Do that and we'll be on our way.”

The spokes-bug scuttled towards her, it brought its grotesque face close to hers and glowered at her with its stock eyes. Finally it spoke to her in her own language, “Trespassers.”

“Yes.” Cauliflora acknowledged. “We're only passing through, we got caught in your planet's heavy gravity.”

“You have been delivered by the gravity shield, the great black sea is bountiful and you are our catch. Do you understand?”

“Barely.” Cauli scoffed. “So you think because we crashed you caught us?”

“Your crash was our doing,” The bug man told her, “we detected your vessel, we cast out our nets and the black sea delivered you to us.”

Cauli glared. “If you think you're going to eat us you've got another thing coming. We're Saiyan Warriors, we do the eating, and we've had a long journey so unless you back off we might just have to eat every last one of you.”

It was the best she could think of in the moment, but the bug men just laughed.

“We will not eat you. We will sell you. You are slaves of the Robusuta, you are slaves of the War World.”

“Don't come any closer!” Cauli warned, suddenly there was a blue flash, Cauli turned around to see that Rhuby had blasted away one of the Robusuta that had tried to sneak up behind her. It'd been so quiet Cauli hadn't even noticed it.

The blast had been more than Cauli would have expected Rhubara to be capable of though, it was certainly more powerful than anything she'd ever felt her use before. Cauli hadn't just felt the heat off the blast she'd felt the strength of it, actually _felt_ the strength of it.

The fight was on but the fight was brief, Rhuby didn't have another blast like that in her and Cauli couldn't present much of a fight herself before they were overwhelmed, but they did manage to account for a Robusuta warrior apiece between the two of them.

They'd learn later that that hadn't necessarily been a good thing.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Cauliflora leaned back and took a sip of her coffee. She looked at in in surprise, “What is this weak garbage?” She demanded.

“It's no raktajino.” Tathy agreed.

“Is that it?” Karuto gawked.

Cauli shrugged. “It's as much as you're getting from me, and it's a part of the story Tathy wouldn't have thought to tell you anyway. If you want the rest ask Tathy, like I told you to. And don't pout, you wouldn't want her thinking you're a spoiled brat who doesn't deserve to hear stories would you?”

Karuto couldn't help pouting a little, but he tried not to. “Sorry . . .” he mumbled.

“Why do you care so much about this story anyway?” Tathy asked, and Karuto realized that while he'd been distracted she'd somehow swapped her empty plate for his. He reached out and stole back a piece of his own fish rather than let her take everything and chewed it thoughtfully.

Finally he said, “Because . . . I heard so much about it from Konpeito I guess I just want to know how it all played out. I don't like not knowing what happened to Rhubara.”

“I told you what happened to Rhubara.” Cauli said.

“But it lacks all context.” Karuto insisted. “I don't know _why_ it happened, I don't know _why_ you'd have done what you did, and you telling the story it sure doesn't sound like you two would ever have tried to hurt each other.”

Cauliflora smiled slightly. She looked away and absently took another sip only to slam the cup down again, reminded of how detestably weak the beverage apparently was to her and said, “Ugh! Well like I said, ask Tathy. As uncomfortable as she gets telling the story it's worse for me.”

“You think so?” Tathy asked her.

Cauliflora glared at her with her solitary eye, “I'm the one that killed them, remember?” She asked.

“I've never forgotten.” Tathy said evenly and Karuto realized this was the most serious she'd ever sounded since he'd met her. “But you weren't you when it happened, I was still me. I know none of them would have blamed you.”

“ _I_ blame me. That's enough.” Cauliflora said. She got up and left the table to wait outside. Tathy waited a few solemn seconds before unceremoniously dumping Cauliflora's plate onto her own, or rather onto Karuto's which she'd stolen during the story.

“That's bull, I can't believe you're just going to leave it like that.” Rhyce scoffed.

“If you want more you'd better ask yourself how badly you want that English muffin.” Tathy said lightly.

“How do you know it's a--”

“Hah! You think you Earthlings invented _those_ too?” Tathy laughed.

“The _name_ at least!” Rhyce protested.

Karuto frowned. He agreed with Rhyce, couldn't let them just leave it like that.

A little reluctantly he offered Tathy back what was left of the fish he'd taken back, remembering that Cauliflora had told him he'd have to feed her.

He just said, “Please . . . I have to know. What happened? Why did it happen? Was there any thing anyone could have done to stop it?”

Tathy gave him a calculating look, her black and gold eyes seemed to dilate and shrink for a moment before finally she nodded slightly.

“All right. But it's going to cost you. And it's going to keep costing you until it's over.”

Karuto nodded, “Of course! Anything, I just want to know!”

Tathy laughed, “Oh you say that now. You'll be singing a different tune before I'm through with you, little mister.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

_On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . . Tathy begins her story proper, telling of how she first met the young Saiyan warriors and of the splendor that was the War World of the Robusuta, and the Defenders get to know their new teammates . . . even if they're not wild about the idea._

 


	46. Warrior's Blood

**Episode Ten**

**'Warrior's Blood'**

 

The warriors of House Stobler came in a wide variety, from a large number of enslaved Robusuta to captured aliens such as herself. Tathy was always a bit of a standout though. Not the only one of her kind ever captured by the Robusuta she was the only one left.

Her people didn't do well in captivity, but Tathy had found a way to cope: enthusiasm. She was no captive, she was having an adventure.

Lord Stobler often allowed his fighters about a half hour's free time to enjoy the gardens around his villa before returning them to their barracks. He was . . . generous, in his way at least. Many fighters in other Houses got nothing they couldn't afford themselves.

Tathy enjoyed the free time of course, as most of them did. She could look up at the sky and watch the sun set, she could watch the almost totally starless sky like some kind of black sea, which was what the Robusuta called it. Because she was from another world she knew that War World was surrounded by a nebula, and she wasn't entirely certain that that wasn't intentional. She wouldn't put it past the Robusuta to have made the nebula themselves with their gravity shield.

Ships would swing close to the Nebula on their way somewhere else and almost at random be ensnared by the planet's gravity shields which would pull ships or passing asteroids down so that the latter could be mined for resources and so that the former could have their crews enslaved to fight in the giant Arenas of the War World.

The War World was in an almost constant need for fighters, but being enslaved by the Robusuta wasn't a life sentence unless one made it so. The Robusuta payed their slaves a wage. Not a wage they could necessarily touch with their own hands, but in was all kept on record with credit chips.

If a fighter was determined and their Lord didn't force them to pay for their own food and housing, as some did, they could save their wages and eventually buy their own freedom. Then they'd be freed beings, and much of the planet's population were exactly that: freed beings.

It was no worse than what a lot of other worlds would find in their history and Tathy didn't necessarily grudge the Robusuta for doing what worked in order to help them survive and keep entertained.

And what entertainment the Arenas were . . . Tathy loved to fight in front of the crowd, she loved to hear them roar and the thrill of knowing that her very life was in their hands. If she fought well they would preserve her, win or lose, and if she fought poorly they'd demand her life in exchange for her wretched performance and that seemed fair enough to her.

The thrill of battle and the roar of the crowd, this was the secret tonic to Tathy's survival. Where all the rest of her kind had given in to despair Tathy had learned to revel in this strange world she'd found herself stranded on. To love the feeling of so many eyes on her, so many beings enraptured by her fighting performance.

“What is that?” One of her comrades, a hulking feline-featured creature named Bacore asked, pointing a claw at the sky.

A falling star shot across the twilight. White at first and then bright red as it broke through the atmosphere, it plummeted towards the ground then struck in the distant desert. It was close enough that they could investigate it, so she smiled at Bacore and answered him, “That, my friend is an adventure.”

“Perhaps one for another time.” Poi told her turning away from the scene. He was small, shorter than Tathy and purple. His eyes were like large black almonds, his head was bulbous and had two sharp short horns sticking from its sides a few inches above his sharp pointed ears.

But Tathy looked into the distance where the ship had landed—or crashed, more realistically—and said, “Silly, you don't choose. The adventure finds you.”

Several of her comrades gathered around her, the villa guards as well. She pointed off in the distance towards the place where the ship had crashed, “Who else wants to see what or who the War World has ensnared now?”

“I think that'll have to wait,” the giant Sensei told her. Sensei towered over her, Tathy would have barely come up to his belly button if he had one. Like Poi he hard large pointy ears, but his skin was green. He had two large thick antennae over his brows and his arms had thick red patches that Tathy had assumed to be exposed muscle, though he assured her they weren't.

He was one of the two of his kind in the employ—if one wanted to use that word, and Tathy preferred it—of Lord Stobler. Massively strong and almost unstoppable in the arena he had been the House's pride and joy for years until Lord Stobler, no doubt fearing the amount of money the then Fighter was building up and fearing that the warrior might soon purchase his own freedom, had decided to stop letting him fight in the arena, instead naming him the House's Sensei and tasking him with training the other fighters. He could still have his freedom in time, but not before teaching others to be champions.

The Sensei was something of a go-between for the fighters and their Lord, his word was as good as if it had come from Lord Stobler and they had to obey it without hesitation or they would suffer harsh repercussions. As such Tathy was always careful not to imply disobedience when she questioned him.

She had a good relationship with him after all, they went way back. She was one of the very few who had been around long enough to remember his name was Bass and that he was the son of the Warworld's most celebrated champion. She asked, “Won't Lord Stobler want to investigate himself?”

Bass told her, “The time has passed, it is time to return to our cells for the night. If the Lord decides to send anyone to investigate he will do so but it's not our place. The Hunters are likely on their way already, we would be wasting our time trying to beat them to their quarry.”

Tathy frowned, “Well all right, but only because it's you telling me so,” she said, patting Bass's muscular forearm before following the others into the barracks and into their cells.

But she knew that wasn't the last of the matter even before the guards came to wake her early the next morning telling her that Lord Stobler would be going into the market that morning, and he intended to take both her and Bass for protection.

Lord Stobler was a hulking Robusuta draped in white linens and blue-green sashes along his back between each pair of legs. He wore brass armor as well, these were the colors of his House and Tathy and the other fighters all wore the same colors, though only donning brass armor in the Arena. Lord Stobler's sides wide from great success. Success that Bass and Tathy and the others had won for him, but that didn't mean he didn't have a good eye for fighters, most of the stable was dependable and solid.

He knew as well as they did that if anyone had survived the crashing ship they'd be on the market by sunrise and he was clearly eager to see if they had any worth to him. Tathy was eager to see for herself what sort of creatures would have turned up.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The marketplace was crowded as the newest batch of captives were brought forth for sale. Most of them were Robusuta who had committed some crime, failed to pay their debts or in some other way proven unfit for a life of freedom, even if only temporarily. Some might simply have been young ones born to be sold, the Robusuta spawned in such numbers that parents had long ago learned that they could sell their brood to the slavers though not for very much.

But the rumor mill was strong at work, new aliens had been discovered and would be on the market before noon, or so the people whispered. Lord Stobler was greeted by another Lord, a rival wearing yellow and brown with bronze metal decorations but not armor. His attendants were a Robusuta that Tathy recognized as one of his prized fighters, the other was a grizzled old veteran with a missing right stock eye and a cracked left claw. No doubt his Sensei.

“Come to purchase young bloods?” The rival lord, Lord Barc asked. “I'm afraid I've already acquired most of the healthier specimens. I didn't know you'd be in the market today, or I'd have left you a sporting share.”

There was no deception to Lord Barc's statement, the typical Robusuta lived for the arena and the thrill of winning but they could only win as long as there were opponents to face. No one wanted a total monopoly or they'd just have to send their own fighters to face each other then they'd be winning and losing at the same time and that wouldn't do.

Lord Stobler scoffed rudely, “Dear old thing don't be daft, take your crickets and go, they're just meat for my warriors, take as many as you like, I'll own the best when you auction your assets from all your failures, old boy.”

Lord Stobler was not the typical Robusuta.

But that was okay, Tathy liked being in the service of the eccentric. It was the reason Stobler had such a menagerie of strange creatures in his employ, where lesser Lords like Barc would simply do the same old traditional thing purchasing young Robusuta, teaching them to fight then putting them in the arena to conquer or be conquered keeping the best for his stable and letting the dregs rot Stobler sought out the spectacle, the grandiose, the bizarre and he let them represent his House in the Arena. Certainly he'd keep a respectable number of his own kind, the crowd could only favor an alien so much but whenever the chance arose Lord Stobler would chance the unusual over the known.

Lord Barc was sportsmanlike, he was fair, he was even friendly. But he wasn't a winner. Lord Stobler was.

Still despite his colleague's rudeness Lord Barc laughed, a strange gurgling sound and said, “Fine, fine, old sport but you won't look down on us when the Spring games come. Now that you've made your best fighter your Sensei I fancy quite a few of my heroes are eager to carve their legends on the hides of those that remain.”

Lord Barc said this while looking very pointedly at Tathy who waved a cheery mock salute to him in response. Still she knew better than to speak out of turn and left it to her Lord to say, “They're welcome to try old thing.”

Lord Barc scuttled off, his attendants glaring at them as he went, Bass whispered, “Lord, is it wise to behave so poorly towards your competition?”

“Butter-sauce,” Lord Stobler swore, “just you keep an eye out for anything worth my time, I don't appreciate waking up this early just because you say a crashed ship gave you chills like an old woman.”

Tathy beamed approvingly at Bass, glad to know that it had been he who had suggested the trip but the giant shook his head slightly at her. He said to their Lord, “I would not have suggested this if I were not certain.”

Lord Stobler grunted, clacking his claws excitedly. He knew not to doubt Bass's hunches, Bass could sense the power of an opponent just from being in their presence and he could sense the power of an ally the same way.

Tathy had once asked him how she rated to his senses and he'd answered 'less than half.'

These days since he'd become Sensei and she'd began training harder she at least rated a 'better than half' but even she knew she'd have a ways to go before she'd be on par with her Sensei.

They toured the market, Lord Barc hadn't been joking more than half of the healthy looking young Robusuta on sale had the yellow and brown crest of House Barc.

Lord Stobler made a few small purchases to keep himself occupied while they waited for the aliens to be brought out. A new necklace for his wife, a new necklace for his favorite mistress, a few new females for his personal employ, the sort of things expected from a Lord in the market lest it seem as if he were saving his wealth and give away too soon his true intention.

The wait really only made Tathy more anxious, especially when Lord Stobler asked, “Are you sure it will be today?”

“I only know what I've heard.” Bass told him. “The whispers say it will be today before noon.”

“I've heard them too, it won't matter what sort of chills that ship sent down your spine if said chills don't translate into solid flesh figures for purchase, old thing.” Lord Stobler grumbled.

But he didn't have long after that to wait, sure enough lord Barc's purchases were sent away from the stages and a slender Robusuta scuttled onto the stage. He lacked both his claws marking him as eternally shamed and enslaved, too weak to fight in the arenas and so too weak to deserve freedom.

Not that free Robusuta like Lord Stobler or Lord Barc had ever themselves fought in the arena, but with healthy claws it was clear they _could_.

“Good people, good people,” the shamed Robusuta cried, “esteemed Lords, I present to you now a true prize. Captured last night by the brave Hunters of this city's Watch and presented before you now in the hopes that they will serve some use in the glorious Arenas, I present to you these two fearsome specimens, cannibals so they tell me, murderers so I've heard, irredeemable without a doubt and horrors that will make your flesh crawl beneath your shells. Do I hear an opening bid for the first? Half base, do I hear half base?”

Tathy was excited to see the irredeemable cannibal murderers, but when she saw them she was pretty disappointed. Brought out in chains and clearly worse for wear they were humanoid, not an unfamiliar shape, Tathy was humanoid herself most of the time and she considered Bass, Poi and Bacore to be humanoid as well. Really mostly anything that wasn't a Robusuta would usually be at least somewhat humanoid.

But two arms, two legs, one head, the usual deal. They wore their number for sale around their necks but rather than the beige tunic most on auction wore the two were wearing damaged looking armor of some sort, clearly the guards hadn't bothered—or perhaps dared—try to dress them properly but other than that little detail they didn't seem anything special to Tathy.

How . . . boring.

Still when they were brought out and put on the auction Bass was visibly stunned. He whispered, “Lord . . . their power is immense.”

Lord Stobler looked surprised, he swiveled one of his stock-eyes to look at Bass and the other he turned to the two small humanoids. “Are you certain? The one seems half dead.”

“I am certain, Lord.” Bass whispered. “They rival myself as they are now, properly trained they would win you half the War World.”

A greedy light shone in Stobler's eyes and he clacked his claws excitedly. “Well then . . . I shall have to acquire them.”

He raised his claw for the opening bid with a call of “Base.”

Immediately Lord Barc countered him with “Base point five.”

Lord Stobler glowered at Lord Barc, Bass whispered to him, “You should not have bruised his pride. Now he knows you're here for something important.”

“He would have known just for my presence, dear thing. Times two!”

“Times three!” Lord Barc cried.

“He doesn't have the money to go much higher, I'll end it now.” Lord Stobler said smugly, “Times six!”

“Times seven!” Lord Barc said with an even more smug look on his face. Lord Stobler's antennae twitched in agitation.

“Times eight!”

“Times nine!”

This went on for quite some time, the crowd was amazed and they whispered as to what sort of feats these two might achieve in the arena. If only they'd known then that their wildest imaginations were just scratching the surface.

Perhaps if he'd known then too Lord Barc wouldn't have looked so nervous as he sat on a times twenty bid. Lord Stobler snarled with triumph, “He hasn't got it, I knew he was bluffing. I'm half tempted to let him have them and watch him beg me for the loan to cover his costs!”

“Lord, would you?” Bass asked, “Even knowing what I've said about them?”

“Don't be a twit, of course I wouldn't! Never mind what you've said, he's got my own warrior's blood raging now!” Lord Stobler raised his claw to bid and shouted, “Times forty for the each of them and have well done with it!”

“Sold! The pair of tailless monkeys go to Lord Stobler for forty times base each!” The shamed Robusuta cried and the crowd roared with excitement. Lord Barc actually looked relieved and clacked his claws in applause along with the rest of them as the blue and white of House Stobler was stamped onto the pair's numbers.

Lord Stobler looked for all the world like he was pleased, but the tone of his whisper to Bass spoke a different story. He hissed, “I've just paid the price of eighty slaves for two, you make them earn it back or you'll be the one who pays, Sensei.”

“You have my word,” Bass told him, “they will win you half the War World and more when I am through with them.”

Tathy hoped he was right. That at least would be interesting.

 

_**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z** _

 

It was later that same day in the cafeteria of the Capsule Corp. headquarters that the remaining members of Blue Team and Cargo the Namekian sat together in quiet conversation as the Saiyans sat gathered around Turles who was eagerly telling of his adventures and the fate of their planet. Rhyce had to admit, from what she could hear of it Turles had a way of working a crowd.

The nomad girl massaged her temples and shook her head slowly, “I feel like we were just discussing our lack of a need for more Saiyans.”

“Don't be silly, that was a whole day ago.” Ship said playfully. She sent him a stern glower but he was used to her temper and just stuck out his tongue.

“Anyway there's nothing to be done about it now, maybe it won't be so bad.” Kodva told her. “You didn't want them to die, did you?”

“If I'm not mistaken they already did, we stole dopplegangers, clones from an alternate time line.” Rhyce insisted.

“What do you mean by that?” Cargo asked, “How could you do something like that without Dragon Balls?”

“Science so scientific it's magic.” Schip answered, “You'd have to ask Bulma or Basil how it all works.”

“I don't care unless it's helpful.” Cargo sighed. “Look at them . . . I'm stronger than all of them except the one talking. Can your Master's training really make all of them stronger than I am now in just one month?”

“I hope so.” Rhyce said, “Otherwise it was an awful waste, don't you think? I don't mean I'm not happy they're getting a second shot but it kind of feels like it's at our expense. It's like we don't matter now that there's aliens around—no offense, Cargo.”

Cargo just shrugged but Schip pointed out, “Well Master Trunks is making us the squad leaders.”

“Yeah, so we can train his newer, better students to catch up to us.” Rhyce scoffed.

“You know that isn't what this is.” Kodva told her with a weary sigh. Rhyce nodded slowly.

“I'm sorry,” She admitted, “you're right, I'm not giving Master Trunks enough credit and I'm judging our new comrades without actually knowing them . . . but of the Saiyans I _do_ know,” She insisted, “Turles isn't exactly a joy to be around.”

He's not bad either.” Kodva said. “And he's strong. Stronger than all three of us. It's pretty obvious that Saiyan training isn't anything to laugh at, and the fact that Master Trunks thinks we can not only keep up with but stay far enough ahead of the class to _teach_ it? He's putting a tremendous amount of faith in us.”

Rhyce sighed but Schip said, “You're right. Isn't he, Rhyce?”

“I'm not saying I won't do it,” Rhyce said, “I just . . . don't like it. We're going to be outnumbered you know? What if these aliens turn out as bad as the last ones?”

“Then they'll answer to Master Trunks.” Schip said simply.

Rhyce sighed and went back to massaging her temples. Three Saiyans, Master Trunks wanted her to take command of _three_ of Turles' people. What if they were all just as insufferable as he was? The thought of that was more than she could stand.

Rhyce tensed when one of the Saiyans broke off from the rest and approached them. It was the one called Beeta, she was the only one with blue armor instead of black and Rhyce understood that was due to her status as a higher ranking more elite warrior. She was the one Rhyce most expected to have trouble with.

But she tried to seem pleasant as she asked, “What do you want?”

Schip kicked her under the table and he said, “She didn't mean it that way. What can we do for you?”

The Saiyan female shrugged and sat down across from them without permission. She said, “Turles likes to talk, but I can only listen to so much.”

“What, you mean you can see his eyes turning brown too?” Rhyce asked, wondering if the bored sounding Saiyan might not be so bad after all.

But Beeta seemed surprised, she looked over her shoulder and asked, “His eyes change color?”

“It's a human expression,” Schip said, “it means that someone telling a story isn't being . . . uh, completely honest.”

Beeta yawned, “So it's a lie then? Our planet wasn't really destroyed?”

“No, that's true,” Kodva said, “Let's just start over. Hello, I am Kodva, this is Rhyce and this is Schip. Your name is Beeta, correct?”

“Yeah.” Beeta said. She regarded Rhyce and said, “You're supposed to be in charge of me now?”

“I am.” Rhyce said defiantly.

Beeta eyed her for a moment that seemed to last a bit longer than felt polite then she shrugged and just made an “mm.” noise. Rhyce wasn't sure what that meant but she got the distinct impression that her new teammate was unimpressed.

_I'll show you, once we start training I'm going to really show you who's in charge around here!_ Rhyce thought. She glowered as another Saiyan approached, this one had the same hair as Turles, sans the part that seemed like devil horns whenever Rhyce felt particularly uncharitable about the dark skinned Saiyan. This Saiyan seemed thinner, paler, sort of sickly looking actually.

He sounded almost nervous when he said, “Um . . . which one of you is Commander Schip?”

“Commander?” Schip blinked in surprise, then he shook his head, “I'm Schip, but I don't have any kind of rank.”

“Except for team leader.” Rhyce added quickly, shaking her head at Schip. _Don't you get it? You've gotta show them who the boss is!_ She thought.

“My team leader . . . well my new team leader.” The Saiyan said. “My name's Korrard, um . . . I'm not very strong.”

“That's fine,” Schip told him, “it's my job to help you change that. That's how human teams work.”

“Well . . . I'll do my best but I'm probably not going to be very good.” Korrard said. Rhyce already liked him more than Turles.

_Why couldn't I have_ him _on my team? Sure he looks like he'll drop dead any second but at least I don't have to hear him boast the way Turles does._

“You don't strike me as a fighter.” Cargo told him and Korrard seemed bothered.

“I uh . . . am one.” Korrard said. “I'm just not very good, like I said.”

“Well you're stronger than I used to be.” Schip said.

“Really?” Korrard sounded surprised.

Rhyce wanted to slam her head down on the table, but she refrained and instead just spoke up before Schip could answer by saying, “Well not _really,_ after all Master Trunks _is_ having us train you all. Schip was no slouch, he grew up on the mean streets of West City dodging the Androids, the two mechanical human fighters so strong they were the ones who took out all the Defenders of Earth before us except Master Trunks!”

“Whoa . . . really?” Korrard asked, and even Beeta seemed intrigued.

“Schip trained every day in the batting cages, the place where human warriors learn the proper technique to swing their swords, he was one of the greatest there was, and routinely fought larger groups of opponents!”

Schip gave her an annoyed look but she thought, _You've gotta sell yourself, no one wants to learn from someone weak!_

Rhyce noticed that quite a few of the other Saiyans were looking over at them now too and she wondered if maybe she had . . . miscalculated.

Schip cleared his throat and said, “Thank you Rhyce, high praise from the strongest woman alive, the Nomad Warrior Princess, Weaver of the Baskets Unbreakable. Well I didn't actually spend _every_ day at the batting cages, and you can take my word for it that Master Trunks is better with a sword than I'll ever be.”

Well at least he wasn't directly calling her a liar. Korrard still seemed impressed though, he said, “Well every Saiyan knows there's no shame in coming in second to the Royal Family. Prince Trunks is the son of our Prince, it makes sense he'd be the strongest in everything.”

“Doesn't it though?” Rhyce sighed, “But I think he really gets most of it from his mother. Humans might not have the highest power levels, but we're smart. You should never underestimate us.”

“Y-yeah, I'll try to remember that.” Korrard said.

“You really don't seem like the others.” Kodva observed. “You're a lot less boisterous.”

“I'm a lot less powerful.” Korrard said with a shrug. “But my team looks after me. They're good.” He gave Rhyce a look and bowed slightly, “Please be patient with Lamson, she's not happy about not being a team leader anymore, but she'll fall in line, I'm sure.”

“Why wouldn't she?” Beeta said dryly, “After all our team leader's the strongest woman alive. She'd have to be awfully brave to disobey her.”

Rhyce shrugged, “Yeah, well I hope so, because I'm pretty scary when I'm crossed.”

“Well _that's_ true.” Schip said, it was Rhyce's turn to kick him under the table.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the next episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Saiyans aren't pleased to be split up, can their team leaders rise to the challenge of training them? Will Turles actually be helpful? Find out next time on Chronicles of Earth's Defenders!_

 

_Character Image: Beeta_

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_Note: These black and white images are over a year old, I put them to black and white since there wasn't any way to make the armors the proper colors. But as stated in the story Beeta's should be blue like Nappa's with green pauldrons, tassets and the like._  
  
Note 2: You can see our girl has changed a bit when I updated her for Xenoverse 2, she's rocking a different cut (we'll consider this one canon) and some dark makeup cuz it seemed like something she'd do.  


 

 


	47. Our Home is Gone

**Episode Eleven**

**'Our Home is Gone'**

 

Schip didn't much trust Turles, but he was surprised by how seriously the Saiyan seemed to be taking his new role as liaison. It was actually kind of refreshing, far from bragging about himself Turles was actually offering advice.

Though part of that might have been the desire to impress Master Trunks and show that he could handle command. He wore the title of 'Captain' with a great deal of pride, it'd been just one afternoon since he'd received it and already he'd made sure to drill into their minds that “Captain” might as well be his first name.

And after all someone had to command the team if Master Trunks was staying behind on Earth. Schip was definitely concerned about going to an alien planet, and if he were honest the lack of Soda made it even worse. He'd come to trust her as a team leader, he and the others had bonded with her over time but even after three months they just didn't have that same connection with Turles and he doubted they'd have it with these other Saiyans if they were anything like Turles.

But for Schip it was worse, he had Turles' brotheron his team. _That'll be fun,_ he thought with sarcasm so strong it must have radiated because Kodva noticed.

The monk asked him, “What's the matter?”

“Nothing. Just thinking. Nervous about being a squad leader.” Schip said honestly.

Kodva put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Just be yourself, you'll do fine.”

Schip knew his old teammate would encourage him but it was a surprise when Turles did too. The Saiyan, who had gone from being a head shorter than Schip to nearly a head taller in the time he'd known him looked down at him and said, “Don't let them know you're nervous. You're stronger than they are, knock them around if you need to. Strength is the only thing they'll understand until they accept you.”

“Like a street gang.” Schip mumbled. He thought of thugs like Mace and his gang, always making things hard for him and others. He wondered if they were still up to it, or if they'd had a change of heart or something.

He doubted it. If they were still alive they were probably still causing trouble. It made him feel a bit embarrassed, he'd always thought that if he got off the streets of West City and became a success he'd go back and make things better for everyone else, but so far he hadn't even visited. Part of it was that he wasn't that successful the rest was that he was busy what with the world to protect, now a team to train, it was all he could do to find any time just to see Ana and try to cheer her up.

Now he'd be going into outer space to save an alien planet . . . he really hoped he came back.

“How long do we keep them waiting?” Rhyce asked, bringing Schip's attention to the present. The five of them—Cargo was there too—were standing outside of the gravity training room looking through the cameras near the controls at the eight warriors gathered inside.

“Not long.” Turles answered. “Just long enough that they start to get riled.”

“Why do we want to rile them?” Rhyce asked. She was clearly asking anyone who might have an idea, but it was obviously Turles who actually had the answer. Still, Rhyce seemed to like to avoid addressing him directly.

“Because you're their squad leaders. That means they do things on _your_ time.” The Saiyan warrior said. “If they wait all day they wait all day, _you're_ the ones in charge. Get it?”

“I like it.” Rhyce said with a sinister smirk.

_You would._ Schip thought, but he thought it with the sort of brotherly affection he'd come to feel towards most of Rhyce's less positive character traits. Out loud he said, “So once they're riled what then?”

“Then we go in and you assert yourselves as the ones in charge.” Turles told them. “Hit one of them if you like, you don't need a reason.”

“That sounds horrible.” Kodva said.

“You could say we're a horrible people, Earth man.” Turles said. “It's what makes us strong. If you want to harness that strength you need to play the part.”

Schip felt like he sort of got what Turles was telling them to do, it'd been that way with a lot of the street gangs.

The problem was that Schip had never _joined_ a street gang, he didn't like the way they operated and he'd always had an easier time keeping himself alive than worrying about others and he didn't like to take from people who had almost nothing themselves.

He wasn't sure he was cut out to suddenly _lead_ a gang.

But that was definitely what the Saiyans reminded him of. A band of street thugs. And here were they, the Earth's Defenders, super heroes to scare them straight. Master Trunks had made it clear that he doubted the Saiyans would be kind and cuddly which was why part of their job as squad leaders wasn't just to train the Saiyans to fight in heavy gravity but to train them to . . . well, behave properly when they got back to Earth.

To try to get through to them on an individual level and help them understand . . . what, exactly? Their new lot in life? Or maybe just that humanity worked with certain rules and they'd have to accept them? Schip couldn't even begin to really understand how to teach an alien to be human, but he supposed he could at least do the understanding them on a personal level part of things.

He'd see where they went from there.

He could tell from the cameras he'd have his work cut out for him. Even though Master Trunks had assigned him the weakest Saiyan in the batch he was working with three people who were used to being in a gang together already, they'd already have fire forged bonds and that might make them hard to get through to when it came to teaching . . . well, proper Earthling Etiquette.

It would probably be even harder trying to be seen as one of them, especially since he had no experience with that sort of thing. _Outside of joining the EDF, I guess,_ he thought.

The Saiyans in the room seemed to be starting to argue a bit, finally Turles smirked and said, “Good, good. Give it just a few more minutes, then we go in.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The eight Saiyans gathered in the gravity training room for the first time, though none of them really understood what that meant yet. The room was large but Beeta could tell that if they were all going to train today it would be very cramped. More importantly if it were on it certainly wasn't affecting them which led her to believe, given that Turles had had a measly power level of two thousand when she had given him his scouter those—for her at least—weeks ago and now had a beastly power level nearing one hundred thousand, even more powerful than any other Saiyan ever known—apart from Cauliflora now, and Prince Trunks—she doubted that.

Actually Turles' growth made no sense to her. Beeta had fought through the entire Saiyan-Tuffle war, she'd fought on multiple planets and she'd fought both with and against many of her fellow Saiyans and nothing in her experience could ever help a Saiyan warrior, let alone a low class Saiyan warrior increase their strength more than forty five fold in what he had claimed was only three months.

Cauliflora for that matter had increased her own strength a hundred and twenty fold, it seemed Super Saiyan—so to speak—but it made more sense since she'd been fighting stronger and stronger opponents for the past fifty years.

But she hadn't been training in heavy gravity.

Beeta was actually feeling quite outclassed. Cauliflora was Zorn's daughter, she was from the same clan as the King, it made sense she'd become powerful but Turles? In three months? Something didn't add up.

Needless to say she was eager to see how she'd fare in this high gravity training, even if her team leader seemed a bit standoffish. Her fellow Saiyans on the other hand gave her a great deal of concern.

“This just isn't right,” Lamson was complaining. “Doesn't it bother you, Kayle? I mean I'm losing my whole team but you're losing your partner. You and Oni are the _Evil Twins_ , alone . . . you're just . . . Kayle.”

“I'm not losing him, they're just separating us for a while. Being on different teams doesn't stop him being my twin brother.” Kayle said with a shrug. “Besides, what's wrong with just . . . Kayle?” She asked with a mocking tone and a sly sneer.

Beeta shook her head to herself, she was eager to see if Lamson would still be so vocal in her complaining once the training started. Lamson might be a team leader but that didn't mean she was really leadership material, she was just popular with her friends and fairly clever at planning. She could give orders because they weren't often questioned, but could she _take_ orders?

Beeta would consider it a measure of the other female's actual character to see if she was still defiant or if she was only defiant to their team leader's back. A true Saiyan Warrior would be defiant to their leader's face as well as their back and if it meant the need for a physical discipline that was just the way things went.

It'd be a measure of their team leader's worthiness too if she allowed Lamson to mouth off to her, or if she broke her nose like she ought to.

“It's for the best,” Oni said, “Have you seen the ship we're taking? We'd just end up destroying the ship if they let us train together.”

“I'd rather you didn't do that.” Routz told his new teammate. “But Kayle is right, Lams, Prince Trunks said this was only temporary. You'll be calling the shots again in no time!”

Routz was young, but he was enormous. Almost as large as General Nappa, Beeta was glad she wouldn't have to train with him in the overly small training pod ship.

She hadn't worked with them for very long on Frago, but she knew Routz was the team heavy. He was built for taking blows and shrugging them off, he was a good and solid shield for the smaller cleverer Lamson and the weaker Korrard.

“We'll keep Kor alive too.” Telluce said.

“Well, no promises. But we'll try.” Sharrot shrugged. She and Tell were the scrappers of Lamson's team, and they rarely seemed to be apart. Beeta could see why Prince Trunks would keep them together, though she wondered why he would keep Korrard with them instead of keeping him with Routz who could more easily defend him if that was really important.

“Thanks.” Korrard said, Beeta couldn't tell if he was being sincere because it sounded as if he were, but it would have been so bizarrely unlike a Saiyan to be grateful for protection and not want to be the stronger fighter on his own. Not that Korrard was the only one who displayed less than ideal Saiyan tendencies.

Actually there was a lot of that from Prince Trunks as well. It didn't exactly bother her, it was just odd. She wouldn't have imagined him being the son of Prince Vegeta . . . but then from what she had seen of them the royal family hadn't been particularly typical either. There was more to the claim that King Vegeta had the brains of a Tuffle than just saying that he was smarter than the average Saiyan.

There was also the underlying accusation that he didn't _think_ like a proper Saiyan, and he certainly valued family more than the typical Saiyan would. Beeta knew that pointing that out to anyone in power was to sign one's own death sentence of course, one had to be strictly complimentary of the King.

Not that it mattered what she thought about the royal blood line. If half the things Turles said were true Prince Trunks was the Legendary Super Saiyan and slayer of Frieza if nothing else. That was enough for her to follow him, at least until he gave her a reason not to.

“Just because I'm not your team leader doesn't mean I'm not still your boss,” Lamson told Telluce and Sharrot.

“I think that's _exactly_ what it means.” Telluce said with a smirk.

“Yeah, we'll probably be stronger than you before long.” Sharrot agreed.

“Just don't lose your heads, you two.” Lamson warned them, “I'll need them later to knock together.”

“Yeah, because we survived Frago to die now.” Sharrot rolled her red eyes.

“Didn't we die on Frago and come back here?” Telluce asked. “I mean I thought that was the point of Cauli's shouting at us.”

“I'll do worse than shout at you if you don't start taking this seriously!” Lamson warned them. “The five of us haven't been split since the war ended!”

_All the more reason to split you then,_ Beeta thought to herself, _how can you all really live up to your potential if you're always relying on one another?_

“Come on, don't be troublesome you two.” Routz warned them. Beeta actually hoped they would be, she was getting bored waiting for their team leaders and the thought of a fight breaking out was at least interesting. It would also help her to see just how valid Lamson's threats were to her team, after all her power level was higher than Telluce and Sharrot's, but not be enough that she should be able to reliably beat them both at the same time.

But to her surprise the two troublemakers backed down. “Sorry, Lams.” Sharrot said.

“We're just as torn up about this as you are.” Telluce said with a bit less sincerity than Sharrot but still enough to disgust Beeta.

She sighed. _This_ was the survival of the Saiyan race? They were just a lot of brats barely through their first major growth phase. She couldn't believe that the son of Prince Vegeta would have rescued any of them, including her of course. If it were up to her and she could actually rescue their kind she'd have tried to snatch some of their strongest.

“You know,” Oni said, “I think you're all ignoring a major thing here.”

“What major thing?” Lamson demanded.

“Dead or alive we were brought here to do one thing and it's the thing I think we can all agree we _want_ to do.” Oni said eagerly.

“Eat?” His twin asked and he punched her in the shoulder.

“Fight! We're going to fight and get stronger, we're going to wipe out the race that wiped our own people out! None of you seem excited about it!” Oni said.

“Well why should we be?” Lamson asked. “Let's say we pull this off, we succeed and we rescue these Namekians . . . what next? Planet Vegeta was destroyed, we don't have a home anymore. Should we live here? Where the gravity is so low it's just going to make us weak?”

“It doesn't seem like it's made Prince Trunks weak.” Oni pointed out.

Lamson scoffed, “He has to train in higher gravity though. But we'll _live_ in weak Earthling gravity. We'll . . . we'll _protect_ instead of conquer? This just isn't our way!”

“You've protected me.” Korrard pointed out.

“That's different, you're one of us.” Telluce told him. “She's right, he's asking an awful lot of us. We'll have to give up our way of life and . . . I don't know, be homebodies.”

Beeta felt at least a little heartened to know that the subtle horror of their rescue had at least dawned on some of them but she didn't say anything. There wasn't any need, they were saying it all.

“The Prince can ask me to destroy his enemies,” Sharrot said, “and I'll do it but if he asks me to settle down I'd rather be destroyed myself!”

“Let's not get carried away,” Oni said, “even an animal knows not to dedicate in its own food dish--”

“No, lot's of animals do that.” Kayle said and her brother raised his hand to silence her.

Beeta was actually surprised by how calm the Evil Twins were outside of battle. Their reputation had preceded them as being wild berserkers who raged like Oozaru without having to transform but she'd yet to see either of them so much as raise their voice.

They were almost bizarrely calm, and calmly Oni explained, “Fine, but my point is that Prince Trunks hasn't even implied that we can't still go out and find places to tear up, we just don't tear up his home. It was the same with Planet Vegeta, wasn't it? Once we beat the Tuffles it was ours, we didn't defecate in our food dish, we didn't destroy our own home. So why is this any different?”

“Because it's not Planet Vegeta.” Lamson said, “It might be _his_ home but it's not ours.”

“Ours is gone, you need to accept it and move on.” Oni told her.

Lamson shook her head, but it was Routz who said, “I think she'd just have an easier time of that if we had more time to come to terms with it before being asked to go to a place we don't know to help a race we don't know to kill the descendants of the forces we called our allies.”

Beeta shook her head again and this time Lamson asked, “Well what do you think, elite? Go on, you've been silent this whole time, but I doubt you lack opinion. Why don't you pull your nose out of the air and converse with us lowly low-class warriors? Tell us, you're the oldest you're the most experienced, what's your take on all this?”

Beeta frowned, but she'd have laughed if she were the sort. She shrugged and put her hands out as if to show she had nothing and she said, “What do you want? For me to make the decisions for you?”

“Just tell us what you think.” Routz suggested.

Beeta sighed. She asked, “What did we do for Frieza? We went to places, we fought, we went home when it was done. What are we doing for Prince Trunks?”

“We're going to a place, we'll fight, we'll come home when it's done.” Oni answered, nodding.

“This isn't our home.” Lamson said. “Our home is gone.”

“It's our home _now_.” Beeta said. “At least until we find something better. Prince Trunks is our leader, unless anyone can prove he isn't Prince Vegeta's son. At least we're serving our own kind now, Frieza was just an outsider using us for our strength the same way the Tuffles did. It's better to serve our own King than some Emperor.”

“Barely.” Lamson said. “And who cares about Prince Vegeta if he's dead? Why should we still follow the Royal family anyway?”

“Because they're stronger than we are.” Kayle answered simply. “That's how it has always been. The strongest Saiyan leads, the strongest tribe gets the hunting ground or the water hole until King Vegeta united us. Now we're strong together but they're still the strongest.”

“So you actually think we should just, what, settle down here?” Lamson demanded.

Beeta was glad the conversation had shifted back amongst the younger Saiyans. She leaned against a wall and folded her arms, hoping they wouldn't bother her any further.

Finally the door opened and their three squad leaders entered. Immediately the Saiyan warriors grew silent but there was a certain belligerence about them, especially since Prince Trunks and Cauliflora weren't there to control them.

Turles _was_ there, standing just behind the Earthlings, quietly observing.

Beeta took stock of the Earthlings, she wasn't sure how she felt about working with any of them, let alone her squad leader. Rhyce seemed inexperienced but then so did the other young male. The older male was a more impressive figure and he clearly had more experience in battle but in the day or so since she'd been brought to Earth Beeta had observed him to be too calm and patient to train Saiyan Warriors.

Well, maybe not the unexpectedly calm Evil Twin on his team. That was probably why the Namekian had been assigned to his team as well, maybe he just wasn't suited to training more volatile personalities.

“Before we begin,” Rhyce said, “Does anyone have anything they want to say?”

Beeta grinned slightly with approval when Lamson marched boldly forward and said, “I've got something! There's no reason to rip my team out of my hands, I don't think there's anything you Earthlings can teach us that trumps our years fighting together no matter—ugh!”

Beeta's grin only grew as Rhyce closed the distance between herself and Lamson and struck the female Saiyan hard in the face. The power difference was high and Lamson flew backwards off her feet clutching her face before landing on her back about two meters from where she'd started.

She rolled to her feet and sprang forward, she threw a punch which Rhyce caught and then a kick which the Earthling deflected with a kick of her own before using her free hand to punch Lamson in the face again, if the Saiyan warrior had been wearing a scouter it would have been broken then.

The former squad leader staggered back and glared but she didn't say anything else. Rhyce clasped her hands behind her back, looking unconcerned. “Your complaints are noted, anyone else?” She asked casually.

Beeta had to finally confess to a full on smile. That had, in her opinion, been the correct behavior from both Lamson and Rhyce. The Saiyan woman hadn't hidden or lied about her frustration, she'd confronted he superior fearlessly and the Earthling woman had responded with a sufficient show of force, but stopped once the point had been made.

This might not be so bad after all. Beeta didn't doubt Turles had coached Rhyce on how to behave, but Rhyce had done it without batting an eyelash and that was what the Saiyan elite had wanted to see.

“Good. Now, let's begin. We're going to find out just how heavy the gravity can be before you all start falling to your knees.” The younger Earthling male . . . Schip, Beeta was pretty sure, told them.

“But I warn you, it's Cargo's first time on the controls, I mean we showed him what to do but he might well flatten everyone to death right off the bat. Anyone scared? Wanna bow out now?” Rhyce taunted.

None of them would, not even Korrard, the weakest. They were all eager to finally feel this Earthling invention, Lamson even wiped blood from her lip and said, “Let's do it.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks watched as the battered looking band of fighters trudged into the cafeteria for dinner.

To avoid altercation the non-combat personnel working at Capsule Corp. as well as the prisoners Genora and Karuto had already eaten and moved on with their evenings before the Saiyans were brought up. Now Trunks and Master Roshi sat side by side watching them come in.

“What do you think about them?” Master Roshi asked, surprising Trunks.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Trunks said.

“I know, that's why I asked you.” Roshi told him. “These aren't just your students, they're your people, Prince Trunks.”

“Please don't call me that.” Trunks sighed. “Anyway . . . it's weird. I mean . . . eight of them, I just barely taught eight humans three months ago now I have to meet eight Saiyans? It just . . . feels like too much.”

Master Roshi didn't say anything, so Trunks continued, “I mean . . . I understand it. I understand Mother wants to protect Earth and honor Father's memory but . . . well . . . I just don't know how well Saiyans and humans can coexist on the larger scale.”

“Are you worried conflict will break out?” Master Roshi asked.

“Especially while I'm not there to stop it.” Trunks confirmed. “You've seen how Captain Videl acts too, she's just got to mouth off to one of them when they're in the wrong mood and we'll be needing to tell the King we need _another_ liaison.”

“Maybe that cute assistant of hers, eh?” Master Roshi teased, but Trunks rolled his eyes.

“Mai doesn't have Videl's obnoxious side but she doesn't seem to have Soda's outgoing personality either. She seems to freeze up all the time, to just sort of stumble on her words or speak carefully like she's reading from some invisible script, at least when she's talking to me.”

“Mm. Can't imagine why that might be.” Master Roshi said in a tone that suggested he could, though he clearly didn't intend to clue Trunks in, and Trunks didn't know what he meant by that. He added, “But we're getting off topic, young'un. What about your subjects? Would you have been happier leaving them in the past?”

Trunks hated to admit it but a part of him would have been. A part of him wasn't ready for the kind of responsibility they represented, or the risk.

But he couldn't say it out loud, not even in private to Master Roshi. Instead he said, “I'm not enthusiastic about bringing back any more, I can tell you that. I mean how am I supposed to keep track of all of them? There's just too many.”

“Well,” Master Roshi said, “you might have trouble keeping track of all of them at once so . . . why not just single out a few key individuals to focus on?”

“What do you mean?” Trunks asked.

“Well for example that quiet one in the blue armor. She clearly sets herself apart from the rest of them, she's an outsider and she'll need to be approached on her own terms. Conversely you've got the team of five, they're a tight knit band so anything to do with one will probably have to do with the others at least in some way. Then there's those two twins, they're clearly friendly enough with the bigger group but not exactly part of the pack.”

“I guess. So you're saying I really just need to focus on getting to know a few of them and the others should just sort of . . . fall into place?” Trunks asked.

“That about sums it up.” Master Roshi said, stroking his beard, “I can get to know that lone wolf for ya if ya like!”

Trunks laughed, “At your age?”

“Don't be greedy, your cup already runneth over!” Master Roshi cackled. Trunks didn't know what he meant by that either.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Turles' growth in strength is called into question and the sly Saiyan begins to wonder if there isn't some other reason he's grown as strong as he has so quickly. What could it mean for the rest of the Earth's Defenders?_

_Character Image: Cauliflora_

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_Note: Cauli's colors are pretty accurate to her colored image. For 'old' Cauliflora just imagine a scar down her face and an eye patch where her scouter is (there was no way to replicate that) Her hair did flip, I preferred the version of it in the black and white and eventually switched it back. Fun Fact: Cauli was obviously named before Caulifla was a thing, but I must admit I would love for them to meet up sometime. Caulifla is easily my favorite new character (not new favorite) if the story does survive long enough I'd love to do a Universal Tournament, of course we'll just have to see.  
_

 


	48. Curry Stew

**Episode Twelve**

**'Curry Stew'**

 

After their first day of training in heavy gravity the group of Saiyans and their Earthling instructors came up from the subterranean training hall to a feast in the cafeteria. Prince Trunks and an aged Earthling were waiting and speaking to each other already, but otherwise the place was mostly empty. Telluce didn't see any of the other Earthling warriors, which was a shame.

He would have liked to see just how the Earthling squad leaders measured above their species peers. Was the difference as extreme as the difference between them and Turles and Cauliflora? They would have been a match for most of King Vegeta's honor guard though not quite for the king himself, but Earth was supposed to be a weak world.

But all the same the smells of food greeted them as they entered the place, and though there were no warriors—apart from the ones entering with them and the aged Earthling with Prince Trunks—but there were still some Earthlings laboring to make more food.

Of all the Earthlings Telluce had met in the past day the one he suspected he and the others would appreciate most was surprisingly one of the weakest; the cook Asiago. He was an aging human but far weaker than the aged human Master Roshi who was actually a warrior as well.

But if being friends with Kor had taught Tell anything in the five years since the war ended—well fifty five now he supposed, though he wasn't sure if he was supposed to count the fifty years he hadn't been 'alive' for—it was that not everyone's talents needed to lie in the same fields, where Asiago might never know the joy of destroying a weaker race he had his own way of displaying the glory of his kind: Cooking.

“Feeding you all is like feeding an army, and on top of that I've got to feed the army!” The gray whiskered Earthling grumbled as he and an assistant pushed out a cart with a large black cauldron of what Turles had told them was called 'curry stew.'

“Thanks for putting up with us anyway, Cookie.” Schip said with a bow. Telluce was paying attention to his new squad leader so when Schip bowed he did the same thing and Sharro did too before they took their seats nearby Turles and across from Schip and the other two Earthlings who were sitting together.

“I thought his name as Asiago?” Korrard, who was sitting next to asked, “Why did you call him cookie?”

“Oh . . . it's just a nickname Bocan started.” Schip said.

“Right! What's it mean?” Sharro asked.

“It's just an affectionate way of saying 'cook', which is what the Earthlings call the ones who cook for them.” Turles explained.

“You call them after their task?” Telluce asked. That made sense though, after all it wasn't like warriors had nothing to do with war.

“Sometimes,” Schip answered, “but there's other words for it too, like chef or baker . . .” He trailed off for a moment then said, “But it's more respectful to refer to Asiago by his name. I wasn't thinking, I should have set a better example. Sorr—uh that is don't go doing the same thing, you've got to _earn_ the right to call him Cookie. Right now he outranks all of you, got it?”

Turles shook his head in annoyance, but he kept his peace. Telluce knew Schip had messed up admitting to making a mistake in front of his squad and tried—poorly—to cover it up by giving them an order. Lucky for him Tell didn't care how dominant his personality was, he'd only have to follow him for a little while and he was strong. Better still he was going to show Tell and the others how to be that strong and that was what mattered.

Still Turles would probably reprimand him in private so Telluce pretended he was taken in by the poor acting and said, “Understood sir, I won't dare!”

He elbowed Sharro who disinterestedly mumbled, “Yeah that sounds great,” as she filled her bowl.

Schip was still strong enough to take him and Sharro on without batting an eye and he'd proven it just moments ago in gravity as heavy as home for the Saiyans. Schip might not have a Saiyan's attitude but that just made sense: he wasn't a Saiyan. Whatever they could learn from him was clearly worth learning, after all Turles had gone from a pipsqueak to . . .

Well, a monster really. His power level was so massive he almost rivaled King Vegeta _while transformed._

With a power level of ninety thousand if he transformed into an Oozaru his power level would skyrocket to almost a _million_.

It was a little hard for Telluce to understand the idea that they'd jumped forward more than a generation in time, he could still only think of strength in terms of their old world and his runty little brother was now as tall as he was and nearly forty times stronger than him.

And it'd happened in just three months so far as Turles' personal time line went.

That might explain the growth in height but the growth in power? Not so much. If Telluce had to bow to cooks in order to learn that kind of strength he was all too happy to.

Though he did wonder if the average human who knew how to fight was only around thirty or so in terms of power level—and that was what his scouter said about most of the soldiers—then that meant that Schip and the others were hundreds of times stronger than the average human fighter . . . but even with the base being so widely different how was Turles _so far_ ahead of the Earthlings?

For that matter how was Cauliflora? She had been fighting for the last fifty years she said, but still King Vegeta had fought a lot and he had only had a power level just over ten thousand. It was respectable enough and stronger than any other Saiyan but . . . well, fighting alone couldn't make someone that strong, could it?

Telluce had to know. He was about to ask his brother when Sharro elbowed him and said, “You have to try this! It's amazing!”

Telluce looked over to see what she meant and remembered the cauldron of curry stew. He hadn't actually had any yet, being a Saiyan warrior his diet mostly consisted of roasted meat from . . . whatever he managed to kill that day, and sapient species weren't excluded from the menu.

Still at his friend's bidding he tried the curry and . . . there really were no words.

The Saiyan warrior had eaten before obviously, he'd eaten great quantities or he'd starved but he knew what it was to eat. He'd tasted before, tasted a wide array of food from a wide array of places, he knew what it was to taste. But until that moment he had no idea that he had never experienced _flavor_ before and suddenly the act of eating the sense of tasting were both changed fundamentally.

If he were the sort he might have cried. As it was his eyes widened in shock, he cast a betrayed look at his younger—now technically older—brother Turles, why hadn't he told him about this? He'd just said 'it's curry stew' he hadn't said 'it's life changing' or anything like that.

The rat had been eating like this for three months? No wonder he'd gotten so tall!

The stew was hot, but not just in temperature it was hot in a strange new and delightful way that Telluce couldn't describe and even drinking water didn't cool the heat on his tongue. There were pieces of meat, they weren't rough and chewy like the meat he ate gathered round a fire with his squad, they were soft and sweet and melted in his mouth.

There were vegetables too, round orange disks, small green crescents and chunks of something a pale golden color, 'potatoes' Schip had called them before telling Sharro that she couldn't have his, oh _potatoes_ were the best part. They almost seemed to soak up the other flavors in the stew—not that the sticky white grains didn't do much the same thing.

Rice, they were called, but not Rhyce, Telluce had to admit it was a bit beyond him that Rhyce would be the name of a warrior and that rice would be the name of a food but he wouldn't blame any parents for naming their child after something so tasty, or rather something that so perfectly complimented the taste of what it was served with.

Oh yes, Asiago was definitely one of the earthlings that Telluce would appreciate the most. He was no warrior but he'd be as good as king to Tell if he kept cooking like this. Even the usually taciturn Beeta was moved telling Asiago, “I will destroy any fool who dares to call you an enemy.”

“Um . . . thank you?” The human cook seemed taken aback, Beeta wasn't the only one even Lams who was still fairly annoyed at her demotion seemed to have just added Asiago to the very short list of beings she currently had no ill intentions towards.

It was several helpings before Telluce came down and collected his wits enough to even remember that he _had_ a brother, let alone that he'd meant to ask him anything.

It helped that by then the food was gone and Sharro had stolen his bowl to lick clean.

“How are you all so thin?” Rhyce marveled from across the table.

“Thin?” Routz sounded alarmed, “have you seen me? I'm built like an Oozaru!”

“I think she means us girls,” Lams reassured the muscular giant, “and the answer is simple: we're a superior species.”

Rhyce scoffed and seemed about to say something but before a real argument could break out Turles offered a better answer.

“Metabolism,” he said, “a Saiyan's body does more than grow and get stronger faster than an Earthling's, it also needs more fuel and it burns through it faster. You humans can last without food much longer than we can.”

“No such thing as a siege in Saiyan history?” Kodva asked with an amused grin.

“Like all good Earth sieges our sieges are _short._ We get things done instead of just waiting around.” Turles said with a smirk. “The Tuffles liked to try to starve us out though.”

“Didn't work?” Rhyce asked.

“No. We just ate the Tuffles.” Tell said with a smirk just like his brother's, the Saiyans at the table laughed, the humans didn't.

Though they did smile at least.

“Well here's hoping Master Trunks stocked enough food on the ship for everyone.” Rhyce said. Telluce nodded, he'd hate to imagine them running out of food on the way.

“Yes, after all you wouldn't want us to have to eat _you._ ” Kor said playfully.

“That depends, that means more than one thing here—ouch!” Rhyce was saying but she was stopped very quickly by what sounded like a quick kick under the table. She glared at Kodva who sipped his water innocently.

“What she means to say,” He elaborated, “is that there will be sufficient supplies for the voyage.”

“Yes, what I meant to say . . .” Rhyce glowered at the larger Earthling.

“I told your brother I'd look out for you.” Kodva said quietly, though Telluce's sharp Saiyan hearing picked it up.

“Yeah you're the big sister I never wanted.” Rhyce growled. There was another kick, and “What was that one for?”

“Fun.” Kodva said with a smile.

It seemed like everyone was talking amongst themselves so Tell whispered to his brother, “So just how effective is this gravity training going to be?”

“What?” Turles asked, eying him suspiciously. “I told you it'd be effective, are you doubting me?”

“I'm mostly just curious. Your growth defies what should be possible in three months, it's beyond anything we've ever seen and it's hard to believe we can achieve it too.”

“Coward.” Turles laughed. “Which of us is the pipsqueak now, eh? Afraid to try just because you know you'll never be as great as me?”

“We're not cowards, we're just wondering what _else_ is happening to make you so strong.” Sharro growled. Tell wasn't aware that she'd been listening in but he nodded in agreement since she'd pretty much summed it up.

Turles laughed, “Is it so hard to believe I'm just amazing?”

“No.” Tell said, “You're a Saiyan, it makes sense that you'd grow fast . . . but this much this quickly? And what about Cauliflora? She's been fighting for the last fifty years but she's hardly the first of our kind to do that . . . and yet she's sporting a power level that would have made Lor—that is Frieza nervous.”

“Not even close,” Turles said, “Frieza's real power level was in the millions, more than a hundred million.”

Tell stared in shock, “Are you serious?”

“I am.” Turles told him, “And Prince Trunks' power level is even higher than that when he becomes a Super Saiyan.”

“But that makes sense, he's royal blood _and_ he's the legendary Super Saiyan,” Telluce said, “it makes sense for him to be stronger than anyone else. You're just like the rest of us, cut from the same low-class cloth, brother. So how did you become so strong so quickly? It can't really just be gravity training or the Earthlings should be stronger too.”

“They _are_ stronger, stronger than you.” Turles smirked. “They're gods compared to their people thanks to Prince Trunks' training. You'd do well to learn what you can from them.”

“And I intend to.” Telluce said.

“Then stop whining and just focus on getting stronger.” Turles said simply. “You're my brother, if there were anything else you needed to know you'd be the first to know it.”

“Would I?” Tell wondered honestly. It wasn't just a three month time difference to them, his brother even seemed to have a different personae, probably because he was so much stronger now. Turles had less reason to behave in a restrained manner now that he was stronger than almost anyone else.

So _if_ he had some secret . . . why would he share it? Why not just use it to stay ahead of the rest of them? Even—if not especially—Tell.

But in the end Telluce had to admit that more than anything the nature of Saiyan would probably win out. If Turles had a secret then the desire to fight stronger and stronger opponents would probably drive him to share it. After all, Telluce could guess that that was why Prince Trunks had tried to train Earthlings into fighters even if they were nowhere near his level yet.

As if his brother could read his thoughts Turles shrugged, “Train in heavy gravity for a while and we'll see where you end up. Unless you want to just admit that I'm better than you you should be relishing the chance to surpass me in just a third of the time. You're a Saiyan warrior, aren't you?”

It was in a Saiyan's blood to relish a challenge and Tell had to admit he was looking forward to surpassing Turles just as Turles had said. He scoffed. “Of course I am. And of course I'd surpass you on any level playing field.”

He just wasn't so sure the playing field was as level as Turles was suggesting. Something told him something else was at work to cause his brother's explosive growth, and he'd have to wait to find out what it was.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Cargo was nervous and fidgety. He only drank water so he didn't get to enjoy the same life changing experience the Saiyans seemed to be having tasting curry for the first time.

More importantly he didn't have time to care about dinner, he kept his eyes on Trunks.

He needed to speak to him, needed to make him understand that he had to be the one to go.

Cargo just . . . wasn't really certain about how he'd do that.

“Are you okay?” Someone asked him. It was one of the humans, the taller of the military females, the one with longer black hair . . . Lieutenant he thought.

“I'm fine, why do you ask?” Cargo answered trying not to let on that he felt so uneasy.

She shrugged, “You're not eating anything. Aren't you hungry?”

“My people don't eat solid food. We only drink water.” Cargo said.

“Really? That seems strange. I've met a Namekian before, he ate food.” Lieutenant said.

Cargo was surprised, “You knew Piccolo?” He asked, unable to imagine any other Namekian this Earthling woman might have met.

She nodded. “I knew King Piccolo . . . not familiarly really . . . we weren't friends really.”

Cargo didn't really hear anything she said after the really important part; “Piccolo was a King?” He gasped, “You mean one of my kind ruled your world?”

“What? No . . . um . . . not exactly . . .” Lieutenant sighed.

“What's going on here?” The one called Captain demanded.

“I was just--”

“Fraternizing with the aliens, eh?” Captain asked but Cargo could tell she was being playful.

“I was only wondering why he wasn't eating.” Lieutenant said.

“You mentioned Piccolo being a king though, when was that?” Cargo asked.

One of his people had ruled the Earth? Didn't they understand what that meant?

If Piccolo had been an Earth King then perhaps, since Trunks clearly differed to the authority of the Earth King Cargo could ask that King to order Trunks to help him, no more waiting around no more excuses they could go right away . . . after all he was as good as family to Piccolo didn't that make him a Prince or something?

Well it didn't matter what it made him if it got Trunks to help him. It couldn't just be students and Saiyans it needed to be Trunks, why didn't they understand that?

“When? Well before I was born so definitely before she was born.” Captain said.

“It wasn't.” Lieutenant sighed.

“Oh not that again . . . Mai, we've talked about this . . .”

“About Piccolo being a King?” Cargo asked, though he knew the answer. He wasn't ignorant he was just trying to steer the Earthlings back to the subject that was of interest to him.

Maybe it was a bit harsh but he had a lot on his mind and he didn't need these two distracting him for no reason. If they wanted to discuss other things they could do that on their own, they didn't need to bother him with it.

“She has this . . . let's just call it a 'fascination' with the previous generation, acts like she's part of it. Likes to behave like an old lady.” Captain sighed, “She knows her fair share of trivia, I'll give her that but it's beneath a Lieutenant of the Royal Guard to play those sorts of parlor tricks or to lie so determinedly.”

“I'm not lying, Captain.” Lieutenant sighed. “I've told you there was an accident with the Dragon Balls.”

“Those things we're going to get from an alien planet?” Captain scoffed, “and when were you on an alien planet? Look it doesn't matter, there isn't a face cream in the world that'd keep you looking that young.”

Cargo didn't care. He said, “Well if that's all you two wanted maybe I should talk to Master Trunks now. The other Earthling seems to have moved on--”

“Oh has he? Then I guess I'd better go talk strategy with the kid. Come on Mai.”

“Um . . . yes, Captain.” Lieutenant said nervously. The two Earthlings headed for Trunks but Cargo saw no reason he shouldn't come along, his need was no less pressing than theirs.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks had barely stopped talking to Master Roshi when Captain Videl came over with her aide and Cargo following in her wake.

“All right then,” she said, “Everything's planned and prepared, Mai and I will each be leading a squad, your mother says her two assistants should be able to control the ship along with your weakest alien prisoner, that should leave enough room in the ship to rescue the survivors if your teams can keep the enemy fighters busy.”

Trunks nodded, “Fair enough, and Turles will go with the pod and Cauliflora will go along with you guys in the command ship. Even if the training isn't enough she should be able to take out any Arcosian short of the twins or the General and none of them should be there.”

“That's what they tell me.” Videl said. “Meanwhile you just wait here, train up, be prepared when we come back.”

Trunks didn't like that part of the plan and he was about to protest when Cargo did it for him.

“Mister Trunks, I . . . I cannot agree to that. You may not understand it but you need to be there.”

“Does he?” Captain Videl demanded, “Because it seems to me like doing that would leave Earth undefended.”

“Not if Cauliflora stays behind,” Cargo said, “you said yourself she can handle any Arcosian short of the Twins and the General.”

“The difference is we _know_ the General is on his way,” Captain Videl scoffed, “Look I understand you're worried about your people but--”

“Please,” Cargo interrupted, “do you know what it's like to see everyone around you, all the strong people you looked up to suddenly . . . just . . . gone? To see them go off to fight and knowing you're not strong enough to help? Not strong enough to save them?”

Trunks knew exactly what that was like, actually. He'd felt that the day Gohan had left him behind to fight the Androids himself. He remembered the helplessness he'd felt when he arrived too late to offer even token assistance, and he felt a tremendous kinship with Cargo in that moment.

He clenched his fists, he was about to tell Cargo that he was right, that he _needed_ to be there. He _agreed_ , being left behind wasn't a part of the plan he was in favor of at all. Earth would be safe without him for a while and Dragon Balls were too important to risk. If he made it back with even a single Namekian Sage their problems would be over.

But before he could say anything Lieutenant Mai spoke up.

“I know we'd all feel safer with Mister Trunks along,” she said, and he wasn't sure if she were calling him that because Cargo had, or if she'd forgotten already that she could just call him Trunks.

She continued, telling Cargo, “The truth is that this mission will be dangerous and our fighters will have to train hard to succeed. We'll need you to train hard too, Cargo, you're one of us now. You've got to help us take back your world and free your people. You can't hesitate or hold back now, it's the survival of your race that's at stake. You have to train hard and be all you can be so that when we arrive you can personally lead the charge and show the enemy that Namekians are a strong people just as we hope to show them that Earthlings are Saiyans are strong.”

“But . . . but we can't risk anything to chance, please Mister Trunks, you have to understand, you have to come along! I understand what Lieutenant is saying, I do, but with you by our side there's no chance of failure!” Cargo implored.

“And the PTO knows that, Cargo,” Mai told him, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder. Although Mai was a tall woman Cargo was still slightly taller than her so he had to look down to meet her gaze as she said, “but this is our chance to show them that it's not just Trunks that's a threat to them. If we beat them on New Namek they'll be on notice, they'll know that the alliance of Earthlings, Saiyans and Namekians is too dangerous to engage and hopefully they'll stay away. If they don't at least we'll have a victory that we won ourselves to bring home and to show all the people so that _they_ will know that we're not going to be helpless like we were under the Androids, that this enemy _can_ be beaten.”

Cargo's antennae drooped in disappointment, he shook his head and said one last time to Trunks, “You don't understand . . . you just don't. We can't . . . _I_ can't risk this, not even to make a statement like that.”

“We're not asking you to risk your people,” Captain Videl told him in a softer tone than normal, “just to trust ours.”

Still Cargo looked to Trunks as if waiting for his final word.

Trunks nodded slowly. He said, “Just trust in us, Cargo. I promise, we won't let you down.”

Cargo slumped in defeat and turned and walked away wordlessly.

But Mai smiled at him for a moment before Captain Videl told her to “Go after the kid, make sure he's okay. He won't trust our plan overnight but hopefully we can get him to agree to it.”

Mai saluted sharply and rushed off after Cargo leaving the Captain and Trunks alone.

Not strictly alone, they were still in a cafeteria full of raucous Saiyan warriors but the conversation was between just the two of them now. It was a bit uncomfortable, he'd have preferred Mai.

“Now I need to hear that you agree to the plan.” Captain Videl told Trunks.

Trunks was surprised, “What do you mean?” He asked.

“Exactly what I said. Why, is it hard?” She asked him.

“No . . . not exactly,” He said.

“Then let's hear it.” Captain Videl told him. “I need to hear that this plan is Golden Warrior approved, I want to hear from you that you think we can do this without you, without having to risk Earth by bringing you along.”

Trunks didn't know what to say. He didn't believe that they _couldn't_ do it without him, he just knew that as Cargo had said his presence would make it a certainty.

And it wasn't as if General Boreal could reach Earth in time even if Trunks went. But suppose the _Twins_ were there, suppose Cauli and Turles weren't enough to take them on . . . suppose he lost almost all that remained of his students and was alone again without Dragon Balls or a New Namek to look for . . . what did he do then?

He shrugged casually and said, “This mission is going to succeed, Captain, it's too important to fail. I have utmost faith in that.”

Videl eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then finally she relented and nodded. “Well then I'll finalize things with the King, we'll set off as soon as possible.”

“Give him my regards.” Trunks nodded and headed off to find Cauliflora.

He'd need to talk to her about _his_ plan.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks hatches a plan with Cauli and Mai talks to Cargo about the dangers of leaving Trunks behind when they go to New Namek. But not everyone's getting along, as Lamson confronts Schip for control of her squad._

 

_Character Image: Rhubara_

__

  
_Notes: I've mentioned her hair in the past, here's young-adult Rhuby. At this stage her armor color would have changed to blue. Not that she's got any kind of fixation on the color or anything . . . Fun Fact: Rhubara looks entirely different from her original pen and paper design. When I drew the original Rhubara she had long straight hair similar to Mai's but much longer, she was also extremely pale and blonde._


	49. A Race of Weaklings

**Episode Thirteen**

**'A Race of Weaklings'**

 

Trunks could sense that Cauliflora was on one of the upper floors so he headed for the elevators.

“Wait, sir!” A voice called after him. He turned and frowned to see the Saiyan in blue and green armor approaching him. Beeta, wasn't it? He frowned for a moment, then remembered that as their Prince he needed to seem more enthusiastic about seeing them.

Even if he had other things to do.

He didn't like lying though, so he didn't try enthusiasm. But he did smile at her, “Can I help you?”

Beeta approached him, but kept a certain distance, he noticed. She said, “I . . . won't dare take up much of your time, sire . . . but I was just . . . wondering . . . why you saved us.”

“Because we could.” Trunks said. “We can't save everyone, but we could save you.”

“Why not save Planet Vegeta? Why not save all of our people?” Beeta asked him. “If you were strong enough to kill Frieza . . . if you could travel through time . . . why not . . . why not save your race?”

Trunks frowned now and said, “When we use the time machine we go to an alternate time-line, the one where I killed Frieza on Earth. Because I killed Frieza on Earth I can't kill him anywhere else because I didn't. But if I did it'd create a whole other alternate universe, it wouldn't be . . . real. I mean it'd be real to them but here history would still be the same. And who knows what else that would change?”

“Then am I not real?” Beeta asked. “Or am I an orphan from another universe?”

Trunks didn't know how to answer that, really. He had to admit, “I guess . . . really it's the second. In this universe . . . you died. You and all the rest of them died on Frago . . . but no bodies were recovered. That's why we knew we could rescue you.”

“Because it wouldn't change history if no trace of us was found?” Beeta asked.

“Because no trace of you should have been found at all, so at least in theory nothing further would have changed. The PTO didn't really know what happened to you so the PTO won't know what happened to you . . . it's really all pretty confusing but well . . .”

Beeta frowned. She asked him, “So . . . we just have to live in this new future?”

“Yes . . . but it's yours to do with what you will.” Trunks said. “Protect the Earth, rescue the Namekians, defeat the Planet Trade Organization and . . .”

“And what?” Beeta asked him.

Trunks shrugged. “Just live.”

Beeta's frown didn't change but her eyes seemed to get even more depressed.

“For what?” She asked him. “I . . . our race is extinct, our home is gone . . . there's no future for us except the one you've brought us to and . . . you did it so we could fight a battle we don't care about. At least I don't.”

Trunks frowned too. He folded his arms and considered her words.

He . . . hadn't expected this really. He hadn't expected them to care very much. They were Saiyans . . . there was a fight against a strong enemy . . . what else should matter to to them?

_Well she's told you._ He thought. _A future . . . it may be unexpected but there it is._

He nodded to her and said, “It's true, the Saiyans are gone . . . we probably won't be able to save a real breeding population, there just weren't that many who went unnoticed, Frieza made sure of that. It's true Planet Vegeta is gone . . . but well Earth is here. It's not the same but it can be your home, it can be a home for all of you. And the humans are . . . well, they're . . .”

He folded his arms and told her, “Look . . . you never know, okay? You might meet a human you like or maybe another Saiyan we rescue, you might settle down and have a family. I know you might think that's not what Saiyans do but it's what my father did. You can join us, be a Defender of Earth, fight our enemies and protect this new home just like my father did. It will take some time, it will feel strange but I think if you're willing to try it'll be rewarding. I know I took you away from the world you knew and brought you into a whole new one but I didn't do it so you could be miserable, I did it because I needed you. I need all of you. I need your help to protect this place. Can you do that?”

Beeta nodded. “Yes, sire.”

Trunks smiled at her and said, “Then that's all you need to worry about. Protect Earth and earn your place on it, join us and be one of us. Your life may be different but we'll see what we can do to make it a good one at least.”

Beeta nodded again. “Yes, sire.” She said again. She bowed slightly, “Apologies for taking up so much of your time.”

“It's not a problem, really.” Trunks told her though he wasn't sure how honest he was being.

He _was_ glad to reassure her, if that's what he'd done, but he also had other things on his mind.

Like how he could convince Cauliflora to go along with what he had in mind.

As Beeta took her leave he finally made it to the elevator and was about to head up when the door opened revealing the very woman he was looking for.

And his mother.

“Hello, Trunks.” His mother greeted him with a smile.

“Um, hi. What were you two doing?”

“Just discussing some schemes and such,” his mother told him lightly, “I have to plan for the future after all.”

_What a coincidence._ Trunks thought. He said, “Well if you don't mind, Cauliflora, I'd like to discuss a future scheme of my own with you.”

“I'm at your service, my Prince.” Cauliflora shrugged.

“Well don't let me stop you.” His mother said, he could tell she was intrigued but he certainly couldn't discuss his plans in front of her.

He wondered if he should ask her to leave, or if they might make her suspicious but instead Cauliflora asked, “Should we talk in the upstairs lounge to avoid interruption?”

Trunks could guess that was where his mother had talked to her and the reason she'd chosen it. He nodded, “Sure, that sounds like a plan.”

Trunks just hoped she wouldn't be too offended by what he was about to ask her. They got into the elevator with a sigh—from it, not them—as his mother thankfully excused herself and said, “Don't go planning the end of the world now!”

“No promises.” Trunks told her with a smile, but he regretted it instantly. _I mean . . . well I hope that's not what happens . . ._ he thought.

Cauliflora asked him, “Can I ask, my Prince, why you wanted to speak to me specifically? Isn't Turles your Captain?”

Trunks shrugged, “Turles is a Captain but . . . well rank doesn't really exist. He's a Captain because it makes him happy and it won't bother the others too much . . . except maybe Rhyce. But I actually needed to talk to you because . . .”

_How to put this?_ Trunks wondered. Somehow his brain settled on “You're pretty tall.”

Cauliflora blinked owlishly at him. Or winked, since one eye was covered up by a patch. She asked him, “Is that . . . relevant?”

“Well you're about my height, right?” Trunks asked.

“I . . . what?”

Trunks looked her in the eye and said, “Cauliflora you might not understand it yet but the Namekians are our key to victory. More-so than any show of might or force with Dragon Balls we'd win the war and our safety and security. This mission . . . it's too important to risk failure.”

“I can assure you I will not fail.” Cauliflora said simply. “But I'm sure that's not all you want.”

“It's not.” Trunks agreed. He scratched the back of his head nervously and asked, “Um . . . I may have something pretty major to ask of you.”

“How can I serve?” Cauliflora asked.

The elevator reached its floor and they got out but Trunks didn't feel much need to go the rest of the way to the lounge. He could say what he needed to say right where he was.

“You're about my height, right?” He asked her again.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Mai knew she'd have her work cut out for her talking to Cargo, she wasn't used to dealing with Namekians and certainly not alien Namekians.

Well she supposed King Piccolo had been an alien . . . but she hadn't known that at the time.

But with her time in the Royal Guard she _did_ have experience talking to grieving families and frightened people and since she suspected Cargo was more that than anything else and since people were basically the same when the major emotions took hold she might be able to get through to him.

She caught him at the doors to the Capsule Corporation, she called out to him before he could pass through them because if he flew away she'd have no way of catching up with him and who knew where he'd go or what he'd do?

“Cargo!” She called, “Wait a moment, please!”

Cargo turned to her and frowned, “What? What can you possibly say that will change anything?”

“I don't know,” Mai admitted, “but will you let me try? Tell me, is there anything I need to know? If you can tell me why you want Trunks to come along maybe I can help reassure you.”

“And if you can't?” Cargo demanded angrily.

“Then I'll help you convince the others to bring him along.” Mai said honestly. “I want this mission to succeed, if there really is no way we can do that without Trunks then we'll have no choice but to bring Trunks along. But you have to understand that we need a place to come home to and without him we might not have that.”

Cargo frowned but he nodded to her, “Okay . . . okay then, let's talk.”

“Good.” Mai smiled.

“For starters . . . I won't ask if you know what it's like to be helpless against a more powerful foe because I know that you do.” Cargo told her. “I know that even though you're a warrior your people are generally very weak and I know you've faced more powerful opponents in the past.”

Mai didn't interrupt, but she could have just asked Cargo if he'd bothered to look at any of the cities around them. Despite the rebuilding efforts in West City and now Central City most of the rest of the world was still, for lack of a better term, rather post-apocalyptic.

Cargo said, “Try to understand that what you felt then is what I felt when my world was attacked. There was nothing I could do to help my brothers . . . to help Dende.”

_Why Dende in particular?_ She wondered. “Didn't you say that Dende and some others had escaped to the hills? It sounds as if you helped him at least a bit.”

Cargo shook his head, “No. I'm here and he's still there, he's not safe and I am. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm stronger than my instructor, I'm stronger than all of the Saiyans that Trunks brought back, the only ones stronger than me are Turles and Cauliflora. Turles isn't strong enough to beat the fighters that came to my world and Cauliflora might be able to but it would be three against one, her friend Tathy is too weak to help.”

“But you'll have a month of training to help prepare you, all of you will.” Mai pointed out. “The Saiyans should get a lot stronger.”

“How much stronger?” Cargo asked. “Because if Turles has been training for three months and he's only as strong as he is that only means to me that the rest might be a third as strong as him when we arrive. That won't be enough.”

“True but it is a start. Besides, engaging the Arcosians directly won't be their mission, their mission will be to engage the PTO's other forces while Turles and Cauliflora take on the Arcosians. It'll just be two on three then, and Turles hasn't trained in one hundred times Earth's gravity yet, that means he'll be even stronger when the time comes. He might even catch up to Cauliflora.”

“I just don't believe it.” Cargo said. “That he'll be strong enough, I mean. If Mister Trunks comes along I know he'll save my brother but without him? I just don't see how it can be done. Cauliflora _might_ be stronger than the three Arcosians, she might not be, I can't tell for sure. But I know Turles isn't, even if he is stronger than me.”

Mai nodded. She said, “I can understand that. I don't see the world in terms of power though, I think normal humans can do a lot. Sure Rhyce and Schip and your new teacher Kodva are powerful paragons but people like Captain Videl? She's not helpless. I've seen her carry a man twice her size out of a burning building slung over her shoulder while carrying his cat under her other arm, and the cat was unfriendly.”

“I . . . don't know what cats are.” Cargo said.

Mai frowned, “They're a sort of pet, maybe when we get back you can adopt one for yourself, I hear they're very calming . . . at least when they're friendly. But the point is you shouldn't underestimate us humans, especially the King's Royal Guard. We've been helping people for a long time and we're used to helping people who think they don't need our help. Captain Videl is used to helping people who think they're stronger than she is and who, probably technically were. But she's strong in her own way.”

“And what about you?” Cargo asked. “Are you strong?”

“It would be too unseemly of me to say that I am, but it would be too dishonest of me to say that I'm not. I think it's best to just say that like the Captain I have my own strengths and weaknesses and I'm hoping they'll be enough to help your people on New Namek. But you know one thing we absolutely need is to know that Earth will still be here when we get back. After all where should we take all the survivors if it isn't?”

“I don't know . . .” Cargo admitted. He frowned and said, “I just . . . we can't fail.”

But he trailed off and shook his head. Mai was a tall woman but she still had to look up at Cargo most of the time. Slumped as he was with his head downcast however Mai could pretty much meet his downcast gaze without having to strain her neck. She looked into those sad eyes and said, “Cargo can I ask you a question? Who would you rather see be the one to rescue your people, to rescue your brother Dende? Trunks . . . or yourself?”

“Myself?” Cargo asked, not answered. “What do you mean? I can't do it, that's why I needed help from Earth!”

“Well the Saiyans aren't the only ones that Trunks' students are going to train. They're going to train you too. Just because Kodva isn't already stronger than you doesn't mean he can't teach you. So . . . who better to rescue New Namek than a Namekian? Train with them Cargo, become stronger and you can be the one to defeat the Arcosians.”

“I couldn't . . . my training with the warriors wasn't complete.”

“It wasn't compete with _your_ warriors,” Mai told him, “So complete it with our warriors instead. You're already ahead, so surpass the Saiyans, show them what a Namekian can do. Get stronger and be the one to save your world.”

“But we'll only have one month to train, that won't be enough . . .”

“You'll train for one month but you'll train in incredibly heavy gravity. You'll get very strong, from what I understand.” Mai told him. “And besides, strength isn't everything. Captain Videl and I aren't that strong but we're still Earthling warriors and we'll save your people with your help.”

Cargo frowned and asked, “Do you really think I can get that strong?”

Mai had no idea, she didn't know how strong he needed to get. But she told him, “I can't know that. Only you can know that, Cargo.”

She remembered that he'd been very interested in King Piccolo. She wouldn't like him to follow the evil Namekian's example, but she did say, “Just remember, you're not from a race of weaklings. You wanted to know about King Piccolo? Well I'll tell you this, he would have taken matters into his own hands and given it his all.”

That was about as nicely as she could phrase it. In reality she was pretty certain that King Piccolo would have torn New Namek asunder to destroy the Arcosians if he thought of it as belonging to him and he _probably_ would have thought of it as belonging to him. His people? His planet.

She didn't want Cargo to become anything near as terrifying and threatening as King Piccolo had been but if it motivated him . . .

“But with Trunks we can't fail. It's not that I don't want to try to be that strong it's just . . . I don't know if I can and I don't want to risk it. You _do_ understand, right?” Cargo asked her.

Mai smiled, “It's true Trunks would make certain the mission to New Namek succeeded but if he leaves Earth that might not matter since the Dragon Balls here will be destroyed along with the planet if General Boreal arrives, which I understand he is very likely to do. Who could protect us if you all leave? Cauliflora maybe, but she's still weaker than General Boreal and even if she could train herself to be strong enough what if he has help? After all he is a General.”

Cargo nodded, “I guess I hadn't considered that . . . it would be good to have a place to go after the battle . . . I . . . should think alone for a while, please.”

“Okay.” Mai nodded.

But it occurred to her, didn't planet Namek have Dragon Balls?

Even if their Elder had been killed was there no one capable of restoring them? If so how would they restore Earth's?

She'd need to talk to Trunks about this . . . if she could manage it without embarrassing herself of course.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Most of the fighters had cleared away after dinner but Rhyce remained at the table poking at her food. She wasn't particularly hungry but she also didn't want to be wasteful. Dinner had been good but Rhyce hadn't been able to eat too much of it. She was too nervous about her new role.

Leadership . . . that was one thing. She was all kinds of prepared to take command and boss people around, _that'd_ be fine.

But _teaching_? She wasn't exactly a good teacher. And bonding? What was she supposed to do, weave baskets with them?

These weren't just some girls from a different tribe or culture either they were alien women from a species that, if she was understanding correctly, had tried to wipe out _her_ species.

_So what do you teach someone like that?_ She wondered. _Moreover_ why _do you teach someone like that? They're dangerous aren't they? So why train them to be even stronger than me, at least if Turles' growth is anything to go by._ Rhyce thought bitterly.

“You doing okay, chief?” Basil asked her.

Rhyce shrugged, “I could be better. I just don't know what I'm going to do about this team of mine . . . I mean . . . how do I bond with them? I don't bond well with humans and I know how they think mostly. I have no idea how to bond with Saiyans.”

Basil shrugged. “Play Go with 'em. It's how we bonded.”

“Please. Even if I took a board with me by the time I'd taught them to play we'd be at New Namek.” Rhyce said.

Basil tapped her chin. The short woman seemed deep in thought for a moment and because she knew she was a genius Rhyce expected something brilliant to come out of her mouth.

Unfortunately Basil said, “Teach 'em checkers.”

Rhyce scoffed. “Checkers? Are you serious? That's not a game for warriors.”

“I used to have a set of dinosaur checkers when I was a kid, they were the best. If you got kinged you put a little tyrannosaurus on the board, not the realistic ones that run around in the wild south of East City, just a silly little cute one. Then if you took a piece you could throw it in this neat little volcano. Pfft, tell me _that's_ not a game for warriors.”

Rhyce rolled her eyes affectionately, “Okay: that's not a game for warriors.”

“Neither is Go. It's a game for strategists.” Thyme said, interrupting and taking an empty seat nearby.

“Don't listen to him, he's just scared that if he shuts up for too long his brain will start working.” Basil said.

Rhyce raised an eyebrow at Thyme, Basil had left him in a difficult position. He could either say something in which case she'd say she was proven right or say nothing in which case she could say she was proven right.

It would be rubbish in a real argument but Rhyce knew that wasn't what the two were doing, it almost never was. In terms of the weird game they seemed to constantly play however . . .

Thyme finally settled on shrugging and saying, “Meh.”

Basil shook her head at him in disappointment, “Sad.” She said. Then she turned to Rhyce and said, “Anyway what you're on about, absolute nonsense. You don't bond well with people? Baloney. You're a short tempered little cuss but you're likable enough. You bonded with everyone here, didn't you? You'll do fine.”

“Who are you calling 'little,' short-stack?” Rhyce smiled. She said, “I didn't bond with any of them though, everyone else bonded with me, or Gurein eased them into it.” She sighed, remembering her older brother.

He sure put up with a lot from her. The thought that she could bring him back by helping Cargo's people though . . .

Basil told her, “Everyone else bonded with you and you bonded back. So don't worry. Let's start you off easy, right? You there, what's your name?”

She was asking Lamson who glowered at her.

“What does it matter to you? I'm not going to help her feel better about herself if that's what you want. She's _right_ to be worried about being a bad leader.”

Rhyce was truly surprised that Lamson, who was sitting far across the table had heard her. She bristled and demanded, “Eavesdropping? Hardly a warrior's trait.”

“You were hardly whispering!” Lamson snarled. “Anyway it's true, you _should_ be worried about being a bad leader.”

“You need a fresh one?” Rhyce asked, showing her fist but the female Saiyan scowled at her and stood up.

“Settle down. That wasn't meant as an insult . . . well, maybe to a degree.” Lamson walked over, closing the distance between them and taking a seat across the table closer to Thyme than to Rhyce or Basil. She said, “I'm a squad leader, and I don't fear the foe. I fear the friend.”

“What?” Rhyce asked.

“I have to be a good leader. I _have_ to. Their lives depend on it. _Our_ lives are going to depend on you now, and I don't like it . . . but there it is. You should be scared because it's not your own life anymore, it's other people's. It's easy to be brave about your own life, it's harder to risk someone else's or worse to spend it.”

Lamson eyed her bowl of unfinished food and said, “One thing you should try to do is keep up appearances. If you're too nervous to eat then eat a bit then give your food to one of the others in your squad. It's an easy way to check if they're nervous too and to increase your bond.”

“So you want my dinner?” Rhyce raised an eyebrow.

“No it won't work on me, I just told you about it.” Lamson scoffed and blew her thick black bangs out of her eyes. She said, “Next time offer it to Kayle or Beeta.”

“Why be helpful now?” Basil asked.

“Because she's going to make me stronger and I need her working at her best to do that.” Lamson explained. “First she'll make me stronger then I'll beat her, then I'll beat the other human and take control of my squad back.”

“Or maybe you could learn to be part of a new squad instead of beating everyone up just to take back something you've been told will be _given_ back.” Thyme suggested.

“Or maybe _you_ could learn not to tell me what to do.” Lamson said darkly. “Something given has no value, a Saiyan _takes._ When I'm strong enough I'll _take_ my squad back, but who knows, maybe I won't kill you when I do.”

“Careful,” Rhyce warned her, “I'll put up with some things but threats against my life or the lives of my friends . . . not on the list.”

Lamson shrugged. “Fair enough. But what's important is that you recognize that you can't fail as a team leader.”

“I most certainly can!” Rhyce cried.

“No. You _can_ , but you _can't._ ” Lamson told her. “If you fail I could die or Beeta could die.”

“What about Kayle?” Basil asked.

“I don't think the twins are mortal.” Lamson said and it was with no small amount of shock that Rhyce realized the Saiyan squad leader had just made a _joke_.

Even Basil stared in shock, Thyme chuckled though.

Lamson said, “The point is my life is in your hands . . . so be aware of the gravity of the situation.”

“Yeah.” Rhyce said. She considered and admitted, “It'd go easier with your help you know.”

“Not my problem. If you can't handle one unruly Saiyan you can't train Saiyans.” Lamson scoffed.

Rhyce sighed. “I can handle one unruly Saiyan, I'm just not allowed to do it the way I'd like, which would be really permanent.”

Again only Thyme chuckled, but at least Lamson flashed a wolfish grin at her.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Mai has a talk with Trunks and Bulma and Roshi discuss the dangers of the trip. T_ _he King chooses a name for the ship and christens it for its maiden journey to liberate New Namek, but Bulma is putting her foot down and refusing to let Trunks go along. Will the Prince of all Saiyans have to defy his Queen Mother?_

 

_Character Image: Lamson_  


__

_Notes: Obviously she shouldn't have the Ginyu patch and she should have a tail in the second picture, but I threw her in that armor to get her colors right. Fun Fact: Lamson and Korrard were originally going to be hinted to be in a relationship with the idea being that since Kor wasn't much of a fighter Lams clearly kept him around for a different reason. However I don't imagine Saiyans as being overly sexual beings, I figure they mostly just really want to fight and periodically feel some urge to reproduce. I'd already decided--and would later see that I'd guessed right--that Saiyan families aren't exactly strong and long-term relationships aren't really a normal thing for them as such it actually made less sense for any Saiyan to assume Lams kept a weak male around for dalliance purposes. The humans might suspect it, but then the humans wouldn't care and so the idea was abandoned.  
_

 


	50. Humanity's Hope

**Episode Fourteen**

**'Humanity's Hope'**

 

His plan was underway, Cauliflora had agreed easily enough, after all he was her Prince and she was a loyal subject. After their talk he knew his students would be safe.

So Trunks felt a certain sort of confidence when he headed to bed, almost a grim resolve that this plan would work, New Namek would be saved, his students would come back safely and Earth would be in no danger.

It was . . . well, great. And he felt pretty great about it. As he waited for the elevator its stupid sigh didn't even bother him.

He was surprised however to find Lieutenant Mai waiting inside. He smiled and greeted her, "Oh, hi Mai. Off to bed?"

"Hello." She said, blushing slightly, "No, no, I was looking for you actually."

"Me?" Trunks asked.

"I wanted to discuss some things with you. About the mission."

Trunks nodded, "Go ahead."

"Well . . . as I think on it some things don't quite add up about this attack."

That got Trunks' attention. He pressed the button for the top floor, and asked her, "What do you mean?"

"Well as I understand it we need to rescue New Namek to bring a Namekian back to restore our Dragon Balls, correct?"

"And to save the Namekian people." Trunks nodded.

"Of course! I mean—I just thought that went without saying!" Mai blushed furiously, "But what I mean is we need to restore our Dragon Balls, right?"

"Yes of course."

"But if they _can_ do it why haven't they done it for theirs?" Mai asked him.

Trunks hadn't really considered that. "Well . . . I wasn't around for the adventures on Namek, but I do know their Dragon Balls were stronger than ours, maybe they haven't restored them because don't know how or maybe they don't have anyone strong enough."

Mai nodded slowly, "Okay. But they have someone strong enough for us?"

"Well Cargo has confirmed Dende was alive when he left," Trunks said, "Dende is strong enough to restore our Dragon Balls at least."

He wouldn't explain to Mai that Dende had become the Guardian of Earth in the alternate time line. He'd just have to trust that she'd believe him and understand without him having to really explain time travel to her.

The elevator reached his floor and Trunks stepped out. Mai followed him, but he knew her room wasn't on his floor. She and Videl had been temporarily given lodging in the rooms set aside for the Defenders. Since Videl wanted to be trained she might stay in those quarters but Mai would probably have to go wherever the other soldiers went.

Not that he thought it was unusual for her to follow him out of the elevator since they were still talking, though he'd thought maybe the conversation was wrapping up. Still he wondered if it might be more gallant to go downstairs to her room instead.

_Well I don't even know that she's going to bed._ Trunks thought. _She might be planing to stay up for a few more hours . . . I'm not though._

"What else is bothering you?" He asked her.

"Well . . . it's just that we know the enemy knows the value of this place but they attacked it. Then they let Cargo escape . . . so obviously this seems like it must be a trap."

"Obviously." Trunks sighed.

"But . . . even so destroying the Dragon Balls? I mean it could have been a mistake, but all the same it's such a monumental mistake to make. If they care about the Dragon Balls at all it would almost make more sense for them to capture the remaining Namekians rather than letting them survive in hiding."

Trunks nodded, these were just reasons he felt like he needed to go along, his students were going to be getting into a more dangerous situation than they expected if Mai was right. He told her, "Listen, I don't want to seem dismissive of your concerns but I'm not worried about the mission. You're right, some things don't add up but it's going to be okay."

"How can you be certain?" Mai asked. "I mean I certainly _hope_ you're right but what am I missing?"

Well he couldn't just tell her what he'd just discussed with Cauli. Instead he smiled and said, "I have faith. The PTO are picking a fight with some of the most dedicated, determined and powerful enemies they've ever made. The Defenders of Earth are often underestimated but that doesn't mean we'll underestimate our enemies.

"Maybe they think that because I'm so strong I won't anticipate them being tricky, maybe they think they can outsmart me, and maybe they're right. But I bet they won't outsmart you, Mai. You and Captain Videl, Cargo, Turles, all of you working together? Without Frieza their whole world fell apart, their Empire started to crumble. But my hope is that someday Earth won't even need me."

"You mean you want to retire?" Mai seemed surprised. "At your age?"

"Maybe not for a while, but someday." Trunks smiled, then he sighed, "Certainly not in the near future . . . who knows what threat will present itself once we beat the PTO?"

"I guess we'll have to find out after we do beat them." Mai told him. "They rule with strength and fear but we've got strength, courage, and cooperation. At least I hope we have cooperation. I'll do my best to make sure we do," She said with a smile.

"And that's why I know I don't have to worry about my students," Trunks said with a smile, "because we're going to work together."

Mai of course didn't realize what he really meant. But she seemed pleased all the same. Her smile grew fuller and she said, "We won't disappoint you, Trunks."

"I know. Now . . . if you don't mind I'm going to get some sleep." Trunks yawned. "Big days ahead."

Mai nodded, "Yes, good night, sleep well sir—um Trunks. Sleep well Trunks."

She saluted and then looked embarrassed, "Oh, sorry!" She said, blushing again, "I guess I shouldn't do that since you're not an officer."

"Or in the military." Trunks said with a smile.

Mai just smiled back and backed away awkwardly, "Right. Well sleep well! Good night!" She told him again.

"Good night," He returned and turned back to the door to his room.

He glanced at her one last time over his shoulder, smiling slightly.

She made him think of Soda a bit, it made him want to trust her . . . or maybe she just managed that on her own.

But already he knew he'd be upset if anything happened to her the same as he'd be upset if anything happened to any of his students or to his mother's engineers or Captain Videl and the rest of her soldiers.

If anything bad happened to anyone when he could have stopped it he'd never be able to live with himself. For all the talk of wanting to retire a part of him was starting to wonder if he didn't say it so much just to remind himself that it was something he wanted.

Or to convince himself that it was something he wanted.

_But what do I want?_ He wondered to himself. _Apart from keeping everyone safe . . . what do_ I _want from life?_

He shook his head and went into his room. He said aloud to himself, "Win first, live your life later."

But he did think on the subject of living one's life. He thought of what Beeta had said before . . . what could or would the Saiyans get out of life? He was asking them to risk their lives for a planet they didn't care about and would only get to enjoy once they got back . . .

But it wasn't as if there was time to let them have a night out on the town, especially not before his students had had a chance to really teach them how to behave. Still he had to admit that if he were one of them he'd probably be pretty bothered by what was being asked of them.

_Or maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way,_ he thought, _After all,_ I'd _be bothered . . . but they're mercenaries, right? So this is just a job to them . . . and I'm their Prince aren't I? So . . . maybe they'll be okay?_

Trunks went to bed but thoughts of sleep had abandoned him now. He'd lay awake for more than a few hours just wondering . . . what would the future hold for these people? For _his_ people? Whatever his mother might want with these dangerous aliens he felt as if it were his responsibility to care for them the same way he did for his students; they were his responsibility.

Their lives were his responsibility, and even though they might all technically be "dead" in his own time-line he felt like their deaths would be on his head too.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The evening was definitely winding down but it felt as if the day had lasted forever. Bulma couldn't believe how much work had gone into just a single day, worse than that she couldn't believe how much work just housing less than a dozen Saiyans had turned out to be.

She knew everyone assumed the company card was limitless but the truth was with the population so reduced it wasn't as if Capsule Corp. was raking in the kind of money it had before and between spending so much on restoration efforts . . . well she'd be fine for a while but sooner or later every pot of gold found its bottom.

"Compared to this it almost seems like Vegeta and Trunks were finicky eaters." Bulma said as she looked at the charges from the restaurant.

"Kids today." Roshi said, sipping a cup of coffee, "They've got no concept of the value of money."

Bulma laughed, "I doubt you have any better idea than them."

"I live a simple life." Roshi answered with mock solemnity. "All I need is my private island, my shape-shifting companions and the private submarine that kept me alive during the Androids' rampage."

"Staying here must be torture for you." Bulma said with an affectionate roll of her eyes.

The old Master chuckled and said, "It could be worse, I could be going on this trip to New Namek."

"Or you could be stuck like me trying to figure out how to fit enough food to feed the crew both there and on the way back," Bulma told him with a sigh.

Master Roshi just smiled, "You're a clever girl, you'll figure it out."

"I'm hardly a girl anymore!" Bulma laughed again in spire of herself. "Get out of here you old flatterer."

"I will, just one thing first . . ."

"What's that?"

"Are you sure about sending our people off with two Saiyans we barely know in command?" Roshi asked. "From what I've gathered from Blue Team they don't trust Turles, and he puts a tingle up my spine too."

Bulma shook her head, "Ridiculous. They're just jealous of his power, they'll get over it."

"Are you sure that's all it is?" Master Roshi asked her, and Bulma sighed

"I can't imagine what else it would be. He's been totally loyal and even Trunks felt confident enough to make him a Captain, didn't he? I don't have time to worry about Turles, even if he's not trustworthy I think we can trust him not to anger Trunks."

"But Trunks isn't going with them." Master Roshi reminded her.

Bulma sighed again, this time with great exaggeration to show Roshi that she was annoyed. "Look Turles respects Trunks, he's got no reason not to. And even then let's say he does try something, well Cauliflora will be there too."

"Do you trust her?" Roshi asked. "She has a history with Turles, doesn't she? And she's a mercenary. The same is true for most of these Saiyans, right?"

"I know that," Bulma acknowledged, "But she seems loyal. What do you want me to do, send Trunks and risk Earth?"

"I'm not saying you should," Master Roshi told her, "But I think it might be worth considering."

"If I send Trunks I'd need to keep Cauliflora to guard Chillax," Bulma pointed out, "or send Chillax along and hope he doesn't just blow up the ship and kill my son in the vacuum of space. Honestly Master Roshi we're not doing this because it's the best plan we're doing this because it's the only one, isn't it?"

Master Roshi was quiet for a moment, then took another sip of coffee. Finally he said, "I suppose that's true. I hope this does work, I really do. I think we could do with having a few more familiar faces back."

"You mean Pastel and Bocan and Gurein?" Bulma asked.

"Not just them." Roshi said. "Others too."

"Right." Bulma nodded, realizing that new or even upgraded Dragon Balls might actually let them bring back more than just their recent losses. She smirked and said, "Just imagine that . . . Vegeta would make all of these Saiyan warriors loyal beyond any doubt."

"I don't know if I'll ever fail to doubt these Saiyans, but I hope I'm wrong." Master Roshi said.

"Well I hear kids these days say everyone's a little bit racist." Bulma set her papers down. She looked at her watch and sighed, "I'll figure this out tomorrow. I'd better get some sleep . . . you should too, lack of sleep can age you horribly."

Master Roshi chuckled and rose from his chair. He told her, "I know you'll solve it, just like I know this mission will succeed."

"Then why are you questioning it?" Bulma asked.

"Making sure you know it too." Master Roshi shrugged. "If you can't handle questions that just tells me you have your own doubts."

Bulma's eyes narrowed, "I see. Well you can try to play it off as if you were just testing my confidence but I get the distinct impression that you're here because you're bored."

"That's a possibility too." Roshi acknowledged.

"Get some sleep—alone or at least not with me so don't ask—and be ready for tomorrow." Bulma told him. "And if you get a chance maybe it wouldn't hurt to let Trunks know how much faith you have in my decisions, I don't think he's quite understanding _why_ he can't go."

"And why can't he go?" Master Roshi asked. "Have you _really_ considered _every_ possible option when it comes to dealing with Chillax?"

"I'm not going to murder a prisoner if that's what you're suggesting." Bulma said.

"You don't have to go that far," Roshi told her, "but you could take him along . . . knowing that he'll be released when you arrive."

"Setting aside what I just said about vacuums are you suggesting I give the Arcosians back one of their strongest fighters?" Bulma asked.

"What better way to show them we're not concerned by him and rid ourselves of a dangerous prisoner? You could let them have Karuto too, a peaceful gesture." The old hermit suggested.

"That'd still leave Earth vulnerable to the possibility of General Boreal showing up, or one of the three ships that hit New Namek. We'll give Karuto back as soon as it's safe to negotiate but until then enough, Master. I don't need any more second-guessing, I know you're just testing my plans but I'm confident in them. Trunks is our greatest offense and our greatest defense and as important as offense might be right now defense is even more important. They'll be gone two months, one there and one back that's plenty of time for General Boreal to show up and obliterate us, even if we kept Cauliflora here to deal with Chillax she's not strong enough to beat the General if what we're told about his power level is right."

"I think you and Trunks are both starting to rely on those numbers a little too much." Master Roshi said.

"The universe _is_ numbers, Roshi." Bulma told him, then snapped her fingers, "Capsules! I'll pack them food storage units that double as waste disposal units, each one will have enough food to feed a platoon for day then be jettisoned. I'll put them in capsules to save on space. I'll make Basil and Thyme work on it in the morning and have it done by the evening."

"Well that sounds good but just remember what I said about numbers." Master Roshi said.

"Of course." Bulma said, but she had already forgotten as she thought out just how much food she'd need to fit in each capsule.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

It was only a few days later that the vessels were ready for launch and the Earth Defense Force was prepared to set out for New Namek without Trunks. The crowds that had gathered to see the twin ships of Earth's Defense Fleet depart were even larger than the ones that had gathered to hear the Golden Warrior's announcement half a year ago.

Of course this crowd wasn't just martial artists hoping to be trained, this crowd was almost every citizen of West City eager to see the captured alien space ship and the Capsule Corporation ship that were about to blast off and take the fight to the evil aliens that had threatened them.

Trunks was more than a little nervous, not because of where he was going but because of what he'd have to do. He sat with his mother and some officials on a stage in front of the Capsule Corp. headquarters while the King gave a speech behind a podium. A safe distance away but within sight of the crowds were the two ships about to lift off.

About to lift off without him.

“I'm glad you understand, Trunks.” His mother told him.

“It's like you said, they've got to be strong enough to stand on their own. I can't always be there for them.” He said, and smiled at her.

It had been a busy couple of days with a lot of preparations made and changed but one thing that hadn't changed was his mother's mind. She had been adamant, absolutely adamant that he not go. She'd spoken to Chillax, a thing that Trunks still hadn't made time to do himself, he'd apparently assured her that his kind would never be careless enough to destroy the Namekian's leadership without first forcing them to help them use the Dragon Balls on their behalf.

“It all stinks of trap, they want you off of Earth,” his mother had told him.

So he'd had to accept it.

He listened as the King christened their captured vessel which had been repainted in the black and white of Capsule Corp. so that it could match its companion ship, the spherical gravity training pod. This had created a bit of an upset with some of the King's other advisors who wanted it painted the orange and blue of the Royal Guard but Captain Videl had shouted them down on that front.

Trunks was grateful to her for that . . . he was sure she and Lieutenant Mai and their platoon knew exactly what they'd be doing.

“Three months ago we Earthlings were reminded that we do not exist in solitude, that the galaxy around us is alive and dangerous!” The King was telling the people from behind a podium at the center of the stage they all shared, “It is because of our brave Defenders that this alien incursion didn't end in the worst and most final of tragedies and while we have mourned the losses we suffered that day we have never had to know the terror of alien occupation. But now word has reached me that a nearby planet full of friends of Earth is in peril and they need our help! While our Golden Warrior will remain to protect us it is time for the Warriors of Earth to embark and bring justice, and liberation to our beleaguered friends on New Namek!”

The crowd cheered, some called his name or held up signs with his face, Trunks really was taken aback by the outpouring of affection.

He just smiled politely and waved to the crowds even though inside his stomach was churning. Still not from where he was going, but from what he was going to do.

“As such, and at the recommendation of our brave defenders,” the King declared, “I dub this ship _Humanity's Hope_ , and wish it good speed and a safe voyage as it sets out to bear both the brave fighters of Earth's Defense Force and a choice selection of my own Royal Guard to their destination. Let them go forth knowing that those they leave behind back home will miss them and count the days until their safe return!”

The crowd went wild, Trunks knew it was now or never. He stepped away from the stage as his new teams were led out by Turles all wearing the orange and black space suits of Capsule Corporation. The Royal Guard wore them too, along with Basil, Thyme and Genora who'd be crewing the PTO vessel. Notably absent was only Cauliflora who would be going along with them for added security.

“Sorry,” Trunks told his mother, “upset stomach, nerves, I'll be right back.”

Bulma frowned at her son but nodded, “Hurry back, you really should be here when they leave.”

“I will be, I promise.” Trunks told her and he rushed off for the Capsule Corp building.

He was barely through the doors when he met Cauliflora who held out a suit and a helmet for him.

It was lucky they were about the same height, if Cauliflora were average height for a woman this would never have worked.

“You're sure you want to do this?” She asked him.

“I trust you to keep this planet safe, and even if General Boreal does show up you're almost as strong as he is, you just need to train a bit more. Master Roshi can help you with that, I can't let my students and the new recruits go into battle alone, and Captain Videl and Lieutenant Mai? They won't stand a chance without me.”

Cauliflora nodded slightly, “I'll try to make sure there's a planet here to meet you when you get back, Prince Trunks.”

Trunks smiled and shoved the space helmet onto his head. With any luck his mother wouldn't know who he was when he reemerged from the building disguised as Cauliflora to take her place, or rather _his_ rightful place aboard the _Humanity's Hope._ He'd rather have been on _Defender One_ with his students to train them but since that wasn't where Cauli was supposed to be he couldn't without it seeming strange.

His mother didn't so much as spare him a sideways glance as he embarked, though he didn't doubt she'd threaten to build a whole new ship just to chase him down once she realized what he'd done.

But Cauliflora would lay low until the two ships were safely out of the solar system and deliver Trunks' sincerely written apology to his mother. If she survived his mother's wrath she would have to take his place as Earth's Defender, at least for a little while. She was loyal, she was strong, she was the perfect choice. It all made sense to Trunks . . .

_Or am I pretending it does because of how scared I really am?_ He wondered. _I'm doing the right thing . . . right?_ He told himself as the ship's hatch closed behind him. _We're only going to be a little more than a month away, and even if he raced General Boreal shouldn't be able to reach Earth before we get back . . . right?_ Trunks thought.

He took a deep breath but kept his helmet on.

“You're late, miss Flora,” Captain Videl told her, “Quickly then take your post, I want us underway.”

“Surprised they even got Turles out of his Saiyan armor for this event.” Thyme was saying as he took a seat at one of the consoles. Trunks was impressed with how naturally Thyme, Basil and Genora controlled the ship and brought it to life.

Well it made sense for Genora.

“Well none of the Saiyans were pleased about it, but they were promised brand new suits of armor in their style were waiting aboard _Defender One_.” Basil said with a shrug. “You feeling all right, Cauliflora? You can take your helmet off you know.”

Trunks shook his head but didn't speak. He didn't want to give the game away.

He felt like a child sneaking out after curfew to go to a party with his friends. He was the defender of Earth, he should be bolder than this . . .

But . . . well he didn't want to provoke his mother until the ship had safely broken the atmosphere.

“All right,” Captain Videl declared, falling into the ship's Captain's chair looking for all the world like she'd been born for it, “begin count down.”

“Ten, nine, eight,” Lieutenant Mai said strapping herself into a seat near Trunks and faltering a bit. She seemed confused for a moment and missed seven, but quickly shook her head and said, “Six, five, four, three, two . . .”

With that Trunks felt himself being pressed into his chair as the large saucer shaped ship began to lift off.

“You okay, Mai?” Videl asked as the ship rose.

“Y-yes. Sorry ma'am, I just . . . got butterflies in my stomach all of a sudden.” Mai said, blushing with embarrassment.

“Don't sweat it too much, most of us haven't flown to Outer Space before either.” Videl told her.

“Y-you must be an old hand at it, huh?” Mai asked Trunks, believing he was Cauliflora.

Trunks smiled behind his helmet and just managed an exaggerated nod.

They hadn't broken the atmosphere yet.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _As Glacien analyzes the seeds of the Tree of Might the scientist makes a startling discovery. Meanwhile Tathy has a little chat with Chillax, but what could these two have to say to each other?_

 

Character Image: Routz  


_Notes: Disregard the time patrol patch in the second picture, like Lamson he's just wearing that armor so his colors are accurate, though the above picture isn't perfect either as Bardock's armor was the only one of the right type he should only have one tasset over his groin rather than the two at his hips. He should also be massive in both height and dimension, think Nappa or Recoome. I call him The Bruiser but he is more like the The Mountain in more ways than one. Fun Fact: Routz is actually one of my favorite Saiyan character designs, and in his second image isn't actually shirtless, I just colored his shirt to look like his skin in the second picture. It's very close but if you look closely you can see the separation. Now you can't un-see it._

 


	51. Trust Me

**Episode Fifteen**

**'Trust Me'**

 

The Science Vessel _Frieza's Fist_ was the most advanced in the fleet and still its resources were strained as Glacien tried to understand the seeds from the trees.

The Arcosian scientist scratched his chin with a slender finger as he looked at the readout the computer had produced. It was fascinating.

“Can you tell me anything else about the fruit, Kiwano?” Glacien asked. The Iwatian soldier shrugged. Kiwano was one of the elder Iwatians to survive the destruction of their world, Glacien had thought that the grizzled old veteran would stand a better chance than any of the younger survivors of knowing details about the Tree.

But Kiwano was being either intentionally vague or knew less than the scientist had hoped. “What else could there be to say, sire? Perhaps if I knew what has you confused this time?”

“Well how did it come to be on your planet?” Glacien asked. “Because I know you said it wasn't from there, well the computer agrees. This seed is different from other samples collected from your world, it's an alien.”

“We always assumed it was from the gods.” Kiwano said.

“Gods don't exist, but it certainly is a miracle that it arrived and took root. Unless it was done deliberately, but that's just not possible . . . at least it's not very likely given what I'm seeing.”

“And just what are you seeing, sire?” Kiwano asked.

“The DNA doesn't match your world, but it _does_ match something we've got on file.”

“Isn't that good?” Kiwano wondered, “If you know where it's from can't you take the seed to that planet?”

“No, that planet was destroyed a long time ago.” Glacien said. The slender scientist pressed a button on his scouter to open the communication line, “Lord Frostbite, Lord Frostburn, please come to the lab, I've made a discovery!”

“Investigate on the behalf of both of us, Bite.” Lord Frostburn's voice answered almost immediately.

“What, too busy?” Frostbite sounded skeptical on the communicator.

“I'm . . . don't want to.” Frostburn yawned and Glacien rolled his eyes. Frostburn was a moron.

Lord Frostbite wasn't a genius himself but at least he was smart enough to listen to those with sharper minds. Lord Frostburn just expected explosions to solve everything.

“I'll be right there.” Frostbite growled.

“Acknowledged.” Glacien said, then shut off the Scouter's communicator and asked Kiwano, “Didn't you observe any change in the beings that ate the fruit?”

“Of course, they were stronger. Like when we absorb heat energy, but the strength didn't go away.”

The Arcosian scientist sighed and went back to the data.

_Nothing you eat once would stay with you forever, the strength increase from eating the fruit should leave the body eventually but that doesn't seem to be the case. At least not entirely. Perhaps it's the increased muscle mass? Perhaps the body just grows accustomed to the strength and adapts to it._

One thing was certain, unlocking the secrets of this plant would help them to conquer Earth, not just a thorn in their side and a place they needed desperately to complete the sale of but also the world where his son had been killed by one of those Saiyan scum.

Still . . . the seeds from the tree were fascinating and confusing. “I've never seen a plant that would grow as quickly as this one threatens to, if we can find a world that could support it we could have a fully functioning tree in a day or so.”

“The legends did say it grew to the skies very quickly.” Kiwano confirmed and Glacien smiled.

“If the legends say I'm right that's good enough for me, at least for now.” Glacien said happily as the doors slid open and surprisingly both twins entered.

Frostburn was clearly being dragged along by Frostbite, gripping his smaller twin's wrist and pulling the more diminutive Arcosian along.

“Good to see you both my Lords, I think you'll both want to hear what I've discovered. Kiwano, you're dismissed, I won't have any further questions for the moment.”

“Thank you sire.” Kiwano sighed, then bowed to the Twins, “My Lords.”

The two Lords didn't acknowledge the Iwatian leaving him to trundle off in silence. Instead they approached Glacien, “Go on.” Bite urged him, “What have you found?”

Glacien smiled with his eyes, his face obscured by chitinous mask, “Well as I was just telling Kiwano the tree is obviously an alien, it's not from his world. It's a wonder how it got there and it's an even greater wonder that it took root, especially considering what I suspect.”

“Okay . . .” Frostburn trailed off, clearly encouraging Glacien to get to the point.

Glacien fought off a scoff and politely said, “I thought that I could cross reference the tree's DNA with DNA we have in the ships records.”

“Trees have DNA?” Bite asked.

“Every living thing does, my—Lord.” Glacien said, correcting himself quickly from accidentally being too informal with Lord Frostbite. “That is any living thing or thing that was living will have DNA, and we can look at that DNA to determine where something might be from. After all an Arcosian and a Pyroar might share similar outward appearance but the Arcosian has a better chance of breeding with a snow-berry bush than a Pyroar because we evolved on different planets.”

It was clear that Glacien had confused them both so the scientist tried to dumb it down saying, “In other words even if two things look similar that doesn't mean they're the same.”

“Close in on your point.” Frostburn suggested, “After all I was already bored when I came in.”

“Well I thought even if the species of tree were extinct on its home if we could determine where it came from we might stand a better chance of planting it and seeing it grow in optimal conditions, however only one entry in our computers came back as a positive relation.”

“But it wasn't the Iwatians?” Frostburn asked.

“No, because the tree was an alien to them,” Bite said, clearly annoyed.

“Sorry, it's hard to pay attention when I don't care and made it pretty clear that I didn't.” Frostburn grumbled

“My Lord, don't you even want to know _what_ DNA was related to the tree?”

“Appullatien?” Frostburn asked, but it was obvious he was being facetious.

“It's Saiyan.” Glacien said with a smile, and sure enough with just that word he had both of the Twins standing up straight and paying full attention.

“You mean the tree and the Saiyan evolved from the same source?” Bite asked.

“If by “source” you mean “planet” then yes,” Glacien said, “at least that's what this looks like. Understand the tree is a plant and the Saiyans are animals, they're very distantly related but the computer finds evidence that like an Arcosian and a Snowberry bush they're from the same planet. Actually we share about fifty percent of our DNA with the berry and it's a similar comparison to Saiyans and this seed, suggesting that they either evolved on the same world.”

“But that's madness, Planet Vegeta was a barren desert rock. There were no giant trees.” Frostburn said.

“No,” Glacien agreed, “but the Saiyans didn't evolve from Planet Vegeta either, like the tree to Goulder they were aliens that settled on an alien world. That's probably why they and the Tuffles went to war so often, they hadn't evolved to coexist one was an invasive species.”

“The Saiyans weren't exactly forthcoming with their history to Cousin Frieza,” Frostburn said and Glacien nodded at the truth of the statement, “how can you be sure they didn't evolve on planet Vegeta?”

“Because that's what our data from the planet suggests, but I'll grant you it's sketchy. Still I believe their Super Saiyan legend does support the theory that their original home world, wherever it was, was destroyed. Probably in some sort of civil war that brought out the first Super Saiyan or Super Saiyans all those years ago. The resulting destruction sent the survivors to what would become known as Planet Vegeta.”

“But how would they get there? They were barbarians living in caves!” Frostburn protested.

“Their ancestors must have been more advanced.” Bite said.

“Oh it's possible their ancestors were not only advanced, they may well have planted the tree on Goulder themselves intentionally. Perhaps as a form of Terra-forming? But if the planet were going to be unexpectedly destroyed it's doubtful the best and brightest were at the front of the line on whatever ships evacuated them, that might explain their technological regression . . . or maybe they rode asteroids, I don't know how the monkeys work!”

Glacien paused for the Twins to laugh at his joke then realized they might both be just ignorant enough to think he was being serious so he quickly added, “Not that I think they'd survive such a thing, I was simply being comical.”

“Ah yes, I can always tell.” Frostburn said sarcastically.

“This is . . . amazing and unsettling.” Lord Frostbite sighed.

“Why is that unsettling?” Glacien asked.

“This suggests that the fruit is something that was more suited to the Saiyans than us, doesn't it?” Frostbite asked “It's possible that the Saiyan on Goulder had its powerful reaction because it was . . . well, eating the fruit of its homeland.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Frostburn admitted, “You may be on to something. After all if the Iwatians had similar reactions we should have been able to tell them from the rest when Kalt showed up.”

“Well not if none of them had eaten it and survived,” Glacien said, “Kiwano did say they thought the fruit was a myth until the Saiyan scum brought some down.”

“Yes but can they really expect us to believe the Saiyan brought fruit down and none of them ate any of it?” Frostburn asked.

Glacien frowned, “That's . . . possible I suppose, but why would Kiwano lie to me? He knows what we'd do to him if we caught him lying.”

“He might not know.” Bite said. “Though he might also want to hide it. If the tree was holy to them the fruit and those who ate it might have been as well.”

Glacien tapped his chin. “Backwards idiot notions like holy anythings . . . we've reeducated the Iwatians, they should know better.”

“They probably do, but they might not realize it's important. Kiwi was it? He might not understand that we'd care.” Frostburn said.

Glacien nodded slowly, “I'll question him more thoroughly. But I do think this can help us my Lords. Other than Earth if we can discover a world that is rich in life and foliage that would have supported Saiyan life . . .”

“We'll go through the records.” Frostbite assured him. “Won't we, Burn?”

“You absolutely will.” Frostburn assured his brother.

“You will do equal work if you expect equal reward, won't you brother?” Frostbite asked.

Frostburn smirked, “Why would you doubt it?”

“I won't as long as you don't doubt what would happen to you if you didn't.” Frostbite said in a friendly tone.

Glacien hesitated though. That was possibly the closest he'd ever seen one of the Frost Twins come to threatening another. Their strength came from their unity so the scientist felt obligated to mention, “Remember my Lords, by our estimates even with the fruit neither of you will be able to defeat the Saiyan alone. You're going to need to--”

“Don't ever tell us what we _need_ to do.” Bite growled, “We know the Clan comes first, the Clan is everything.”

“And I'll do my fair share for the Clan.” Frostburn said with a slight bow.

Glacien nodded, “Then my apologies, Lords.”

But the scientist still hoped that neither twin was starting to think they might be able to abuse the fruit of this tree to rule alone . . . there would be time for infighting _after_ their mortal foe was slain.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The science lab of the _Frieza's Fist_ wasn't the only place where an Arcosian with a lot of time to think was considering the Saiyans.

Chillax had been waiting for days for the Saiyan Trunks to remember that he'd asked to see him, and quite startlingly he hadn't seemed to remember. Or he wasn't going to bother.

It made sense, there were an awful lot of power levels roaming around the fortress now, and Chillax didn't doubt that they all counted for far more so far as the Saiyan's attention went.

But Chillax had seen them, a lot of humans with low power levels. Some stronger signatures had shown up not long ago but they were gone now. All that was left was Karuto and that similar high level, and that three-hundred-thousand.

But there were a lot of fives running around, the Saiyan Trunks could be any of them as far as Chillax knew and Karuto wasn't forthcoming with information, even though the younger Arcosian's cell was right next to his.

More than anything however, Chillax was ready and eager to get out of his own cell.

Not that he could accomplish that through martial means, but he knew if the Saiyan wasn't going to see him he couldn't make his offer.

Which left him fewer options, but one of them came skipping into the cell block with Karuto.

He'd seen the blue-skinned alien a couple of other times, once putting Karuto to bed and telling him a story, like she was doing now and another time during the tour. She was vibrant in that way he'd only ever seen from people who wanted to go out of their way to seem vibrant.

She was friendly and outgoing in the manner that Chillax had come to associate with people one should never call a friend. In short the alien known as Tathy struck Chillax as something far more mercenary than she let on to trusting clods like the Saiyan Trunks.

So when Karuto had fallen asleep and Tathy had just about finished her bag of crisp starch disks, or chips or whatever the Earthlings called them, Chillax made his move.

“You know I can see right through you? You've got them all thinking you're just a lovable harmless humanoid, haven't you? But that's not you at all is it?” Chillax asked her.

Tathy stared at him in an unsettling manner then very slowly took a chip from the bag, placed in her mouth and crunched if very loudly.

Seeing that that was the only response he was likely to get Chillax pressed on, “Well I mean what are you, exactly?”

She looked at him with her gold and black eyes, her irises seemed to dilate and then recede back and forth and the shape of her brow suggesting that if she'd had eyebrows one of them would have been raised.

“I think I'm carbon based if that helps.” She finally told him.

“That's not what I mean.” Chillax said, motioning for her to come closer to his cell.

She did so, shifting her weight and folding her arms, seemingly forgetting her bag of starch chips for a moment. She asked him, “What do you want, Overlord?”

Chillax stood at the barrier between his gravity-controlled cell at the outside world. How strange that he could be contained in such discomfort mere centimeters from a comfortable gravitational scale.

He told the alien, “You're a powerful creature, definitely within the top five on this world so far as strength goes. Unique too, I've been to a hundred worlds and I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like you.”

“Are you flirting with me?” She asked suddenly.

Chillax sighed. “You don't need to go through the whole obfuscating stupidity act with me, I know from the way you tell my cousin stories that you're not a complete moron and you're not as childish as you like to pretend.”

“I'm not obfuscating, I'm genuinely unsure of what you're trying to accomplish. You initiate this, our first one on one conversation with something that sounds like an accusation, then ask me a vague question I can only guess at the answer to, then you start trying to flatter me so either you're getting stir crazy in there and losing your marbles or you're trying to forge some kind of connection with me, right?”

“Well . . . yes, actually. To both.” Chillax sighed. “I'm tired of being in here, it's cruel and unusual punishment. I want to get free, or even just have someone to interact with . . . and what I meant by my question to you was what do you do? In the universe, are you a pirate, a bounty hunter, a mercenary, a freedom fighter?”

“I'm a bounty hunter now. As you can probably tell from the story I used to be a fighter.” Tathy shrugged. She unfolded her arms and began munching her chips again. Chillax knew he had until she finished the bag to make his pitch, but he couldn't rush things.

“Right in some kind of gladiatorial world . . . my kind never found that place, but if it hadn't been wiped out we'd probably have avoided it. It sounds like a place full of really powerful enemies.” The young Arcosian shrugged, “I'm not familiar with your species but you're clearly strong, strong enough that you would have been good enough to rank with my own squad.”

“Oh yeah? Neato.” Tathy said without sincerity. “You offering me a job, mister Overlord sir?”

Chillax said, “Listen you're a bounty hunter . . . so you do what you do for money, you don't fight any old fight like a mercenary you hunt specific targets and you bring them in for a reward, right?”

“Yeah.” Tathy shrugged. “But I guess we're not taking the bounty on earthlings so . . . you know, kind of between jobs at the moment.”

“The Planet Trade Organization would pay a pretty hefty bounty for my return, you know,” Chillax said lightly, inspecting his nails in what he hoped looked like a casual manner. “I mean I'm just saying . . . if you could get me out and get me to a ship you'd be rich.”

Tathy smiled, “Oh . . . yeah . . . well . . .” She put her hands behind her head and said, “If I got you out and helped you escape I'd be dead too.”

“Not necessarily. You can come with me, escape.” Chillax suggested.

He realized he might be tipping to much of his hand there, but Tathy seemed to consider it.

She told him, “Oh the boss would hunt me down . . . then she'd find some way to finally do what she tried to do all those years ago, finish me off.” Tathy sighed.

“We could give you enough money to hide, we could give you a world to hide on. I'm _that_ important, I am the son of--” Chillax tried to tell her but Tathy interrupted him.

“She hunted across the whole galaxy looking for a home and her kind, you think she won't find me if I do anything to ruin it? Anyway she's waited too long for this . . . more of her kind, not being alone. I bet it's a great feeling, why should I take it from her?”

Chillax gave Tathy an appraising look and thought, _maybe I need to change tactics . . ._

He asked her, “What are you?” This time he specified, “I mean your species. We've never run into any of your kind . . . were there a lot of you on that gladiator world?”

“Oh no . . . just a few, I think our ship crashed there when I was a baby?” Tathy said almost like she were asking him. Then she said, “But I know we were popular in the arena since we were almost impossible to kill.”

“Almost?” Chillax asked.

“Hah! I'm not going to tell you our secret weakness, but yeah almost.” Tathy told him.

“Do you know where you're from then?” Chillax asked.

“Nah.” Tathy shrugged.

Chillax smiled, “But you want to find more of your kind too, don't you? Just like your friend you mention, you're jealous that she's found others of her kind, aren't you?”

“I'm not jealous . . . I just wish I had that too.” Tathy admitted. She laughed uneasily, “Gee . . . it's so weird admitting all this to you . . . I mean I know I can't trust you, but it all just comes tumbling out . . .”

“You _can_ trust me, at least enough to be honest. I've got nothing to gain from lying.” Chillax told her.

Tathy nodded, she got close to the barrier and whispered, “I _can_ trust you . . . I know I can . . . if I let you out . . . no one has to know it was me, you'll get to safety and you'll tell your kind to . . .”

“I'll tell them to stay away,” Chillax insisted, “we can't win this world, it's wrong to try. But if I can get home I can tell them to stop, I can make them listen and your friend and all the other humans can live in peace.”

Tathy's black and yellow eyes looked at him, almost pleadingly for a moment and then suddenly they changed.

Now there were full of mirth as she ate her final chip and crumpled up the bag. She giggled, “Hah, so you _can't_ see through me!”

“I . . . what?” Chillax blinked.

“Yeah, like I'm stupid enough to let you out of your cell. Trust me, the day I let you out of here would have to be the day that follows the day of me even knowing _how_ to let you out of here. Once I know that I might just get bored enough to try it just to see what happens, because for as much as you think I'm fooling around I really _am_ this crazy. And no amount of money is going to win me over because money isn't what I do this for.”

“Then what is?” Chillax demanded. “What do you do anything for?”

“Sisterhood. She's my last sister . . . we fighters, we forged bonds of family. Our House was our family. Even if she lost control and killed the rest Cauliflora is my last family member . . . so I'll fight for her, and if that means fighting for her world I'll do that too. I mean I got nothing better to do, right? Anyway I can tell which side is the winning side here, you're pretty screwed. Honestly this cell is the safest place for you.”

Chillax glowered at her and said, “My squad were like a family too, you know. I mean I was closer to them than I was to my own brother . . . your Saiyan friend slaughtered them all.”

“What, Cauli? We weren't here for that.” Tathy said.

Chillax had to admit he . . . hadn't actually realized that Cauliflora was a Saiyan. He'd seen her, and she lacked a tail. He'd just assumed she was a human who'd been out among the stars . . .

Nevertheless he said, “Not her, Trunks. He killed my whole squad!”

Tathy shrugged. “Sounds like you lost, partner. What would you have done to him if he'd lost?”

Chillax frowned. “I guess that's true but . . .”

“ _But_?” Tathy asked.

The Arcosian Commander sighed. He went back to his cot and collapsed onto it. “But nothing I guess . . . I just don't know anymore. I've been in here too long, I haven't been able to drill I'm probably weaker by the moment . . . I'll be nothing when I return to my people, assuming I ever return to my people.

“All I do is lay here and wait until they take me out to exercise in the _other_ gravity controlled room knowing that if I do anything inappropriate on my way there I'll be earning my death and every day it gets harder not to just embrace an ending . . . just one thing keeps me from giving up!”

Oh yeah?” Tathy asked sounding intrigued. “What's that?”

Chillax laughed bitterly and said, “I want to make the Saiyan an offer . . . an offer he'd be a fool to refuse. But it seems he won't even hear me out.”

“Tell me your offer, I'll pass it along.” Tathy told him.

Chillax rolled over and sat up on the cot. He looked at Tathy, she was standing watching him like some kind of predator watching prey it couldn't reach. He wondered just how apt that analogy might be considering she was out of food and he'd never seen a creature with such a voracious appetite.

He said, “The Saiyan found New Namek, he's going to have Dragon Balls again . . . now I had my plan in mind before that, but now that I know he's found it I know he can do what I need him to.”

“Which is?” Tathy asked.

Chillax laughed bitterly, “Give back what he took. Give me back my squad.”

“Why should he do that?” Tathy asked.

“Because I wasn't lying when I told you what I'd do if I got away. I'd make _certain_ the war was over, the PTO would turn a blind eye to Earth. We can't win here. I'd wipe out the client race myself if that's what it took.”

“And if things changed and you thought you could?” Tathy asked.

“That'd be quite the change, wouldn't it?” Chillax laughed, this time without the bitterness.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _As the ships leave training begins, and it'll be up to Kodva's team to start things off, but Cargo seems a bit nervous now that they're underway. Can the former Monk settle his spirits? And Trunks will have to face the music for his actions._

 

_Character Image: Korrard_

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__

_Notes: Of course in the colored picture his armor is the wrong color as it should be green instead of purple, he really just looks like a pale Turles in this picture. A skinny pale Turles. But not skinny enough, Korrard should be so skinny it looks unhealthy. Think 2D from Gorillaz. Fun Fact, there was a time when this story wasn't going to be rated T that Korrard . . . um . . . really really got around, if you know what I'm saying. Tragically his role as Casanova was written out because I wanted to sort of reduce suggestive scenes, it didn't feel necessary and there just wasn't room for it. But it was part of Turles' dislike of him in addition to his perceived weakness._

 


	52. Trust The River

**Episode Sixteen**

**'Trust the River'**

 

The _Defender One_ hurtled through space just ahead of the _Humanity's Hope_. The two ships would make the bulk of the journey in close proximity, splitting up once they reached the coordinates of New Namek.

_Defender One_ was a pretty massive spherical ship, at least so far as Cargo could tell. The fact that it had been based off of a Saiyan Battle Pod was astounding to him because it was replicated at such a large scale. While the battle pod Cargo had taken to Earth had been cramped and barely able to fit just him the ship the Earthlings called their _Defender One_ was a dual deck contraption with a lower sleeping deck which had been cut in half so that there would be a recreational area and a sleeping area with the thought process being that one team would train, one team would sleep and a third team would try to . . . well, learn about Earth or something like that.

Bonding as if that were the most important thing for a warrior. A warrior just needed to know how to fight, didn't he?

The first team to train was Rhyce's 'Amazon Brigade' as the human Kodva had called it but only after she'd called his team a 'Sausage Fest'. Apparently it was all good natured though.

Cargo didn't like it. They were going a long way to do a dangerous job and worst of all Trunks wasn't coming. He couldn't believe _he_ was still going if Trunks wasn't, and it weighed on his mind heavily. He'd just have to figure something out . . .

The four members of his team sat together in the lounge, the sounds of training on the deck above them were muffled but Cargo could feel the pressure from the power levels struggling to get used to heavier gravity. The Saiyans, he understood, lived in ten times Earth's gravity but Rhyce had been training in far higher than that. She had said she was going to bring them up slowly with the goal of having them at one hundred times Earth's gravity within two weeks.

“We should be training too.” Cargo grumbled.

“There isn't space, this ship was never made with twelve crewmen in mind.” Kodva told him patiently. The bald Earthling smiled and asked, “Are you afraid you won't be strong enough for what lies ahead?”

“I'm not afraid of it, I know it.” Cargo said. “These guys aren't fooling around you know, they're monsters!”

“Really?” The Saiyan Routz asked with a grin. In a husky almost hungry sounding voice he said, “Tell me more.”

Cargo shook his head, “They're brutes, they're easily twice as strong as I am, maybe three or four times! Without Trunks we're all just flying off to our deaths!”

Routz cracked his knuckles and then his neck, he laughed eagerly, “Oh this is sounding fun.”

“Just you let me at 'em,” Oni the other Saiyan in their squad agreed. He and Routz were both massive muscular specimens, though Routz was taller. Bother were larger than Cargo and they probably thought they were tough, but Cargo knew he was stronger than the both of them combined.

“You don't understand,” He tried to explain to them, “what we're headed towards . . . it's just not possible without Trunks.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Kodva told him. “It is what it is, we'll just have to accept that.”

“But there's no point!” Cargo insisted.

“Of course there's a point, green man!” Oni cried. He'd been stroking his goatee thoughtfully but now he leveled a stern glare at Cargo. “You're a Namek, your kind stop breeding warriors in fifty years?”

“What? No, but I--” Cargo was saying but Oni cut him off.

“Then _be_ a warrior, don't just pretend. You're going into battle against a stronger foe . . . _that_ is the point. To fight a powerful enemy and overcome them? That's the greatest thing there is, Namek, I'm telling you.”

“First of all my name is Cargo, not 'Green Man' not 'Namek', understand?” Cargo demanded.

Oni shrugged, holding out a hand. “If you like.”

“Second of all I'm not shying away from the challenge, I'm _here_ aren't I?”

“But you don't want to be.” Routz told him. “It's obvious.”

“Well of course I don't want to be, you haven't seen what it's like, I have! Anyway I'm not saying we should run, I'm saying we should be training. All of us, all the time, maybe then we'd stand the beginnings of a chance.”

“Overdo it and you'll stand no chance.” Kodva told him. “But I don't want you to feel attacked, your concerns are very valid. This will be a dangerous mission which is why we should devote all of our time to preparing for it.”

“So you agree?” Cargo asked. “Even if it means being restrained with the space we should all be training nonstop.”

“I didn't say that.” Kodva told him. “I said we should all be preparing. I'm preparing right now in my own way.”

“And what way is that?” Cargo demanded.

“Internally.” Kodva assured him. “A warrior's body must be tempered and strong, and his spirit must be the same. Breathe deep, Cargo, find your inner peace. Focus on yourself, hone both your mind and your body.”

“You're just trying to nap.” Cargo accused. He turned to the two Saiyans, “Surely you agree with me!”

“That he's trying to nap? No way, he's talking too much.” Routz laughed.

“Eh.” Oni shrugged. “I don't know much about Earthlings, maybe they sleep by shutting off half their brains at a time, you know like those big fish that used to be in the oceans of Planet Vegeta?”

“You had whales?” Kodva asked.

“Sure?” Oni shrugged. “I mean until we ate them all.”

Kodva smiled slightly, “How did the ecology of your planet survive you?”

“It didn't.” Routz said with a sort of smug satisfaction that made Cargo feel disgusted.

“How can you be so blasé about failing to live in harmony with nature?” Cargo asked.

“We're predators, we eat prey.” Routz said simply.

“But if you eat too much prey there won't be any later.” Cargo pointed out.

“All the more reason to enjoy it while it lasts, don't you think?” Oni asked.

“No, I don't!” Cargo snapped.

“Ah well you heard it from him.” Routz chuckled and Oni joined in. Cargo growled.

“Cargo,” Kodva told him, “your teammates are showing you one very important thing that perhaps you're not noticing.”

“Is it that they're brutes?” Cargo asked.

“I'd hope you'd noticed that.” Routz said.

“But I am curious,” Oni said, “I didn't know I was showing the Na—that is _Cargo_ anything.”

Kodva smiled. He closed his eyes and seemed to relax for a moment as he said, “They're showing you that you don't have to spend all your free time being afraid. This trip will be long enough for fear and all too short for preparation but Routz and Oni are eager to train and improve, they know a dangerous fight lies before them and instead of fearing it they're eager for it.”

_Because they're idiots,_ Cargo thought, but he said, “I'm not afraid of it.”

“You're definitely afraid of something.” Oni said.

Cargo glowered but Kodva opened his eyes and said, “Breathe deep, seek peace, Cargo. Look inside yourself and find the warrior.”

Cargo kept glowering for a moment before finally putting himself in the same sitting position as Kodva and closing his eyes. He focused as Kodva was telling him and took deep breaths.

“Life is like a flowing river.” Kodva told him, “You're in a boat. You can paddle against the current and slow your progress, you can paddle with the current and speed along the way to your destination, or you can use your paddle just to correct your course from time to time and let the river take you where you need to go. Trust the river.”  
“Trust it? Why? Shouldn't I want to get there sooner?” Cargo asked.

“Yeah, why not paddle with the current?” Routz agreed.

“You can do that.” Kodva told them. “You can rush along but you'll deny yourself the full experience of the journey. You'll miss the song of the birds, the colors of the leaves of the trees on the bank.”

“You never said there were trees on the bank! That changes everything!” Oni mocked but rather than get upset Kodva laughed.

“Well there are trees on my bank. What you see on yours is up to you, Oni.”

“Then I want to see lots of food on my bank.” Routz said. “Oh, and girls!”

Cargo would have rolled his eyes if they weren't closed. As it was he made the attempt but found it difficult to pull off. Still he imagined himself in a boat on a river, he imagined his shoreline.

Kodva said to Routz, “You can imagine that. It's _your_ bank. But if there's food and good company don't you think they might distract you? Make you paddle in the wrong direction? Instead of following the course of the river you're banking on the side to eat and spend time with the ladies.”

“Well what does my destination matter if I find everything I need along the way?” Routz asked.

“Oh I don't know. What's at your destination? Why were you going there in the first place?” Kodva asked.

“Hmm . . . I don't know.” Routz admitted.

“I know what's at the end of my river,” Cargo growled, “a fight we can't win.”

“Oh yeah!” Routz said, “The fight on New Namek! I can't wait!”

Kodva chuckled, “But if you rush you'll get there too soon. You might be too tired from trying to paddle, or you could have focused too much on the destination so you missed everything along the journey.”

“Huh . . .” Routz mumbled. “I think I get what you're saying.”

“Yeah right.” Cargo scoffed. “The problem with your metaphor is that no matter how much I enjoy the journey before my destination I'm still going to get there, so why shouldn't I prepare?”

“You will.” Kodva told him. “You'll prepare every day for the next five weeks. You'll train whenever you're not sleeping. But you can only train your body so much before you overdo it or wear yourself to nothing. Let the current guide you, enjoy the journey to its fullest. Don't just strengthen your arms paddling, enjoy the scenery on the bank, listen to the music. Get to know your fellow fighters, learn their stories and what makes them who they are.”

Cargo sighed as he considered it. Perhaps honing his mind wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. He could focus, he could plan, he could think of how he'd handle the fight that was to come, he could listen to his teammates and learn what their strengths were, figure out how he could use them to accomplish his goals.

But his thoughts were interrupted when he heard Oni snore loudly. Again instead of being angry Kodva laughed.

“And sometimes,” The Earthling said, “the current can lull you to sleep.”

Routz laughed too and Cargo head the sound of the big Saiyan slapping the only slightly smaller Saiyan on the back. “Wake up, Oni!”

“Huh what?” Oni asked, Cargo opened his eyes to see the dark skinned Saiyan looking around in surprise, “I wasn't sleeping!”

Kodva was smiling at all of them, the human said, “Meditation isn't for everyone. But hopefully you'll pick it up. And maybe you can teach me a few things too. After all, that's what Master Trunks wanted us to do with this third shift.”

Cargo shook his head. He still wasn't really reassured, but he felt like he understood what the Earthling was trying to tell him, and he'd be thrice cursed if he were going to let those Saiyans figure it out first. He said, “I think I understand, Master. You're saying that the fight lies at the end of this journey and we can't make it come any sooner or later, all we can do is make the most of the time we have.”

“Obviously.” Oni said, but he was yawning and looking around at the others clearly trying to seem as if he'd been following the whole conversation rather than dozing.

In spite of himself Cargo actually cracked a half smile and shook his head at the Saiyan warrior. “Well since you understand it so well why don't you explain it to us?” Cargo asked.

Oni stroked his goatee thoughtfully, “I could do that,” he said as if reassuring Cargo, “but I'd rather let you, you know, to make sure you really got it.”

Now Cargo managed a fuller smile in spite of the situation and how bad things were going to be when they arrived without Trunks. He said, “Just breathe deep and seek peace.”

Oni rolled his eyes, waved his hands and said, “Well that's what I was _doing_ before you all woke me up.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Aboard the _Humanity's Hope_ things were less cordial.

“Turn this ship around!” Captain Videl ordered.

“Belay that order, Basil!” Trunks said.

“Belay?” Basil raised an eyebrow at him, “An hour on ship and he's getting all nautical on us.”

“Basil couldn't belay that order if she wanted to,” Thyme said without looking up from his post, “she's not the pilot, Genora is.”

“And I'm not turning around,” Genora said, “if we turn back the _Defender One_ will reach the target before us even if we punch up a maximum burn, the plan will be shot.”

“Thank you.” Trunks said.

“That said I still think what you did was stupid.” Genora added.

“Thank you.” Trunks said again, a little less sincere this time.

“Did you even think about this before you did it?” Videl demanded.

“I left Cauliflora behind, she'll train a bit and she'll be strong enough to protect Earth until I get back.”

“Could be, but you're gambling a lot of lives on that.” Videl told him.

“There's no way General Boreal will be there in time, he was at best six months away three months ago. We'll be back in two and if New Namek is only one month away he couldn't possibly have reached it so quickly.”

“Let's say that that's true,” Mai spoke up, “you're still ignoring the three Arcosian ships that _did_ reach it, the crews aboard those ships that could well be more than miss Cauliflora can handle.”

Trunks was surprised to hear Mai scolding him too, Videl's aide seemed so shy and reserved. It occurred to him that his behavior might actually have been truly over the line in that case.

Videl didn't hesitate to add, “Don't forget you left her and her partner to protect the Earth but they're just mercenaries, suppose they decide to cash in on the bounty for human heads instead? You've left literally everyone on Earth at their mercy.”

“I just couldn't let my students take this risk alone, New Namek is too important.” Trunks told them. “The Dragon Balls are too important, without them how can I make things right?”

“By being _you_ , you big dummy.” Basil said, sounding irritated.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Trunks asked.

Basil spun her chair around to face him but she didn't get out of it. She remained strapped in as she explained, “You were doing a perfectly fine job of making things right before this, but now you put the whole world at risk because you don't have faith in any of us. You think you have to do everything and you don't.”

She didn't yell at him, but her tone was so devoid of it's usual lightheartedness that she might as well have been screaming. Her serious expression spoke volumes and Trunks felt like he had to defend himself, had to make her understand just why he'd come. “It's not because--” he began but now it was Mai's turn.

“No.” She said calmly, but firmly. “She's right you know. Captain Videl and I have experience getting people out of dangerous places without being noticed, the androids were, by all accounts a far greater threat than these aliens we're going to face. The plan we had was a good one and if it were a trap we could have just left knowing at least Earth was safe. But now if this _was_ all an enemy trap you've just given them exactly what they wanted: _you.”_

“And it's not because you had to make sure it all went just right, let's be honest,” Videl scolded, “you did it because you think we _can't_.”

“It's not that you can't, it's that you shouldn't have to!” Trunks insisted. “Maybe it was a hasty decision but I am the Defender of Earth, I've seen terrible things, fought beings with power you can't even imagine, I'm not going to ask you all to risk your lives, ask some of you to _lose_ your lives when I can stop it! And it isn't like the PTO can slip past us, if those other PTO ships try to get to earth we'd detect them and we could intercept them, right Basil?”

“Why are you asking her? _I'm_ the one on sensors.” Thyme said dryly.

“Okay, fine, right _Thyme_?” Trunks asked.

“Sure, I guess.” Thyme shrugged. Unlike Basil he didn't feel the need to spin around and lecture Trunks, and Trunks appreciated it. He was being ganged up on in a field of combat that he wasn't quite so invincible in.

He hadn't expected this, he'd thought they'd be a little relieved he'd come along. He'd thought they'd understand that his mother had been overreacting, that the word of one Arcosian prisoner wasn't enough to disqualify him from going on this dangerous mission, that he'd done it for them as much as for himself.

As if she could read his mind Genora suddenly said, “For what it's worth _I'm_ glad you're here.”

“Great, you're my only friend on this ship.” Trunks grunted.

“We're _all_ your friends.” Thyme said with a sigh, “We just didn't expect something like this from you. It's . . . out of character. You're not this reckless, at least not as long as I've known you.”

“We're not all his friends, I'm not his friend!” Videl almost snarled, advancing on Trunks and fearlessly getting right in his face. “I'm not _supposed_ to be your friend, I'm your _liaison_ , I'm the King's representative! My duty is to my King and to my people, to _Earth_ and _you_ , mister _Defender_ , just left her in the hands of a stranger!”

“Not just a stranger, Cauliflora's been extremely loyal since the moment she surrendered to me and even if Boreal arrives she'll be stronger than him by the time he does. Master Roshi is there, there are . . . others,” Trunks said, “I didn't just run off, there's . . . measures in place, okay?”

“Well I hope they're good ones.” Basil said with a sigh. “Say Trunks, you've been kind of flailing to guess what my job is on this ship, want to know?”

“Sure, why not.” Trunks sighed glad for a change of subject.

“I'm in charge of monitoring communications.” Basil said darkly. She held out a cordless rectangular device as if it were a phone. She said, “We've got a transmission from Earth . . . I'm willing to bet it's for you.”

Trunks hesitated. He swallowed a lump in his throat and walked over to Basil.

He took the device and pressed a button on it.

He held it to his ear, that was a mistake.

“IS HE WITH YOU?” His mother's voice roared, “IS HE ON THAT SHIP!?”

“Hi, mom . . .” Trunks answered meekly.

He expected more screaming but he was actually met with silence.

“Mother?” He asked, worrying that maybe she'd had a heart attack or something. She wasn't as young as she liked to pretend she was after all.

He felt sick to his stomach. Even _he_ was having trouble now believing what he'd done. Not that he'd done it, he still believed it was the right thing, but not making it clear that he'd do it . . . Thyme was right, it'd been too reckless of him. He'd been dishonest, he'd let them all believe he was going along with their plan all the while knowing he'd do something else.

It wasn't right . . .

But he'd thought they wouldn't understand if he told them why he needed to come along and they were proving that they didn't. They didn't understand . . . they thought they could do this but they were wrong.

“What was any of this for, Trunks?” His mother asked him suddenly after a long silence.

She couldn't have known what he was thinking but the weight of his words along with his own thoughts hit him harder than Cell ever had.

He almost dropped the communications receiver. His mother asked him, “Why did you train new students if you weren't ready to let them take risks? Why did you go back in time to bring back more Saiyans if you planned to do everything yourself anyway?” Bulma asked him.

“I don't plan to do everything myself.” Trunks whispered.

“What was that?” His mother demanded sharply.

“I said I don't plan to do everything myself.” Trunks said louder, though not raising his voice at his mother.

He thought back to what he'd thought just an hour ago as he'd enacted his plan to sneak aboard the ship; that he was like a teenager sneaking out after curfew.

_But I'm_ not _a teenager, I'm an adult._ Trunks thought. _I'm twenty two and I acted like a spoiled brat trying to get his way . . ._

His mother told him, “You disappointed me. But I'm going to believe that you did this because you know something I don't. I'm going to believe you lied to me with the best of intentions.”

“I did . . .” Trunks managed to tell her.

“Maybe that'll make it easier for the both of us then.” His mother said. She sounded tired. “Be careful sweetie, and when you get back . . .”

“Yeah?” Trunks asked.

“Well I just hope we're still here.” Bulma told him.

“You will be. I didn't just leave you defenseless, Master Roshi--” He began but the line went dead.

He handed the receiver back to Basil. Captain Videl said, “Lieutenant, I think Mister Briefs has had enough for one day. Why don't you escort him to his room?”

“Yes ma'am.” Mai said quietly.

“Just so we're clear,” Videl told him, “if this ship had a brig you'd be going there instead. You _are_ a stowaway after all.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Karuto learns more about Cauliflora's past but he's not happy with the way Tathy is telling the story. Meanwhile King Kai and Gohan continue to train the others, can they make a breakthrough? Find out next time!_

 

_Character Image: Telluce_  


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_Notes: Once again the colors are wrong, Tell's armor should be blue instead of purple. Also he was updated and rocks Raditz's pants (though you can't see it in the colored image) instead of Bardock's (in the black and white) so as to sport the "blood ring" like most of the rest of his squad. Fun Fact: Originally he was Turles' twin brother, but I decided I had too many twins and made them half-brothers instead. This story and I do not subscribe to the fanon that Bardock is their (or more specifically Turles') father but mostly because I don't ship Bardock and Fasha._

 


	53. Fighting is What Matters

**Episode Seventeen**

**'Fighting is What Matters'**

 

The Spring Games had arrived and it would be the big debut of the two wild Irredeemable Cannibal Aliens.

The crowds were gathering in droves. There was to be a Grand Melee at the start of the day, Young Bloods from all the Great Lords would be thrown together in a massive battle royal to fight it out until only one Lord's fighters remained.

Then the real matches would begin with the crowd's appetite properly whetted. Well known Named fighters from each House would compete, Tathy, Bacore, Poi, Neyho, Robstar, the very best of House Stobler would match their skill against the fighters of Lords like Barc and Pimlet and Sehll'shif, by the end of the day for the Premier Event the winner or winners of the Grand Melee would be able to earn a bit more recognition by battling the reigning champion.

Of course it would be something of an exhibition match, the Champion would toy with their inexperienced weak opponents, give them some openings to exploit so the crowd wouldn't become bored. A good Champion would rile the crowd's excitement even when fighting to a foregone conclusion.

But what the crowd expected and what the two Saiyans would actually deliver were two very different things, and Bass had assured Lord Stobler that his new acquisitions, properly healed and trained, would have no difficulty in the melee and would rapidly turn the tables on the reigning Champion, a fighter called Gasper the Ghostmaker.

Tathy knew she'd never forget the crowd's excitement as the Grand Melee approached, but she'd never seen Bass looking more nervous. He'd made promises to his Lord, and his wild charges needed to deliver or he would be the one to suffer.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“Hold on, please!” Karuto interrupted.

“Hmm?” Tathy raised her gaze from the box of donuts she was consuming. Karuto had three more boxes to his side so he didn't mind that she kept eating even though she wasn't telling the story at the moment, especially since he had a bit of criticism for her.

“Well it's just . . . you skipped a bunch.” Karuto said.

“How do you know?” Tathy asked. “Did you already hear this story?”

“No, but you went from when they were bought to their first arena matches. I want to know what happened between that. What happened to them when they got to the villa? How were they trained? You mentioned Bacore and Poi before but who were Neyho and Robstar?”

“Oh Neyho and Robstar don't matter, they lost.” Tathy said.

“Lost?” Karuto asked.

“Yeah. In the Arena. When you lose in the Arena you die.”

“What? You die?” Karuto gawked.

“Well not usually, but often enough. If the crowd is thirsty enough for it and they demand it loudly enough. And it's not just the disappointing fights, that was what they told us back then but eventually I knew it wasn't just the disappointing fights . . . sometimes it was the epic fights. Sometimes it was the fights so amazing that the crowd just . . . needed to feel like they had some measure of control, like they had any kind of a right to decide the fate of the _legends_ they'd just witnessed.”

Tathy laughed bitterly, “We were all out to make a name, to win titles, to make sure the whole War World knew who we were but really when the crowd knows who you are . . . the crowd gets a lot more eager to be able to go home and say 'I was there when Neyho died' or 'I was one of the voices that called for the end' or 'better Robstar went out with dignity than continue to fade after such a humiliating defeat'. So sometimes no matter how good you were . . . you lost. Neyho and Robstar lost in the Spring Games.”

Karuto frowned, “Well that doesn't mean they don't matter.”

“It does for our story.” Tathy shrugged. “You wanted to know about Cauli and Rhuby, remember?”

“Well . . . yes. Did they get along with the other fighters?”

“Well not at first.” Tathy said, grabbing another donut then rethinking it and choosing a different one even though the entire box was for her. She bit into the new donut, then grabbed her previous choice and ate them both at the same time.

“But I want to know about that kind of stuff too!” Karuto said.

“Why? Who cares?” Tathy asked.

“I do!” Karuto said.

“But the fighting is what matters, right?”

Karuto shook his head, “No!”

“Then why did you want to hear a story about arenas and fighters and a place called the War World?” Tathy demanded.

“I didn't ask for that,” Karuto explained, “I want to know what happened to Cauliflora and Rhubara, I wanted to know what happened after Goulder, what things were like and why they got so bad.”

Tathy's head tentacles twitched with irritation, “Thats' what I thought, I thought you wanted to know what happened. How long do you expect this story to be, little mister? When's your bed time?”

“I don't know.” Karuto admitted.

He was sitting in his room . . . or rather in his cell. But the door wasn't shut and the gravity wasn't turned on because he wasn't a prisoner really.

“I'm with the blue thing,” Chillax called from the next-door-cell, “Just tell me about the fighting, I don't care about how everyone got along.”

“But that won't help me!” Karuto insisted.

“Help you to what?” Tathy asked.

“ _Understand_.” Karuto sighed.

“Well if I have to listen to it too you could at least keep it exciting.” Chillax said finally.

“You _don't_ have to listen to it, no one's making you!” Karuto said grumpily.

“Yeah well it's not like I can just turn my ears off.” Chillax scoffed.

Tathy was visibly irritated, but she said, “Okay . . . okay . . . so . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

_Prior_ to the Spring Games of course the wild irredeemable cannibal aliens had to be properly trained to fight.

The physical conditioning on War World was intense, the gravity was most of the time twice what they would have been used to on their home world, but the gravity shield that was used to pull ships like theirs from the sky could be focused to increase the pull of gravity even further.

But it wasn't a refined system that Arena Lords could use for the training of their Fighters, no one had ever even considered such a thing, and it was all the better for the two Saiyans because for all their power they did not just breeze through training.

The Medic was Bass's brother Kazoo, the second of their kind in Lord Stobler's employ, very much like Bass but much smaller standing only a head above Tathy's own height instead of nearly doubling her. Kazoo's skin was a slightly lighter shade of green and his face was more angular with sharp cheek bones. He'd tended the injuries of both Saiyans but restoring their physical frames would only do so much to prepare them for the Arena.

And before they could be trained as Fighters they had to be made into suitable slaves. That meant daily exercises lifting heavy weights and carrying them either in place or while on a march for minutes or hours at Lord Stobler's discretion, and limited meals made up of only the food no one else in the House would eat; the slop of spoiling food or leftover pieces and ends that in truth killed no small number of slaves.

The Robusuta believed that subjecting new slaves to this sort of treatment left only the strongest but Tathy had learned that Lord Stobler had a different subtler reason for making a slave's first week unbearably unpleasant, and she was standing by his side as a guard when he made his move.

Bass was with him as well and Kazoo brought them in, both Saiyans had grown in the week since they'd been brought to the villa, and not only in height. Their limbs had grown visibly more muscular, though not overwhelmingly so as was the case with Bass or Poi, still one could tell their strength just by looking at their arms and legs. Their torsos were leaner from lack of food, whatever baby fat the two had possessed before was gone, which was actually not a good thing for Arena fighting.

In a single week they barely resembled the small creatures put on the market except for the look in their eyes. Those purple and blue eyes were fiery, defiant, aggressive.

Lord Stobler's excitement when they were brought in was well hidden but Tathy had been asked to act as her Lord's bodyguard often enough to tell the changes in his mood.

He said to the two girls, “I have been most generous with you these past days. Tell me, how did you enjoy your treatment? Don't fear your Sensei, you may speak freely in response to that question dear things.”

“I'm going to kill every last one of you.” The lighter skinned Cauliflora told them coldly. Tathy would never forget the almost prophetic nature the statement would have later, though in truth she doubted even Cauli really expected to make good on the threat at the time.

“If King Vegeta ever finds out about this, let alone Lord Frieza this whole world will be destroyed.” The darker skinned Rhubara told them.

“Ah, you're important where you come from?” Lord Stobler asked, sounding as if he were sincerely curious.

“Important enough.” Cauliflora warned him.

Lord Stobler clicked his claws and nodded, “Mm, yes this Lord Frieza, if he's anything like me I'm sure the chap would be furious if two fighters were just stolen away and sold on the market, it would be a tremendous loss of face for him to have his authority so challenged.”

“Exactly right!” Rhubara said, “You have to understand--”

“Sensei.” Lord Stobler raised a hand and dutifully Bass slapped Rhubara hard across the face. The girl didn't fly into the wall or anything but she did stop speaking to glare daggers at the giant.

“Allow me to stop you right there,” Lord Stobler said coldly, “even if I give you permission to speak freely old girl, you will _never_ tell _me_ what _I_ have to do or have not to do. I am the master, you are the servant. Now let me be plain . . . no matter how important you were out there in the stars here on this world you are trash. Your lives are worth only as much as I tell you they are and right now they're not worth much. You're nothing, dear things, and your debts to me are enormous. I have fed you, housed you, clothed you this past week but what have you done to pay me back?”

“Let you live?” Cauliflora suggested and Bass slapped her too.

“You silly little idiot, I'm letting _you_ live.” Lord Stobler told her. “But that ends today.”

Cauliflora smirked ruthlessly, “Smart move. Get it over with quickly then.”

Lord Stobler laughed for a moment, the gurgling sound wasn't quite so infectious as humanoid laughter but Tathy knew her role in this situation was to laugh along, and Kazoo as well. Only the serious Sensei would hold a straight face, no hints of joy could be seen on the face of a Sensei, at least not by new slaves.

Lord Stobler pressed some buttons at his desk and some numbers appeared. “I paid forty times base for each of you. Do you know what that means? I can tell that you don't so don't bother pretending. Each life on War World has a value, each slave is worth a certain amount, the base amount. Some could buy a home with that much, I choose to buy sentient beings instead. And I purchased each of you for the cost of forty others, but I daresay you shouldn't feel flattered, I've gone as high as two hundred times base for true prizes, you were just curiosities.”

Lord Stobler smiled, “Now the cost of your upkeep each day is as follows, add to that the cost I paid to acquire you and the fact that you earn me nothing . . . well, it seems I'm running in a bit of a deficit where you two are concerned. Do you see the problem?”

“Sounds like it's _your_ problem.” Cauliflora scowled.

“Oh but it is. It is _my_ problem, and because you are _my_ property that makes it _your_ problem.”

“So you want us to earn you money?” Rhubara asked. “How are we supposed to do that in chains?”

Lord Stobler laughed again, but this time Tathy wasn't required to join in so she didn't. Lord Stobler said, “Well you have two paths open to you I'm afraid. I'm a flesh merchant but not a peddler of sinful delights, no. Not that you two disgusting creatures could earn much for me in that way, but there's always the oddball who wants to experience an evening with the bizarre. No no no girls, you're not of any use to me that way, that's not my trade and there aren't enough oddballs on the War World to see your debts ever paid that way. So that leaves you as I've said just the two options. You're strong, you could do well with hard labor, I can loan you out to my brother to dig ditches, build buildings, mine and carry ore, whatever he needs. But . . . well you'd likely never know freedom that way, and the living would be rough. Still, before I'm old and dead you might pay me back for my generosity.”

The mention of freedom had sparked an interest in Rhubara though Cauliflora was still glaring sullenly. Rhubara asked, “Freedom? How can we know freedom?”

“When you work for your Lord you earn for your Lord.” Bass told them sharply. “You are paid a wage for the work you do, that wage is deposited to your credit chip automatically and used to pay your debts to your Lord. The cost of your housing, training, feeding, and your initial cost of purchase. Your chips will remain empty for many years I think, but if ever your earnings outweigh your debts you will begin to save money of your own and in time, perhaps, you will even be able to acquire the funds to purchase your freedom from your Lord.”

“What do we have to do?” Rhubara asked.

Lord Stobler smiled wickedly, he knew he had them now just as he'd had Tathy, just as he'd probably had Bass and Kazoo in their time as well. He leaned forward, his enormous gut resting on his desk and turning off the numbers display as he said to them, “Fight for me!”

“Fight?” Cauliflora was intrigued now.

“Fight in the Arenas! Become a Champion and earn more wealth than you can imagine not just for me but for yourselves as well. You've eaten the trash my Legends leave behind, you've slept on dirt and you wear rags. Become a Fighter and you'll eat and drink properly, you'll sleep on the finest beds with the finest company if you've got the funds for it, and you will wear clothes _almost_ as splendid as my own save when you step into the Arenas where you will wear the Armor of my House and fight the mongrels fools like Lord Barc will send to you for the slaughter. And you will slaughter them, because you're mine and I expect nothing less from my Legends! Are you ready to be Legends?”

The two exchanged looks, Cauliflora asked, “You're saying . . . we can make money to buy our freedom . . . just by fighting?”

Lord Stobler smiled, “Oh yes my darlings . . . so much fighting. To the roar of the crowd no less. Please the crowd and see your fortunes rise high and fast, displease them and you'll find your worthless lives brought to a quick end, old sport. So what say you?”

“You don't know much about Saiyans.” Cauliflora laughed. “You don't need to tempt us with fancy beds and clothes, if you want someone to kill for you all you had to do was mention the price.”

“The price will be your freedom . . . when you've earned enough.” Lord Stobler told her. “Until then I expect your undying loyalty and obedience, you will serve as part of this House, you will fight for me, you will win for me, you will earn money to pay your debt to me. Are we in agreement?”

“Absolutely.” Cauliflora said with an almost eager look to her eyes.

“Splendid.” Lord Stobler said. “Medic, see them properly dressed and fed, at noon they'll begin their training. I want them ready for the Spring Games Grand Melee.”

“A Grand Melee?” Rhubara whispered to Kazoo as he led them out, “Is that what it sounds like?”

She probably judged him some form of ally, and she was probably not terribly wrong. The Medic was never unkind to anyone, whether they were free or slave. He began to describe the event to them as he led them away to be cleaned, dressed and fed.

When they were gone Lord Stobler turned his eye stocks to Bass and said, “I'm taking an awfully big risk with those two. They don't seem as broken as I'd like, are you certain a single week of the treatment was sufficient?”

“My Lord,” the Sensei answered, “I fear a week or a year wouldn't break their warrior spirit because I sense their kind is made of little else. If they were properly broken I fear there would have been nothing left. They may be difficult to train, it may be dangerous to train them with the fire of rebellion still in their souls but I believe I can do it.”

“And that fire will push them to even greater heights in the hopes of winning their freedom. Very well then . . . but if they fail me in the Spring Games I'll shift their cost to you.”

Tathy's mouth dropped open at the threat, the cost of those two slaves would probably see the money that Bass had saved from his career in the Arena evaporate and still not be enough. Certainly the chances that he'd ever be able to pay off his own cost would be out the window.

But Bass just smiled. “I told you my Lord, those two can win you half the War World.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“That's right!” King Kai cried, “Feel your energy flowing through you, feel your own strength, understand your own strength!”

“That's utter gibberish!” Pastel told him and he snorted angrily, but Gohan laughed before King Kai could get too upset with them.

The Half-Saiyan warrior had taken quite a shine to King Kai in the years he'd been dead, but he liked these new fighters too, so he'd taken to playing the peace keeper. He said, “Come on King Kai, you of all people should appreciate a good joke. And Pastel, I'm sure you understand the concept of understanding your own limits, right?”

“Of course.” Pastel told him. The four students were all standing in a field on what amounted to the dark side of King Kai's planet with King Kai and Gohan standing nearby watching them as they continued to work on focusing their ki.

“So understanding your own strength should come naturally. Your ki lets you push past those barriers, break through the limit. So ignore your limit, focus on your true strength, let your ki flow though you and really stretch its legs.”

“So this technique works by using our ki instead of our physical strength?” Gurein asked.

“Not exactly,” Gohan said, “it'll amplify your physical strength with the help of your ki. Once you push past those barriers and those limits your body will redefine what those barriers are, your ki will get stronger and you'll go from Kaioken times two to time three, and so on.”

“So the more we use the technique the stronger it'll get?” Bocan asked.

“It's not enough just to use it,” Gohan explained, “Your body won't redefine its limits if you don't understand your limits, and you can't increase your strength if you don't understand your strength. If you break open the dam and let all your ki flow through it'll destroy you, thats why we say you've got to understand your own strength, understand how much of it you can use, how far past your limits you can go without doing irreversible harm to your body.”

“So this is like being in a sports car and trying to floor it,” Pastel reasoned, “if you don't know what you're doing you're just going to crash. The car's got the speed but you've got to get a handle for her before you get to use all of it.”

“Everything is cars with you.” Bocan sighed.

“Keep talking like that and you'll never get under my hood again.” Pastel smirked.

“That just sounds like I'm a surgeon.” Bocan smirked back.

“It's not a perfect metaphor.” Gurein agreed, “But I think we got the point.”

Gohan laughed again, “Actually that's not a bad metaphor. The car thing that is, not the other one. Just in this case the car doesn't have a limit, it can keep accelerating and every day you take it out for a drive you can push it further and make it run faster, it's all going to come down to how much gas you've got in the tank and how well you can control her at high speeds.”

“I get it.” Pastel nodded.

“You just had to speak her language.” Gurein said.

The heroes of Earth went at it again, focusing their ki with careful control. Gohan smiled and said, “That's it, just like that! You're getting it!”

“Hey, who's teaching the lesson here?” King Kai squawked.

Gohan chuckled, “Sorry, King Kai,” he told him, “I just thought I might slow it down a bit for them, really help them to get it, you know?”

King Kai snorted irritably, “Well don't let it happen again, I don't need some Teacher's Aide to teach students, I've been teaching the Kaioken since before you were born!”

Gohan smiled and nodded, “You're right, I'm sorry. Please continue, sir.”

King Kai nodded and said, “That's better. Now the rest of you . . . just do what Gohan said, and don't drag your feet about it, it's almost lunch time!”

“There is just one thing I'm curious about though.” Their fourth member spoke up, “Aren't we still going to be horribly behind everyone else when we're brought back? I remember you told us that living in ten times Earth's gravity would make us stronger than just training in it for a few hours, but aren't the others going to be training in a hundred times Earth's gravity before long?”

“For a few hours, sure.” King Kai shrugged. “They'll be stronger than you, that much is certain. But with the Kaioken you can close the gap for short periods, and when you get you return to the land of the living you'll get your chance to train in up to a hundred times Earth's gravity as well and you'll not only catch them up you'll surpass them and still be able to use the Kaioken to come out on top every time! Why if you try hard enough then ten times gravity or not you might be a match for Trunks when you get out of here!”

“Let's not go that far,” Gohan said, “it's important to have realistic expectations. Trunks has years ahead of you in training and Saiyan blood to boot. It's going to take hard work and dedication to catch him, and it won't happen fast. You're going to have to work and train hard and often if you want to catch him, let alone surpass him. Even I'm still behind him and I've had these eight years to train in the afterlife with King Kai.”

“You haven't spent all eight of them here, if you'd been my student from the start instead of wasting time with Goku I could have had you strong enough to make Trunks look like a little kid!” King Kai said.

Gohan smiled, “He was just a kid before. I think we're almost the same age now though.”

“So you don't age in the afterlife?” Pastel asked.

“Of course not!” King Kai said, “Can you imagine? We'd have ghosts too old to lift a cloud let alone throw a punch, the Other World Tournaments would be awful!”

“There are Tournaments in the afterlife?” Bocan asked excitedly.

“It's like this whole universe runs on Martial Arts Tournaments.” Pastel sighed.

“Now you're getting it!” King Kai said happily, and even Gohan wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks comes to better understand why no one is that excited about his presence on_ Humanity's Hope _, but does that mean he's not welcome? Roshi visits Anavill again, will he have better luck getting her to come back this time? Schip's team trains and he learns a shocking secret about his Saiyan comrades in the next episode of Chronicles of Earth's Defenders!_

 

_Character Image: Sharrot_

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_Note: Sharro changed a lot when I updated her, partially because her original design resembled another character's too much. I liked letting her have longer hair and added some scars to her cheek that you can't quit see because of her thumb, added the Blood Ring to her as well. Her armor should, of course, be red instead of brown. Fun Fact: Sharro was originally going to be male. I imagined Tell and Sharro as Bash Bros, but then at some point, I don't recall quite when, I thought 'why not make one of them a Bash Sis?'  I said with Tell that he and Turles wouldn't be Bardock's sons because I don't ship Bardock and Fasha well that's because I ship Fasha and Toma, I'd actually toyed with the idea of saying that Sharro is_ their _daughter since I imagined Lams' team being in Raditz' age group but if that does end up being the case it's probably not something any of the three ever acknowledges._

 


	54. Know Your Enemy

**Episode Eighteen**

**'Know Your Enemy'**

 

Mai had felt sympathy for Trunks as he took his verbal lashings from everyone on the bridge, but that didn't mean she regretted the part she'd played in it. He'd acted recklessly and they couldn't afford that, not from someone with power like his.

And beyond that she felt more betrayed than relieved to see him. She'd thought at breakfast the other day and that evening that he valued her input, that for no reason in particular apart from maybe just being a genuinely great guy he recognized that she had something to contribute and had let her do so.

But now . . . it was like nobody could accomplish anything unless they were a fighter with such and such power rating, or battle level or whatever it was. It made her mad. Sure she hadn't destroyed the Androids but she'd fought them, she'd saved people, she'd done what she could and she'd never felt like it'd been for nothing.

But that was clearly how _he_ saw it.

_No. Don't go deciding on his behalf what his opinion is,_ she scolded herself. _Maybe he really did do it with the best of intentions, maybe he's so used to fighting his way that he doesn't understand there are other ways._

So she didn't chastise him any further. Besides, she could tell he was regretting his decision something fierce by the time she was sent to collect him the next day.

Apparently Captain Videl had decided that if Trunks wanted to behave like a child he would need a babysitter, and Mai had been the one she chose for the task. Mai wouldn't pretend she was thrilled with it of course but not because she was still angry at Trunks when she was sent to bring him to the mess for breakfast.

She still felt . . . off, when she was around him. Her stomach still went aflutter when he got close and she didn't like it.

Since Videl had brought half her platoon, or rather two squads on this trip leaving the rest to guard the Arcosian prisoners the rooms on the ship that had been officers' quarters were mostly empty so Trunks and Mai each had their own room. They were nearby each other but not scandalously so, the distance was very suitable, Mai thought.

Still it meant that she didn't have much time to prepare herself mentally for the task that was being in the Golden Warrior's presence. She shut her eyes to steel her nerves and knocked on the door to his quarters just as he was opening it, her knuckles rapping on his forehead instead until she opened her eyes and realized what she was doing.

Of course he moved out of the way after the confusion at the first couple of strikes wore off, but Mai cried, “Oh no! I didn't mean to--”

“You all really _are_ mad at me, now it's attacks outside my door.” Trunks told her. She'd later realize he was joking once she got over being absolutely mortified.

“I wasn't paying attention, I'm so sorry, Trunks sir.” She lowered her head in apology.

“No, it's fine I shouldn't have been . . . standing in the doorway . . . when I opened it.” He said, clearly trying to find some way to share the blame even though he didn't need to.

But then Mai realized he did. “Well you were confined to your quarters until I came to get you, remember? Why were you coming out?”

“Well I sensed you coming so I assumed you were coming to get me.” Trunks explained. Part of her felt a strange sort of thrill at the thought that he could sense her presence, let alone that he'd been so eager that he'd come to the door even before she could knock, but he went on to say, “I'm eager to get out there and talk to Captain Videl today. I know I messed up but we've got to move forward from that, don't you think?”

Mai frowned. “Do you understand _why_ everyone is mad at you, sir?”

“You don't have to call me sir.” Trunks said, scratching his head, “And sure, I understand it.”

Mai waited for him to elaborate and when he didn't she said, “Would you mind telling me? Just so I know that you do understand?”

Trunks folded his arms irritably, “Isn't it enough that I say I understand? You don't have to treat me like a child, you or Captain Videl.”

“We're both much older than you,” Mai told him.

“Well you don't look it.” Trunks told her. She could feel herself blushing at the compliment even though he'd obviously meant it as a comeback. Still she wouldn't be deflected that easily.

“Thank you, sir.” She said flatly, “But before I vouch for you with my Captain I'm going to need to know that you really do understand.”

Trunks nodded. He said, “I get it, you think I rushed off without thinking, you're upset that I pretended to go along with the plan even though I'd already decided to come along.”

Mai stared at him, his eyes were entirely too blue. Perfect blue eyes to match his perfect blue hair— _Stop!_

“And what else?” Mai asked him.

Trunks frowned. “I . . . I'm sorry, what else did I do?”

Mai frowned too. She told him, “You insulted everyone on this ship and certainly everyone on the other ship as well. By being here you're not just turning your back on Earth you're telling everyone very subtly that we're not good enough on our own.”

“That's not it, but why shouldn't I offer my help when I can?”

“Because Earth needed it more.” Mai said sharply. “You're right, you're not a child, but you're also not a soldier. _I_ am. When you know your enemy wants something the worst thing you can possibly do is give it to them unless you've got some way of turning it on their heads and everyone with a mind to think recognized that this whole excursion seems like a trick to get you away from Earth.”

“The mission's too important to risk,” Trunks tried to tell her but she spoke over him in a manner she never would have thought she could and only a strange sort of desperation to bring him down to the person she thought she could see rather than the stuck up hero he was acting like drove her on.

“Exactly, a mission we couldn't ignore against an enemy too strong for anyone _but_ you. It reeked of a trap but we had to go, and we thought of a way to accomplish the mission without needing to risk Earth but you threw all that planning away. You gave the enemy what they wanted and even if your presence is more than they could have planned for, even if you're able to turn the tables on them quick enough that they won't get away with what ever it is they're planning on New Namek whatever they _might_ have planned for Earth can still happen because the only person there with strength like yours is a bounty hunter who showed up at exactly the same time as the person who told you about the obvious trap in the first place!”

Trunks frowned, “Are you saying you doubt Cargo or Cauliflora?”

Mai shook her head, “What reason does Cargo have to lie? But wasn't it awfully suspicious that the enemy left ships where he and a few others could get to them? Left them alive at all really if they weren't there for the Dragon Balls? It almost seems like any old planet would have sufficed for them, doesn't it?” Mai asked and Trunks nodded slowly.

She lowered her gaze, she couldn't look into those eyes. She whispered, “Cargo shows up, knows how to get to Earth because of the bounty that soldiers have no reason to have lying around in their Pods, but he finds out about it and gets to Earth because of it. Just when he does someone, a bounty hunter, almost as strong as this General you're all expecting shows up too? Chillax tells your mother the PTO would never harm the Namekians wantonly, so what if it's not the PTO we're going up against? Did you think of that?”

Trunks shook his head, “What are you saying?” He asked her.

“What if Cauliflora isn't just a rogue bounty hunter? The bounty on Earth isn't for you, it's for humans! So she gets her crew to attack some random world, they don't know what it is or how important it is but they attack it anyway, maybe in masquerade as PTO soldiers, maybe a few of them wear horns and pretend to be Arcosians or maybe there are Arcosian mercenaries. They leave enough of the natives alive in the hills that eventually some of them will try to escape, and what's this? Space ships left lightly guarded with coordinates to the one place that can help them? Well how convenient.”

Trunks shook his head again but now it was in denial, “Cauliflora's not an enemy, she's a loyal Saiyan, she spent years looking for any of her own kind she's just glad to not be the last anymore.”

“Maybe that's so,” Mai admitted. “But before we could have watched her, gotten a feel for her and if necessary Turles could have handled her. But even if she is loyal then that means that there could be a lot of bounty hunters who'll turn up at Earth trying to collect human heads. Do you think she can fight them all off? How will she find time to train doing that? How will she face down this General Boreal if he shows up? What if he has help when he shows up? Are her eccentric friend and the old Hermit supposed to watch her back if the General shows up with one or two other Arcosians?”

Trunks looked at the ground. “I know I made a mistake . . . I'm sorry I didn't have more faith in all of you . . . but we have to move forward, we have to try to turn my blunder into a win for our team.”

“Only if we're on the same team.” Mai told him.

Trunks looked at her and he said, “I want to be. Are you still willing to be on my team?”

Mai couldn't make eye contact with him, but not for the reason he probably suspected. She just nodded. She told him, “If we can work together more openly we've got a chance of making this really work. Captain Videl doesn't want to hear you tell her how you being here is really an asset, she already knows your strength is an asset, she already knows having you along removes a lot of the danger in this mission. She knew that the moment you took your helmet off, so don't try to educate her about the benefits of having you along.”

Trunks asked, “So what should I say to her?”

“What you told me; that you're sorry.” Mai told him. She held out her hand to shake his, “If we're on the same team we've got to trust each other. That means that even if the Captain and I aren't super strong fighters like you and your students you have to believe that we're still useful . . . just in a different way.”

Trunks took her hand and shook it, he told her, “I _am_ sorry, and I will do my best to make sure you never feel useless again.”

“Then by all means,” Mai told him, “it's breakfast time so let's go to the upper deck and join the Captain.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Breakfast wasn't _that_ awkward, but that didn't mean it wasn't at all.

At least it wasn't as awkward as Trunks had expected. It helped that Mai had gotten through to him and helped him to understand what he'd done wrong, he'd have to thank her for that. Apologizing to everyone had gone a long way towards mending bridges or fixing fences or whatever the expression was.

“So I think we should keep your presence on board a secret,” Captain Videl said. She'd finished her breakfast but remained at the table while Trunks and Mai ate theirs. Trunks was immediately not fond of the MRE rations they were eating, more specifically the powdered egg portion of them.

He supposed the rice was acceptable, if not particularly enjoyable but he was careful not to let his dislike of the food show so that he wouldn't seem like he was looking down on the soldier lifestyle.

He forcibly swallowed a mouthful of not-really-eggs and probably-not-actually-rice and asked, “Why is that, Captain?”

“Right now your students are working their tails off, they've known they'd need to get as strong as they can before the end of this trip so that they could stand on their own without you . . . if they know you're going to be there to help them they might slack.” Videl said simply. “I think it'd be better for everyone involved if you're our trump card, if we keep you a secret even from the others.”

Trunks thought about it and nodded, “I guess that makes sense.” _Besides, I'd hate for them to think I didn't have faith in them the way Mai and the others did._

“Plus it'll be a great surprise for the enemy if we need it.” Videl said. “Still better to keep your power level low, leave them uncertain about where you are.”

“Yes ma'am.” Trunks nodded.

“How are you enjoying that MRE, Master Briefs?” Videl asked with an amused grin.

“Oh . . . uh . . .” Trunks hesitated, he didn't want to be insulting but he didn't want to lie either.

Mai said, “I think she's asking _how_ you're enjoying it, because they're awful.”

Trunks breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, “They really are. But I'll survive.”

“Don't be so sure.” Videl said gravely, “After all you wouldn't be the first to fall to the military's most deceptive weapon.”

Trunks laughed in spite of himself, even Videl allowed herself a laugh at her own joke and most of the other soldiers at the table joined in. It was a lot better than the stony silence he'd expected.

He glanced at Mai, thankful for their chat, their eyes met for a moment before she quickly looked away.

Breakfast wasn't _that_ awkward, but that didn't mean it wasn't at all.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Anavill had taken to caring for Gurein's bonsai collection with Rhyce's blessing . . . mostly because Rhyce herself believed she would have killed them all within the week. In truth a small part of Anavill worried that she would kill them even sooner but after three months of caring for them she had a sort of confidence that if Trunks ever did make good on his promise to bring the others back to life Gurein would not be disappointed in the treatment his collection had received.

Besides, it was something she could still do even in her . . . condition.

She heard the knock on the door and tried to expel the sour thoughts that had been entering her mind at just that moment. She knew who it was of course, her parents wouldn't have knocked and Schip had gone to outer space.

“Come in Master Roshi.”

The door opened and the old Turtle Hermit chuckled, “I guess these visits are getting pretty routine for you, eh?”

“I guess.” Anavill said flatly. “You're not here to ask about the island again, are you?”

“No, no, that's in good hands for now. But there is something else; the new Tournament. I've been asked to judge it.”

“Oh. Congratulations.” Anavill told him without enthusiasm.

“Thank you, I'm glad you see it as a positive thing . . . because I need a co-judge.”

“You do not.” Anavill accused.

“Oh yes I do young'un,” Master Roshi told her, “And both Bulma and the King agree it should be you.”

Anavill stared at him in shock. “Why?” She asked, “So they can see me and know exactly how they could end up?”

“Exactly.” Master Roshi said, shocking her. He adjusted his glasses and said, “Let the fighters in the tournament see a brave young woman who risked it all for the Earth without demanding reward, let them see a girl who went from some morning martial arts classes to the strongest fighter we trained—yes you were the strongest—and let them see that even with all she's been through she's still there doing her part and more and let everyone who enters for the wrong reasons feel ashamed when they realize what the job really requires.”

Anavill looked down at her immobile legs and whispered, “And what does it require?”

“A hero. And not just any sort.”

“A super hero?” Anavill asked with a slight smile.

“Got it in one.” Master Roshi told her. “So will you help me?”

Anavill sighed again and looked at the bonsai trees that reminded her of her fallen friends. She hoped Gurein would be happy with how she'd treated them . . . but she could almost feel the disappointment he and Pastel and Bocan and Soda would feel with how she'd been treating herself. She nodded, “I'll help you, Master Roshi.”

Roshi chuckled, “I never doubted it! Come on then, the limousine's waiting!”

“Limousine?” Anavill gawked.

“That's right, when I told Bulma I was bringing you back today she sprang for me to do it in style! A hover limousine with a full bar . . . which of course you're too young to access but I'll do it justice!” Master Roshi chuckled.

_Was he that sure I'd come back this time or has he had the limousine every time?_ Anavill couldn't help but wonder.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Schip was barely able to leap into the air to dodge Sharrot's punch in time. After just their first week of training and travel the Saiyans were already starting to catch up to him.

Or at least they were as long as they worked together, and Sharrot and Telluce were experts in teamwork, as Schip was quickly reminded when Telluce appeared behind him to try to kick him out of the air. Schip managed to dodge that too, just in the nick of time and grabbing Telluce's leg threw the taller youth into Korrard before the sickly looking Saiyan could do whatever his part of the three pronged attack was.

The upper deck of the Capsule Ship _Defender One_ was much larger than the lower sleeping deck and recreation deck, but it still wasn't _that_ big, there was only so far to run or evade the opponents and they had to be careful not to destroy the whole ship with their training.

Schip had to admit it was unnerving fighting three opponents at once. He knew he was still stronger than all three of them, but their tactics could get the better of him if he wasn't careful. He wondered if it had been anything like this for Master Trunks when they'd trained together and he'd sparred with all of his students at once.

He was still able to come out on top though, but they were definitely closing the gap faster than he liked. Soon the four of them would be training in fifty times Earth's gravity, the amount that he had considered his maximum before. From there they'd be moving on together into sixty and seventy and so on.

Trunks understood they adjusted to the heavier gravity faster than he did because for them the change was less extreme, what was fifty times Earth's gravity for him was just five times Planet Vegeta's gravity for them, and he could understand that the difference was—

He was caught up in his own thoughts when Korrard, having jumped out of the way of Telluce sprang towards him like a bullet. He dodged to the left only to run into Sharrot who grabbed his wrist roughly and flung him over her shoulder to the ground bellow where Telluce, having rolled to his feet waited to greet him with a kick to the face.

Ship barely managed to roll out of the way of Telluce's kick but he still hit the deck hard, he felt bones crack and he lay on the ground coughing and unable to get up.

“What was that?” Sharrot demanded, “You lost focus, Master!”

“Y-yeah . . .” Schip coughed.

“Can you move?” Telluce asked him, kneeling down besides him. It seemed training had come to an abrupt halt.

Schip was surprised and more than a little uncertain. He knew the Saiyans only respected strength, he knew that in order to keep them from walking all over him he had to stay stronger than the rest of them so he tried to hide the fact that he was injured, but they were all acting . . . almost like they were concerned.

Sharrot and Korrard floated down to the deck and looked him over. Korrard said, “You threw him too hard, Sharro. It's a good thing he dodged Tell's kick or he could be a goner. Here, lemme see.”

“I'm fine!” Schip insisted but the scrawny looking Saiyan ignored him and Telluce and Sharrot took his left and right arms respectively and lifted him to his feet. His chest hurt and he coughed while Korrard inspected the damage, poking his ribs to illicit a cry of pain before Schip could properly steel himself.

Korrard nodded, “Thought so, broken ribs. Hold him still and keep a lookout, don't want anyone catching us.”

“What are you doing?” Schip wondered. Were they going to finish him off? What could he do? Rhyce and her team would be down below and Kodva and his team would be asleep, Turles was probably asleep too.

There was no one who could help him as Korrard held his hands up to Schip's chest, warm white spheres of light forming in his palms as he did. Schip took a deep breath and prepared to be blown away or incinerated something.

But instead he felt better almost immediately. His ribs stopped hurting, his chest stopped hurting, his pain disappeared in an instant. Korrard was clearly under a lot of strain as he worked, but for as much stress as he seemed to be under Schip's evaporated until he could stand unsupported.

Korrard panted a bit and asked, “How's that?”

“What did you do?” Schip marveled, patting his chest.

“Patched you up, just don't tell anybody.” Korrard said.

“You can see now why Kor's not the best fighter,” Telluce explained, “it's not really . . . what he's cut out for.”

“I had no idea, why didn't you tell me you could heal like that?” Schip asked. “We've been talking and supposedly bonding for a week and you never even hinted you could do this.”

Korrard shrugged, “It's not something Saiyans are supposed to be able to do.”

“He thinks it's embarrassing.” Sharrot translated.

Korrard blushed, “Well my energy does kind of the opposite of what it's supposed to do. You two blast something and it drops down, I blast something and it hops back up!”

“We're not a race of healers,” Telluce explained, “and healing is harder than hurting, it takes a lot out of him. It's kind of a secret, we wouldn't want people to abuse it.”

“But you're trusting me with it?” Schip marveled.

“Of course, you're a team leader.” Sharrot shrugged. “You up for more training?”

“Y-yeah . . . definitely.” Schip said, scratching his head. “But what do you mean abuse it?”

“Well you weren't hurt that bad,” Telluce told him, “but I'll bet even you can recognize how easy it'd be to bring yourself low then make Kor patch you up for the extra boost of strength.”

“No, not really.” Schip admitted. “Wait, you mean you guys get stronger when you get hurt?”

“Of course, if a Saiyan Warrior is brought to within an inch of their life and recovers they'll come back far stronger than before. It's just tricky to pull off without dying, a lot easier if there's someone who can stabilize you and heal you right on the spot though. Wait, you mean you Earthlings don't get Zenkai Boosts?” Telluce blinked.

“No, when we humans get hurt we're just hurt.” Schip shrugged. “My friend Ana got hurt really badly three months ago and she had to stop fighting because of it.”

That got a look from the three Saiyans that seemed to border between shock and horror. He wasn't sure what shook them more, the revelation that someone had been hurt and not gotten stronger from it, or that it was possible to be hurt badly enough that you had to stop fighting.

“Wow, then getting beaten is just a waste of time for you Earthlings, isn't it? No wonder you fight so hard to beat the three of us all the time.” Telluce said.

“I thought it was just to show off, like you didn't respect us.” Sharrot admitted.

Schip laughed slightly, he wouldn't have called it showing off but now it seemed a bit silly to admit that it was because he didn't trust them even after a week together. He scratched the back of his head and admitted, “Well . . . it was more because I'm the teacher, I'm supposed to get you all ready for New Namek. And losing isn't a waste of time if we can learn from it, it's just better not to.”

“Oh.” Korrard nodded, “That makes sense I guess.”

“But I think we've been fighting longer than you have, Teach.” Telluce said, “So you might want to start having Kor here watch your back instead of attack it, you know? It'd even us out a bit better, strongest and weakest against the two intermediates.”

“More balanced, better training, better results.” Sharrot said.

“Yeah . . .” Schip said. He hesitated and asked them, “I don't know if this is a rude question . . . but why don't Saiyans just use Zenkai Boosts all the time to get stronger?”

Telluce scoffed. “Because no true Saiyan Warrior likes shortcuts, we like to earn our strength. A Zenkai might be okay once in a while, like a scar it shows you've been through something intense and made it out okay,” Telluce said, indicating his own scars.

“But as a way to cheat and get stronger without real effort? Not the Saiyan way. We don't take shortcuts, we work for it, that makes it ours, something we can be proud of.” Sharrot agreed.

Schip nodded, “That makes sense.” He smiled, “All right then, let's try again and get stronger together.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Bulma and Master Roshi discuss the problems of Trunks' absence and the upcoming tournament with the King, but they're interrupted when a band of bounty hunters arrive in the city. It's up to Roshi, Tathy and Cauliflora to put down the attack, meanwhile interested eyes are watching Earth . . ._

 

_Character Image: Oni_

__

__

_Notes: Oni of the Evil Twins! His armor's pretty much accurate to what I imagined for the most part. Fun Fact: Oni is the older of the twins and was originally going to be completely evil. Like drowning puppies in the blood of kittens evil. I decided it'd be more fun, albeit done before, to have him be actually quite chill and pleasant out of combat, but turn into a raging maniac once battle is joined. So I actually imagine him being sort of like Caboose from Red vs Blue, only . . . you know, a bit smarter and less adorably innocent. There is never the less a strong possiblity that at some point when he is raging he will introduce himself and inform his opponent that he hates babies._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I've been having fun with the notes and fun facts I've gone back and added them to all the other character images. Enjoy!


	55. Brat

**Episode Nineteen**

**'Brat'**

 

Tea in the King's palace was divine, if Bulma dared to use the word, and she did. The room where they sat was lovely and so white it defied uncleanliness with a garden just outside a window so clean you almost couldn't see the glass. The garden had a variety of colorful flowers that seemed all the more colorful thanks to the room where they sat to enjoy their tea.

Though the walls, floor and ceiling of the room were white the furniture was carved oak with white cushions on the chairs and the table was clearly mahogany, a fine material, very expensive or so Bulma had heard. There were Guards on one end of the room and attendants on the other awaiting their every whim, and Bulma had to admit that she could get used to living like that if she weren't careful.

It took the edge off at least, but of course their topic of conversation wasn't nearly as pleasant as the seating and surroundings. They were of course discussing Trunks and his . . . “spirited” decision to accompany their fighters to New Namek.

“And so you see in his own way, I think he was trying to help.” Bulma concluded.

The King took a sip of his tea and nodded. “Yes, that was my estimation as well the moment I heard. I know your Trunks is a good lad and a true hero, but you mustn't mistake him for infallible, he'll make mistakes just like any young man.”

“You're a lot more patient with him than I'd have expected.” Bulma sighed.

“I just know there's nothing I can do about it.” The King reassured her. “Your son is a force of nature, I can only thank my lucky stars that he's a benevolent one and sway with the wind rather than trying to stand firm against it.”

“I have to admit sometimes I'm so glad I raised such a good son, sometimes I'm even amazed that such a respectful young man sprang from my DNA . . . and then every once in a rare while he does something impulsive like this and I think 'you're lucky your father isn't here to deal with you, you brat!”

The “old people” at the table shared a laugh at that, then Master Roshi spoke up to change the topic.

“Well in the meantime,” Master Roshi said, “this new tournament . . . I'm not so sure it's a good idea to hold it right now.”

“What do you mean?” Bulma asked. “Don't we want more fighters?”

“Sure. But what I mean is that while we should definitely start making the preparations for the tournament, until Trunks and the others are safely back maybe we shouldn't be distracting ourselves by actually holding it. The big ship's scouters were what let us keep an eye on everything, if someone attacks now they'll either have to be strong enough for me to sense them or close enough for the smaller scouters to work.”

“I have positioned some elite elements of the military in key locations with some of the reverse engineered scouters,” The King said calmly, taking another sip of his tea, “If anything should come by with a power level over one hundred they'll verify and inform your people. Wherever possible though the Royal Guard will try to respond with the new blaster technology. As you can see things aren't so bad after all. We should only require you for emergencies really.”

“Hmm.” Master Roshi nodded slowly.

“That's a relief . . .” Bulma said but it made her wonder why the King had asked them to tea if it was just to tell them that things were going to be okay. Surely he could have said that over the phone.

“There is another matter I'd like your help with, however, that is if you're done with your tea.” The King said.

“What's that?” Bulma asked, handing her cup to an attendant while Master Roshi did the same.

The King put his tea cup down and an attendant rushed over to take it from him and to clear the table. Another attendant set out a large map of . . . well, the world.

“There's the matter of these new Namekian settlers. Humanity's rebuilding projects are mostly centralized in West City and Central City, as I'm sure you know, after all Capsule Corporation is doing a large amount of the work.”

“Yes, your majesty.” Bulma agreed.

“So given what you know about the Namekians . . . where do you think they could settle comfortably?”

Bulma blinked in surprise, “I beg your pardon?”

“As we lack the population to make the most of them I want to declare one of our former capitals Namekian territory, that is if they're willing to settle it and coexist with any natives who might remain. But there aren't enough of us Earthlings left to cover Earth anymore, I don't think we need to be stingy. The Namekians are the same race as old King Piccolo, a terrifying adversary but that means they'll be strong allies against the Arcosians, doesn't it?”

“It does,” Bulma agreed, “or at least I hope it does.”

She thought about it for a moment, but it was Master Roshi who said, “What about East City?”

“East City?” Bulma asked.

“It seems like the best place to me.” Master Roshi shrugged. “It'll give them some room to breathe, good land for growing those trees they like, lots of water.”

“I don't know if their trees can grow on Earth.” Bulma admitted. “But we can certainly suggest it to them. A permanent Namekian colony on Earth . . . at least when my son bothers to be on it it is the safest place.”

“Indeed.” The King said, nodding. “The Saiyans will be a trickier matter of course if you're planning to bring them in numbers that might require a settlement . . .”

_Ah . . ._ Bulma thought. _So he wants to know what our plans are for the Saiyans . . ._

“Is there enough room on Earth for three major species?” Master Roshi asked carefully.

“There is now.” The King said evenly. “But a generation or two down the line who can really say? Hopefully by then we'll be a strong conglomerate. I have something in mind for that of course but . . . first, what do you think about the Saiyans? As I understand it from my officers still in the compound there are nearly a dozen of them.”

“That's hardly enough to necessitate a territory of their own,” Bulma said, “but I'll admit if ever there should arise . . . civilian element to the Saiyans we might need to take them out of Capsule Corp Headquarters and resettle them elsewhere.”

“Not only that,” the King said, “but a home of their own could help them to feel more invested in the defense of Earth. If Earth isn't just for Earthlings, but rather a place for them as well perhaps we can peacefully coexist.”

Bulma nodded slowly, “I hadn't thought of it that way your majesty.” She said. It wasn't a lie in the strictest sense, she _had_ thought of trying to invest the Saiyans in protecting Earth but the idea of giving them their own city . . .

“South City.” Master Roshi was the one to answer again.

“South City?” Bulma asked.

“It's isolated on that island, and not too far from where I live so I can keep an eye on them so to speak. More importantly they won't run into many humans since there won't be any natives to return to South City once it's repaired, the Androids took them all out when it started.”

“That's right . . .” Bulma agreed. “So then . . . you think the Saiyans should settle in South City?”

“I think there are worse ideas than giving them a home of their own.” The King said. “Not that they won't be welcome elsewhere, the same goes for the Namekians of course.”

“That leaves North City.” Master Roshi said. “Should that be some sort of multiracial hub?”

“Actually that was my vision for Central City,” the King said, “for North city . . . well as I understand it there are aliens on their way to this planet, too weak to have conquered us themselves but aggressive enough that they hired the Arcosians to attack us in the first place.”

“You want to give them their own territory?” Bulma asked.

“Well why not?” The King asked. “They just need a home so far as we know, and we're not ready to give up ours. But if they're willing to share our world with us I think I can convince our people to be willing to share with them. It beats the alternative, a long protracted war.”

“Or a quick one if Trunks gets back.” Bulma pointed out. Then she realized the full implications of what she'd just said, “Of course . . . that'd mean we're just as bad as the Arcosians for wiping out an entire species just because they got in our way.”

“The situation is a bit different,” The King said, “let's not go comparing apples to oranges just yet.”

“We'll have to do more than wipe out a single race in self defense before we're comparable to the Arcosians, Frieza's people have done in more races than we even knew existed and they're still at it” Master Roshi said.

Bulma nodded, “Well then . . . if Central City is supposed to be a hub for all the races of Earth to gather and meet maybe we should plan for the races that aren't of Earth.”

“How do you mean?” The King asked.

“Where should we put the Star Port?” Bulma clarified with smile.

The King chuckled and smiled for a moment before one of his servants suddenly burst into the room.

“Y-your Majesty, the watch station in Central City just reported, their scouters have picked up five power signatures over one thousand!”

“Oh my . . .” Master Roshi sighed. “I'd better go.”

“I'll call Capsule Corp and let Cauliflora know as well.” Bulma nodded. “Thank you for tea your Majesty, but we'd better run.”

“Good luck to you both.” The King told them, “I have the fullest confidence, and I will consider where best to place Earth's first Star Port.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Chillax's scouter lit up all of a sudden, the Arcosian noticed there were five power levels all over one thousand.

“That's an impressive mercenary force,” he decided, “but nothing the humans can't handle. What a waste of life.”

“What is?” Karuto asked from the next cell over.

“Oh just some idiots who just showed up to die. The Saiyan will handle them.” Chillax yawned.

“Cauliflora?” Karuto asked, “I don't know if she knows. I better go tell her.”

“Not her, the other Saiyan.” Chillax scoffed, still not prepared to call Trunks by name.

“Oh . . . right.” Karuto said a little too evasively.

Perhaps it was the strange evasiveness that put the Commander on his guard. Chillax sat up in his cell and asked, “What's going on? Are you hiding something?”

“Nothing . . .” Karuto said hesitantly.

Chillax considered for a moment what Karuto might be trying to keep from him. Based on what he knew of the child and what he knew of the Earthlings, _Why would my mention of the Saiyan illicit a response like_ —and then the coin dropped and realization struck him.

The reason the Saiyan hadn't honored his request to meet him after he'd been so respectful to their new liaison, the reason his usual power level of 5 was absent, Chillax had just assumed he was living in a more comfortable number but indeed if Tathy was the thirty thousand and Cauliflora was the three hundred thousand . . . what more comfortable number could there be?

“He's not _here,_ is he?” Chillax asked. Karuto was silent, which was answer enough. The young Arcosian Commander smirked, “Oh that fool. Well . . . I did warn them.”

“Warn them about what?” Karuto asked.

“That our own people would never have so carelessly attacked New Namek.” Chillax said with a yawn leaning back on his cot. “With that bounty out there's no way anyone would just start trouble on a planet so close to Earth, that is unless they hoped to get the attention of the people on Earth.”

“Do you think bounty hunters are going to destroy Earth?” Karuto asked.

“They might try, but I doubt it. I'm sure the bounty our people put out would have specified not destroying the planet otherwise Admiral Frigus could have shifted himself off of Alpha Station and blown it up himself by now.”

Karuto sounded worried, “I hope no one gets hurt.”

“Stop worrying about them, they're your enemies!” Chillax scolded him.

“They're not my enemies, they're nice to me. They could be nice to all of us if we were nice to them too.” Karuto said simply. “I hope they'll be okay.”

“You make me sick sometimes.” Chillax growled. “The world isn't like that you know, you can't just be nice to everyone and have everyone be nice to you. Sometimes people can't juts stop being enemies, sometimes there's lives lost to make you hold a grudge, ancient enmities, even differences in belief or culture so strong that your cultures are incompatible and the only thing to do is fight it out or leave each other alone. The best these humans can hope for is that our kind leave them alone, but then you and I will be prisoners forever.”

“No, just you.” Karuto said cheekily.

“I could get out of here, especially with that Saiyan gone. I just know better than to risk my neck for no reason.” Chillax scoffed. “At least I'm not licking our enemies boots and _helping_ them fight our people like certain little babies I know.”

“Well at least I can go outside.” Karuto told him and as if to prove the point he leaned in front of Chillax's door and made a silly face before rushing off.

The Commander scoffed. “Brat.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Though she wasn't aware of popular belief at the time contrary to it Cauli was already aware of the five power levels that had landed just outside of the place the humans called Central City.

_Nothing there but construction crews,_ Cauli thought, _it's not unpopulated but it'll be sparse and spread out, whoever showed up probably wanted to try to pick some weaklings off the edge of the herd, or else they had the tech to notice me and Tathy in the bulk of the population and knew better than to get too close, but not well enough to stay away all together._

Cauliflora was flying at full speed of course, but she knew she wouldn't get there before a human or two was killed.

It'd be tragic but there was nothing for it, they hadn't had enough warning. Her own scouter had reacted not too long after they'd gotten the call from the King's men. She didn't know what system the Earthling army had put in place but early detection would only work if warning could be given with enough time to respond and this time there wasn't.

Cauli sped through the sky, Tathy was standing by at the Capsule Corporation headquarters in case this was just a diversion.

She watched her scouter carefully and thought _Ah, looks like their leader's shown up. Four thousand, you adorable thing . . . well I guess we can't have all spent our youth training in an Arena. Four thousand would have been enough to get old General Nappa's attention anyway._

She just reported to her scouter, “See a new Power Level, four thousand . . . on my way to intercept.”

There was no response, the control team of Basil and Thyme were gone, but Tathy was there and should have at least acknowledged her.

Cauli did wonder why her report was met with silence, but she knew Tathy well enough to know that if she had nothing useful to say she'd have said something useless so as out of character as her silence was it wasn't particularly concerning.

She instead became concerned when the four thousand power level intercepted one of the one thousands and in a trice the one thousand plummeted and was gone.

Then a second one.

“Master Roshi, is that you there?”

“No, Master Roshi is still en route in his hover limo.” Tathy said, she was chewing something. “Do you know when he got that? I kind of want one, it looks fancy. Much slicker than that junker we stole from that Galactic Patrolman. Don't think it's space capable though. Hey do you think he's ever going to come here to get it back?”

“The limo?” Cauli was confused.

“Nah, the junker we stole. That patrolman, think he'll find us to get it back?” Tathy asked, crunching on something as she spoke now.

“Who cares—wait why are you eating?” Cauli demanded, “You're supposed to be ready to act if West City gets attacked!”

“I am.” Tathy told her. “I'm just having a pre-battle snack to calm my nerves in this dangerous time.”

“Four thousand's just downed a third one thousand,” Cauli said, “Is that one of ours?”

“Can't help you. Hey, maybe it's the little mister—nope, nope he just ran in here. Hey buddy, which of the Earthlings has a power level of four thousand?” Tathy said.

Cauli shut her scouter's communicator off, it wasn't going to do her any good if Tathy wasn't going to take her job seriously. She flew on using the power levels to guide her. She could see the power level she was pretty sure belong to Roshi on its way, but she'd arrive well before he did.

The four thousand converged on the last of the one-thousands and then both disappeared. Cauli was closer now, she pushed herself beyond the limits, determined to see what had happened.

When she arrived all she saw was the ruins of Central city and a few fires that had been lit, probably by the blasts of the bounty hunters.

She landed by a body, it was humanoid but not human. Cauli inspected him, the gray skinned alien was clearly dead. She inspected the area for a while, finding a few shaken construction crews who were working to put out the fires and the five dead bounty hunters.

But no sign of whoever had had that four thousand power level.

She couldn't even detect its owner at a lower level. She folded her arms and sat on the corpse of one bounty hunter thinking to herself as Roshi's black hover limousine pulled up, hovering near her as he opened the door. He eyed the dead bounty hunter and asked, “Good thing you got here in time. Friend of yours?”

“Never met him, and I wasn't the one who got here.” Cauliflora told him. “Someone else was here, someone with a power level at around four thousand. They eliminated the mercenaries one by one and then they disappeared.”

“Hmm . . . then maybe we've got some kind of Central City vigilante.” Master Roshi said.

“Vigilante?” Cauli scoffed.

“It's when someone fights crime without--”

“I know what a vigilante is, I'm a bounty hunter, sir,” Cauli said with just a bit of amusement. She might have been in more of a laughing mood if she'd actually caught this so-called vigilante.

Instead she was left to think to herself, _So the Earthlings have some kind of vigilante who chose not to join Prince Trunks. Poor fool doesn't know what he's getting himself into. He was lucky this time, but next time the enemy could be stronger._

“You don't seem terribly concerned that a stronger power level is skulking around your planet somewhere.” Cauliflora pointed out.

Master Roshi ran his hand over his beard and said, “It's not that I'm not concerned, but it seems for the moment like things worked out for the best. It seems like someone is on our side and that's good enough for me.”

“Not for me, they might have been a different bounty hunter who just eliminated these five to get rid of the competition.” Cauli said.

“Do you know what species they are?” Master Roshi asked.

“Not at all.” Cauli said. “It's a wide galaxy with lots of seedy types, they're humanoids but not Earthlings. Gray skin, big black eyes. Haven't seen their kind before.”

“Well it's just as well someone dealt with them. Come on, hop in, I'll give you a ride back.” Master Roshi told her.

“No thank you, I'll be fine.” Cauliflora said. “I want to look around here for a bit.”

“Well just be careful,” Master Roshi told her, “if you hunt a vigilante they might feel like they're being chased into a corner.”

“I'm hardly going to be afraid of a four thousand power level.” Cauli said dismissively.

“They might not need to overpower you, and a cornered dog fights fiercest.” Master Roshi said. Cauli hesitated, wondering if he knew more than he was letting on, but he left before she could ask.

She folded her arms and scanned with her scouter.

“Vigilante my left eye.” She muttered. “I'm an S-Ranked Bounty Hunter. If you're out there I'll find you, just you see if I don't.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“Well? Do we have reports from Earth?” General Boreal asked.

“Kalt's satellites are still in place for some reason so we were able to tap in to them. There was a bit of a dust up just barely,” Icebreaker told him, “but nothing major. Some dolts with power levels around a thousand showed up and got put down in short order. The highest power level we detected was a three hundred thousand.”

The General chuckled, “Our Saiyan friend?”

“The long satellite's scouter did confirm Saiyan life-signs.” Icebreaker nodded.

“He's teasing me,” General Boreal said with a slight smirk, “He's trying to lure me in, making me thing I can take him as he is.”

“Sir?” Icebreaker asked.

“Our Saiyan must have found someone to question before he exterminated Kalt's crew, must have learned my own power level of three hundred sixty thousand and thinks if we're watching him that I can be baited into attacking, falling into the same trap Kalt did. Little does he know that we received the final transmission from Kalt's ship, we know his true power level.” Boreal explained. He shook his head, “As such little still does he know I have no intention of rising to his bait.”

“Indeed, General.” Icebreaker said. “But you know if he thinks he can lull you in to a false sense of security maybe we can lay some kind of trap. Let him battle you evenly, let him imagine that it's just a duel while Cooly and I bring the ship in on their population hub and exterminate the lot.”

“It's a thought, but I feel like unless training yields unimaginable results any duel between he and I would be terrifyingly short, whether he chose to have a bit of sport or not, don't you?” General Boreal asked. Icebreaker shrugged.

“You might be sacrificed, but we would accomplish our mission.”

“Perhaps. Better, I think, to follow our orders, don't you?” General Boreal asked and Icebreaker shrugged.

“How far away are we?” Cooly asked, speaking up to address the helmsman.

The purple skinned Appullatien said, “we'll be at our destination planet in another two weeks, sir, from there we'll be just six hours away from Earth at maximum burn for a pod, the carrier itself would still take a bit longer.”

General Boreal leaned back in his command chair and nodded his approval. “Very good. We're well ahead of schedule. Keep an eye on the Saiyan, let me know if he rises above that three hundred thousand.”

“Can I ask why, sir?” Icebreaker asked.

“Just a theory, I suspect the Saiyans can sense us from a distance greater than the scouters can detect. He's wearing my reported power level as costume to mock me no doubt but if he starts mimicking my true power we'll know that they can sense us on . . . what was the planet we were going to set up our base on? Rupert?”

“Pluto sir. Though our instruments insist it's not a planet, it may have been misrepresented to us in the educational broadcasts we intercepted from Earth.” Cooly told him.

“Well planet or no it'll suffice for our purposes.” General Boreal said, bringing up a map of Earth's system from his command chair. Out of curiosity he asked, “Which one is called Rupert?”

“None of them are called Rupert, sir.” Icebreaker told him.

“Hmm . . . well one of them should have been. After we've annihilated the humans we'll rename Pluto, after all who's going to be left to argue?” The General chuckled and retired to his quarters to eagerly await the attack.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

_**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ _Karuto learns more about what happened to the Saiyans of Goulder once they arrived on the War World, he hears about their triumphs in the Spring Games and beyond, and he learns the shocking truth that led to their final conflict._

 

_Character Image: Kayle_

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_Note: Of course her colors are wrong in the colored image, but she changed very little from the black and whites taken over a year ago to the more recent images. Though Fasha's armor would have been the right color the pink undershirt wasn't right. But the green paneling on her armor should be dark yellow as should the brown bands on her gauntlets. Maybe I'll say she takes a shine to pink in the future. Fun Fact: Like her brother Kayle was supposed to be absolutely despicable, unlike him I like to think her "cool" is far more of a facade, she'd probably have benefited more from Kodva's meditation classes. Also though I made her long before the revelation that Kale was going to be a character let alone a Super Saiyan Berserker I won't deny I love the coincidentality of my lady Berserker and the canon series' lady Berserker being named after the same vegetable, however not only are the manners in which they rage different, obviously the two are not intentionally related at all. Still I'd love to let them meet someday if the story carries on long enough.  
_

 


	56. True Saiyan Warrior

**Episode Twenty**

**'True Saiyan Warrior'**

 

The Spring Games were of course a grand event and there would have been few better venues for a pair of young fighters to make their debut. Lords from other cities had come with their greatest warriors and the Fighters from a half a hundred Houses took to the Arena for the Grand Melee.

After a month of training with Bass Cauliflora and Rhubara had made good on his promise that they would be spectacular. The only two entries by House Stobler into the Arena's Grand Melee some had laughed, others had wondered if the House had stumbled on hard times not to offer up the proper number of Young Bloods.

That was of course until the fighting began, Tathy would never forget the eagerness the two younger creatures had exuded when they'd seen the hundreds of foes crowded into the massive arena.

At first they hadn't taken to it, they'd just defeated opponents without much thought. They'd been told they weren't to kill anyone without permission from the crowd and the games coordinator, but they had still dispatched their foes without flare or flash, simply taking them down with brutal efficiency.

But gradually as they'd come to be more comfortable in the fight and recognize that showing off a bit definitely turned the crowd in their favor the two had started almost toying with the other competitors and before long it was clear who the winners of the Grand Melee would be.

Normally it was just a half a hundred small battles happening at once but by the time the Melee was half finished the remaining competitors had all seemed to recognize that they needed to work together against the two Saiyan girls, and this not only drove the crowd wilder it encouraged the Saiyans to even bolder acts of showmanship.

That alone would have made them legends just that first day and to a degree Tathy had to admit that they'd scared her more when they were at play than they had when they were just being efficient. The _joy_ they seemed to get from the fighting itself . . . maybe it was because they weren't killing their opponents that they could laugh about it and take such pleasure from the fighting but somehow Tathy doubted it. She remembered being pretty sure that neither Cauliflora nor Rhubara would have been terribly broken up if they had killed some of their opponents, it was the fighting they cared about, the fun of just fighting.

Lord Stobler had been pleased as well, “You two rocked the stands, I daresay!” He cried when the two were brought back into the cells beneath the Arena. Kazoo quickly set about tending what injuries they had received.

“How much was that worth?” Rhubara asked.

“Oh I say a drop in the jolly bucket to your debts dear child, but if you keep fighting for me like that you'll be wealthy beyond your dreams before long!” Lord Stobler laughed. “That was fantastic! The crowd was in your favor, the blooded fighters took notice, what do you think, Tathy?”

Tathy was surprised her Lord was asking her, still she'd answered honestly, “It was absolutely chilling, my Lord.”

“Chilling! Yes! Smashing!” Lord Stobler cried, “You certainly didn't lead me wrong after all I daresay, Sensei!”

“I live only to serve.” Bass said bowing low. “Now you two must be prepared for your battle against Gasper.”

“Who?” Rhubara asked.

“Gasper, he is the city's reigning Champion,” Bass explained. “Because you won the Grand Melee you'll fight an exhibition match with him for the Premier event . . . normally quite a few more contestants last until the final gong, the crowd might think two unblooded unnamed on one Champion unfitting for the Premier, it will be your job to prove them wrong before he defeats you.”

“Before he defeats us?” Cauli scoffed, “You think we'd lose?”

“I think you'll lose if you know what's good for you,” Lord Stobler said, “Don't fret poor things. It's an exhibition, you're guaranteed not to be put down, the crowd doesn't expect you to win, just to give them a good show.”

“How much will we get for winning?” Cauliflora demanded.

“The purse for winning would be immense, and the bets . . .” Bass trailed off and Lord Stobler's eye stocks swayed towards him.

“What are you at, old boy?” Lord Stobler asked.

Bass shrugged slightly. “As you said, Lord, the crowd does not expect them to win. Everyone will bet on how long they last, which of them will go down first . . . but if we hefted our wagers for them to win, to actually defeat Gaspar . . .”

“Can it be done?” Lord Stobler wondered, “Tell me truly, Sensei can these Twin Terrors truly overcome one so grand as old Gaspar the Ghost-maker?”

Bass looked at Tathy then at Rhubara and Cauli. He nodded slowly, “If they work together it is an absolute mismatch, the crowd just doesn't realize in which direction.”

Lord Stobler hesitated just a moment before the greedy look came to his eyes and he clicked his claws in eager anticipation. He said to Kazoo, “Go and see to it Medic! Place our bets for these two to defeat Gaspar! You two, make it look good. Gaspar is an old crowd favorite, shame him and risk their ire, win too soon and it will seem like a set up, give him a good fight and then take him out before he takes you out!”

“And how much will we get for winning?” Cauliflora insisted.

“I'll be a richer Robusuta than I was when I met you,” Lord Stobler told them, “but you won't cover your full cost in one day, don't be daft. It'll take many many games to earn your freedom, _but_ if you succeed here I will let you have a bit of the good life tonight, your feast and drink will not be charged to you. For just one night I will foot your bill without any expectation or recompense.”

Of course his “recompense” would be the insane amount of credit he would get if the betting went the way Bass thought it would, and it did. But still it was the only time Lord Stobler ever offered to foot the bill for the Saiyans' food and drink, the wily old Robusuta never made that same mistakes twice.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“So they were making lots of money, how long did it take them to buy their freedom?” Karuto asked.

“They didn't.” Tathy shrugged. “You have to keep in mind the system was designed to keep the slaves in debt, Bass was able to do as well as he did in no small part because his kind didn't eat food, they just drank water.”

“What was Bass?” Chillax asked from his cell. “Some kind of tree alien?”

“I don't know. He was green though.” Tathy shrugged. “Is there any more sushi?”

“Um . . . no.” Karuto admitted. “But if you wait a moment and keep telling the story I'm sure Missus Bulma will order you a pizza or something!”

“Gross, _wait_?” Tathy scoffed. “What a waste of my life. No way kiddo!”

“There's a box of donuts stashed in the guard's desk.” Chillax said suddenly.

“There is?” Tathy asked, stalking over to the desk like a predator sneaking up on her prey.

“But that's not ours to give her.” Karuto pointed out.

“They've been there since the ships left, they're no good now, not that I think she'll mind.” Chillax scoffed. “You wanted more of this boring story anyway, why be picky?”

“I just don't want to steal.” Karuto said.

“That's fine, I'll do it!” Tathy said happily coming back with the box of donuts and sitting happily across from Karuto's cell. “So where was I . . . oh yeah, the Gaspar fight. Gaspar the Friendly Ghostmaker.”

“Hold on,” Karuto said, “Never mind Gaspar, I can guess that they won. But what about the money? Did they make very much?”

“Oh they made bankrolls! Is that the expression? I don't know.” Tathy said, eating another stale donut, “But they definitely made a lot. Bass wasn't wrong, Lord Stobler could have bought and sold half the War World before their tails grew back!”

“Wait, their tails grew back?” Karuto asked.

“Oh sure.” Tathy said. “Rhubara was so relieved she cried, I think Cauliflora was too she just didn't show it.”

“But she lost her tail again.” Chillax said. He had apparently seen Cauliflora at some point when she came down to warn him not to act up. “How'd that happen?”

“Oh . . . me.” Tathy sighed. “I don't think she's ever going to fully forgive me for it. Had to do it though, there was no controlling her with it, and it worked out for the best in the end.”

Karuto felt like he was starting to guess what might have happened. He asked, “Did Rhubara still have her tail when she died?”

“Of course.” Tathy said, blowing his suspicion out of the water.

_So Cauliflora didn't transform on accident and kill Rhubara that way . . . why did it happen then?_ Karuto wondered. He asked, “How much money did they make?”

Tathy frowned. “A lot. A _whole_ lot.” She hesitated, “Do you really want to hear this story? Because it seems like you're trying to figure out something more specific. What is it you're after, little mister?”

Karuto shrugged. “I want to hear the story but . . . well I just want to know why they turned on each other.”

Tathy shook her head, “They never went as far as turning on each other . . . things got strained, there was definitely some tension after . . . um . . . an event . . . but they were still very close right up until those last moments.”

“What event?” Karuto wondered.

The blue alien actually laughed and sort of gazed into space as if she were picturing it, “Oh . . . it was another Spring Festival . . . about three or four years after they'd first landed?”

“What about it?” Karuto asked, “Did they have some kind of argument?”

“Oh . . . I don't know, Cauli might get mad if I tell you this story . . .” Tathy said with a snicker.

“Well now I'm curious.” Chillax said. “I was the one who told you about the donuts, what happened?”

Tathy laughed, “Well . . .”

 

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

 

Tathy's eyes dilated when Bacore set a heavy looking red jug down on the supper table.

“Is that what I think it is?” Poi demanded, then without waiting for confirmation he snarled, “Are you insane? Lord Stobler will flay the lot of us!”

Bacore just smirked in his feline way, his ears twitched and he said, “Don't be a spoil sport, it's not every day our girls vanquish the un-vanquishable!”

“Of course not, we only do it every week.” Rhuby boasted playfully, leaning across the table to inspect the jug, “It smells nice . . .”

“What is it?” Cauli asked, eying the jug suspiciously.

“It's Spring Wine,” Bass announced coming in with another two jugs held under each of his thick and powerful arms.

“Spring Wine?” Cauli scoffed. “What's that?”

“It's wine that they drink in the spring.” Bass answered dryly.

“You don't say.” Cauli rolled her eyes, she still had both back then. “I could have guessed that, Sensei. I mean what's special about it?”

“It's the most delicious wine on the planet and it's rare because it actually tastes better the older it gets.” Bacore grinned.

“It's also more powerful the older it gets, so be careful.” The Medic added, looking up from his book.

“Sensei, Lord Stobler has made it clear we are not to touch such powerful drink!” Poi said.

Tathy reached out and gently placed a hand over Poi's mouth and shook her head.

“Just . . . stop . . . you're ruining this.” She told him, looking back to the jugs in reverence, “Sensei wouldn't bring them in if they weren't from the Lord himself.”

“Sharp as a ceremonial dagger, Tathy.” Bass nodded to her, “For his top champions Lord Stobler provides, free of charge, two full jugs of ten year old Spring Wine,” the giant fighter said, setting one of the other jugs down before continuing, “And to Cauli and Rhuby a twenty five year old jug to share.”

Rhuby wrinkled her nose at the pink twenty five year old jug that Bass set before her. “It doesn't smell nearly as good,” the young fighter said.

But Cauli had a wicked grin and a daring light in her eye. “Oh maybe not but I'll bet that means it's stronger!”

“Maybe it is but if it tastes so good wouldn't I want to drink more of it before I have to stop?” Rhubara asked. She shook her head, “Anyway I don't want to lose control of my wits.”

Tathy was surprised, she wouldn't have expected such a response from Rhuby.

Cauli just scoffed, “Don't be a coward, we're Saiyan Warriors I'll bet it won't even affect us!”

And that, as it turned out, was a wager that Cauli would severely lose.

Not that it had been a baseless claim, the two had been given wine in the past and found that it did very little to them, in general wine to them was what juice was to Tathy, just something sweeter than water to drink.

But Lord Stobler never let his fighters drink particularly hard beverages, he believed it would dull their minds and their senses. Spring Wine however was different. It was a status symbol to drink it at all and it was the hardest beverage on the planet.

Rhuby actually fared quite well, and Tathy could see that like Poi she stopped before the affects got too powerful.

Cauliflora . . . well Cauli was an entirely different story.

Her third cup in she felt is was intensely important to make sure everyone knew that she could take them all on at once.

“No, seriously, Sensei . . . I just need you know . . . I would end you.”

“Yes, I'm aware.” Bass told her patiently.

“No, no . . . like . . . in a heartbeat . . . it wouldn't even be close.”

“Yes, you've told me.” Bass nodded.

“I mean . . . you can have help . . . oh my gosh you need help! Or I'll win too fast! Bacore you gotta help Sensei!”

“I'm not stupid.” Bacore chuckled.

“And you're not fighting Sensei, Cauli.” Rhuby said gently, patting her friend's back.

“Of course I'm not! I'm fighting everyone, I'd just take him down first!” Cauli exclaimed.

Five cups in she was more repentant and needed everyone to know she'd _never_ fight them.

“And I'm not jusht shayin' that cuz where on the shame team!” Cauli had cried, “I'm shayin' it because . . .” She paused and stared off into space for a while as if trying to remember why she was “shayin” anything before finally declaring, “I'm shayin' it cush you're all the besht . . . jusht . . . I love you hall so mush!”

Tathy remembered laughing at that statement then, but of everything from that night a part of her suspected that those words, or some less slurred variation of them, would haunt Cauli's own memory later.

Because they'd been true.

And no matter how much Cauli would insist she didn't remember a single moment after the third drink that night Tathy knew she remembered it all, and she only got more honest the more she drank. She'd go on to outline her likes and dislikes about everyone in detail, turned out she found Tathy's head tentacles creepy and terrifying but that was apparently a good thing because she was never going to forget them.

Oddly Tathy actually had been fairly moved by the statement, though that might have been due to her own fifth cup of wine.

She thought Bacore's rotund build made him seem “hugable” and this was bad because True Saiyan Warriors didn't hug things, but if Bacore didn't stop looking so adorable she was going to hug him until he broke! Poi was short and it made her like him best because Sensei and Bacore were just too tall.

“Hike obnoshushly tall . . . hike so tall you wanna throw a rock at their heads so they fall to their knees when you shay hello . . .” Cauli mumbled.

Then, at about the bottom of the jug, having drank her share and probably more than a bit of Rhuby's share as well Cauli finally got around to listing the things she liked and disliked about Rhubara . . .

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Tathy hesitated and then shook her head, “No . . . no, that part isn't any of your business.”

Karuto stared in shock. “What? Wh-why? What happened? What could she have said that was so bad?”

“It could have been anything,” Chillax said, “Think about it, to a Saiyan any attack on their pride is like . . . I don't know, an attack on _them_. No wonder Rhubara fought her later, she probably remembered Cauli insulting her.”

Tathy shifted uncomfortably, “That wasn't it . . . but . . . that night _did_ create a rift between them. I think if you really want to know _that_ part you should ask Cauli yourself.”

“And get her drunk, apparently.” Chillax yawned.

“But what could have happened?” Karuto asked. “They had so much money why didn't they buy their freedom? They never stopped getting along why did they fight? And if they never stopped being best friends why did Cauliflora kill Rhubara?”

Tathy smiled slightly. “Rhubara was . . . do you really want to know?”

“Yes . . .” Karuto said a little hesitantly. The truth was he didn't, but he _had_ to know.

Finally Tathy said, “Cauli didn't have a lot of interaction with her parents, most Saiyans don't. Her father did impart one belief to her though; that she be a true Saiyan Warrior. She lived her whole life trying to be a true Saiyan Warrior, she fought so hard not just in the arena but in her everyday life. She had to be _perfect_ to be a true Saiyan Warrior. She couldn't be anything else because to be something else was to be something less and she couldn't be anything less . . . she certainly couldn't be who she really was.”

“Mission accomplished, don't you think? I mean she's the epitome of a Saiyan Warrior; a thorn in my people's sides who conquers planets and doesn't afraid of anything.” Chillax joked but Tathy ignored him and stood silent for a while.

Karuto asked, “What's this got to do with the wine and Rhubara?”

Tathy hesitated for a moment longer before admitting, “She couldn't see herself as a true and proper Saiyan Warrior, no matter how much she tried . . . and it ate at her. And I guess it got worse when she realized she couldn't see Rhuby as a proper Saiyan Warrior _either_ . . . and that night with the wine it kind of came to a head.”

“What are you on about?” Chillax demanded, saving Karuto from having to do so himself.

Tathy told him, “Proper Saiyan Warriors . . . they don't have weaknesses . . . but Cauli had one, and so did Rhuby. In fact in a way they had the same weakness . . . each other.”

There was a moment of silence before Chillax snickered, “Please tell me you mean in a romantic sense!”

“Don't make me go in there and beat you.” Tathy rolled her eyes, but she sounded serious.

“You're not denying it!” Chillax laughed.

Karuto was more serious. He furrowed his his brow and asked, “How were they each other's weakness then?”

“They didn't like to be apart, they didn't like feeling alone and no matter what the rest of us were still aliens to them. Rhuby wanted to leave as soon as they could afford it but she never did because she wouldn't leave Cauli. Cauli didn't ever want to leave, you've heard her she loved it. But she knew Rhuby _did_ and the idea of Rhuby abandoning her someday was too much, it even gave her nightmares . . .”

“Then how could she have killed her?” Chillax asked from his cell. His tone was soft and serious now, no longer joking, apparently _he_ wanted to know as much as Karuto did. “She didn't do it to be stronger did she? To get rid of a vulnerability?”

Tathy sighed. She was quiet for a moment, then she said, almost as if she were telling a secret, “Rhubara made her. Maybe because she couldn't see another way out at the time, maybe it was just because she wanted to put an end to it . . . I know she didn't want it, I know she didn't plan it, but Rhuby made Cauli kill her . . . then Cauli killed everyone else. Not just in the arena, not just in the city, not just the sentient life. Cauliflora killed until there was nothing to kill, she tried to kill _me_ over and over again.

“Luckily I was too resilient, at least to the methods she was using. But I think at that moment a more primal side of her brain had taken over and I think . . . no, I _know_ it got joy from killing. I think without Rhuby she just felt sorrow, she desperately wanted to feel joy again. So she killed, and she killed, and she killed until the whole world was empty. And when it was done she cried.”

“She cried?” Karuto asked. He couldn't imagine Cauliflora of all people crying.

But Tathy smiled sadly and confirmed, “Yeah little mister, she cried. I think she cried because of so many little things building up inside her all at once that she suddenly didn't have any other way of dealing with. Maybe she cried because of everything she'd lost and how easily she could have prevented it if she'd just done things a little differently, listened to good friends' advice. Maybe she cried because of what she'd done, what she'd been made to do . . . But I think just a little bit it was all of that and because of the lies she'd told herself . . .”

“But if doing it hurt her so badly why did she do it?” Karuto asked.

“Well she certainly didn't _want_ to. But . . . she lost.” Tathy said hesitantly.

“What?” Chillax asked.

Karuto's own mind was in over drive now. He guessed, “She lost . . . in the Arena?”

Tathy smiled weakly and nodded.

“So Rhubara lost in the arena . . . the crowd demanded her death?” Chillax reasoned.

“No.” Tathy said simply, popping the last piece of donut into her mouth and getting up to leave. “It was Cauli who lost. Rhuby beat her.”

Karuto's mouth would have been hanging open if it were designed that way. “Please!” Karuto insisted, “Please don't just leave it that way! How did Rhuby die if Cauli was the one who lost?”

“Karuto, don't you get it?” Chillax groaned from his cell.

“No, I don't!” Karuto answered. “I'm confused! Why would Rhubara make Cauliflora kill her?”

“Probably thought she was doing her a favor. Just think about it, big turn around! Cauliflora swings the fight in her favor at the last possible second, Rhubara doesn't have to worry about escaping and Cauli gets to keep fighting on the world she loves. Bet the scum loved it.” Chillax said, though Karuto wasn't sure if he was calling Cauli or the spectators scum.

But Karuto was smart enough that though it bothered him even without Tathy there to confirm it he could see it: The inseparable Saiyans finally forced to fight each other? Between the crowd's desire to see a legend end that day and the bribes to the game's commissioner from the lesser Lords hoping to halve Lord Stobler's unstoppable pair there was no way the fight wouldn't have ended with a death sentence.

But there was so much still unanswered and if Tathy wasn't willing to talk about it that only left Cauliflora herself. Karuto frowned, shaking his head some more, “I can't believe that's how her story ends.”

He heard Chillax say, “Sometimes stories have sad endings Karuto.”

“Sometimes . . . but it's not over.” Karuto insisted, his mind racing. “There's got to be something I can do.”

“There's nothing you can do, dead is dead unless you have those dragon balls the humans mention. Don't tell me you'd waste a wish—if they even gave you one—to bring back a stranger you never met over bringing back Uncle Kalt, or Cousin Frieza, or even someone stronger who could really lead our own people.”

“If wishes were fishes there'd be no room left in the ocean!” Karuto declared a phrase he'd heard Thyme say a few times. He clenched his little fists and said, “I'm going to find a way.”

“Because you're that desperate to meet this one Saiyan?” Chillax asked.

“I wanted to meet the Saiyan I heard about in Konpeito's stories!” Karuto told him, “I wanted to meet a hero who was put up against impossible odds and overcame them to rescue a whole race even if it was only for a little while and do amazing things! I want to meet the Saiyan who had to choose between helping their people and doing what was right and chose to do what was right!”

“Is that what you think _you're_ doing by helping them?” Chillax asked as if the dawn of realization had just struck him, “You think you're doing what's _right_ by helping the Earthlings?”

“They just want to live on their planet in peace, we're wrong to try to hurt them!” Karuto snapped.

Chillax said, “This isn't about who is right and who is wrong. There's a line drawn Karuto, on one side it's us, our parents, our Clan, our entire way of life and every soldier that serves us. Soldiers like Genora and my squad, your friend Konpeito. On the other side it's _them_ , the Earthlings, the Saiyans, whatever Tathy is, everyone else who isn't on _our_ side, Karuto, everyone else and _you._ You who happily tells them anything they want to know because you think you're helping and you think we can all be friends someday? Well if Rhubara is your role model take a look at what happened to her; she _died_ , her race _died_ , her home planet was destroyed. Keep acting like her and you could end up like her, cousin.”

Karuto lowered his head. He thought for a long while, before finally he clenched his fists and said, “You're wrong.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _While General Boreal and his students train so do Rhyce and her team while Turles takes a peek with his scouter to see just how well things are going, but he's in for a shock._

_Character Images Bacore and Poi  
_

 

_Notes: I decided to drop a pair of images, here are Bacore the Gray Cat Man, and Poi the Purple Guy from the War World. Poi may remind you of Prage, maybe they're from the same world, who knows? Fun Fact: I made Bacore by accident while trying to see if I could make Iwatians using the male Majin bodytype. But he is meant to be a cat-man, not a Majin. I made Poi on purpose trying to make a neat looking alien. Dunno if I succeeded in other people's eyes but I liked him, though he is clearly made using a Namekian bodytype he's not meant to be Namekian.  
_

 


	57. This is War!

**Episode Twenty-One**

**'This is War'**

 

The training deck of _Defender One_ had seen more than a little abuse over the past three weeks and Rhyce was a little worried it might spring a leak so to speak at some point. Their ship had a hard shell or so she'd heard but if they abused it too much they were all going to be goners.

But success required risk and she'd pushed her girls hard so that they were the first team to start training in one hundred times Earth's gravity. Now, as difficult and even painful as it could be she pushed herself and her team to be better.

_Not_ out of some ridiculous notion that women had to prove themselves better than men, after all the bulk of her squad weren't women they were Saiyans and she had no idea what their sexual dynamic was like. In all their weeks of bonding in the hours they weren't training Rhyce had utterly failed to gather so much as an idea of what the Saiyan battle of the sexes might be, it seemed to largely not exist. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, really since competition was the spice of life.

She also hadn't learned much about what the Saiyan family might be like. It seemed like Saiyans didn't have real family structures. Parents didn't show much interest in their offspring, the Saiyans in her squad could _be_ parents and she wouldn't know for all the interest they showed on the subject. They sort of seemed to understand siblings more, Kayle certainly did at least, but to them a sibling was a ready-made ally, someone you could count on at least to an extent.

But that had been good enough for Rhyce to explain to them that she needed to be stronger because her brother had been killed by the Arcosians and while Master Trunks had gotten the one directly responsible there were a lot of others out there that she was eager to stop from inflicting their evil on anyone else.

The Saiyans at least understood the concept of revenge, and as a motivator it seemed to work as well for them as anything, though they certainly weren't what Rhyce had expected. For one thing none of them seemed to want or need revenge for their planet or their people. Apparently worrying about the dead just wasn't the Saiyan way and the person who'd done it had been killed by a Saiyan so that was good enough. Rhyce guessed she could understand that but still she wanted to take some measure of personal revenge over Gurein and she couldn't really understand how the Saiyans could learn of the deaths of everyone they'd known and not care.

_Then again since they don't seem to care much about families who's to say they care much about friends?_

Except that couldn't be true because they did seem to make and value them. Even though they weren't a team anymore—at least for the time being—Lamson still checked in on her old squad and called them all by shortened versions of their names that even Schip and Kodva their squad leaders weren't using. Kayle would still make a bit of time to catch up and chat with her brother Oni, the two of them having the closest connection Rhyce could see as far as family went, not that Turles and his brother Telluce weren't the same way to a degree.

The two seemed to get along, they clearly liked each other but Rhyce was starting to see where Turles had gotten his proud streak from, his propensity for bragging; he could move the moon and the stars and still not impress his older brother. Not that Telluce wasn't obviously proud of Turles but Rhyce could see a bit of the old dynamic between her and Gurein in that no matter how much she'd ever achieve in her life she would always be Gurein's little sister. Only where she took comfort in knowing she'd always have a big brother Turles seemed to hate it.

But maybe that was why, having known Turles for three months when asked to captain a whole team of Saiyan warriors she'd sort of expected a lot of proud almost snooty women eager to boast about their accomplishments, eager to make sure everyone knew just how good they were at what they did, eager to win competitions only they were competing in, happy to brag and sinister when insulted.

But her girls weren't like that at all. Not to say they were strictly speaking better or worse, but like humans they were just different, each was sort of her own deal and Rhyce was trying to get to know them and actually a little frustrated to have only limited moments of time with Schip and Kodva to talk to them about things, to get their opinion on matters but their shifts left little room for freedom; eight hours to sleep, eight hours of training—with a couple of breaks for rest and food—eight hours of social bonding, team building, explaining why humans didn't just kill humans they didn't like very much—or at least most of them didn't—and back to eight hours of sleeping.

Actually there was about an hour in between each block so that either shift could finish up any last minute details and sort of unwind and prepare to do the next bit, not to mention handle sanitation imperatives, but mostly if teams wanted to fraternize it had to happen during the shift changes and usually between the sleepers and the bonders, usually someone would have to lack sleep if they wanted to socialize. Lamson was usually the one to do it, taking any chance she could to catch up with the bulk of her team or Routz, but Kayle would surprise her sometimes and talk not just to her brother Oni but to the members of Schip's team too. Only Beeta was utterly uninterested in socialization, including during the time mandated for it.

Only Turles seemed to be able to move around freely, either—and usually—observing the training deck while training privately himself or joining in on the social bonding, he was taking the job of being Master Trunks' go-between for the teams very seriously and it was actually kind of refreshing not to hear him brag about himself for a while and actually wield authority he really did have instead of authority he assumed.

As for her own team so far she had gathered that Lamson was actually pretty clever, a cunning young woman about her own age. Kayle for all her reported battle rage was either holding it back or only acted out when her brother was around because most of the time she was actually fairly quick to laugh, though her sense of humor was quite dark.

Beeta was . . . a strange one. Beeta was very quiet and seemed disinterested in pretty much everything, including fighting, and yet she kept up with the rest of them without difficulty. Maybe the effortlessness made it boring for her? Or maybe the fact that her face was generally as expressionless as a stone statue made it hard to tell that training wasn't effortless, Rhyce didn't know.

As with Schip's team—insomuch as she could gather from him when time allowed—her Saiyan squad had started to catch up alarmingly fast so that by the time they were training in the same new sorts of high gravity Rhyce was barely ahead but at Turles' suggestion she too had gone from three on one to two on two sparring, which meant she'd gotten very good at fighting alongside each of them in turn, and what they didn't always communicate verbally they had started to communicate physically.

Most troubling was that Lamson didn't like her. Not that she cared whether or not they became “besties” but the manner in which the former Saiyan squad leader expressed her dislike was going to be a problem. Lamson would be polite but she definitely didn't like not being in command anymore, she would follow instructions or orders but only after a slight delay as if she were wondering if she could think of something better, though she'd yet to actually disobey Rhyce.

Especially if Turles was looking in on the training as he was today, Rhyce wasn't sure if it was some kind of alpha dog mentality or deference to rank but Lamson wouldn't act up at all if Captain Turles was around. In a way it actually made Rhyce grateful that Turles _was_ around, even if it meant that he was probably judging them and thinking to himself how his growth was so much better than the rest of theirs.

Not that anyone knew for sure of course since everyone had agreed not to pointlessly scan each other's power levels until they were ready for their final approach, and even then only to see who should worry about what when it came to the Arcosians.

Kayle was companionable enough, and Rhyce liked the other woman's competitiveness which really shone through when they trained. It was clear she wanted to be better than the other two Saiyans, she didn't hold back against Lamson or Beeta the way she would against Rhyce. When they sparred Rhyce always got the impression that Kayle was trying not to actually hurt her, as if her punches didn't hurt quite as much as they should. There was no sign of that reluctance against her fellow Saiyans.

Maybe she just knew them better. Maybe she knew Saiyan durability better, knew more of what they could handle and didn't want to run the risk of injuring Rhyce.

And Beeta . . . well of all the people who Rhyce had thought would communicate more nonverbally than verbally Beeta would have been the one out of sheer social necessity. But Beeta was basically just a good fighter and that was it, it didn't seem like there was any more to her than that. She fought well, she stopped when she was told to stop, and after three weeks Rhyce was starting to find it more than a little unsettling. It was like spending a lot of time with a stranger who never stopped being a stranger no matter how much time you spent with them.

Having grown up in a fairly small community and having had an easy time getting to know everyone in Capsule Corp. Rhyce wasn't used to that sort of thing, she wasn't sure if Beeta was just closed off or if there was genuinely not much to the young woman—if she _was_ young, Rhyce was at least aware of the unfair manner in which Saiyans aged—but at the very least whether she was upset about her technical demotion or not Beeta never hesitated to listen or obey an order.

So when Rhyce said, “Dodge right!” Beeta did so without hesitation, sidestepping out the the way of Lamson's kick and sending one of her own to the small of the other woman's back nearly sending her sprawling onto the deck.

But Lamson caught herself and flipped back to her feet, spinning around to intercept Beeta's next kick before it could land and throwing the other girl's leg up high and punching for her stomach, but Beeta's other leg rose and connected with Lamson's own stomach before her punch could land.

In the blink of an eye that that took Kayle managed to get behind Rhyce and grab onto her. She'd been hovering, though not very high in the confined space and the hundred times her native gravity, so throwing herself backwards to knock Kayle free might have seemed like a futile endeavor, but she could feel the brawnier girl start to try to suplex her, and Rhyce was having none of that.

She threw herself backwards, Kayle was already starting to lean back so having Rhyce suddenly throw her weight and still superior strength against her knocked her off balance enough that they both hit the deck hard. Rhyce recovered sooner, rolling away from Kayle and springing to her feet while Kayle rolled and came up in a crouch before springing forward towards Rhyce.

Rhyce prepared to meet her head on but then she spotted something from the corner of her eye. It was all too quick for either she or Kayle to react but Lamson was thrown bodily into Kayle and both of them sprawled to the deck with Beeta closing the distance to where they landed before either could even start to rise.

She charged a blast in her hand, it made Rhyce nervous, the interior of the pod was made to be blast resistant just like the interior of the gravity training room back in the basement of Capsule Corp. but Rhyce, who was still not particularly adept at sensing energy could feel the strength of the blast Beeta was preparing, the golden light gathering in her hands was actually so bright Rhyce had to turn her gaze away.

So she heard rather than saw Lamson's surrender, “Give! I give you motherless child of a Tuffle!”

“Both.” Beeta warned and quickly Kayle responded with a less insulting surrender of her own.

The light dissipated and Rhyce shook her head. “Okay, clearly Beeta and I are a mismatch for you two.” She said. It was rude but she'd learned that inspired the Saiyan girls to greater heights than politeness.

“Well a Saiyan elite and someone who was trained by our Prince for months of course you're a little better,” Kayle was saying, shoving Lamson off of her with a roughness that hinted at her actual irritation, though for all the talk from Turles and others of Kayle and Oni being berserkers she was holding her temper largely in check.

It actually made Rhyce feel more self conscious about her own temper.

“We still gave you a pretty good game.” Kayle said.

“Not from where I'm standing you didn't.” Turles said.

Rhyce raised an eyebrow. Wasn't this her class to teach?

Turles seemed to guess her irritation and said, “We're more than half way through our journey and I know if Prince Trunks were here he'd be appalled at the lack of progress. You're training in one hundred times Earth's gravity, you're training in ten times Planet Vegeta's gravity and your strength has barely increased ten fold! The Earthlings are staying ahead of you, do you think we saved your lives so you could be a bunch of second-best fighters?”

“Well I know Master Trunks doesn't expect us Earthlings to be a bunch of second-best fighters and we've been training with him longer,” Rhyce said, “or did you think they'd all just shoot past us?”

“Why not? I did.” Turles said simply and Rhyce bristled. Turles' growth had been . . . well, obscene to be honest. Rhyce didn't know why, and since none of them were using scouters she couldn't tell for certain but she felt like his increases hadn't been close to typical even for a Saiyan.

It'd been a relief actually, the increases that Turles had made in addition to how powerful Cauliflora was when she first arrived had Rhyce feeling like Master Trunks had asked something impossible of her and the others: be as good as these demigods, though she'd never admit that she thought of the two of them in those terms she could readily admit that she saw Master Trunks that way.

But actually fighting evenly with three Saiyans at once, even if it had eventually become just two on two at once after a while had made Rhyce feel more confident in her own ability, more like she actually could be as strong as Turles or Cauliflora, she just needed to work harder for it than Turles seemed to.

Turles shook his head at them, “You can do better, you can all do better, your Prince expects better!”

Rhyce shook her head, “I think they're improving just fine. We were the first ones to reach one hundred times Earth's gravity, after all.”

“You've reached it but you haven't mastered it.” Turles told her. “You still show a lot of strain and sluggish movements. I won't belittle what you _have_ accomplished, I just wonder if you don't realize you should be accomplishing _more_. You're stronger now than that Namekian was when I fought him but the others aren't there yet, and if he was a trifle compared to what we're going to face you can't afford to be.”

Rhyce was surprised to hear that. She was stronger than Cargo had been? After just three weeks, only a few days of which she'd spent in one-hundred times Earth's gravity?

_But wait a second, how does he know that?_ Rhyce wondered. “Are you using a scouter sooner than we planned?” She asked him.

“Of course I am,” Turles said, “and it's a good thing too, you've all got to improve faster.”

“Well what do you expect us to do? The machine only goes to one hundred times Earth's gravity, right?” Rhyce asked, annoyed that their improvements didn't pass muster apparently, but curious as to just how well they _were_ doing.

Turles scratched his chin, “I'm not sure,” he admitted, “I guess you'll just have to push yourselves harder until I think of something, but mark my words if you don't all start taking this more seriously you're not going to make it.”

With that he went down to the lower deck, presumably to think on how to increase their results but maybe just to take a post-complaining nap, Rhyce didn't know. She just folded her arms, shook her head and said, “We've still got another hour before the change over, you heard him, let's try it again!”

No way was she going to let her team be the weak link when they got to New Namek, she'd help get those Namekians, those Dragon Balls and she'd bring her brother back no matter what.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Viewed from the holographic projection in his ready room the asteroid belt around the Earth system gave General Boreal no small amount of inspiration. “We will train there, among the frozen rocks.” He explained to his second officer, Cooly. “In space with nothing to restrain our speed we'll grow powerful and be able to freely test the explosive power of our attacks.”

“A marvelous plan, General, truly,” Cooly said, “I only wonder about the cost of this venture.”

“How so?” The General asked.

His second officer hesitated, then said, “Earth is nearly barren, vengeance or no vengeance the Twins must realize that we will continue to flounder if we don't settle our accounts with our paying customers. We're already known for late delivery and a declining standard of quality, if we truly devote so much to a planet that wins us so little . . .”

“And what would you do differently?” Boreal asked. He didn't want to train an officer who simply nay said, he hoped that Cooly would have some form of solution.

It would be an exercise in futility of course, the Twins were set in their plans for Earth but like a responsible leader Boreal would hear what his second officer had to say and if he deemed it of enough merit he would even pass it along to the Twins so that it could be rejected at a higher level.

Cooly said, “I think that we should refund the Calamareens and simply quarantine or destroy Earth, turn the fleet to completing our backlog and then get to work finding new business and putting the Galactic Patrol in their place, making them fear us as they feared Lord Frieza.”

General Boreal leaned back into his chair. He spun his chair to look out the window of his ready room and said to Cooly, “You think this is business as usual? This isn't the minor harassments of the Galactic Patrol, Major. This is war.”

“Don't you think you're being a bit over-dramatic sir?”

“Earth has defied us time and time again, it has cost us lives, what other world can make that boast?” General Boreal asked.

“Most worlds we take cost us lives.” Cooly said simply.

“Arcosian lives, Major, the most important commodity we have left.” General Boreal told him gravely. “We have spent our respect, we have spent our fear, we have spent our strength. All we have left is the Clan, the lives of our people and the Saiyan scum have taken five now on one backwater blue-green dust ball.”

“I understand that,” Cooly said, “One of those five was my younger brother,”

“Half brother,” The general corrected, quoting the same words Cooly often spoke when Chillax was brought up.

Cooly nodded, “Yes, my half-brother. But nothing will bring him back so why waste more Arcosian lives?”

“Because the alternative is to let the galaxy think that they can _take_ Arcosian lives. We are the Lords, they are the serfs. They live and exist at our leisure. If serfs get away with murdering their Lord and they aren't punished what does that say?”

“That the Lord's successors understood the bigger picture.” Cooly suggested, but General Boreal waved his hand in disgust.

“That the Lord's successors were weak! And then more serfs stand up, the enemy at the border becomes bolder. The very troubles we've faced since Lord Frieza's death, Major Cooly. When we kill the last of the Saiyan scum on Earth the Galactic Patrol will take notice, they will go back to sulking and staying out of our way the way they did when Lord Frieza ruled. The worlds that know of us will fear us again and the worlds that don't know us will be once again well served to pray that we never know them either.

“You've said you'd like to find new clients, I agree. But why should we go to them? Why should we seek them out when everyone who can afford our services already knows who we are? To beg for business would be even more humiliating than having no business, Major. But once we show that we honor our contracts and destroy our enemies, destroy our wayward serfs then and only then will the customers come to us.” Boreal told him.

Major Cooly frowned, but he nodded. “Understood sir. But . . . well . . . how will we ever overcome that monster? What good can training actually do?”

“I don't know.” General Boreal admitted. “And we won't know until we've tried. Has the Saiyan's power level exceeded three hundred thousand?”

“Not yet, General.” Cooly said. “But it doesn't dip very much. There are also two power levels that are regularly over thirty thousand.”

“Meaning what?” General Boreal asked.

“That the Saiyan might have some talented help.” Cooly said.

“Do we know what sort of life-signs those readings are coming from?”

“No, not yet.” Cooly told him. “We can identify Saiyan life-signs because they come from the strongest power reading and the probes sent to Earth were specifically programmed to search for them. For more specific information we'll need to be closer and able to use our own probes.”

“And how long until we're at that distance?” General Boreal asked.

“Only another week, General.” Cooly told him.

General Boreal smiled, “Excellent. And Earth will be in striking distance . . .”

“If we're mad enough to strike, yes.” Cooly agreed.

General Boreal nodded. “Very good Major. You're dismissed.”

Cooly nodded and left, but before he exited he said, “Sir, permission to speak freely.”

“Granted, but be brief.” General Boreal told him.

“Yes sir. Only it seems like conquering Earth means as much to you as it does to the Twins. How can I know that you're unbiased in your assessment of the situation?”

“You don't because I'm not.” General Boreal said simply. “You're correct Major, I am incredibly biased in this situation. I want Earth conquered, I want the Saiyans wiped out. It was my mission before it was Kalt's, it was only Frigus and his blasted political meddling that denied it to me. Now it is mine again . . . I will see it accomplished no matter what personal sacrifices it requires of me.”

“I see.” Cooly said.

“But you can rest assured, Major,” The General continued, “that I would never put my personal desires and ambitions above what is best for the Planet Trade Organization as a whole or the Frost Clan in particular. If I truly believed Earth to be a fool's errand I would tell the Twins that without fear. Does that satisfy you?”

Cooly hesitated, then he said, “It does sir. Thank you sir.”

General Boreal nodded to the younger Arcosian's back and turned back to his holographic display.

He eyed the asteroid belt and thought, “As long as he can't sense us from there he can't prepare for us. That is if training yields the sort of results we need at least. And if he can sense us and it fails at least he's confined to his own planet. But if he can sense us and it succeeds . . . then at least he'll get to know fear for a change.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks _was_ afraid in that moment.

Not for his life by any means, but for his pride. _Of course Father would probably tell me that that's just as bad._ Trunks thought. _After all I'm supposed to be the Prince of All Saiyans now._

Still he wasn't one to pretend at abilities he actually lacked. He lowered his head and said,“I . . . really think this whole thing is beyond me.” He admitted.

“Yes. It's not everyone's game.” Mai told him. “But you're doing well.”

She was still his babysitter and after three weeks they'd grown quite accustomed to each other. She seemed less tense and managed to lose herself in thought less often around him, and he had an easier time telling when she was and wasn't joking. Trunks felt like she might be joking.

“Don't encourage him, Mai,” Captain Videl said with a smirk, “if he's conceding defeat just let him do it.”

“Yes ma'am.” Mai said, still watching the checkers board over Trunks' shoulder.

“At least it isn't Go, I have no idea where Basil learned to play that game but no one can beat her at it.” Trunks said. “Of course by the time she's done explaining how it works you're ready to concede just because of how complicated it all sounds.”

“Well checkers might seem less complicated, but that's only because Go is the game of Generals, and checkers is the game of Monarchs, after all it's the game where your boldest piece becomes a King.” Captain Videl said. “Simple decisions on the surface, a grand strategy that you unfold as the game goes on.”

“And your strategies are very impressive, Captain.” Trunks said, bowing slightly.

“Remember that next time you think I don't know any better.” Videl told him, though not for the first time. He was getting tired of being reminded that nobody wanted him along. They hadn't even radioed _Defender One_ to let all of them know, as far as any of them knew Cauliflora was the one who would be arriving at New Namek with them.

Still he lowered his head further and said, “Yes, I'm sorry again, Captain.”

Videl sighed, maybe she was finally getting tired of hearing him say that because her sigh sounded almost sympathetic.

Almost.

“One more game.” Videl said. “This time Mai I don't want you trying to sneakily make suggestions to him.”

“Sorry ma'am.” Mai said, blushing a little.

“Don't be sorry, just give him better advice. We'll see if you do better working with a partner instead of by yourself, Golden Boy.” Captain Videl said. “After all you might be more brawn than even my own father would have managed, but you need brains to balance you out.”

“Did you just call me stupid?” Trunks wondered.

“Only if you choose to read it that way, I'm not responsible for your feelings.” Videl said. “Pull up a chair, Mai, unless you're going to sit on his lap.”

“No, ma'am!” Mai said

“Then hurry up,” Videl said, “I'm eager to see what you two can accomplish together. You'd better try your best, because I won't just let you win.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Who is the vigilante, will Cauliflora catch them? Karuto interrupts the search to ask her some difficult questions but when more bounty hunters appear, this time in greater numbers the little Arcosian might just have to work for the answers he wants._

 

_Character Images Ganmo and Prage_  


_Notes: The updated Ganmo and Prage . . . Ganmo still isn't orange enough, if I'd said he were yellow I could have made a humanoid with lemon-yellow skin but oh no, I chose mango-orange and it continues to refuse to look right. Prage at least is cooperative. And Funfact, they're actually wearing the same armor (Krillin's) but for some reason the colors change when the armor is donned by a Namekian body-type (which is what I made Prage from, same as Poi) I'm not sure if it does that for anyone else, so far it looks normal on Humans, Saiyans, and Arcosians, but we can see on Majin._

 


	58. Trying to Help

**Episode Twenty-Two**

**'Trying to Help'**

 

Capsule Corporation lacked a proper Command and Control room. They'd been using the bridge of the captured ship, Cauliflora had heard and despite its impressive underground complex this was no military facility. As such she was left sitting on what was called a deck chair on one of the exposed upper balconies, the one that led into the lounge.

Or out from it if like most humans you couldn't fly, she supposed. She was sitting up late with a radio and her scouter listening to the periodic reports from the Royal Guard stations. There had been another attack earlier that morning and Cauliflora had managed to put it down before the vigilante could show up.

This time it had been those two bounty hunters that had tried to hit on Tathy before they'd come to Earth. They'd only had to lay eyes on Cauli to change their minds about collecting any Earthling bounties, and Cauli had to admit that had been pretty satisfying. Far more satisfying than slowly sipping the weak swill the Earthlings called coffee. She had half a mind to send Tathy out to some neighboring star system to find something better, but for now at least she needed her partner close by.

With all the attacks Cauli had yet to have the opportunity to train in heavy gravity, though she was intrigued by the idea. She'd always assumed that the gravity of War World being twice the gravity of Planet Vegeta had helped accelerate her growth, but the idea of finding an even heavier gravity world that she could actually survive on had always seemed like too much trouble, and the gravity nets of the War World, which might have served the purpose were all long gone.

Besides without a scouter she'd had no idea just how high her power level had gotten, she just knew the supreme confidence of knowing that she won far more battles than she lost. She'd known better than to cross an Arcosian of course.

The idea of training in up to ten times Planet Vegeta's gravity was intriguing, more than that it was seductive, or at least the thought of having that much power was. But she had no time for it between being on call to deal with mercenaries, and wondering more than just a little who this vigilante was and how she'd track them down.

Master Roshi might not be too bothered by the presence of a vigilante, and Cauliflora had to admit she suspected he knew more than he was letting on, had even wondered if the young woman who sometimes accompanied him now was the culprit but when her injury was properly explained to Cauli she recognized the implausibility that she would be the guilty party.

Was guilty really the word though? This vigilante had saved lives and at the end of the day they were doing the same job she did: taking down bad people outside the strict confines of the law. The only difference was that she was fairly indiscriminate, she'd take down good people too if the money was right, and of course there was the difference of money. As far as anyone knew this vigilante wasn't getting paid.

Still someone strong enough to do that kind of damage to a fairly well off team of bounty hunters could do a lot worse to humans. They were as strong as General Nappa had been and from what Cauli had heard General Nappa's first act when _he_ came to Earth was to level an entire city with a single move.

She sipped her weak drink again as Karuto came out onto the balcony and took a seat nearby.

She raised the eyebrow over her blinded eye at him and asked, “Isn't it a bit past your bed time?”

“Maybe. Missus Bulma doesn't really mind.” Karuto said. Cauliflora shrugged. His long tail waved back and forth, he definitely looked like he was trying to look more casual than he really felt, so maybe she minded more than he was admitting to. Cauliflora tolerated his presence just the same, though she wouldn't defend him if Lady Bulma did turn up wanting to know why the technical prisoner hadn't returned to his cell.

“What'cha doing?” The little Arcosian asked her.

“Listening to the Royal Guard radio transmissions, just in case someone shows up.”

“How come you're not training?” Karuto asked her.

“Because then it'd be harder to hear the radio transmissions.” Cauliflora explained patiently.

Karuto was quiet for a little while, then he asked, “Um . . . can I ask a question without you breaking my neck?”

“You just did. You can ask another one, but I don't promise not to break your tail.” Cauliflora said with a grin.

But the kid didn't shrink or whimper, he just swallowed a lump in his throat and said, “Tathy told me that . . . you made a lot of money on the War World. Is that why you didn't leave and go home to Planet Vegeta?”

“I thought I told you to get Tathy to tell the story?” Cauliflora asked him.

“I did but only you can answer these questions . . . if you would.” Karuto said. “It's important.”

“Oh it is, is it?” Cauliflora chuckled. She looked out at the stars and sighed, “Like I said . . . it was an ideal existence for me. I could fight new exciting opponents every day, train and get stronger every day, feast every night . . . it was like I had died on Goulder and woke up to the perfect afterlife.”

Karuto hesitated, then asked, “I was wondering, Tathy wouldn't tell me about your um . . . your last arena battle.”

Cauliflora nodded slowly, “No, I expect she wouldn't have. You'll have to get used to disappointment.”

“Well . . .” Karuto hesitated, then he said, “she did tell me that a true Saiyan Warrior doesn't have weaknesses. Isn't being too afraid to talk about something a weakness?”

“I'm not afraid to talk about it, I just don't like to.” Cauliflora said simply. Maybe he expected her to be more outraged, but she'd had forty years to rethink what a true Saiyan Warrior was. Too bad she could tell her younger self.

Karuto asked, “How did Rhubara . . . I mean if she won why did you--”

“I'm going to stop you right there,” Cauliflora said as gently as she could, “there is more to this than you understand little one.”

“I understand a little.” Karuto said hesitantly. “You two . . . didn't get along after the wine?”

Cauli's eye widened for a moment but she quickly buried her surprise and just chuckled, “Tathy told you about the Spring Wine incident eh? Well I hope she didn't tell you everything, I might have to figure out how to kill her.”

“Please don't, she didn't tell me everything.” Karuto said quickly.

Cauliflora smirked, “Yeah she'd have to cut that story off. She wasn't there for all of it.”

“She didn't tell me what you thought about . . . Rhubara.” Karuto said almost as if he were afraid to say the name.

Cauli laughed. “Oh Rhuby . . . I'll tell you what I told her then shall I?”

“Please.” Karuto said.

“I told her I hated her.” Cauli said, her face twisting into a snarl without her even meaning to, “I told her she made me _sick_. Too busy thinking of herself to realize just how lucky she was, what an amazing wonder she'd been given.”

“You told her all that . . . and she still died for you?” Karuto asked.

Cauli had nothing to say to that, and she went quiet. She wasn't actually sure for how long, but after a while she finally shook her head to banish her memories and forced a smile, “Well it was complicated.”

“Simplify it.” Karuto urged her.

“You wouldn't understand.”

“Probably. Tell me anyway.”

She clenched her fists and said, “Rhuby wanted to go home. She told me 'we're slaves, no matter how pleasant the cell and the chains we're still slaves' and I told her I didn't care . . . Planet Vegeta wasn't going anywhere I said, besides if we bought our freedom we'd have to buy a ship to get off the planet too, we didn't have a pod anymore . . .”

Cauliflora stared at the stars through her solitary eye and was almost just thinking out loud as she said, “The truth was I was always making excuses . . . I didn't want to leave, I wanted to fight every day and have her by my side. Waking up every day knowing she'd be with me and we'd fight someone strong made life worth living! The other Fighters in the House were different from other Saiyans, not so aggressive, keenly focused on honor and glory, competitive but eager to praise us because we really were better . . . how could I give that up?”

“I understand.” Karuto told her in a tone that sounded like he did, though she knew he didn't. “But she did want to give it up. You didn't like that, so you hurt her feelings hoping you'd drive her away, didn't you?”

Cauli sighed. She lowered her gaze and whispered, “Nah. It wasn't like that, kid. I never said that stuff to her. That's not how I felt about her. It's how I feel about myself . . . I make myself sick, I'm the one that was too busy thinking of herself. The universe saw fit to grant me something amazing, a second chance at life, and . . . more. I treated it like it was nothing. Like it was something that'd always be there for me right until the moment it wasn't, kiddo. That's what I did.”

Cauliflora sighed. She reached into her pocket and showed him her old credit chip. It brought out emotions she didn't like to feel just looking at it, but she'd never been able to throw it away . . . she'd probably never _be_ able to.

She let the little Arcosian hold it, and she told Karuto, “Rhuby . . . Rhuby wanted to go home. She wanted to be free and I think she thought if she went I'd follow her and she was right. I wouldn't stay without her, I needed her to feel . . . complete.” Cauli smirked, “Rhuby made me feel centered, when we were together . . . things felt okay. She was what I needed to be whole, without her I wasn't me . . . I needed her. If she'd left I'd have left with her. All those years I told her we'd never have enough to buy ourselves and then buy a ship, we needed to keep fighting, keep making money I'd lied . . .”

“And?” Karuto asked, handling the chip very carefully with an almost reverence that Cauliflora actually found herself appreciating. “What happened?” The little alien wondered.

Cauliflora sighed. “I don't know if Tathy told you how much Rhuby and I went for at the market, but the price our Lord would have expected to be willing to release us was literally a hundred times that; we were worth as much as four _thousand_ typical slaves. More than enough to buy a star ship, a small ship would only cost as much as maybe one hundred times base—that is one hundred times more than a typical slave. That chip? Before my last arena match I had made enough to buy myself, enough to buy Rhubara, enough to buy every single one of our comrades from Lord Stobler and still see him a fat happy Robusuta for the rest of his miserable life. That's how much we were making you see, and it had been ten years of glory in the Arena, of fighting more and more intense battles sometimes against more and more foes, winning until I think the crowd was tired of it, but they always came back for more!”

She laughed and said again, “That chip? It's got more than _twice_ the credits I'd saved . . . Rhuby transferred hers to me before our final battle. She was a smart girl, she knew if she told me she was leaving I'd go with her, she knew that if she gave me the means I'd have to either make the decision to buy our freedom, honor her wishes and go home . . . or selfishly keep all the credits, force her to stay with me and get my way in the end after all. She'd saved too, she was wealthy too, wealthier than me, and she never bought her own freedom and just left me . . .” Cauliflora looked down.

“She needed you too.” Karuto said reassuringly. Cauliflora smirked.

“Probably. That chip has over two hundred million credits, enough to have bought the both of us and all the other Fighters of House Stobler and bought ships for each of them and bought slave crews to fly them. It was the greatest fortune ever held, even greater than Lord Stobler's fortune because he always spent so extravagantly on himself and his mistresses. Me and Rhuby we just spent enough to feed ourselves and a few other things. So after ten years of fighting Premier events and destroying legends . . . I became the richest slave in the history of War World, I became the richest _person_ in the history of War World.”

“And you still have the money . . .” Karuto said, a strange light seemed to appear in his eyes, Cauli wasn't sure why but it seemed like he was planning something . . . but that was ridiculous. It almost seemed like he was tempted by the amount of money on her credit chip, but that money was just data now; it was utterly useless because Cauli had destroyed everything on War World.

Then he asked her, “Um . . . do you think there ever would have been a time when you could have been convinced to leave? What could have made you want to go?”

Cauliflora smirked, “If I'd known what happened to Planet Vegeta? If I thought there was anything I could have done? I'd have left. Rhuby too. If we'd known there was a bigger better and more important fight? But I kind of think it would have had to be early, before Lord Stobler got _too_ ambitious. In the end he wouldn't have let us go for a king's ransom, that's why we fought . . . when he learned Rhubara wanted her freedom he said 'well what about one last battle, the clash of the Twin Titans, the first, last and only chance the War World will have to see you two fight one another!' and like fools we fell for it . . . or maybe Rhubara didn't. Maybe that was why she gave me the credits . . . maybe she knew going in what was going to happen.”

“What happened?” Karuto asked, then he realized, “Oh . . . right.”

Cauliflora smirked, “She beat me . . . and then the crowd screamed for my execution, they wanted to see one legend slay the other, maybe some of them were paid off by other Lords who wanted less competition in the Arena, I can't say . . . but the crowd wanted me dead . . .”

“But Rhubara didn't kill you.” Karuto observed.

“No.” Cauli confirmed. “Rhuby didn't kill me. But in a way I still died.”

“Why--” Karuto began but suddenly the radio cracked to life.

“Alert! This is station nine, we're tracking four power levels in excess of twenty thousand! I repeat we are tracking four power levels in excess of twenty thousand!”

Cauli pressed the button on her scouter but it came up blank. She grabbed the radio and said, “This is Cauliflora, where are you and what are the numbers?”

“We're south of West City, we're seeing a . . . uh, a twenty two k, twenty four k, twenty seven k and twenty nine k! There's over a dozen smaller levels over one thousand, they're all together and they're moving fast!”

_Probably still in their ship,_ Cauli thought. She flew up from the balcony and looked to the south, sure enough she could see a red light streaking across the sky. She looked down to Karuto and said, “Get Tathy, I'm going to intercept!”

“I can help!” Karuto cried.

“Get Tathy!” Cauli told him again and sped off. She flew through the night towards that ship.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto was left on the balcony still holding the credit chip. He stared at it for only a moment before tucking it away safely in his pocket. He didn't know how durable it would be but he hoped he wouldn't damage it.

He knew the way to Missus Bulma's officer from the balcony, he ran there and poked his head in. Missus Bulma was going over some papers, Karuto said, “Hey Missus Bulma, we're under attack south of West City, please use the PA to call Miss Tathy and send her to help Miss Cauliflora, bye!”

“What? Where are you going?” Missus Bulma demanded.

“I'm gonna help her cuz there's a bunch of them!” Karuto said.

He knew Cauliflora was strong enough to beat them all but if any of them tried to get past her they just might, and he knew he was stronger than the bad guys. He could help, and it'd be the right thing.

The little Arcosian flew off south of West City, he didn't have a scouter but he didn't need one. He could already see fires lighting up the night.

He wasn't quite prepared for what he found when he got there, the beings Cauliflora was fighting looked like giant bear people. They were covered in fur with crude plates of armor held over their shoulders and chest with what seemed like leather bandoleers.

He'd never seen their kind before, they carried huge hammers but they weren't alone. Smaller faster moving wolf-like creatures were on the run towards the city, Karuto could see some blaster-armed Royal Guard firing on them but the wolf-men were fast enough to dodge them and return fire with energy weapons of their own. He could guess the bear-men were the stronger power levels so he engaged the wolf-men without hesitation. They were fast, but he was an Arcosian.

He landed between two of them knocking one's gun away with his long tail and punched the gun out of another one's hand with his fist, but it wasn't exactly easy.

They started to react the moment he got near, but they seemed confused to see him. They communicated with a series of clicks then one of them was shot by one of the Royal Guard, the other did a rapid about-face and started to run back for his ship.

Karuto moved on to another target knocking another gun away but this time the wolf-creature didn't run from him, it tried to throw a punch.

He dodged it and punched the wolf-man right back, the alien hit the ground and stayed down. Karuto beamed happily at his defeated opponent only to see a flash of blue light and feel a sharp pain in his left shoulder.

He fell to his knees as he realized he'd been hit by one of the alien blasters, then he fell flat on his back to avoid more shots coming his way. He lay on his back watching gold and purple beams shooting back and forth over him while the stars above shone down. He rubbed his shoulder and carefully climbed to his feet then leapt into the air. He flew up high and tried to take stock of the situation.

Two of the big bear-guys were down, he could see Cauliflora was fighting the other two at once carefully avoiding being hit by their hammers. There were several deep craters in their part of the battlefield and Karuto quickly gathered that regardless of the enemy's power levels their weapons struck with quite a greater deal of force than one would expect for their power level.

_This is why Mister Trunks doesn't trust numbers,_ Karuto thought. Even Cauliflora who had a scouter was being careful not to get smashed by the hammers or even to try to stop them, instead she just dodged them.

Karuto felt like watching her was just a little bit of a glimpse of what it must have been like to see her in the Arena. She was fast and she was strong but he could see the bear creatures were fast too and careful not to let her get a strike in.

He only got to watch for a moment before another blue-beam struck him in the stomach and he fell from the sky.

He hit the ground hard close to the bear-men, one of whom spotted him. He rose to his feet and held his stomach. It was burned but he'd survive, it just stung. The bear-man lunged, hammer raised high.

Karuto prepared to dodge, but before the hammer could come down another hammer crashed into it with a thunderous roar as a figure the little Arcosian would have thought too small to wield such a weapon deflected the blow with a stolen hammer of their own.

The smaller humanoid spun around as the bear-man tried to regain control of his weapon which had been knocked high and over his head. The stranger turned their spin into a swing and with a wet cracking noise sent the bear-man flying away.

Karuto thought at first that Cauli had come to his rescue, but the stranger's yellow hair was longer than Cauli's black hair and when she turned to look at him she had both eyes.

She was definitely female though, or at least judging by the standards the humans had set. Still Karuto didn't recall ever seeing her before.

“Who are you?” Karuto managed to ask.

But she didn't bother to answer the question. Instead she said, “Keep your head down,” before dropping the hammer with a thunderous thud and springing for one of the smaller aliens who had aimed his rifle but did not get the chance too fire before she reached him.

His surviving comrade tried to run too but Cauliflora leapt onto his back and put her hand under his chin then yanked back hard and fast, breaking his neck and sending him to the ground in a heap. Karuto shuddered as he watched Cauliflora take the other woman's dropped hammer and hurl it at a retreating wolf-man, striking him and taking him off his feet.

The Guard were firing, the enemy wasn't going to get far. The ship was already starting to lift off, it seemed pretty clear that the mercenaries were going to abandon their friends. It was shocking to Karuto but he could tell they knew they didn't stand a chance.

Karuto stood with the two powerful warriors while the weaker human soldiers ran after the retreating enemy, even firing their blasters after the ship as it began to lift off. The yellow haired human nodded and said, “Well then my work here is done. I should leave before they get a good look at me, see you next time.”

But it didn't seem like Cauliflora was going to just stand down. The yellow haired woman seemed like she was about to leave but Cauli held out a hand, a ball of purple energy forming in her palm.

“I don't think so, miss.” Cauliflora said coldly. “Try to run off and I will vaporize you.”

“The fight is over.” The other woman said.

“Against those mercs it is. But you don't get to just zip in and out without warning. Who are you, are you the same idiot who got involved in central city?”

“Idiot?” The woman laughed, “Only the idiot who saved lives before you were even in the area code. I'm doing my job, who are you? You're not one of the fighters Trunks was training.”

Karuto decided to intervene on his savior's behalf and said, “You know Mister Trunks?”

“Of course I do.” The yellow haired woman scoffed.

“He didn't tell me about you.” Cauliflora challenged.

“He wouldn't have because no one's supposed to _know_.” The woman said. “That's why I need to get out of here before I'm recognized.” She added, “King's orders.”

“Not _my_ King.” Cauliflora said with a shrug. “My Prince charged me with protecting this planet, I can't have some wild rogue element like you running around. He'd have told me about you if you were a friend.”

She took a step towards the yellow haired woman but Karuto rushed forward and interrupted again.

“If you know Mister Trunks do you know anyone else who'd vouch for you?”

The woman sighed, the soldiers seemed to have given up firing up at the ship and were heading back towards them now.

“If it'll get you to back down and let me go,” She said, and Cauliflora nodded so she continued, “I'm Soda, formerly a Captain of the Royal Guard. Master Roshi can tell you more, including why Master Trunks didn't already tell you everything.”

Cauliflora scowled, but she did lower her hand and Soda was free to fly off at a surprising speed.

Karuto had recognized the name though and he told Cauliflora, “I did hear her name get passed around a lot, she was one of the students Mister Trunks trained. She was the leader of the blue team.”

“Why would one of Trunks' students need to become a vigilante?”

“I don't know. Maybe Master Roshi will?” Karuto suggested.

“That old scumbag played dumb about this vigilante business . . . I have half a mind to shatter his face.”

“You shouldn't, he's nice.” Karuto cautioned. Cauliflora gave him a look and then just laughed.

“Well in _that_ case . . .” She said with what he'd dare to call an affectionate sigh.

Tathy showed up then, she whistled loudly and said, “You didn't even need me!”

“That's right, the toddler showed you up.” Cauliflora said with a roll of her eyes.

Karuto was _not_ a toddler, but before he could say so Tathy slapped his back and said, “Good on you, little mister!”

The relatively light hit doubled him over and he clutched his burnt stomach in pain.

Cauliflora closed the distance between them and put a hand on his shoulder, presumably to keep him from falling forward as she eyed his injuries. She made a click sound with her tongue and said, “We'd better get him back.”

She turned her jaundiced eye to Karuto and asked, “Didn't anyone teach you how to take a hit? Don't you know how to fight?”

“I know how to fight.” Karuto said, “I just . . . haven't done it before.”

“I'll talk to Roshi in the morning, boss.” Tathy said. Karuto blinked, did that mean they wanted Roshi to train him? To train _him_? He wasn't sure how he'd feel about that, but it was kind of exciting to imagine . . . “You need me to mop up here?”

“Sure, coordinate with the Guard then hop into that Galactic Patrol ship we took, see if you can figure out who these guys were and if they're part of a larger group. Those bigger ones were total brutes, I'd have liked to fight them just for fun.” Cauliflora said. She rotated her right shoulder and said, “I got clipped by one of those hammers and I'm feeling it. I'll bring the kid back to Capsule Corp.”

Tathy saluted and Cauli turned to Karuto. “Can you fly?” She asked and he nodded. “What were you even thinking?” She wondered.

“I was trying to help you.” Karuto said.

“You could have gotten your head smashed in.” Cauliflora told him.

“Yeah, but I didn't.” Karuto pointed out helpfully.

Cauliflora smirked and shook her head. “Crazy kid.” She hesitated and then said, “Rhuby . . . she'd have said the same thing.”

“She would have?” Karuto asked in amazement.

Cauliflora smiled and looked like she was looking into the distance and seeing something invisible because Karuto couldn't see anything where she was looking. She told him, “Yeah . . . during the war if I got in over my head she'd be at my back faster than I could blink, and if I told her she could have gotten herself killed she'd just say that same sort of thing.”

But then Cauliflora's smile turned to a scowl and she said, “And that's why she isn't around anymore. Don't put others first, kid. Think about yourself, worry about others second.”

Karuto nodded, though he disagreed. After they flew in silence for a while he dared to ask her a question that made him very nervous. He asked, “Um . . . miss Cauliflora? If you could go back and do it all again . . . is there _any_ way, or _anything_ you could have said to yourself to get you to leave War World before . . . that last fight?”

Cauliflora was quiet for a long time as they flew, but eventually she did answer him . . .

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Otherworld fighters need to train, and things are about to heat up. Meanwhile the Defenders prepare for their final approach and General Boreal gets some interesting news from some fleeing mercenaries._

 

_Character Images Tathy and Sensei_  


_Notes: Tathy and Bass sporting the colors of their House. Bass' appearance changes quite a bit between these older images and the newer one I'll share later._

 


	59. He's Alive!

**Episode Twenty-Three**

**'He's Alive!'**

 

Life on King Kai's little planet had livened up quite a bit since the fallen defenders had arrived, but Gohan didn't expect it would get any livelier.

He was wrong.

He wasn't entirely sure how long the four warriors had been on the little planet with him and King Kai, but it seemed like it might have been close to a month when it happened. The group of them had only just sat down to breakfast when a loud crash came from outside.

King Kai sighed and said, “Drat. They're early. I was hoping I'd have time to enjoy my egg and sardine sandwich.”

Maybe it was the lack of concern in King Kai's voice that allowed Gohan to be more focused on what the great Kai had just revealed to be the ingredients of his breakfast than by the 'they' who were apparently so early but he did take a moment to shudder in revolution.

“Oh don't knock it until you tried it,” King Kai scolded as he got up from the table. “All right then, come on you five, I guess this works better. If you want breakfast you'll have to finish this next task.”

“Me too?” Gohan protested.

“You too, it'll keep the numbers even.”

Gohan blinked in surprise and got up along with the other four fighters and followed King Kai out onto the lawn.

There stood five fighters dressed in the armor of Frieza's warriors, though Gohan didn't know them.

Two of them were humanoid, one with purple skin and the other with orange. The purple one had horns, the orange one however could have passed for a strangely tanned human . . . albeit with a strange almost reptilian nose.

The next two were a pair of the bulbous-headed aliens that Gohan had encountered in the fighting on old Namek, the sort that seemed to make up a good quarter or more of Frieza's force. These two were both yellow, though one sported orange spots.

The fifth member of the team was the largest, he resembled a Styracosaurus who'd somehow evolved into a biped. He was massive, and armored and his tail ended in a hefty looking club with spikes, his leathery hide was a tan orange and brown and within his beak he had rather sharp looking teeth.

“They're PTO, right?” Pastel guessed.

“Who are these guys?” Bocan asked.

“What are they doing here?” Gurein wondered.

They were good questions, Gohan was at a bit of a loss himself. Luckily King Kai explained, albeit in a bit of a huff, “Well if you'd give me a chance I might introduce them! Gentlemen, lady, allow me to introduce--”

“Commander Chillax's elite team.” The fourth fighter said in a low growl.

“Iwatian.” The Styracosaurus growled back.

“King Kai . . . what is this?” Gohan asked.

“A bit of training of course.” King Kai said. “By now you should be a good match for each other. Gohan you're more than a bit of a ringer but I trust you to keep it fair, and no going Super Saiyan.”

“Wait, you expect us to fight them?” Bocan asked.

“Did I think what I meant to say instead of saying it our loud?” King Kai wondered.

“No, but . . . this is . . . kind of strange. I mean can we even damage each other the way we are?” Pastel asked.

“You can, you just won't be able to destroy each other again. I sent off Gregory a while ago to ask King Yemma to send these five along Snake Way to give you all a proper workout, I must say they made the trip a lot faster than I expected.” King Kai added in a stage whisper, “Much faster than you four.”

“The red man with the horns said we could go free if we made this trip and defeated the fighters at the end of it,” the Styracosaurus grunted. “Are you one of them, Iwatian?”

“I seem to be.” The fourth fighter nodded. “In the end I sided with the earthlings to protect their world once I learned that Captain Kalt had knowingly sacrificed all of you and more importantly little Lord Karuto.”

The five fighters seemed a bit annoyed at being reminded of how they died. Gohan wondered if maybe they didn't need to be enemies, he offered, “I'd say that's as good a reason to change sides as any, right? Why don't you five join us, we can all train and--”

“Just who do you think you are?” King Kai roared, “You think I want to train that many students? This is a sacred and ancient martial art, I don't want just anybody and everybody learning it!”

Gohan flushed with embarrassment and bowed his head low, “S-sorry, King Kai, I wasn't--”

“No, you weren't!” King Kai interrupted. “I didn't call them up to be students, I called them up to be opponents, now show me what you've learned!”

The four defenders and the five invaders all fell into their fighting stances. Gohan could feel that the Styracosaurus was the strongest of the five elites so he squared off against him. _All right, I'll just keep it nice and even,_ Gohan thought.

And then King Kai roared, “Begin!” and the ten warriors rushed forward in a flash.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The mess hall of the _Humanity's Hope_ was empty except for Trunks and Mai. The two of them were quietly discussing the attack plan and the role that Trunks would be playing now.

“You know, you're our ace in the hole, if we can pull this off without them knowing you came along we absolutely should.”

“But why?” Trunks asked. This was something Mai hadn't expressed before.

This wasn't the first time they'd discussed the attack. After all they were stuck together in a small metal box hurtling towards a terrifying battle and not everyone had brought a book, Trunks certainly hadn't.

“It just occurred to me, but suppose this _was_ a trap set by the enemy . . . well if their forces are waiting for any kind of signal then hiding you unless we really need you might stop it from being sent.”

“You mean if they have forces waiting near Earth and they spot me those forces won't know the plan to get me off Earth—assuming that they actually have one—worked?”

“I think we all agree such a plan exists, but yeah.” Mai shrugged. “You would be fine imitating an untrained human power level, maybe even blending in with the troops or staying on the ship.”

Trunks frowned, “I . . . can try that, but if something goes wrong I need to be able to react in time.”

“I understand.” Mai nodded. Then she asked, “So what about the tails?”

Trunks was surprised she'd bring them up, but he was even more surprised when she elaborated, “What do we do if they turn into giant monkey monsters?”

“You know about that?” Trunks asked.

“I have some experience with it, yes.” Mai said and he'd almost suspect she was being evasive.

The Golden Warrior shrugged and said, “It's a tenfold increase in their strength, it should help them fight on par with the Arcosians after their training at least . . . but most of them will lose control.”

“Right . . . so what do we do in that instance?” Mai asked. “Are we just going to refuse to let them transform?”

“The plan we discussed before should work, shouldn't it?” Trunks asked.

“I suppose so, I'm just not certain that we've thought about recovery. Your students should be strong enough to hold their own and get out of the line of fire once the raging starts, right?”

“Assuming we even need it.” Trunks agreed.

“But how _long_ will it last?” Mai asked.

“Who knows. But once it's over we'll be able to regroup. Again, we might not even need them to rage if the training was anywhere near as effective for them as it was for Goku on his way to old Namek.”

“I hope so.” Mai told him. “My squad is ready, we'll track down the Namekians and bring them back to the _Hope_ , I would suggest you come along with us but I think you're better sticking with Captain Videl.”

Trunks grinned and raised an eyebrow, “Getting tired of babysitting me?”

“No. But Captain Videl might need you more, she's the more daring.” Mai told him.

Trunks nodded, “It sounds good. We've gone over this a dozen times, this is the first time you've expressed any concern about the Oozaru.”

“Yes.” Mai confirmed, then she shrugged, “I didn't think it would matter before but the closer we get the more its concerning me.”

“Why's that?” Trunks asked.

Mai produced a blue scouter from a pocket in her coat and said, “Well . . . My team has been using these a bit and . . . well we're close enough to the _Defender One_ to read their power levels . . .”

Trunks laughed, “I hadn't thought to look . . . well how are they doing?”

“Well enough that imagining them with a tenfold increase makes me nervous.” Mai said. She handed Trunks the scouter.

He had to admit he had felt their increase but he hadn't looked through a scouter to put a number to it. They were still far from his level and he didn't quite regret his coming along just yet.

He put the scouter on and pressed the button to detect power levels. It immediately alerted him to a large cluster of high power levels . . . and he had to admit he was surprised.

But he smiled, “Is that Turles?”

“I can't imagine who else.” Mai said, probably guessing that he was referring to the highest level.

Trunks let out an impressed whistle, “Well . . . Frieza's goons are in for a surprise.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Turles had delayed Rhyce's team from their sleep to gather everyone on the training deck of the pod. He had to admit they _looked_ intimidating.

But would they actually beeffective?

He understood that training tended to plateau, once they got used to training in a hundred times Earth's gravity it'd be much harder for them to increase as quickly in the same level. Now that all of them were able to train with him at a hundred times Earth's gravity he expected the Saiyans at least to catch up to him, to at least be where he had been before they embarked on the journey.

After all he hadn't even been training in a hundred times gravity at the time that he'd left. He'd only been halfway there and at the time his power level had already been thrice what it was when he arrived three months earlier.

But Turles was starting to get adept at sensing energy and he just wasn't sensing theirs being anywhere near his own.

Of course he knew the fruit he'd eaten probably had something to do with the gap but had it increased his training results as well as his initial power? If so . . . could he really stand to share such a treasure with everyone else?

_Maybe a few,_ he thought, _as long as I can stay ahead it shouldn't be a problem to give some fruit to Tell or some of the others. Anyone loyal enough to me._

Turles realized what a strange thought that was. Anyone loyal to him . . .

As opposed to Prince Trunks? But Prince Trunks was the legendary Super Saiyan . . . shouldn't loyalty to him be the same as loyalty to the Prince?

Turles put the thought out of his mind for the moment, but he wouldn't forget that he'd had it just as he wouldn't forget the three seeds he kept in a pouch in his battle jacket's pocket, the three seeds that could help him close the gap with Prince Trunks, maybe even help him become a Super Saiyan himself.

But for now he was the Captain of the Prince's Saiyan army and he needed to see just what their odds were going up against at least three Arcosians.

He told them, “I know you haven't been using scouters much this trip because the gravity distorts their results, but we're now just a few days away, each of us is going to get about twenty four total hours to really push the limits of our training, but none of you is anywhere near where you should be. How do I know? Because none of you are anywhere near where I was when we began this trip.”

He placed the scouter over his eye and said, “Except, of course, for the Namekian.”

“What?” Cargo asked in surprise.

“Don't be too proud, you started out more than ten times stronger than any of my own people,” Turles said, “you began this trip the second strongest and you're still the second strongest. You're the only one I can really feel without focusing and you're almost rivaling Cauliflora.” Turles said. “Or at least what she was before we left, you don't even want to know how powerful she feels when she's not focused on restraining herself.”

Turles didn't want to admit to it but he didn't want to know either, somehow _without_ gravity training Cauliflora was almost ten times what he was, it was insane.

_But maybe she ate the fruit too._ Turles thought to himself.

Either way it bothered him.

He folded his arms and said, “So far you three humans . . .” He hesitated and tilted his head, “You're holding strong. The three of you are stronger than my people, and we grow fast if you can't tell by the example I've set. You're proving humans are nothing to sneer at, so even if it kills my soul I'll acknowledge that you three are true and proper fighters.”

“Thanks?” Rhyce scoffed.

The bald human Kodva bowed slightly, “We'll do our best, Captain.”

“This is our fight too.” The notably less scrawny Schip added.

Turles waved their words away, he was throwing them a bone, not a haunch of meat. “But the fact that the humans aren't worthless doesn't excuse the rest of you! I promised Prince Trunks a fighting force that would devastate the opposition on New Namek, what do I have? You're all stronger than you were, that's true, but you're not even half what I was before we left. So now,” Turles tossed his red lensed scouter in the air and caught it. He placed it over his eye and said, “It's time to see how far you've all come.”

“Just a second.” Rhyce said. She stepped forward and said, “With all due respect, _captain,_ she said in a tone that Turles didn't find very respectful, “we still have three days to train our teams and right now they would lay waste to any PTO grunts they encountered. I bet some of them can even take on Arcosians in a stand up fight and all together? They wouldn't have any trouble. You trained with Master Trunks for three months, that's three times longer than they've had, to expect them to be where you were so quickly isn't fair.”

“War isn't fair.” Turles told her.

“But you still have to be practical,” Rhyce told him, “I mean they're all more than ten times as strong as they were, how much can you realistically expect from them in just one month? In three months of training right along with you and Master Trunks Schip, Kodva and I were barely ten times where we started from, these fighters have already proven they grow at least faster than we did. But you can't demand miracles.”

“I can and I will, maybe you don't understand but they need to. Our race is dead and we're about to confront the race that did it, I want us to come back with a bang!” Turles said. He knew the humans might not like it but he knew how to get through to his fellow Saiyans. “You're all too weak.”

The entire group bristled, Turles smiled and said, “If you think you're strong enough to face one of Frieza's kind you should have no trouble with me.”

“Hold on,” Schip said, “all of us fighting in here will tear this ship apart! That's why we've had to train separately.”

“Besides that I'm not so sure why you're worried. I mean are we just not planning to transform if the need arises?” Oni added.

Turles blinked owlishly at him. “You're not somehow under the impression that we brought a bunch of fragile humans along so we could transform and crush them, are you?”

Oni blinked back at him. “They're strong enough to keep out of the Oozaru's--”

“Not us,” Schip guessed, “he means the soldiers and Captain Videl.”

“Obviously they'd get out of the way.” Oni said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And in a way it was, but . . .

“You're not telling me we're going to ignore the strength of our people, are you?” Beeta asked.

“Why would you even bring us along if that were the plan?” Kayle demanded.

Turles shook his head, “Against Arcosians? Of course not. Odds are we'll have no choice, besides I think Prince Trunks would want us to make a real statement, don't you?”

That brought some smirks to the others' faces, though Rhyce seemed uncertain she was smart enough not to question him in front of the troops.

Luckily Kodva proved he wasn't useless by outlining what Turles was really trying to say, the bald human said to the gathering, “We need to evacuate the Namekians, for that you'll need your wits and control as much as we will. _After_ the _Humanity's Hope_ is loaded with its precious cargo and out of firing range Turles will let you transform to finish things off with a blast.”

The others nodded their understanding. Turles wouldn't thank Kodva for doing his job by explaining things to his team, but he did nod to the human to acknowledge that at least he'd done it well.

Turles pressed the button on his scouter and read their power levels. “You've still got a long way to go . . . unfortunately this ship doesn't. It's crunch time people, before we make our final approach it's time to train like we've never trained before even if it breaks this ship!”

There followed fists in the air and a roar of approval from the Saiyans but Rhyce shook her head and asked, “Are you all idiots or something?”

“If we break the ship we all die.” Schip clarified helpfully.

However this was also met with a roar of approval from the Saiyans. Rhyce had a look that said firmly that they had answered her question and she did not like the answer, Schip and Kodva just seemed more concerned than anything else.

But Turles smirked and told them, “Victory or Death: that's the Saiyan way.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The black void of space was always an overly exaggerated way of describing what General Boreal had always seen as a beautiful array of bright lights.

Even if the stars were mere pinpricks they told the story of a vast and infinite universe of infinite possibilities and promise. Against that field of pinpricks of light he was himself nothing. Just an invisible dot on an invisible dot.

Which was why the General enjoyed blowing things up. For as infinitely unremarkable as he might be to the universe as a whole he could be a force to be reckoned with to his immediate surroundings.

He blasted a pair of rather large asteroids, one with each hand knowing that his opponents would be hiding behind them.

The two Arcosians raced from behind the rocks, their auras lighting the darkness like shooting stars as they raced to find more cover but General Boreal blasted the rocks they were going for as well, forcing the two to come charging for him.

That was when Cooly and Icebreaker emerged from their hiding spots and the four Arcosian warriors clashed in a flurry of lighting blows that struck and parried too swiftly for the average eye to see, but Boreal saw it all.

They were all growing stronger, much stronger indeed.

But none of them was yet his equal.

Icebreaker and Cooly could handle their two opponents, Boreal however scanned the rubble of the asteroid belt sensing . . . sensing . . .

Sensing nothing. The General was struggling and trying to learn to sense energy without a scouter but it was proving to be an illusive talent.

He wouldn't need to sense for long however before a flurry of yellow blasts caught his attention and came right for him from behind one asteroid not far from him.

He deflected the blasts effortlessly with one hand, refusing to let such a weak attack command his full attention.

A lucky thing too because in space no one could hear one scream, much less hear the exertion that came from hurling an asteroid at one's opponent. The opponent in this case being the General.

Boreal saw the large space rock go flying towards him and meant to simply fly out of its path before the giant rock shattered and exploded with a massive blast of energy that sent smaller rocks flying everywhere, buffeting him like a terrible hailstorm.

The brawny Arcosian who had hurled and then smashed the asteroid at him came at him then launching a flurry of blows that the General, in his momentarily distracted state found far harder to dodge than he otherwise might have and when he felt the blasts from his second opponent begin to strike him in the back with far greater intensity than the blasts he'd deflected the Arcosian officer decided enough was enough.

He was embarrassed to have been caught by such a ploy, and more than a little angry that he'd let his confidence get the better of him. He struck out hard with his tail, stunning his brawny opponent then spreading his arms and legs wide and with a silent roar he unleashed a sphere of brilliant yellow energy around him that blasted all of the asteroids and junk around him away and knock all of his fellow Arcosians training in the area off their feet.

Metaphorically speaking of course.

The training exercise was over.

A small ship rushed over to collect them, once within the atmosphere of the ship soldiers rushed over to hand their officers towels and beverages, a data slate here or there to update them on events while they'd been gone.

Boreal offered an insincere apology to his fellows, “My apologies, Captains, I don't know what came over me.”

“Oh a few words spring to my mind.” The brawny Arcosian captain he had been sparring with growled, rubbing his head. “But I got a few good shots in.”

“More than a few, you had him on the ropes, Gelato.” The second Captain, Hiemal snarled.

Gelato was big and brawny, a bit shorter than Boreal but broader built. His horns were short and flattened as if they'd been broken off or sanded down, Boreal had learned that one had been the former and the other had been the latter. The fearsome Arcosian had lost one horn in a scuffle with Lord Frostbite, and had sanded down the other to show that he didn't fear pain and so that no opponent could grab him by the horns again.

But Boreal suspected really it was just so his head wouldn't seem uneven. His dome was a bright blue, though his carapace was navy. His skin however was a sort of cream color, with his bands a sort of reddish orange.

Hiemal's four horns were part of his sea-green carapace, his dome was a darker teal. His bands were yellow like his eyes and his skin was dark green. Hiemal was small and thin, the General knew that Hiemal was often mistaken for a small child, even young Karuto had been a bit larger than the diminutive Arcosian captain.

But Hiemal was every bit as capable as Gelato, his powerful blasts had proven that.

Sundae and Gelid, their respective first officers who had themselves been sparring with Icebreaker and Cooly—though Boreal wasn't entirely sure who'd been fighting whom—both rushed to their captains' sides.

Sundae had an off-white carapace with a red dome and no horns, his bands were caramel colored and his skin matched his carapace. He was average height for their race and quite slender. He almost made Gelato seem even bigger than he really was. Gelid was just a slightly taller version of his Captain and father, Hiemal, though his colors were all a shade darker and he only had two horns protruding from his carapace.

All four saluted and bowed acknowledging that Boreal's tea had won the engagement as they always did.

The General waved a hand and said, “Don't bother, you're all improving, we all are. It's not yet enough but it's a grand start. Before you know it we'll be ready to take that planet.”

“Speaking of which,” Cooly said from behind him, and General Boreal turned to see the younger Arcosian was looking at a data slate a soldier had handed him, “General we've just gotten a report from a band of mercenaries. They managed to get off the planet alive . . . they _claim_ they slew a hundred humans but the computer doesn't register that kind of change in the population.”

“Yes well, destroy their ship and have done with them.” General Boreal said.

“Of course, only they did report one interesting thing about the planet.” Cooly said. “They spotted one of our kind, a small one, a youngster by their guess.”

“Lord Karuto?” Boreal guessed, “He's alive?”

“Evidently.” Cooly said.

This changed everything. “Gentlemen . . . it seems we've just encountered a change of plans.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Roshi comes clean about Soda, and Anavill asks to be given an unexpected task. Meanwhile a rescue operation is planned, and Karuto makes a dangerous decision._

 

_Character Images_  
Commander Pitaya  


_Notes: Pitaya is another attempt at making a sufficiently alien alien to serve in the PTO ranks, like Prage he's a Namekian body type but I think sufficiently dissimilar that he can pass for some other kind of alien. Fun Fact: Pitaya only exists because I needed a PTO officer and was totally out of cold puns and synonyms to use. But I like him!_

 


	60. Have a Nice Day

**Episode Twenty-Four**

**'Have a Nice Day'**

 

“You mean to tell me that there's a powerful fighter on this planet that you didn't feel the need to tell me about?” Cauliflora demanded.

She was angry and the Earthling Roshi's utter lack of repentance wasn't helping her mood. The Saiyan woman didn't need the old Human to grovel and beg her forgiveness, but as it was he seemed to believe he hadn't done anything wrong.

She tried to make the point, “I could have killed her.”

“ _You_ weren't supposed to be here.” Roshi pointed out. “Trunks knew about her, and he probably didn't tell you because you shouldn't have found her anyway. There was never any idea of Soda being a vigilante at first, but she got involved because lives would have been lost if she hadn't.”

“You can say it wasn't the plan, but you knew it was her when I questioned you.” Cauliflora scowled.

“I did, and if you'd gotten into the limo with me that day I'd have introduced you since I was her ride home.” Roshi said, adjusting his glasses with a smirk. “But I couldn't reveal her publicly.”

“I told Karuto I wouldn't hit you.” Cauliflora said coldly.

“And I appreciate that. But listen, you have to understand the situation here on Earth.”

“Not really.” Cauliflora scoffed, but then she folded her arms and said, “Okay, fine, what is the situation?”

“The King had no idea how quickly his Liaison would master Trunks' techniques. He assumed this would take years, maybe a decade, time enough for the people to really get used to the idea of super powered defenders being public knowledge.”

“And this means what?” Cauliflora demanded.

“It means that, while obviously her background in martial arts helped, when Soda was able to fly and use energy beams after just a few months his advisors would have wanted the entire Royal Guard to begin doing the same thing.” Roshi said patiently. “His advisors were already pressuring him not to allow us the level of autonomy we had, they want us either shut down or incorporated into the normal military.”

“So kill them!” Cauliflora offered. It was such an obvious answer.

Roshi laughed though and said, “That's not how we Earthlings do things, girl! The King had to be more diplomatic about it, needed to let us do our own thing for as long as he could without shutting his advisors out all together!”

“So he lied to them?” Cauliflora scoffed, “If he's afraid of his advisors then he's a weak king.”

“He's a fine king.” Roshi corrected. He sighed wearily and then dared to try to explain something Cauliflora didn't care about, telling her, “He knows that his advisors want what's best for the the kingdom, the problem is that they're living in the old world divorced from the new. They avoided the worst of the Androids by living in hiding. Before the Androids it was easy to hide Earth's Special Forces,

“The world was massive and full of people, if a few of them saw something unusual it wasn't such a big deal. Now these people have lived through Androids, they know that Trunks is their Golden Warrior, they know about . . . us. We can't just disappear again, at least not for a while.”

Cauliflora waited for a moment to be certain Roshi was finished speaking before she said, “I don't care about your past, my concern is with the present.”

The old man sighed and tried again, “Presently the King had hoped to keep Soda's capability with these techniques under wraps for a while but the attack from the PTO forces made it very public that Trunks' students, while not masters themselves, were close enough as far as his advisors were concerned. So when Soda was injured and fell into a coma it presented him the perfect opportunity.”

“To lie to his advisors, yes, but this doesn't explain lying to me.”

Roshi shrugged, “It wasn't a lie at first, more of an omission. She recovered from the coma after a month, then spent some time rehabilitating in secret. When she was ready to start training again I took her to my island and trained her in secret until I was confident she could continue on her own, then I came back here.”

'“Wouldn't she train better under the heavy gravity?” Cauliflora asked.

“Her numbers would probably rise faster if that's what you mean,” Roshi acknowledged, “but I guess for me this was also sort of a way to prove that numbers aren't everything. I taught her some of my best techniques, she should be a powerful foe to anyone who shows up to this planet.”

“I could take her.” Cauliflora said confidently.

“You've got more experience.” Roshi told her.

“I could take _you_.” Cauliflora challenged.

“Don't be so certain. You might have more raw might than me, but if it were a real fight I still think I'd find a way to come out on top.”

That was intriguing. Cauliflora unfolded her arms and clasped them behind her back. She didn't miss the way the old man's gaze seemed to follow her chest and she allowed herself a smug, “Uh-huh.”

Master Roshi shook his head and said, “Anyway Soda acted without orders to intervene on behalf of the people. I wasn't about to scold her for that, but I also didn't want to publicly tell you about her.”

“And in private?” Cauliflora demanded, “You knew I was looking for her, hiding her identity might have gotten her killed.”

“It might have, but I was confident I'd find a way to work it out with you.” Master Roshi shrugged. “The next attack just came sooner than I expected and she got herself involved again even though she shouldn't have.”

“Well you might as well bring her back here, don't you think?” Cauliflora asked, “So I can keep an eye on her. Anyway she can respond to threats I don't feel like handling.”

“Maybe another time,” Master Roshi said, “but she's already undertaken a new mission.”

“You have to be kidding . . .” Cauliflora scoffed. She punched her fist into her palm and scowled, “You Earthlings are insufferable! All right then, Roshi, if your weak Earthling King is so afraid of his advisors I'll just kill them all and--”

“You Saiyans are so bloodthirsty!” Roshi praised—no, wait he _scolded_ , as if blood-thirst were a bad thing somehow. Cauliflora was taken aback with confusion as the old Earthling continued, “You can't destroy the King's advisors, misguided as they might be they are trying to do what's right for the people. The King intended to train a troop of his Royal Guard to have the same capabilities as the Earth's Defenders, he just intended it to happen a year or two down the line, but that doesn't mean he doesn't fully intend to have his own fighters in the future.”

“What has that got to do with it?” Cauliflora demanded.

“His advisors are right, they're just impatient.” Roshi explained. “Earthlings should know how to defend Earth. But Bulma, as much as I might not like to admit it, is right too, Earth will be safer with Saiyans and Namekians as well.”

“No it won't.” Cauliflora said. “Eventually we Saiyans will overthrow you Earthlings, whether it's now or a generation from now eventually our need to be on top will overcome our willingness to submit to our king. If Prince Trunks continues to submit to an inferior ruler he won't keep control of the Saiyan warriors under his command.”

Roshi seemed to consider that, before finally asking, “So what's your solution?”

“Don't lie to me again,” Cauliflora suggested, “and don't trust Saiyans to just fall in line forever. Keeping us content can work for a while but at the end of the day we don't just like to fight, we _need_ to fight. There will never be a future where we live peacefully with you humans so don't try to domesticate us.”

She thought for a moment, then said, “The Earth King should step down and let Prince Trunks become King of this planet, Earthlings should devote themselves to farming and harvesting food to feed us Saiyans and in exchange we'll protect you from the big scary galaxy. A few notable humans might be worth training with us, but they should never get in our way. That's the only sustainable answer.”

“Hardly sounds sustainable for the Earthlings. Maybe you don't know it but Earthlings don't just like to be free, we _need_ to be free.” The old master told her. “The King would never abdicate, and we didn't rescue Saiyans just to be enslaved by them.”

“He doesn't need to abdicate, he can still be the Prince of all Earthlings, but Prince Trunks should be the King of this world.” Cauliflora said. “You don't all have to be farmers, you can be whatever you want as long as _enough_ of you are farmers to feed us. If you keep us content and don't give us a reason to attack you we can fight your enemies for you.”

Master Roshi was quiet though he was obviously shaking his head in disagreement. After a while Cauliflora was about to leave when Roshi asked her, “Is that what it was like with the Tuffles?”

“What do you know about the Tuffles, old man?” Cauliflora scoffed.

“I know you went to war with them after sharing your planet for so long, and I know you wiped them out. Did you make a similar deal with them? Did you attack them because they couldn't hold up their end?”

“It wasn't that simple.” Cauliflora scoffed. “What I'm suggesting is just off the top of my head, I've seen worlds with warrior castes and it seems to work just fine for them. The Tuffles treated us like slaves, and we weren't organized enough to overcome them until Prince Trunks' grandfather united us.”

Cauliflora shook her head and said, “But none of that has anything to do with you hiding fighters from me, so never do it again, are we clear?”

“I think we understand each other.” Master Roshi told her.

“And you don't have any other fighters you're hiding from me?” Cauliflora asked.

“I don't.” Master Roshi told her.

Cauliflora didn't like the way he'd said it, there was something . . . evasive about it. Still she let it go an said, “All right then. Shouldn't you be training Karuto?”

“Oh I delegated that.” Master Roshi said with a chuckle.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The prison cells were miserable enough most of the time, but it was even worse when Chillax felt like some kind of an animal at the zoo. Whenever the Saiyan showed him off to others it had been irritating and humiliating but it was worse when whoever was on guard simply watched him.

Just stared at him like some sort of a creep.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Chillax asked at length.

“I haven't really got anything else to do.” Tathy shrugged. She had a bag of cookies with her, which she'd been eating out of slowly—for her at least—for at least ten minutes.

“Karuto isn't even here, why don't you go bother him?” Chillax asked.

“He's training.” Tathy answered.

“He's what?” Chillax raised an eyebrow. He retrieved his scouter and pressed a button on it, easily finding Cauliflora's power level and Tathy's but also finding Karuto.

“Besides, he hasn't needed any more of the story since last night. I guess Cauli finally told him whatever he was curious about.” Tathy said.

“He's gotten stronger.” Chillax said.

“Your cousin?” Tathy asked, “Yeah, I guess he would have.”

“He was hovering near thirty thousand before, but he's risen above it now . . . how long has he been training?” Chillax asked.

“I think this is his first day.” Tathy said.

Chillax glowered at her, “Well why are you just staring at me? Why don't you train too?”

“I don't need it. Anyway I figured you could use the company.” Tathy said, utterly unfazed by his outburst.

The Arcosian Commander shook his head and slumped on his metal cot. “Blast it all . . . Karuto is getting stronger and I'm stuck in here . . . if only the Saiyan had seen me before he left maybe I could at least be training too.”

“Maybe you should have been more cooperative like the little mister, medium mister.” Tathy said.

“I'm not medium!” Chillax scoffed, “I may not seem like much in this form, but when I get strong enough I'll unlock a new form, a stronger more impressive form, you'll see!”

“Neato!” Tathy gasped. “When will that be?”

“Never if I'm stuck in here.” Chillax acknowledged.

Tathy nodded solemnly then ate another cookie.

“You know I don't actually require your company.” Chillax told her.

“Okay.” Tathy said simply, but she didn't move.

Chillax glowered again and he said, “So?”

“So what?”

“So why are you still here?”

“I told you, I haven't got much else to do.” Tathy said simply and ate another cookie.

Chillax sighed. If he were being honest he wouldn't have minded some company, but he didn't find Tathy's company all that desirable. He wasn't sure if she was obfuscating stupidity or if she really was just a simple creature but he'd have taken anyone else over her at that moment.

And still he thought to himself that if Karuto kept training . . . what if the cadet surpassed the Commander? What if Chillax, wasting away in his cell just got weaker and weaker until he was as pathetic as an Earthling?

He needed to get out . . .

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

There was no small amount of trepidation in Anavill's heart when she'd first crossed the threshold of Capsule Corporation. She'd steeled her nerves for the unease that it promised but when the time came the emotions she'd expected to feel weren't the ones she felt.

That wasn't to say she didn't feel anxious, but the crippling fear she'd expected just wasn't there. Actually wheeling her way into the building for the first time in months felt almost like returning to school after a summer vacation.

It wasn't like going home even though she'd lived there for months, but it was definitely going somewhere familiar. Somewhere she was used to.

But all the same it was different without Schip and the others. She hoped they'd get home soon and safely.

However her job of helping Roshi to judge the martial arts tournament would be on hold until they arrived, and that had been surprising. Still, with her parents vacationing on Roshi's island she'd decided to just stay in Capsule Corp, and she'd tried to be active in helping out wherever she could.

Though she hadn't felt initially that she would be useful she'd found rather quickly that that wasn't the case.

She'd worried that people would just take pity on her or give her odd jobs to make her _feel_ useful rather than actually being useful. But Mrs. Briefs had surprised her, Anavill was not assigned some pointless clerical work.

Instead she'd helped Asiago in the kitchens and worked as a sort of Capsule Corp. liaison with the Royal Guard who hadn't gone on the mission, making sure they understood how things worked in Capsule Corp. HQ and assisting Roshi in preparations for the tournament.

But not in training. One of the prisoners, an alien named Karuto was going to learn some tricks from Master Roshi, though Anavill wouldn't be expected to participate.

They'd told her as if they were worried she might be upset that Roshi was training the alien at all rather than telling her as if they expected her to be upset that she wouldn't be part of it, which she recognized as a totally reasonable assumption to make.

She _should_ be upset that one of the aliens who'd attacked their world was going to be treated to learning their techniques, even if it was only a few of them. She _should_ be outraged that Master Roshi would be spending any time training what was essentially the enemy.

But she wasn't. She'd known lots of Earthlings who weren't worth any consideration, cruel or heartless people of every shade and shape but she also knew that evil wasn't genetic. If Master Roshi trusted this little alien enough to train him that . . . well honestly that was good enough for her.

So Instead she was just sort of disappointed that they didn't think she could help them with it. She thought she could probably teach a remedial class just fine and since Roshi had so much on his plate what with the one-eyed woman screaming at him Anavill definitely felt like she'd be the better choice to take the little alien down to the gravity room and teach him some forms.

Obviously she'd have to tell him rather than actually show him, but she still felt like she could do it.

What she hadn't expected was for Roshi to agree with her. When she'd asked him to be part of the training he'd said yes without hesitation.

Now here she was with this alien kid on the lawn of Capsule Corporation's headquarters thinking to herself, _Okay, what now?_ for a very long time.

Eventually the kid had actually made a recommendation, “I think I need to be better at dodging energy attacks, do you think maybe you should shoot at me while I dodge?”

“I don't trust myself not to hit you.” Anavill admitted. “I think I should learn your movement patterns better before we resort to having me blast you.”

“Okay. What if I go through the drills I used to do before?” Karuto asked her and she'd decided that would work.

But as he went through the drill routines she started to recognize a lot of what her old instructor had taught her before she'd come to Capsule Corporation.

Not the techniques, but the way of practicing, and it'd made her feel more comfortable, even more confident. She'd been good enough to lead the class before and instructing Karuto didn't feel too dissimilar after a while.

The first day was rocky, but the second day went much better. By the time they were finishing on the third day Anavill felt like she really had a handle on things. She felt a great deal more confident and even though she recognized she couldn't do many of the techniques with her pupil she could still guide him through them.

Master Roshi had joined them by the second day, but he didn't take over like she would have expected, instead it seemed like training Karuto was training for her as well and he only stepped in when she made a mistake.

Though he was careful not to make it seem to the little Arcosian as if she'd messed up, always making his corrections sound more like impromptu suggestions or strokes of sudden inspiration betraying no hint that what Anavill instructed wasn't exactly how things would have been done at any other time.

And she'd appreciated it. She'd even enjoyed being a teacher, and a part of her could tell that this was intentional on Master Roshi's part. He wanted her to get her spirit back . . . and she was.

Life in Capsule Corp . . . wasn't that awful.

Life was even sort of nice when she wasn't worrying about Schip and the others. As the days training with Kartuo passed she knew that they'd be reaching their target very soon, that somewhere far across the expanse of space her friends were going to fight alien invaders to save a race of aliens that would be able to come back to Earth and . . . well, grant them wishes like genies . . . that part was a little hard to believe but then again believing she could fly or shoot energy blasts had been pretty hard to believe too.

And actually being out and active in the sunlight again she was starting to remember that as bad as her personal situation might feel for the moment it could be worse and as hard as her personal battle might be there really wasn't any reason not to believe her Masters when they told her it would get better.

It was better than spending months on end moping in her room at least, and Karuto was even helpful tending to Gurein's bonsai trees, though it wasn't until the fifth day of training that Anavill trusted him enough to let him help out with them. Still she'd found him to be an inquisitive youngster, he wanted to know everything about everything.

In fact training with Karuto had become such a comforting and stabilizing factor in her days that, on the sixth day when he didn't show up she was actually worried about him.

When Master Roshi appeared she asked him, “Master, where's Karuto?”

She'd expected him to say that the child was running late or had been given the day off or something like that. After all they'd trained through the weekend, maybe the little alien just needed a break.

Instead Master Roshi had said ,”I have no earthly idea.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The evening before he was discovered missing the small Arcosian had put his plans into action.

He hadn't seen much of Missus Bulma over the past few Earth days, but that was fine because he'd learned everything he needed to just by reading through old computer files.

And by asking the right questions.

He'd napped a bit during the day so he wouldn't be sleepy at night, and once he heard the sound of his cousin snoring he'd put his plan into action.

He knew he'd need the larger machine, and he knew it was recharged by now, but he didn't know how quickly the smaller time machine charged or how long it would be before someone came after him.

_Well, it's a time machine, so long as I come back quickly it shouldn't matter._ He thought to himself.

Though he had wanted to keep his personal time as close to normal as possible, like he'd heard Mister Trunks did he'd be gone from the present for at least as long as he was present in the past.

But it had to be done.

He'd floated through the hallways rather than risk making any noises and when he came to the elevator he whispered to it, “Listen, elevator, I need you to do me a favor . . . I'm going to press this button, but I need you not to make any noises.”

The elevator said nothing in response, which Karuto took as its cooperation, but he still needed to add, “And please don't sigh or tell me to have a nice day . . . this is important, elevator.” The little Arcosian told it and the machine continued in silence.

Karuto carefully pressed the button and the elevator's cooperation ended in bitter betrayal as it not only chimed to indicate the button had been pressed, but when the doors opened the thrice cursed machine _still_ sighed!

Karuto scrambled into the machine and shut the door, but he couldn't help feeling betrayed. “I thought we had an agreement, Elevator!” He shouted at it once its doors were shut. He pressed the button he wanted and snarled, “You're lucky no one woke up! Now don't tell me to have a nice day when I get off!”

To its credit the elevator did not tell him to have a nice day.

Instead the machine loudly said, “Pleased to be of service!”

Karuto froze and stared in horror at the hateful contraption but after a while he recovered when there was no noise, no sound of pursuit. He knew human soldiers patrolled the perimeter, but he wondered if maybe they didn't patrol the inside of Capsule Corporation.

He wouldn't know, he usually stayed in his cell at night except when he was helping the Earthlings.

Still the elevator didn't need to be such a jerk. Karuto tried not to let it bother him, and at least the door to the time machine only sighed when he passed through it.

The little Arcosian had borrowed a scouter and put his armor on, he knew he might need it where he was going, and he'd made sure he had everything he'd need.

The spacial coordinates, the date he needed, the time he needed, the credit chip that would make him the wealthiest being in the history of the War World.

He hopped into the larger time machine and began pressing buttons. He wasn't just a child at play, his papa was a scientist and he'd grown up understanding how complex machines were meant to be operated. He'd made very sure to understand the files on the time machine before finally taking the controls, remembering how Cauliflora had finally answered him when he'd asked her how to get her off the planet.

_“I already said, if I knew there was a bigger fight somewhere I'd have gone . . . but it would have had to be early . . . definitely before the Spring Wine incident, I was too far gone by then.” She'd told him, “Heck maybe I was too in love with War World for longer than that . . . I think just before we fought the Summer Tournament for the second time, that I think that was when I stopped having any desire to leave . . .”_

She'd reminisced about the crowds and the excitement after that but Karuto had had the information he wanted. The little Arcosian didn't know if some part of Cauliflora understood what he was planning, but she hadn't asked for her credit chip back and so he suspected on some level she knew and she approved.

He might be wrong about that . . . but he'd face that bridge when he crossed it.

He entered in the time.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he pressed the button . . .

And then there was a bright light . . . and when he opened his eyes again the darkened hanger for the time machine was gone . . . instead he was floating above a vast red desert.

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

_**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** Karuto has arrived at the War World, will he find what he's looking for? Meanwhile the battle is on on King Kai's planet as Gohan and Red Team take on Commander Chillax's elites!_

 

_Character Images - Captain Sleet_  


_Notes: Sleet came about pretty much from me having fun with the Arcosian designer, originally he was going to be just a throwaway Arcosian (hence his less than well thought out name) but instead I think he's actually pretty snazzy. Now as with the Saiyans Sleet's armor colors are off, rather than white and gold it should be white and black, but unlike usual where I say to just ignore the Ginyu Force patch I'm going to say that Sleet really does have it, but for him it's more memorabilia. Fun Fact: Sleet's design almost made me name him Atlas, but I couldn't justify it. Wanted to keep all the Arcosian names cold related. I might find an excuse to work it in as a nickname._

 


	61. Muck and Goo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've received complaints from my other audience, so in case my AO3 audience feels the same I want to offer my same apologies if the sub-plots are out of control, I am trying to focus it up as we near the end of the season.

**Episode Twenty Five**

**'Muck and Goo'**

 

Karuto needed to bring the ship down quickly, he knew that from listening to the story.

He couldn't risk anything happening to the time machine so in addition to needing to be quick he needed to bring the ship down in a safe place where it wouldn't be bothered.

He could turn it into a capsule, he'd read about that but he didn't want anyone to see him do it. He was also horribly worried about carrying such a big machine in a tiny capsule . . . would it be okay?

The computer had said that it would so he'd have to trust it . . .

The little Arcosian hadn't felt any weaponized increase to the gravity, but he knew War World's gravity was roughly twenty times stronger than Earth's or twice what Planet Vegeta boasted. Karuto was prepared, but he didn't enjoy it.

What was worse was that while he wasn't feeling any weaponized gravity increases he could see that a trio of power levels at around a thousand were approaching him quickly.

_Guards, or soldiers or something,_ he thought. He quickly got out of the time machine and pressed the button to shrink it into a capsule. He knew he _could_ wait and let the soldiers catch him but he felt like he'd be better off on his own, less chance of having to fight that way.

The little Arcosian simply put the time machine's capsule along with Cauliflora's credit chip safely in his battle jacket and took off at top speed flying for the largest mass of lifeforms, leaving the trio of high power levels behind.

He saw the arena long before he saw any other buildings, and he knew that it was the arena because his scouter told him that literally thousands of Robusuta with their power levels hovering in the space between five hundred and one thousand were gathered around a cluster of much much higher levels.

There were other clusters of high levels, the Houses, Karuto guessed but the Arcosian wanted to get to the arena.

But he probably could have found it even without his scouter, it was massive. It dwarfed anything he'd ever seen before, it had to be more than a mile high.

_How can they even see the fighters from that distance?_ The little Arcosian wondered.

Did the Robusuta have great eyes, he wondered. As he drew closer to the city he doubted it, the buildings were too ugly to really be made by someone who had good eyesight.

But as he flew over the arena he could see that the large circular structure didn't showcase just one battleground, rather there were miniature rings in a spiral around the larger grand ring and many seats in the upper areas were made to view those smaller fights.

_Interesting . . ._ Karuto thought but he knew he couldn't just fly around forever.

He could see that many of the crowds were waving streamers and small flags with certain color combinations, he quickly recognized that those were the colors of the Houses, just as Tathy had described in her story.

_So if I can't spot Tathy or Cauliflora I can at least look for people with blue and bronze flags,_ Karuto told himself.

There didn't seem to be a fight in the main arena at the moment, but there were lots of battles going on in the smaller circles so he picked one and flew down. He landed in the crowd to a few surprised faces, but it wasn't that unusual to fly as he'd seen a few others doing it as he traveled through the city.

Still it occurred to him that he might have just entered the arena without buying a ticket so he tried not to draw much attention to himself apart from that, mingling with the largely Robusuta crowd.

There were some aliens in the crowd but mostly the people watching the fighting were Robusuta, and there were thousands, maybe tens of thousands of them just in the arena.

The circle he'd landed outside of contained a pair of Robusuta fighting each other, one wore silver metal armor with brown and green clothes that Karuto found to be a rather disgusting color combination and the other wore a dull gray metal with bright yellow and red clothes.

He didn't much care for either color and it didn't much matter to him when one of the fighters finally fell in defeat.

The crowd roared and waved their flags but Karuto had no idea if they were calling for the fighter's death or survival, but whoever it was that was making the decision to spare or kill the fighters decided to spare him . . . or her . . . it.

Just like Cauliflora had been able to Karuto too was able to understand what the Robusuta people were saying despite the fact that his people had never found this world to add their dialect to their scouters' translation devices.

So he asked one Robusuta, “Hey, where are House Stobler's fighters fighting?”

The Robusuta he'd asked just ignored him, but a different one actually answered.

“Stobler? Stobler's only got one fight scheduled today!”

“Which one?” Karuto asked.

The Robusuta seemed amused, “The Premier of course!”

“Oh!” Karuto blinked. “Fantastic, is he going to be using the Twin Terrors?”

The Robusuta laughed, “Of course he is, it's not like that old laughingstock has anything else since he retired the sons of Slug!”

“The sons of what? Never-mind, I don't care, when do the Twin Terrors fight?” Karuto asked.

“At the Premier, obviously.” The Robusuta said and clattered off. “Stop wasting time, there's more fights to see!”

Karuto followed the creature and asked, “How many fights until the Premier?”

The Robusuta turned its stalk eyes to look at him and Karuto could feel the scrutiny so the little Arcosian said, “I'm a tourist, this is my first time in one of your legendary arenas!”

“But you've heard of Stobler's Twin Terrors?” The Robusuta asked.

“Oh of course I have!” Karuto said, “And of fighters like Bacore, and Poi and Tathy too!”

The Robusuta seemed impressed, “Lord Stobler's fame spread off world? That's . . . surprising.”

“Oh I've heard of Lord Barc too, but it's Stobler's Twin Terrors I want to see!” Karuto said to avoid sounding too suspicious.

The Robusuta seemed to vibrate its stalk eyes for a moment then said, “Well you'll see them, I'm sure, the Premier fight will be a thing to behold! The winners from each of these battles will be put against those Terrors and we'll see how well they do then!”

“I'll bet!” Karuto said. He was pretty sure Tathy would have mentioned if Cauli and Rhuby lost this fight.

Still he wanted to know, “Is there any way I could see them before the right? You know, just to lay eyes on them before the bloodshed?”

The Robusuta, who had clearly thought their interaction finished clacked his claws in what Karuto would guess to be frustration. Still he said, “Well little alien if you've got the credits you can usually arrange for a meet-up, but it'd take more credits than any tourist would have and it's usually not worth it.”

It would be for Karuto, but maybe he should just cut to the chase. “Is there anyone who could help me get in touch with Lord Stobler?”

“I don't know, maybe one of his friends?” The Robusuta said in exasperation. “Look have a great time but I think I see one of my friends over there, bye!”

Karuto doubted the Robusuta _really_ saw one of his friends, but he wouldn't force his company on someone . . .

No, no he absolutely would. He found a different Robusuta and asked, “Hey, hey, how can I find Lord Stobler?”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Konpeito was amazed at how well his Earthling companions were faring against the Commander's elites, though in the end he felt as if victory would elude them.

Still in a short while they'd come to rival these elites if only for a moment.

Gohan of course was battling Damson, he was the strongest of them. Pastel and Bocan were each taking on one of the humanoids, and Gurein was fighting one of the Appullatiens leaving Ayappa for Konpeito.

At least he was pretty sure it was Ayappa, it could have been Avaug, he had no idea which was which.

Still whichever of the two fish brained fools he was fighting it was a close and challenging fight. He threw a punch that his opponent ducked under, coming up with his fist connecting with Konpeito's jaw knocking him back and off of his feet.

The Iwatian rolled as he hit the ground and sprang to his feet only to find Ayappa had disappeared. Konpeito spun around in time to see the Appullatien's booted foot flying in for his face.

Kon had just enough time to raise one heavy hand and catch the small alien's kick, yanking him upwards into the air and throwing a heavy punch that actually cracked his body armor and sent him flying into the tree stump Gohan liked to sit on.

If Ayappa weren't already dead he'd probably have at least been in a lot of pain.

Konpeito didn't let up though, he had no remorse for the enemy and he closed the distance between himself and the Appullatien by using his massive forearms to propel himself instead of relying on his stubby legs.

He tore up fistfuls of dirt as he went and leapt over the stump raising both of his fists over head head meaning to pound Ayappa into the small planet so hard he'd emerge on the other side.

“W-whoa!” He heard the Appullatien cry out in surprise, holding out a hand preparing to fire a blast.

But Konpeito's fists struck before that blast could fire, slamming Ayappa into the ground so hard that it did make a crater, though he didn't go through it.

“Watch it!” He heard King Kai roar, “I have to live here after this you know!”

_Then don't invite people to fight on your world._ Konpeito thought. He grasped Ayappa by the cracked breast plate and held him up, “Surrender.” Konpeito ordered.

Ayappa coughed but his eyes were wild and eager.

The slimy-looking alien said, “Not a chance, traitor!”

Konpeito was about to hit him again when the Appullatien somehow brought both feet up, kicking Konpeito hard in the lower jaw causing him to stumble back a few paces until he tripped backwards over the stump losing his grip on Ayappa.

Ayappa then grabbed him by the collar and began punching him in the face, but it didn't hurt as much as Konpeito knew it should have.

Either he'd gotten stronger or their blows weren't landing as powerfully as they should have. As much as Konpeito would have loved to believe the former he had to suspect it was actually the latter, it was the only explanation for why his comrades hadn't lost their fights yet.

None of them had yet mastered the Kaioken so having them fight opponents more than fifteen times their strength was insanity. It was just lucky they couldn't die twice.

Well . . . maybe. Konpeito wasn't really sure how this life during death worked actually.

But this small blue bug man was some sort of a deity, or so Konpeito gathered, and so it made sense he would have complete power.

Still while Konpeito appreciated whatever King Kai was doing to soften the blows he resented it to an extent. He should be able to win in his own right.

_But then how much more embarrassing will it be to lose when King Kai is helping you? If he truly is,_ Konpeito thought. After all he could be wrong, it could truly be because he had grown stronger that the blows didn't have the impact they should have.

Ayappa had hit him several times and he should have been knocked senseless, but instead because he didn't feel them the way he should have the Iwatian was able to use his superior reach to grab the small alien and hold him out and away from his face.

Ayappa seemed intimidated by it all actually, but he was still an elite fighter and he quickly raised his hand, charging a blast.

Konpeito threw him up slightly with one hand then brought his fist back and then thrust forward with all his might leaving a dent in the Appullatien's large head.

He'd hoped he'd knock Ayappa out of the small planet's orbit but instead Ayappa flew far and struck the driveway face first, laying still and not moving once he stopped rolling.

Konpeito was shocked . . . had he just won?

He didn't have long to wonder about it before he felt Damson's spiked tail strike the side of his head. It knocking him off of his feet, and everything went black.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto hadn't found anyone who could help him meet Lord Stobler, but he did eventually find the crowd with the blue white and bronze colors who'd turned up to support the stable.

He guessed that if he just stayed with them he'd be led to the Premier fight when it happened, and he was able to get information from people who thought it a lot less suspicious that an off-worlder would know so much about the Stobler stable.

In fact he found his knowledge was _lacking_ compared to theirs, some really enthusiastic young Robusuta—or crickets as he'd learned they were called—had memorized statistics on all of Stobler's fighters, including the Twin Terrors who'd won the summer games once before and would be defending their title against all comers soon.

So that at least told Karuto that he'd gotten the time right, they hadn't had the second summer victory yet.

Some of the crickets he met also claimed to be Lord Stobler's illegitimate offspring but since that didn't actually help him to meet Lord Stobler he was a lot less interested in that, and besides it could just have been empty boasting.

It wasn't until about dusk that the Premier fight started. Drums and gongs were beaten but given that the Robusuta lacked the sort of mouths that could really work wind instruments Karuto was disappointed that he didn't hear any horns.

For something old fashioned and momentous he expected horns.

_Well I went forty nine years into the past, not a whole century. Things won't be_ that _old fashioned . . . also this is a whole different species on a whole different planet it's not weird that they don't have horns . . . wait, is it weird that they_ do _have drums?_ Karuto wondered as the group he'd fallen in with hustled him to a seat.

There were no tickets or assigned seating and the crowds muscled their way into choice seats violently, Karuto could see it paid to be with a big group, loners would be left in the nosebleeds.

The drums beat faster and faster as a score of fighters were ushered into the big arena, Karuto had a good seat and he could see that while at least half of them were Robusuta the other half were a variety of strange aliens. One seemed like he was made of stone, a giant golem made of blue and purple stone wearing what seemed like a black cloth toga.

Another seemed to be a robot, there were even a pair of strange looking snake-like monsters with arms and legs but withering writhing slender torsos. He'd seen many of them during the day's festivities, but not all. Still those he could recognize he knew had been wearing different colors before.

“Why are they all wearing black now?” Karuto asked.

One of the Robusuta helpfully answered him, “They're all to fight together now so the games coordinators don't want any House rivalries to get in the way.”

“It won't stop it completely,” Another one said, “but for most of them they won't be able to tell if one fighter belongs to an enemy's House or not in the heat of things.”

“Twenty against the Twins, this is insane!” Another cricket piped up, “It's juts _insane_!”

“They'll come out on top, you'll see!” An older Robusuta, perhaps the cricket's parent said with excitement, “They'll make a game of it, you'll see!”

Karuto was leaning forward in his seat, though he could hardly fail to. The seats were designed for the long multi-legged bodies of the Robusuta people, so they were quite similar to the sort of reclining seats the humans set around pools, long rectangular things. Only the back was at the front so that the Robusuta could lean forward to rest against them, and Karuto could to the same.

They were angled a bit steeply so that no one got in the way of anyone else's view, and everyone's view was pointed downwards into the fighting circle.

The announcers voices came to life, Karuto wasn't sure what sort of technology they were using to amplify their voices but he could hear them clearly even over the drumming and the crowd.

And Tathy and Cauliflora hadn't been kidding about the roar of the crowd, it almost felt like a physical force slamming into Karuto's body with each wave of cheers. They roared with excitement as each fighter was named to them, some sections louder than others but nobody booed, or acted disrespectfully so Karuto himself tried to be respectful and offer a polite applause for each warrior.

But he didn't care about any of them, where were the Twin Terrors?

Where were Rhubara and Cauliflora?

The Stobler supporters had cheered politely for each fighter in the arena but suddenly they got very loud, some even began jumping up and down in their seats, one of the crickets tugged on his arm with its slender non-clawed hand and pointed with its claw, “There, there, there!”

The cacophony was insane as the two emerged from a pair of large iron barred doors. They were under heavy guard but that guard didn't seem to be just for them. The guards dressed in purple and gold followed them out but as the Twins were being introduced to the crowd—as if they needed any introduction, judging by the roar that practically shook the stands—the guards encircled the entire group of fighters.

Still Karuto's main focus was on the two Saiyan warriors. He'd seen what Cauli would become, but she looked so different as a youth.

For starters she still had both eyes and her tail, but more than that she seemed . . . happy. She was smiling, the crowd roared at her and she roared back, she raised her sword in salute to the people in the stands before throwing it aside because she wouldn't need it.

And Rhubara . . . it was so strange to finally see her with his own eyes. Her bangs must have been particularly well behaved when her profile picture was taken because they were long and swept down obscuring her eyes somewhat, but Karuto could see see her fierce purple eyes even from the stands as she cast her gaze over the people.

Just like Cauliflora, Rhubara threw her sword aside and raised her fist.

“Your Summer Champions,” The announcer called, “the pride and the joy of House Stobler, the twin cannibal monkeys wrestled from the wilds, slayers of Gaspar the Friendly Ghost-maker, defenders of our noble city's honor abroad in the games at Ocean-city, Cauliflora the Crusher and Rhubara the Ripper!”

Karuto was actually caught up in the moment, he cheered right along with everyone else and his breath was taken away when the guards revealed their reason for encircling the entire arena.

They lit a blue flame around the edges of the combat circle, then scurried away. Their fires illuminated everything brilliantly, though it was getting dark there would be no trouble seeing the fighters.

Karuto leaned forward eagerly waiting to see what was coming next. Was this one of the many fights they'd won, or would they actually lose this one? Maybe they'd lost some fights and not told him, he didn't dare use his scouter because he didn't want to know in advance.

The gongs rang and Rhuby and Cauli strode into the center of the arena, purposely letting their foes encircle them.

Rhubara blew her bangs out of her eyes and made a show of counting out the opponents before leaning back over her shoulder and asking Cauliflora, “Ten apiece?”

Karuto knew his hearing was excellent but it amazed him that he could hear them over the roar of the crowd. It stood to reason that whatever amplification that the announcers were using must be being used for the fighters as well, or at least the champions.

“Fair. Wanna count 'em out?” Cauli asked.

“Sure, why not?” Rhuby said with a smile.

And with that the two sprinted forward for their first enemies.

They moved fast, even in the heavy gravity of War World they were fast. Karuto was amazed, they were faster than him even at this younger age. He was sure only his cousin Chillax, who prided himself on his speed could have competed with these two.

What surprised Karuto even more than the speed however was the fact that the two girls seemed to be . . . singing.

His own sharp ears could catch it, though he wouldn't have been surprised if others failed since this portion of the performance wasn't being amplified, but as they downed opponents the counted it out in song and it became quickly apparent that it was the cadence of the song and not the actual skill of their opponents that decided when an opponent was tossed through the flames out of the arena.

Cauli appeared before the snake-creatures, one of whom thrust a spear at her which she easily caught and yanked out of his grasp as she said, “ _Give me one and give me two,_ ” took both of the slender-waisted snake-men calling out, “ _Cover me with muck and goo!_ ” as she slammed their bodies together and then threw them beyond the flames.

Rhubara had moved on a pair of Robusuta fighting shoulder to shoulder, easily dancing between their killing claws and getting between the two of them as she sang, “ _Give me three and give me four,_ ” She swept her legs back, sweeping the rows of needle sharp legs from under both her opponents before grabbing both their tails and tossing them out past the flames with a, “ _Cover me with guck and gore._ ”

Cauliflora took a Robusuta down by throwing him into some kind of wolf-alien with a furry humanoid torso on top of a wolf-like body. She sang, “ _One Two muck and goo, Down my sock and in my shoe._ ”

Rhubara dodged a swipe from the stone golem, allowing him to strike another competitor, a very unlucky Robusuta who survived the blow but collapsed in a heap as she sang, “ _Three Four, guck and gore,_ ” she ran up the golem's arm up to its shoulder. She was herself about the size of its head, and she sang, “ _Spin me 'round and sing some more._ ” as she launched a roundhouse kick to the side of its head so hard that the stone seemed to crack and the creature lurched forward and fell to the ground, Rhubara riding it on the way down.

The enemies in front of the golem actually turned and tried to run just because she sang with a wicked grin, “ _Give me five and give me six,_ ” Nobody wanted to be five and six, not even when she encouraged them to, “ _Cover me with big, fat sticks.”_ It didn't take much for her to catch a pair of aliens, one that looked like a humanoid, another who seemed like a giant fluffy cat man, she bashed their heads together and threw them over her shoulders.

The crowd was so deafening that Karuto missed the next part of the song as Cauliflora grabbed a pair of Robusuta by their hefty claws, though he could imagine it went, “ _Give me seven, give me eight,_ ” as she actually swung the shelled aliens bodily like clubs to knock her next two Robusuta opponents out as she sang. “ _Cover me with slime an slate.”_

Karuto didn't actually hear the 'cover me' portion, but because it came back on the second half of the verse Karuto did eventually catch that seven and eight were slime and slate after the 'big fat sticks' reprise.

They were down to their last four enemies, but the song it seemed would only go to ten, which made sense to Kartuo since they were both eliminating opponents as they went. They sang loudly together, “ _Give me, give me number nine, a bag of bones and a ball of twine._ ” As they eliminated another opponent each bringing the total down to six.

The fight had lasted less than a minute so far, and in that time they had already gotten rid of fourteen opponents as if they were nothing. Karuto would have been upset if he'd paid for a ticket, if he'd showed up hoping to see exciting fights he would almost have called this a rigged show just because of what a mismatch it was.

But luckily this was exactly what he'd hoped to see, and the rest of the crowd all seemed to be in agreement, even those who weren't wearing Stobler colors were cheering enthusiastically. Perhaps it was the speed with which they were humiliating their opponents that impressed the crowd, but for Karuto it was not just finally getting to lay eyes on Rhuby, it was also seeing the totally different Cauli that made it all worth it for him.

“ _Give me, give me number ten, run back home and start again._ ” They sang as they eliminated two more, though it was getting hard to hear them as the crowd was whipped into a frenzy again as it came down to their last few opponents. It was clear to Karuto though that although the song said 'start again' there was no need to, the girls finished their final opponents as they finished the song.

Karuto found himself actually laughing for no reason his conscious mind could discern, maybe he was just happy that his plan had worked.

But as the two stood triumphant in the center of the arena illuminated by blue flames he knew his mission was only half finished. He still needed to get them away from the War World and back to the present day.

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

_**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** The fight on King Kai's world is decided, and the Arcosians on New Namek receive an unexpected transmission from General Boreal. Unfortunately for them the Defender One and Humanity's Hope have arrived and the eager crews are ready to stretch their legs._

 

_Character Images Cauli and Rhuby (again)_

_The Cannibal Demon Monkey Terrors sporting their House Stobler attire. They still lack their tails in these pictures, but at this point in the story they've grown back. Fun Fact: As shown with Bass, Tathy, and Poi many of the Stobler fighters wield Yamcha's sword, and the House colors were made to mimic the sword's colors as closely as possible. Though the girls aren't wearing the sword this is still the reason they aren't sporting any form of Saiyan armor (And thus tails) in these pictures. It also just made sense their armor wouldn't still be in any usable condition by that point._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally the girls were going to be singing all of 'Muck and Goo' while they eliminated opponents. I don't like songfics in general but I just thought it'd be something fun to try and if there remained no other way of experiencing the song I'd have shared the whole thing, but since the song is not only available on You Tube for free and on iTunes if you love it, my fellow Fraggle Rock fans can reminisce with this delightful tune, and you whippersnappers who haven't heard it before can have a listen yourselves if you're curious. The important thing is I don't have to feel like a plagiarist for putting the whole thing down. Incidentally I'd been singing it wrong all these years, I somehow remembered it as “grime and gore” so the more you know.


	62. Sixty Seconds

**Episode Twenty-Six**

**'Sixty Seconds'**

 

“I just don't get it,” Damson was saying as he nursed the ice pack held over his left eye, which was swollen shut, “how can I be dead and still feel this much pain?”

“We haven't been questioning it, if that helps.” Bocan told him.

“I don't need your help, Earthling!” Damson growled, then clacked his beak painfully and mumbled, “but I guess I probably shouldn't question it either.”

“Attaboy,” Pastel said, icing her own knee. She looked at King Kai though, wondering if he had any answers.

The old beetle . . . thing wasn't offering any up. He just chortled at all of their various injuries, only Gohan had escaped with just a few bruises and he seemed as surprised as anyone that he'd sustained even that.

“You've spent too much time reading and not enough time training,” King Kai had pointed out to him when the fight was finally finished, but Pastel thought it was more he'd gone too far out of his way not to just steamroll everyone before the rest of them had a chance to at least try to win.

Once Bocan, the last of their group to go down apart from Gohan _had_ gone down Gohan had ended the fight in seconds, even without becoming a Super Saiyan. It was impressive, Pastel was starting to suspect that Saiyans were a race to be feared, though she still didn't fully understand the difference between Saiyans and humans. King Kai had said something about tails but neither Gohan nor Master Trunks had a tail, and Pastel knew some humans who claimed to have been born with tails.

In this case the enemy elites were more helpful as one of the frog-faced octopus-headed ones, one whose head was still dented after Konpeito had punched it, had told them that Saiyans evolved on a different planet. The fact that they looked similar to and could produce viable offspring with humans was a curiosity, but not one that the PTO had invested any time in solving.

“I think the assumption was that when you were both extinct it wouldn't matter.” The alien, Ayappa said.

“But humanoid isn't a terribly uncommon galactic design.” The most human looking member of their group, Ganmo mentioned. Apart from his relative lack of a nose and skin as orange as . . . well, an orange he could have passed for a human.

His comrade Prage despite being 'humanoid' by their reckon would be less able in that regard, plum purple skin aside there was the matter of the horns. It was Prage who said, “Not that that's worked out so well for us when it comes to either of you. You're both tougher species than the Arcosians give you credit for.”

It made her feel a little smug to hear the alien admit that humanity was strong, still Pastel mentioned, “Uh-huh well you're still part of the crew that tried to destroy our world so don't go thinking we're friends.”

“The thought never crossed my mind.” The saurian Damson grunted.

“I said you were tough, I didn't say I liked you.” Prage scoffed, though after another beat he did say to Bocan, who had been his opponent, “Though that feint of yours almost had me, I didn't expect someone with a power level like yours to be able to hit so hard.”

“You haven't got a Scouter, how do you know my power level?” Bocan asked.

“Well I assumed. The strongest power level apart from your Saiyan was only two thousand before we . . . uh . . .”

“Ate it?” Avaug, the other frog-faced octopus-headed alien offered.

“Fell nobly on the field of battle, yeah.” Prage said.

Pastel couldn't suppress a slight chuckle, though she didn't necessarily mean to laugh at her opponents, after all she'd died too. Gurein said, “There's no need to be enemies in the hereafter, if we return to life we can raise our banners again but until then our respective quarrels don't amount to much.”

“Speak for yourself, Earthling.” Damson grunted.

Now Konpeito spoke up, “And why should he speak for himself if he's got wisdom for all to hear? What will you do, try to fight again when you've caught your breath?”

“What else was I sent here for?” Damson growled.

“The dinosaur has a point.” King Kai said. “I asked for them to be delivered here to help you train, not to be your new best friends. You'll need to overcome them before your training is complete.”

_Joy._ Pastel thought bitterly, eying Ganmo, her opponent. He might look silly but he was strong.

The gathering was silent for a moment before Ayappa, rubbing his head managed to say, “You know Iwatian, you're pretty powerful. You hit far harder than a five thousand, if you hadn't betrayed you'd probably have been an officer! Or even one of us elites.”

“Why would I ever want that?” Konpeito scoffed, “Your Planet Trade Organization exterminated my race, did you really expect me to just accept you?”

“Well it'd be pretty stupid to say 'yes' now, wouldn't it?” Ayappa said, rubbing his head, and Pastel chuckled again, again not necessarily _at_ the poor alien.

The Saurian Damson said, “I found it hard at first . . . I was stronger than any officer, stronger than some of the Arcosians. It was some of their strongest that took my world and if they hadn't assigned me to serve the Commander I might have rebelled too at some point.”

“So you see then,” Konpeito said, “you only followed them because they were strong.”

“No.” Damson growled, “I followed the Commander.”

“Our boss was a good boss.” Ganmo said, “He didn't look down on us the way the others did.”

“He sounds like a real champ.” Bocan said dryly. “Why isn't he here?”

“He survived.” Damson said with what sounded like pride. “He and the younger master, they must have.”

“So we didn't sacrifice ourselves for nothing.” Prage nodded.

“Feels like we did though.” Ayappa grunted.

“Well _we_ did, you just didn't get out of the way fast enough.” Ganmo said with a wink.

“How can you all be so . . . blasé about your deaths?” Pastel asked. The aliens stared and it occurred to her that they might not know what blasé meant so she specified, “I mean you're kind of nonchalant about dying aren't you?”

“Are we supposed to cry?” Ayappa asked.

“We've had time to accept it,” Avaug added, “haven't you?”

“Yeah, I guess . . .” Pastel frowned. She looked at King Kai, “But we've got a chance of going back, don't we?”

“You do.” King Kai said. “If Trunks and the others can rescue Dende and bring him back to Earth he can restore the Dragon Balls, and you can be wished back to life.”

“Well now I might cry.” Ayappa sighed.

“You mean you can go back?” Prage demanded.

“Boy did we back the wrong team.” Ganmo scoffed, but to Pastel's surprise Damson jumped to his feet.

It shook the whole little planet. The Saurian scowled and said, “You'll just end up back here again if you can't even defeat us!”

“Big talk since Gohan here practically shut you all down.” Bocan scoffed, rising to his feet to stare down Damson.

The big dinosaur-man didn't seem intimidated, but Pastel and Gurein both stepped up on either side of Bocan, even though it hurt her to stand on her injured left leg. Even Konpeito stood up, though he'd never officially identified as part of their group.

Damson clattered his beak and growled, “So are the Saiyans to be your Masters? Will you simply hide behind them every battle and say 'because we have Gohan we will win' or 'because we have Trunks we don't need to be strong ourselves' like weak children?”

That actually made Bocan hesitate, he seemed to be considering so Pastel quickly scoffed, “What's it to you if we do?”

“Have some pride, Earthling, fight for yourselves or you'll just be subjugated the way each of our people were!” Damson growled.

“Why do you care?” Bocan asked.

“That's a good question, why _do_ you care?” Ayappa asked, nursing his dented head but still dutifully taking a place near Damson's side just as the rest of the elites did.

“Because if you're going to live again you should be worthy of it, and if you're going to face the Arcosians again you should be ready for it!” Damson said. “I may have served Commander Chillax, I may have accepted the PTO, but that doesn't mean I don't recognize the evils they brought.”

“Or that you helped them bring.” Konpeito snarled.

“It's easy for you to judge, Iwatian, but I was there when we recruited you. You had to kill one of your own, didn't you? Where were your fine morals when it was kill or be killed? Where was this self righteousness when it was serve or be destroyed?” Damson demanded.

At first the huge gray alien said nothing, Pastel didn't know what to do or say, but she offered him an encouraging smile at least. She didn't know if it helped, but finally he managed to grumble, “I chose to live on so I could find a way to fight them. If I hadn't killed that one we all would have died . . . do you really think it didn't pain me?”

“Not enough to stop you, so don't judge us when you're no different.” Damson snorted. He punched his fist into his palm and slammed his tail into the ground, “You heard the fat blue thing, your training isn't over until you've defeated us.”

“Uh,” Gohan spoke up, stepping between the two groups, “That's a very good point . . . _however,_ I don't think either of your groups is really in any shape to resume fighting. Let's be honest, even if Trunks and the others do rescue Dende they've got a month's journey home then who knows how long to restore the Dragon Balls. On top of that who knows when they'll even arrive at their destination, right King Kai?”

“Actually they're there now.” King Kai said lightly, then he chuckled to himself, “Hah, there there now they're there now! Hah!”

“They are?” Pastel asked, feeling anxious. “You can tell? H-how is the fight going?”

“It hasn't started yet . . .” King Kai said, suddenly becoming very serious, “and I'm afraid it won't be quite what they're expecting . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Admiral Frigus watched as the two ships approached on the view screen. He smiled sinisterly and asked, “What is the highest power level you're reading?”

“Uh . . . well uh . . . A-Admiral it's-it's--” The Appullatien at the controls stammered. Frigus chuckled and put a gentle hand on the lesser being's shoulder.

“Calm down,” He said gently, “you're in no danger. This is all part of the plan. Now . . . what is it reading as?”

“I-i-it's o-o-o-over n-n-nine--”

“It's over nine thousand?” Captain Rime suggested.

He was a short Arcosian lacking horns with a pointed lime-green dome that made his head seem almost like a tear drop. His skin and carapace were both only slightly varying shades of drab olive green and his serpentine yellow eyes were darting from side to side as if he were looking for some chance to escape.

Perhaps he was. They'd all seen what the Saiyan had done to Kalt.

“Hun-hun-hundred--” The Appullatien tried only to be interrupted by Rime's second in command, Commander Aurora.

“Nine hundred? Did the Saiyan not come?” The slender Arcosian demanded.

“It's over nine hundred thousand.” Frigus correctly guessed, sighing at the pair of them.

Captain Rime swallowed a hard lump and said, “W-well . . . that's . . . that's--”

“Higher than the Frost Twins, yes.” Admiral Frigus said. “It's higher than General Boreal, it is high enough to end our entire clan.”

“Well . . . it's all according to plan, right?” Aurora asked.

Frigus scoffed. “Didn't I say that it was?”

“A-A-Admiral,” Another member of the crew, a green humanoid piped up and before he could finish Frigus decided to stop the stammering.

He cleared his throat and though he didn't shout he announced loudly, “Everything is going according to plan so please act professionally. There's still enough time for the next person to stutter or stammer to be reassigned to Captain Hail's forces . . . _on the front lines_.”

“Yes sir!” The humanoid said, voice cracking like an adolescent, and Frigus would allow him that this once. “We have a transmission from General Boreal!”

“Oh my . . . well I didn't expect to have to fight a war on two fronts.” Frigus joked but nobody laughed. The Admiral clasping his hands behind his back and said, “Captain you have the bridge, I'll take this in my office.”

Actually it was Rime's office, the _Frozen Vengeance_ was Rime's ship, but Frigus had planted his flag on it for the sake of this mission, and because its name was so fitting.

The tall and slender Arcosian made his way to the office and smiled pleasantly at the prisoner in dirty and tattered red and white robes still bound inside. “Enjoying your stay?” He asked playfully, not waiting for or caring if he got an answer before reaching the communication console.

He pressed the button to activate the view screen to accept the transmission. He smiled as pleasantly as he could and asked, “What can I very quickly do for you, General? I have business to attend to and it will require my full attention so please be swift.”

“Don't dismiss me, Admiral. It was difficult enough to swallow my pride and make this transmission after what you did to me . . .” Boreal growled.

“You should be thrilled, it worked out to your benefit.” Admiral Frigus reminded him.

But the General just scowled and said, “I need your forces. At least the _Polar Express_ and her troops.”

“Mm I'm sorry General, Captain Hail's crew is integral to my operations here. The same goes for Captain Sleet and the _Arcoss Avenger_ , I really can't spare anyone, we've a filthy monkey to deal with you see.” Admiral Frigus said dryly.

“Curse it all, Frigus the monkey is still on Earth, your plot to draw him off failed! We've been watching him since we arrived!” General Boreal snarled.

“You've arrived? Already?” Frigus demanded incredulously. “What the blazes are you doing then? I've lured the Saiyan off-world, _attack_ you imbecile!”

“Without the Twins? Do you think I'm suicidal? And anyway I'm telling you you _haven't_ lured him off! We've been watching a power level of three hundred thousand ever since we arrived!” General Boreal snapped.

“It must be some trick--” Frigus began but Boreal dared to interrupt.

“Blast your tricks, assuming everything was just a trick is what got Kalt killed! But we have a plan, there _were_ survivors from Kalt's crew and--”

“Let me stop you right there, _friend_ ,” Frigus growled, “because unless my son is one of those survivors I could hardly imagine myself caring. The Saiyan _is_ here, we're tracking an incoming power level over nine hundred thousand, who else could that be, Lord Frieza?”

General Boreal looked genuinely shocked, “I . . . I . . . b-b-but we have--”

Frigus laughed, “Oh General, if only you knew the order I'd recently given aboard this ship . . . oh it wouldn't apply to you of course, but it's still just perfect timing . . . _unlike this call_ so I'm afraid--”

“Blast it Frigus, it's Karuto! Lord Frostbite's son is still alive, we have to rescue him!” The general shouted suddenly.

Frigus scowled and clasped his hands behind his back again. He eyed General Boreal suspiciously, “Are you certain?” he asked.

“A mercenary group reported an Arcosian among the enemy, he matched Karuto's appearance . . . we've been watching the planet, there _is_ a functioning power level around his own but we assumed it had to belong to one of the Earthlings.”

“What was he doing among the enemy?” Frigus asked.

“I'm sure I don't know, and I'm even surer that Lord Frostbite will flay us both if we do nothing to help his son! Maybe Karuto is helping them, maybe he's being coerced or maybe he saw a dangerous alien who wasn't wearing one of our uniforms and was forced to defend himself. Whatever his excuse he is a child, our _Lord's_ child. _He_ will be forgiven for any action, _we_ will not be forgiven for inaction!”

“And yet you're wasting time on a long distance call.” Admiral Frigus scoffed.

General Boreal gritted his teeth and hissed, “Like I told you this transmission was hard enough for me to make! But I can't risk an assault on Earth to rescue Karuto with just myself to stand a chance of making it back!”

Frigus clenched his fists behind his back and out of Boreal's view, “Have Gelato and Hiemal's ships arrived yet?”

“Yes but it's only the seven of us, none of their officers or elites come anywhere near so much as seventy five thousand and against that three hundred thousand, whoever it is, only I'll stand any chance of holding it off and that's assuming it's not being suppressed. Either way—”

“Rime, Hail, Sleet, none of them would reach you in time and I need them here if I'm to have any chance of containing the Saiyan.” Frigus said. General Boreal seemed like he was about to try to argue so Frigus continued, “I _have_ the Saiyan, the trap is ready to spring. The only way I can help you is to carry on with my plan. You have your opening General, whatever power level you're watching on Earth it can't be the same Saiyan we're watching. Seven of our people are worth more than the entire crew of the _Polar Express._ ”

“You're certain you have the Saiyan there?” General Boreal demanded.

“It doesn't speak well to our chances in this war if this is just some _other_ abomination, does it?” Frigus asked and General Boreal seemed to deflate a bit, and Frigus pressed on, “Attack Earth now, even if I fail in my mission here the Saiyan is too far away to stop you. Rescue Karuto and conquer Earth, General. If we both succeed the Twins won't care that we acted while they were off . . . planet shopping.”

The General's eyes hardened again and he stood up straight. He nodded, “Then . . . I'll lead the vanguard, myself and the others of our kind will take a cadre of battle pods to Earth, it'll be faster that way . . . we'll locate Karuto, rescue him, I'll locate, identify and attempt to neutralize this three hundred thousand we've been watching . . . the rest of my invasion force shouldn't be too far behind us. We'll take Earth and have it cleansed, you make sure that nine hundred thousand of yours doesn't come back here seeking vengeance for it.”

“Good luck General, Earth is yours for the taking.” Frigus said with a dismissive wave.

“It always should have been. Pity for your son you didn't remember that.” The General said with a smirk that made Frigus want to reach through the view screen and throttle him.

Instead Frigus kept his composure and said, “Yes. It is. But now you have a chance to make sure young Karuto doesn't share his fate. Now if you'll excuse me I'll just be destroying our people's greatest enemy while you erase our people's greatest shame. We both have rather a lot to do, I would imagine.”

“Good luck Admiral . . . I mean it,” General Boreal said, “I'd rather it be me that gets the chance to wipe off that smug superior look you've got permanently drawn on your face, but even I would be shaking in my boots with a nine hundred thousand descending on me. I do hope you don't get . . . cold feet.”

Admiral Frigus scoffed, but didn't bother to respond instead switching off the communicator. He took a deep breath to steady himself, then smiled at his green-skinned prisoner.

“Sorry you had to see that, just a little bit of a . . . rivalry between officers. He hasn't quite forgiven me for giving Earth to his former rival Captain Kalt.”

The small green creature just looked away, refusing to meet Frigus' glance. The Arcosian towered over the little green being and said, “Oh but you don't care about that, do you, Dandy? It _is_ Dandy, isn't it?”

“My name is _Dende_.” The little green creature said through gritted teeth.

“Oh right, Dende, of course. Well I'm sure these . . . military matters don't interest you, do they? No, I'm sure you're so much more eager to find out if your younger brother played his part in my little plan.”

Dende scowled and muttered, “Cargo would never help you, not even if he knew you had me!”

Frigus laughed and reached out, grasping the youth by the collar and raising him to his feet. He said, “Oh but he _did_ help me, he did _exactly_ what I wanted him to do and now . . . now all the mice have been lured into the trap and the trap is about to spring! Come with me, Namekian. Come and see.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The _Defender One_ made its landing and Turles surveyed his troops.

“All right then . . . each of you knows what to do, but none of you are permitted to use the power ball _until_ the green man's people are rescued . . . don't want to step on one of them.” Turles told them.

“Or us.” Schip added.

“If you get stepped on you deserve it,” Turles scoffed, but then grudgingly admitted, “You're strong enough that it shouldn't be an issue. All three of you Earthlings are, you'll be able to give those Arcosians a run for their money, I'll wager.”

“Oh my gosh, I think he just complimented us!” Rhyce teased and Turles scoffed again.

“Don't get used to it. Once these doors open we unleash fifty years of vengeance. The honor of the Saiyan people is waiting to be avenged . . . are you ready?”

Kayle laughed, “I was born ready!”

Her twin agreed, “She was, I was there, now let us out and get out of our way!”

Turles smiled and said, “I'll give all of you a head start. I'll let you have a whole sixty seconds, then I'm killing the strongest thing I can catch.”

The Namekian seemed uncertain, Kodva gave him a light pat on the shoulder and said, “Don't worry, he doesn't mean any of your people.”

“If his people are the strongest thing on this planet and they still needed to come simpering to us for help then I just might.” Turles said.

“I just . . . we need to save my brother.” Cargo said determinedly.

“We will.” Routz told him, “After all we didn't come all this way to fail.”

Turles smirked, “Of course not, we're Saiyans . . . and company.” He put his scouter on and slammed the button to open the door. It slowly started to open and he said, “One . . . two . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Captain Hail took a deep steadying breath. Perched on a hill at the rear of his force arrayed before the enemy ship that had so accommodatingly landed in front of them, he glanced uneasily at his second in command, Commander Verglas. their power levels were fairly close at over seventy thousand apiece, Hail slightly higher but neither of them really fancied their chances if their crew couldn't delay the enemy.

The _Polar Express_ was troop carrier, not nearly as large or powerful as the one General Boreal commanded, but a powerful ship nonetheless with a crew of over a hundred seasoned fighters. Admiral Frigus had said they would be able to swarm the enemy delaying them long enough for the rest of the fleet to enact their parts of the plan.

But they'd also been told that the Earthling power levels likely to be with the monstrous Saiyan abomination that had so easily murdered Kalt wouldn't even be as high as one of their officers, only the Saiyan should have been a threat.

But the lowest power level Hail's scouter could read was far too high for any of his men to hope against. Luckily none of them had been allowed Scouters, only Hail and Verglas still wore theirs.

“My scouter is going crazy just looking at that black and white ship . . . tell me again why the crew can't wear theirs?” Commander Verglas asked.

Captain Hail swallowed hard and said, “Admiral Frigus warned that it might have a detrimental affect on morale.”

“He's right.” Verglas said with an uneasy chuckle.

“We've only got to hold them for a few minutes, remember the plan.” Hail told his second. “No filthy monkey is going to stand a chance against us.”

“Right . . . I'll take my place at the center, it'll encourage the troops.”

“You coward, you just don't want to be near me when they come looking for the strongest power level!” Hail accused, “It's _my_ place leading the troops at the center, you--”

The Captain didn't get to finish before the doors on the black and white ship opened and like balls of fire a dozen bright lights slammed into his troops.

The battle was on, and the worst part for Hail was that the highest power level hadn't even budged yet. It was Verglas who had to give the order, leaping down from the hill and charging into the fray, “Go on, attack! They're just Earthlings, attack!”

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

_**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ _The battle for New Namek is on, and while the EDF battles the PTO Videl and Mai's teams track the imprisoned Namekians, but Admiral Frigus has a surprise in store for his guests._

 

_Character Images - Captain Hail and Commander Verglas_  


_Notes: Captain Hail (wearing white) and Commander Verglas (wearing black) the Captain and First Officer of the_ Polar Express. _Fun Fact: I actually sort of modeled Verglas' personality to be similar to that of Warhammer 40,000 character Ciaphas Cain, in that he's a self-identified coward who will usually take dangerous assignments simply because they're relatively less dangerous than the alternative. Hail's personality on the other hand isn't based on any single character. Though he does share his first officer's cowardice he at least makes the attempt to seem noble and brave, especially if his men are watching because he has the honor and legacy of Lord Frieza's organization to uphold. Whether or not they're true cowards, or, like Cain, simply feeling guilty about a perfectly normal self preservation instinct in a setting where such things aren't allowed, remains to be seen._

 


	63. Try Not to Die

**Episode Twenty-Seven**

**'Try Not to Die'**

 

The Saiyans and Earthlings alike struck the mass of enemies like meteorites. The PTO soldiers charged into the fray, some firing blasts others trying to take swings. There were a hundred of them at least and they knew how to fight together in packs. Against a comparable foe they'd have been a formidable force.

But they weren't facing a comparable foe and very quickly the fight became one-sided.

Being free of the _Defender One's_ gravity, both heavy and 'normal' was liberating and Beeta had never felt so . . . alive. Was it ironic to feel so alive while dealing so much death, or just a circumstantial contradiction? As much as the brooding elite enjoyed living in her own head she had to confess she really didn't know and it was difficult to care at the moment as her blood raged and the very purpose of her life was fulfilled on the field of battle.

Beeta was a warrior and she was finally free to fight a war again. She couldn't help but smile as she and her comrades brawled their way though the enemy, cutting them down like scythes through a field of wheat, and a look from Lamson told her that the younger Saiyan clearly hadn't expected to see such a thing.

“Beeta _smiling_? I think that's the scariest thing I've ever seen.” The other woman scoffed playfully.

“How can I not?” Beeta laughed, but the enemy's screams made further conversation pointless.

A trio of humanoid aliens tried to fire their arm-mounted blasters at Rhyce but the Earthling woman simply batted two of the three beams into the ground and deflected the third back into the face of the one that fired it.

“Damn,” She muttered, “third time's the charm I guess.”

Beeta smirked and fired a blast of her own to engulf one of Rhyce's assailants in a bloom of golden fire before she said, “There's more than enough of them to practice on.”

“Take it easy, we don't want them to break and run, they might regroup or hit the Guard teams,” Rhyce ordered them, but Beeta didn't need such an order.

After that initial almost uncontrollable explosion of action the Saiyan warrior's training and discipline was kicking back in . . . but so was her streak of casual cruelty.

Not that she liked giving it that name . . . still, like an Earth cat toying with a mouse the experience was what really got her heart thumping, the play of it leading up to the moment of triumph was a joy unto itself.

Beeta had learned a bit about cats on Earth, flexible powerful little hunters who would kill for fun, food, or just for practice, Beeta _liked_ cats, and all of the poor PTO soldiers were her mice.

Which of course made the Arcosian officer that barreled into her the dog.

Dark skin and a gray carapace with sharp blue eyes the Arcosian lacked horns and wore a suit of black battle armor, his blue eyes met hers and though the two didn't exchange words the message was clear: you're killing too many of my men.

He stretched out his hand, red energy gathering rapidly, Beeta hadn't even hit the ground before a huge red blast was tearing towards her threatening to catch her up.

As it neared she actually kicked at it, putting a bit of energy into her boot as she did so that it would rebound and send her cartwheeling to the side out of the blast's path.

But the Arcosian was there when she landed and she saw the flash of his tail coming for her.

She dodged narrowly and shot a quick blast at the ground to throw her into the air so she could right herself and prepare to attack her opponent head on.

Rhyce threw herself at the Arcosian, the Earthling girl winding up and throwing a punch that would have taken the head off of a lesser opponent.

Frankly it would have taken _Beeta's_ head off if it had connected, unfortunately it didn't, the Arcosian's tail whipped again so quickly that even Beeta's Saiyan eyes had trouble keeping up and Rhyce's blow was deflected, crashing into the ground instead creating a crater and a dust cloud that let the Arcosian evade her and come for Beeta again.

 _He wants to focus on us one at a time, Rhyce is the strongest so he'll deal with her last . . . wait, does that mean I'm the weakest?_ Beeta wondered, but she didn't let the thought distract or discourage her as she rushed for the foe.

They clashed, both striking and blocking, dodging and deflecting, kicking and punching so quickly that the eyes of most species would have only seen a blur of movement, but Beeta could track it all and so could her foe.

He had the advantage however with his tail, long and powerful compared to her own which was useless in combat. His tail was just something else for her to try to deflect and avoid, and it could come at her from any angle. Over the shoulder or from the side, down low or up high his tail was faster than his fists and it was almost as if he had two of them. The Saiyan elite could feel her heart pounding faster and faster, sweat was already beginning to roll down her brow and her smile only grew when she realized she was actually being pushed back.

From the corner of her eye she did see Rhyce flying out of the cloud of dust to help her only to be tackled out of the sky by a second Arcosian, this one with a dark purple carapace, and red skin wearing white armor. The two were fighting too evenly for Beeta to guess which was stronger and she hardly had time to check with her scouter.

Besides, she had her own foe to contend with.

The Arcosian's strikes only increased in speed, but Beeta could see he was using a pattern.

 _I wasn't born yesterday, you're going to try to feint,_ she thought, and let a grin creep across her face as if she were pleased that she'd figured out the pattern.

Sure enough her enemy tried to feint, when his tail should have come down on her head in an upper strike he instead whipped it back to bring it up under her left arm, expecting that she'd block his strike.

She had prepared for the strike on her arm instead, but even so the speed with which it came was too much and Beeta's attempted block was knocked aside, the Arcosian's tail striking her so hard that it might have broken her arm before it sent her hurtling towards the ground.

She hit the ground hard but managed to roll to her feet, an unlucky Appullatien tried to attack her but she swiped out with her good arm and chopped his throat so hard that she broke his neck.

 _It's not polite to interrupt._ Beeta thought.

“Still smiling, Earthling?” The Arcosian taunted her.

Beeta just grinned and said, “I'm a Saiyan, frost-scum, this is what I live for!”

“And it's what you'll die for.” The Arcosian said casually, and he sprang for her.

Beeta charged a blast in her good hand, she saw Lamson appear behind the Arcosian and catch him by the tail, it must have taken every ounce of her strength but she caught him and held him, yanking him backwards and throwing him off balance as Beeta thrust her hand forward unleashing the blast of golden energy to engulf their foe.

It wasn't polite to interrupt, but she'd accept the assist. The blast hit the Arcosian, who raised his arms to meet it just a fraction of a second too late, it washed over him melting the pauldrons and tassets of his armor before the energy exploded in a blast of blinding light and a cloud of smoke.

She had enough time to take a breath before Lamson was hurled out of the cloud of smoke into her, the two women fell to the ground, Beeta pinned under a stunned or worse Lamson as the Arcosian came out of the smoke cloud after her, red energy in each hand ready to blast the both of them away.

And then something red hit him instead, with a wild howl somewhere between enraged and enraptured Kayle, shrouded in a blood red aura threw herself at the Arcosian who actually seemed surprised now.

Beeta checked to see that Lamson was still alive, the younger Saiyan's pained grunt as she shoved her off of her served for an answer. 

Routz and Korrard were at their side in a flash, Routz helping his former squad leader to her feet and Korrard taking Beeta's injured hand and trying to inspect it before she roughly yanked it away from him, “What do you think you're doing?” She demanded and the scrawny Saiyan just looked embarrassed.

Beeta could see that Kodva and Cargo were pushing back the PTO forces near them but Oni enshrouded in a similar blood red aura had clashed with the second Arcosian, with Schip, Telluce and Sharrot appearing to have pulled Rhyce away from him for her own protection.

While Rhyce had been fighting evenly with the Arcosian from what Beeta had seen for the instant she'd been able to watch with Oni there was simply no contest, and the same could definitely be said for Kayle and the other Arcosian.

The battle rage of the Evil Twins was in full effect, some of the PTO forces tried to intervene to help the commanders, but the smarter ones tried to run for their ship.

That was until Turles arrived and blew it up.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“I'm reading Namekian life-signs, their power levels don't top a thousand.” Thyme said. “We've got three main locations.”

“Looks like they've had time to capture and round up the rest of them.” Trunks said.

“It only makes our job easier.” Videl said. “With most of their fighters tied up we shouldn't run into much more than a token guard, and even if they've got more it shouldn't be much of an issue.”

“You'll have a hard time sneaking past them if they've got scouters.” Trunks reminded her.

Videl smirked and patted her alien blaster, “Who said anything about sneaking? Besides, I'll have you if it gets really dicey.”

“Captain, our intention is to _avoid_ having Trunks reveal his power level.” Mai reminded her.

Trunks smiled, “Even when I'm with you Captain, she's still bossing me around.”

“The nerve of some Lieutenants.” Videl agreed.

“I've brought us down between the two nearest groups,” Genora added, “get in, grab them, get back and we should be able to move on the third group all at once.”

“I'm not reading any power levels higher than the Namekians at those facilities,” Thyme added, “I think they might not be guarded at all!”

“It'll be an automated system,” Genora said, “it's obvious from their array of troops they were expecting heavy resistance, I think they assumed Lor—um that is I think they assumed _Trunks_ would be with us.”

“Too bad, it might have been quite a thrill for them to see a Super Saiyan before the end.” Thyme said.

“I'm patched into the scouter communications with the others,” Basil said, “I can direct anyone you need to help you if the automated defenses are too much.”

“How are they doing?” Mai asked.

“About as well as we expected, Turles says he just barely used a blast to blow up the engines of that big ship to keep it from flying off but accidentally sort of blew the whole thing up. He says it was an accident, but he sounds kind of psyched about it anyway.” Basil said with the hints of a smile.

“Why wouldn't he be? He's even stronger than he thought he was, and _he_ thought he was pretty strong.” Thyme said dryly.

“He _is_ pretty strong.” Trunks said proudly. “Tell him to keep up the good work, but try not to drive the enemy into retreating to those bases.”

“Will do. Good luck you guys, just try not to die.” Basil told them.

“Well put, let's get moving!” Videl ordered.

Trunks followed her, he wore his own clothes rather than the armor or a Royal Guard uniform. He could sense the powerful forces on the planet, Turles had easily increased his strength tenfold if not more, and the same could be said for the rest of them as well. He hoped it'd be enough, he could sense several powerful enemies and while none of them even approached Turles most of them were still stronger than his students and as Trunks had learned in the battle for the bunker back on Earth even an overwhelmingly strong power level couldn't be everywhere at once.

He ached to go after the strongest foe he could sense, he _wanted_ to help, it was what he'd come for.

But this was their fight . . . his students, and his . . . well, his subjects, for lack of a better term needed to do this on their own so that both they and the enemy would know that the Defenders of Earth were a force to be reckoned with in their own right even without him.

 _Just try not to die,_ he willed them, repeating Basil's sentiment.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Frigus let out an impressed sigh as he watched the battle on the view screen. The _Polar Express_ would never fly again, and unfortunately whether by chance or calculation the Saiyan scum that had destroyed her had fired on her engines so the plan to have the ship's reactor overload and exterminate the filthy monkey attackers might well be frustrated.

Had Hail and Verglas managed to hold the Saiyans at bay long enough for the _Polar_ _Express_ to store enough energy in her reactors before the Saiyan had blasted her to go critical? Probably not since the blast should have only aided in the process.

“Admiral,” Captain Rime said, “Captain Hail and Commander Verglas appear to be in dire straights .”

“Indeed . . . what are those two Saiyans' power levels?” Frigus asked.

“In their current state they're both well over one hundred thousand, closer to two hundred actually. Five times what they were when we first scanned them.” Commander Aurora reported. “Admiral, I believe we can still send the signal to the _Polar Express'_ engines, but with the damage she's sustained I doubt she'll be able to cause the sort of blast we anticipated.”

“Will Hail and Verglas be able to evacuate the area in time if we do that?” Captain Rime asked.

“Does it look like they'd get far if they tried? When those two Saiyans' power levels were flirting with thirty thousand they would have had no trouble but now at five times that? With the abomination as their support?” Admiral Frigus asked and the Captain shuddered, lowering his gaze.

“By your order, Admiral . . .”

“The ship is finished anyway after that blast, and I don't think we're going to get any more power to her core than we have now,” Aurora added, “it's now or never, Admiral.”

Admiral Frigus nodded, he was about to speak when the Namekian interrupted him.

“You wouldn't,” Dende said, “your own kind, all those soldiers are still fighting there!”

“More importantly to _you,_ your brother and most of your rescuers are there, isn't that so?” Admiral Frigus asked with a pleasant smile. He looked back to the view screen at the utter devastation taking place and said, “The _Polar Express_ is a troop transport, she's bigger than the _Arcoss Avenger_ or the _Frozen Vengeance,_ and her power core if fully charged has enough energy to rip a chunk off of this sad little planet . . . or at least it would have if that Saiyan hadn't gotten lucky and blasted her engines. This was always the plan, little Namekian . . . part of it at least.”

Dende looked horrified, and Frigus nodded again to Aurora, “Send the signal, detonate the core. Hail and Verglas will be mourned by the Clan, but they're acceptable losses.”

Aurora nodded and the Appullatien at the console pressed the button.

There was only a moment's pause before the already flaming wreck of the _Polar Express_ erupted in a bright blue light, the explosion like a white hot star being born on the planet's surface flashed before the screens shorted out and they lost the picture.

The very planet shook under the force of the blast, crewmen not seated on the bridge fell flat, Commander Aurora and Captain Rime had to grasp onto consoles to maintain their balance and even Frigus stumbled slightly from the force. The Admiral watched the ship's view screens, willing them to snap back to life.

The Namekian Dende was on his knees in shock, shaking his head, “Why . . . your own people . . . my brother . . . you're monsters!”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Frigus said, and then betraying perhaps a bit of his own unease he growled at Aurora, “What are the scouters reading? Did anything survive the blast?”

“Uh j-just a moment Admiral,” The slender Arcosian said, looking back at the terminal.

“You'd better hope nothing did, you remember my earlier order don't you?” The Admiral teased, but in reality if the blast _had_ failed it truly would fall to the Commanders to try to delay the enemy while the _Arcoss Avenger_ and _Frozen Vengeance_ began preparations to withdraw.

Frigus however could not, _would not_ back down. This mission was too important, his vengeance was too important. If the abominable Super Saiyan had survived the blast Frigus would just have to find another way, even if it meant ramming the _Frozen Vengeance_ right down the dirty monkey's throat.

Aurora gulped and said, “We're not getting anything from the _Polar Express_ yet, Admiral, but scouters _are_ reading other Earthlings, two groups on the move from the place where the _Cold Heart_ landed. They're headed for the prison facilities.”

“Good, alert Captain Sleet that our second trap is about to spring.” Admiral Frigus said, then turned to Captain Rime, “Now get those screens back and show me what happened at the _Polar Express_!”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The prison complex was in sight, it really didn't look like much, which might explain why it hadn't been too well guarded.

Of course Mai only had a quick moment to look it over before she got the shock of her life, she had no idea what those crazy fighters were doing but there was a blinding light and then the entire planet seemed to shake. Her entire squad fell flat to the ground and when the light was finally gone she could see a mushroom cloud in the distance.

 _What technique did_ that? _These Saiyans are insane! They'll have me gray before my . . . oh, right._ Mai thought, grabbing her gun and shaking her head.

Her scouter had been knocked off her head when she hit the ground, and she quickly recovered it. As soon as it was on she could hear Basil in her ear, “Come in! Come in! Are you all right?”

“Who?” She heard Captain Videl respond.

“Literally anyone!” Basil said, “We've lost all of you, report in!”

“My team is fine, what the blazes was that?” Captain Videl demanded.

“That ship Turles blasted, it went up in a big way! Genora says it looks like some kind of reactor overload, not accidental it had to be intentional she says! Lieutenant Mai? Turles? Did anyone else--”

“I'm fine,” Mai answered, “my squad is fine, we've reached our destination, we're going in.”

“Good luck!” Basil said, sounding a lot more earnest and a lot less relaxed than she had when they'd left the _Hope_. She kept trying to reach Turles, Rhyce, Kodva, Schip or any of the others from the _Defender One_.

However it didn't take a genius to guess what'd happened. The enemy had set a trap, just as they'd guessed and they'd set off a bomb meant to kill Trunks. Since it was meant to kill Trunks Mai didn't doubt that the others probably hadn't fared too well against it and a part of her felt a stabbing grief not just at the loss of the EDF and the Saiyans, but because of what Trunks must be feeling.

They'd all told him he was wrong to come, told him he wasn't needed and now . . . his worst nightmares might well have just come to pass, his students might have been killed by an enemy trap and he hadn't been able to stop it.

She could just picture him thinking 'if only I'd been there' or 'it should have been me, if only they'd stayed behind.' She wanted to say something to him, anything . . .

She needed to be professional, and she couldn't say his name over the comm, the scouters were after all a stolen alien technology and their communications could be monitored. She asked over the comm, “Captain Videl, is your . . . is your _group_ all right?”

Videl probably guessed why she asked about her group instead of her squad, because Captain responded with a guarded, “We'll see. Basil, keep trying to reach them, the rest of us need to focus on the mission. There's nothing else _any of us_ can do for them.”

“Roger, will do,” Basil said.

Mai tried to offer an encouraging smile to her squad, “Come on, it's nothing we haven't been through before, so move it! Tarragon, Rosemary, take point!”

The two women were just the two that Mai had seen rise to their feet first, but they quickly rushed ahead.

The prison was just a white circular building about the size of a football field, but there were four towers jutting from it like legs on an upturned table. Mai could guess they were some form of defense and her squad's blasters made short work of them before they rushed in through the facility's large circular door.

It was dark inside, perhaps the blast had shorted the building's electricity just as it'd wreaked havoc on the ship's scouters and sensors. Luckily one of the additions the military scientists had made to the alien blaster had been flashlights, but as they swept their beams around the facility it seemed like they were in some kind of brewery, there were rows and rows of cylindrical tanks.

At first Mai had guessed it must be something futuristic like cryo prisons, but her scouter insisted that the Namekians were . . . lower, they were on a floor beneath the one they were on, there was nothing alive inside the tanks.

“We're looking for stairs, people,” Mai said, but something was nagging her at the back of her mind. _Villains and their underground lairs,_ She thought. _No wonder it looked so unassuming from the outside, of course the actual prison would mostly be under . . ._

She stopped, alarm bells were ringing in her subconscious, “This isn't right,” she said, “how did these villains have time to build an underground prison complex, let alone three of them in such a short span of time?”

“What?” Rosemary asked.

“These prison complexes . . . they're not Capsule Houses . . .” Mai said slowly, too slowly as the pieces fell into place and the coin finally dropped.

She tapped her scouter and hissed, “It's another trap! Captain Videl, the prisons are another trap! Get out!”

The lights came on then, and Mai had to shield her eyes from the sudden unexpected brightness. She heard a voice behind her say, “You're a clever one. What a shame . . .”

Mai spun around to see the door they'd come in through was blocked by a band of alien soldiers equal to her own in number, and at their head a tall and imposing humanoid with bright red skin and a crown of horns on his head. His eyes were just red, there was no pupil she could see—though she couldn't see much—he wore white gloves and boots, and his armor was black and brown, he was twice as wide as the strongest man she'd ever seen and would have stood head and shoulders above him as well.

Mai and her team immediately took cover behind the cylinder tanks, though she suspected this wasn't the best cover even before the alien told her, “Come now, I thought you were smart. Smart enough to know those tanks aren't anything you want to take cover behind.”

Mai tapped her scouter again, but she couldn't hear anything. She couldn't hear Basil, she couldn't hear Videl.

 _They're jamming us . . . great._ Mai thought. She sighed and asked, “Why are we still alive?”

“Since none of you are the Saiyan abomination we're willing to take you prisoner.”

“Hostage you mean.” Mai guessed. “No. Not happening.”

“You don't have many options, Earthling.” The red alien growled.

“No. But I _do_ have options.” Mai said, glancing at those of her squad she could see.

“You can try to fight, but the odds aren't in your favor.” Pitaya warned her.

“Yes. But I'm willing to bet these tanks were meant to blow up and take that so-called Saiyan abomination with them, right?” Mai asked.

“That's right. Neither of us wants to be here for that, so--”

“So tell me,” she interrupted him, “if I blast them just how quickly do both our odds hit zero?”

Pitaya didn't have an answer for that, he just swallowed hard.

Mai felt a shudder run down her spine. She wasn't thrilled to be right, and she just muttered, “That's what I thought. Well then . . .” and she pointed her blaster at one of the tanks near the aliens.

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

 _**On the Next Exciting Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ _Bulma is searching for something in the Northern Mountains, and Soda is along for her protection, but will anyone be safe when General Boreal arrives? Find out next time!  
_

 

_Character Images - Cargo_

_Notes: Cargo, all grown up. Tried to get him as close as possible to his younger self, make it look properly like he'd just gotten older, he's taller than Dende but shorter than Piccolo or Nail. His clothes are different than what I originally planned for him, but I actually really loved this outfit, I feel it looks like a natural evolution of what he wore as a sprout on Old Namek to something he might wear as a young adult. Fun Fact: I always intended to have Cargo and Dende in the story, the question was really when to introduce them because once Dende gets to Earth, as Trunks has said, the war pretty much ends because they'll have the ability to make wishes again and can just wish for the PTO to forget about them, or something. So I put off having Dende by having just Cargo instead, and to keep Cargo from usurping Dende's role as Guardian I made him a warrior caste instead of dragon clan, reasoning that if the son of Katas had the power to be either in him it was possible that little Cargo could follow a different path than the one he was born into, he could be more of a protector to his older brother, Dende which also left room for him to join the trainees._

 


	64. A Sleeping Giant

**Episode Twenty-Eight**

**'A Sleeping Giant'**

 

The PTO base on Pluto was alive with activity. The crews from all three of the ships landed on the little not-planet had set down their hammers and nails, their base half-finished and began preparing their vessels to launch leaving only a token force to man and continue work on the station.

In mere hours the rescue of Lord Karuto would be underway. General Boreal paced back and forth in front of the battle pods that would take him and his fellow Arcosians to Earth as he went over the plan for his six companions.

“We will form the vanguard,” he explained, “our job is to get in, find Karuto, rescue him then leave and regroup with the others.”

“Why only us?” Hiemal asked, “My second officer has a power level of fifty thousand, that should be sufficient to--”

“Your second officer and Gelato's will be commanding your ships in case we require forcible extraction, they're both faster than the _Black Ice,_ which is too slow to arrive in time to help us. That's why we're taking the pods after all, but our men will be coming along in the ships. We are going ahead without them because only I am strong enough to oppose that three hundred thousand and only you my friends, are strong enough to deal with whatever else they have in store for us. Masses of troops would only confuse matters and make it more difficult to get Karuto safely and that is our primary mission; not the conquest of Earth just yet.” General Boreal explained.

“Why not destroy the Earthlings while the Saiyan is gone?” Gelato asked.

“Because the Twins didn't give us that order, and I don't care whose ear Frigus has he's not my friend nor is he the friend of anyone who supports me, so why would I ignore orders from the Twins just because he tells me he knows better what they want? I've sent word to the Twins, they will decide once we have Karuto whether or not to launch the full scale invasion or if we should wait.”

“But will we ever have a better opportunity than now?” Gelato asked.

“If Frigus does his job we'll never lack them again, if his little plan works then the Twins can lead the attack themselves when they're ready. If he fails we'll still have a full month to act, especially once I've killed that higher power level. There is no rush to deal with the Earthlings, but the safety of Lord Karuto on the other hand . . . we can spare a day or two to wait for that.”

“I understand,” Hiemal grunted, but Boreal doubted it. He could see the Arcosian Captain was thinking of how to make this work for himself. Would he try to conquer Earth as Frigus suggested and hope the Admiral could save him from the consequences? Between him and his second-in-command and their crew it was entirely possible if Boreal did eliminate the highest power level on the planet for them.

Of course the Admiral could only defend Hiemal if survived his own mission, and Hiemal would be pretty foolish to oppose Boreal himself given that Boreal was so close and any protection from Frigus and the Twins was so far away.

But the General would have none of it. He hadn't fought an opponent as close to his power level as whomever this three hundred thousand was and while he was still stronger this would be the closest fight since he was a brat adolescent. He didn't want to overstate his own importance, but without him there would be no one who could challenge that power level until the Twins arrived. Even Admiral Frigus would be helpless against such an opponent, never mind how helpless all of them were against the Super Saiyan.

So he'd suffer no backstabbing. He told Hiemal, “See that you do, because it is in all of our best interest to work together in this endeavor, and I won't deal kindly with anyone who puts their personal interests above those of the Clan. Understood? The trip to Earth from here on Rupert will only take us six hours by battle pod, the _Black Ice_ will take twice as long, but if the fight does last that long she will be there to support us.”

“Pluto, General, it's called Pluto.” Icebreaker whispered.

“I've changed its name.” Boreal whispered back. “Once we've conquered the Earth who's going to argue?”

“If we're not attacking now why is she coming at all?” Hiemal asked, not privy to the whispered discussion. “If Gelato's ship and my own are going to be the ones extracting us in event of an emergency what can the _Black Ice_ do that they can't?”

Boreal smiled, “Like I said, once we have Karuto we'll be finding out whether or not the Twins are permitting the conquest, or maybe I should say if Frigus succeeded or not. If we're good to go I want it done quickly, don't you? After all, the Calamareens are on their way, wouldn't it be nice for our reputation to present their planet cleaned of its vermin problem?”

The assembled officers shared a chuckle. Boreal decided this might be the right time to admit to the other reason only they were going . . .

He said, “I hate to have to admit this, and it does not leave the seven of us . . . but if Frigus was wrong, if the Super Saiyan _is_ on Earth . . . we will not even attempt to do combat. We will instead negotiate for Karuto's release, we will offer them anything and then we will leave and continue to train while we wait for the Twins to arrive.”

That got quite a few concerned murmurs now, Boreal actually found the mood whiplash amusing.

“This is a momentous day, General.” Sundae said, “It's an honor for us to be part of the vanguard, even if we're only saving Lord Karuto and not conquering the planet this will be the first _successful_ mission to Earth our people have ever undertaken.”

Boreal knew that Sundae was trying to make that sound like a good thing but it was really just depressing. A world where _thirty_ was considered a high power level . . . a world with gravity so weak that Boreal half expected their pods to float away . . . this world had shamed them and claimed the lives of more of their kind than any other in the galaxy.

It was cursed as far as the General could tell, or as far as he cared. The Calamareens would be welcome to it and all its misfortune once they arrived. Still he wouldn't betray any misgivings to his men. He smiled and nodded, “Then let's go make history. Gentlemen? We have a Lord to rescue.”

There was some typical chest thumping and laughter that the General recognized as merely soldiers preparing for a dangerous mission and trying to act as if it didn't bother them. But even Boreal felt the need to be cautious. Regardless of how he felt about them on an individual level if he could he'd bring all of them back, and Lord Karuto too.

_However_ that Saiyan on Earth . . . that three hundred thousand . . . he was stronger of course, and after weeks of training perhaps he was stronger than even he realized but . . .

This was a Saiyan. A Saiyan that was either the one who had killed Kalt or had somehow materialized from thin air. If they had some trick up their sleeve as their filthy kind tended to . . .

Boreal closed his pod, it had been a long time since the General had traveled in one but he relaxed and closed his eyes. He wouldn't sleep, he wanted to be fully alert and prepared when the time came and he knew the six hour trip would be over before he knew it.

Instead he meditated and prepared himself . . . this battle could be the first in a long time that would allow him to fully unleash his might.

And a part of him was eager, almost hungryfor it. Another part of him however knew that he needed to be in control, he needed to lead this mission, he needed to focus on his goals . . .

And yet . . . something in him hoped that the Saiyan did have a nasty trick up his sleeve. The General _wanted_ to fight this Saiyan scum at his best, he wanted to kill this Saiyan and any other he met in the knowledge that unlike them he had won through sheer might and not by resorting to tricks and ploys.

_I am an Arcosian General,_ the _Arcosian General,_ Boreal thought, _I will make sure my opponent knows exactly what that means before the end._

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The Northern Mountains. Of all the places for Bulma Briefs, the most brilliant woman in the world to want to visit she had picked the Northern Mountains. It was cold, even in the air car with the heater at maximum. Worse it was remote, if anything went wrong they could crash or it could take ages for help to arrive, and if there were an attack there was just no way Soda could respond to it.

And she couldn't help wondering if that were part of the point, if Bulma were keeping her away from the places where the attacks were occurring. She understood that that one-eyed fighter was “stronger” than her, she could _feel_ the difference, but she also couldn't just accept standing around when people were in danger.

The fact that she wasn't allowed to know what they were doing didn't help her concerns that this was all a big disciplinary action. Still the young woman supposed it couldn't be helped, she'd have to accept it. The King himself had told her that he needed more time to vet his Royal Guard and root out all of the untrustworthy elements before they could be trusted with the kind of training she could give them now.

Even though she'd made it clear she didn't intend to share Trunks' and Master Roshi's training with just anyone, like the two of them had been she would be very picky with whom she imparted flight and ki blasts to. She knew, fairly well at least, whom she trusted and didn't trust in the Guard.

However in the end her King had given her an order: lay low. She'd failed to comply with that order and some form of discipline had to follow.

Well she wasn't going to just grow old on that island, but being chauffeuse for Bulma Briefs wasn't exactly the punishment she'd envisioned, even if it was less severe.

After driving in silence for a while the young woman asked the old woman for about the thousandth time, “So are we there yet?”

Bulma answered patiently, though Soda could tell she was starting to test that patience, “I'll let you know.”

The older woman was watching a device in her lap rather than looking out the windows, so Soda had assumed this wouldn't take too long. Maybe she was using satellites to pinpoint the location of what she was looking for? Soda wouldn't put it past her, considering from what she'd heard they still had access to PTO probe satellites even though the captured ship had left.

She sighed and said, “We should have brought Roshi's hover limousine.”

Bulma didn't so much as glance up from her device, or smile. She just said, “It was only a rental, I made him return it a couple days ago.”

“It was a nice car.” Soda said. “Pastel probably would have hated it though, not fast enough.”

“Speed is good, I don't want to be doing this all day.” Bulma said.

Soda asked her, “Well . . . maybe I could help?”

“You are. You're driving.” Bulma said.

“Well what are we looking for? Rock formations, a particular spot of wasteland, maybe an abandoned shack?” Soda asked her.

“Have you seen a shack?” Bulma asked, looking up and Soda shook her head. “Well I doubt we'd see it from the air, but I know it's here. I've got to try to detect it with this.”

“How close will we need to get to it to find it with that?” Soda asked.

“I'm not sure.” Bulma admitted. “It should be effective from this altitude, but if we're still not having any luck in another half hour we should probably get closer to the mountains.”

“How close?” Soda blinked, eying those imposing mountains and remembering again that they were hours away from help if anything went wrong.

“As close as you feel comfortable driving honestly.” Bulma said with a shrug.

Soda frowned. “So we're searching for something we can't see with a device we don't know for sure is going to work . . . what are we doing here exactly?”

Bulma laughed slightly, “Well . . . I guess you could say we're searching for a sleeping giant.”

“Great . . .” Soda sighed.

“If you're feeling bored you could always tell me why you thought it was a good idea to reveal yourself to Cauliflora.” Bulma suggested.

Soda laughed, “I didn't know who she was, I just knew she wasn't RG, er that is Royal Guard.”

Bulma actually raised her gaze at that, “Did you . . . honestly think I couldn't figure that acronym out on my own?”

Soda shrugged, “Sorry. You seemed really focused.”

“I am, but that doesn't mean obvious things escape me . . . like your interest in my son for example.”

The Captain blushed, “Uh . . . yeah . . . well . . . nothing's uh . . . I mean nothing has actually hap--”

“Don't,” Bulma said, “You're adults and I don't need to know the details. But I won't pretend it doesn't bother me to think that despite that relationship you'd do something so irresponsible as risk your life for no good reason.”

“I had a reason, I had the power to act so I acted. I couldn't just do nothing, ma'am.” Soda said.

“Following the plan _is_ doing something.” Bulma told her. “We're doing that right now, aren't we? It's going wonderfully apart from our current lack of results.”

“ I had the ability to help others so I helped them . . . it's what he would have done.” Soda pointed out.

“Yes, that's why it's up to you to be smarter. You can't _both_ be lunatic vigilantes with no concept of your own limits, at least one of you needs to be aware of what you can and can't do.” Bulma explained.

“I know what I can do . . . when I fought Kalt I knew I couldn't win, I could only buy time for Trunks to get back. I'm a soldier, I was ready to sacrifice my life if that was what it took.” Soda explained. “Anyway what are you saying, that it'd be okay for me to risk my neck if I _weren't_ interested in your son?”

“No.” Bulma said. “But because you are it's more troubling, you two could just end up encouraging each other instead of either of you being the voice of reason. I want a long life for him, for you too, I want a long and safe life for all of you, which is why we need the Dragon Balls . . . and . . .”

Soda waited patiently for maybe a minute before asking, “And . . . what, ma'am?”

Bulma was looking out the window now and she said, “Bring us down over there, we're here!”

“As ordered . . .” Soda said but her hands didn't move.

She'd been learning to sense energy and she'd learned to sense powerful energies . . . and she could sense a very powerful energy approaching rapidly.

“I said bring us down,” Bulma told her, then seemed to notice that something was wrong. The older woman asked, “What is it?”

“I . . . I sense something . . . something . . . _powerful_. Like . . . at least ten times worse than Kalt, maybe even worse.”

“From down there?” Bulma asked.

“No . . . out there. Another attack . . .”

“Maybe it's Cauliflora?” Bulma suggested but Soda shook her head.

This was _much_ stronger than Cauliflora, at least if Soda's sense was right. She said, “I . . . this is bad. We should get back, we need to warn them.”

“If you can sense it so can Master Roshi, Cauliflora will be prepared to meet it.” Bulma said.

“She won't win.” Soda said.

“Then neither would you.” Bulma pointed out.

“I . . . know . . .” Soda admitted. “But I'd . . . I've got to try. I can't just do nothing . . .”

“Following the plan _is_ doing something.” Bulma said again. Soda felt the older woman's gentle but firm hand on her shoulder. “Bring us down soldier,” she said, “if you're right then we may have arrived just in time. I don't know how long this is going to take and every second we waste could cost us.”

“Y-yes . . .” Soda said, and did as she was ordered bringing their air car down where Bulma had told her to.

Still Soda couldn't imagine anything in the Northern Mountains that could help.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Chillax laughed in spite of himself, “I can't believe I misjudged Karuto to this degree. You mean this is the _second_ day you all have no idea where he is? I should have been playing the toady too, we could have escaped together!”

“It's not that funny,” Tathy told him, and he disagreed but he let her continue, “From what old man Roshi says he took a valuable ship, one he's probably too little to know how to operate.”

“Oh don't sell him short,” Chillax said, “my cousin is young but he's half scientist. That's the benefit of mixing our DNA and having two parents you see, we get the traits from both. I'm a strong fighter and an able officer if I do say so, and Karuto can be a strong fighter but he's also highly intelligent. He has no problem understanding schematics and plans if you left information on how to operate that vessel somewhere where he could find it he'd find it and memorize it.”

“Right, okay, but he did kind of leave you and the old butt grabber is actually kind of worried about it.” Tathy said, and Chillax noticed that she wasn't actually eating anything.

This must be serious.

To them at least. Chillax on the other hand didn't care, so he teased, “Old butt grabber eh?”

“Yeah, but it was okay it was my butt, not his.” Tathy sounded like she was trying to reassure him.

“Bully for you.” Chillax said with a curt nod, and she nodded back. “So why are you bothering me again?”

“I didn't know I was bothering.” Tathy said. “I mean you say I'm bothering,”

“I say it frequently.” Chillax agreed. “Pretty much whenever you come here in fact.”

“But I know you don't mean it.” Tathy told him. “You're lonely, right? And I'm bored.”

“We're not friends.” Chillax informed her.

“Not with that attitude.” Tathy agreed. “So anyway, why don't you care that Karuto got away?”

“I care but I'm glad for him.” Chillax said. “Here was me thinking he was just some boot licker cozying up to his captors. I guess one of my parents should have been a scientist, maybe then I'd be able to think more outside the box like Karuto did and trick you Earthlings.”

“Hmm.” Tathy said. “So what would you be doing if I weren't here?” Tathy asked.

“I don't know,” Chillax admitted. “Probably just playing with my scouter I suppose . . .”

The Commander pressed the button to turn his scouter on and to his surprise it beeped a warning.

“Huh . . . your friend has gotten much strong . . .” Chillax paused.

“Yeah, Cauli likes being much strong.” Tathy said dryly. “What's up?”

Chillax smirked. “Oh . . . well . . .” To tell them or not to tell them? That was the question. His smirk became a full blown smile, “I just think . . . you know Tathy, it _is_ Tathy, isn't it?”

Tathy raised her eyebrows and her pupils dilated to a new extreme for a moment before retracting and even though Chillax had seen her raise her eyebrows before he'd never seen it accompanied by that sort of pupil dilation. He _had_ come to learn that her pupils dilated and contracted without her seeming to have much control over them, and he suspected this betrayed _something_. Probably extreme emotions, but he couldn't be sure.

Still, Tathy asked a bit incredulously, “After all this time did you not know that?”

“Of course I did, I'm just . . . I don't know, being coy.”

“Oh . . . um, I don't want you to misinterpret my intentions medium mister,” Tathy said, “I'm fine with keeping you company to amuse myself, but . . . well that's as far as I'm willing to go. I'm just not that kind of girl.”

Chillax laughed, “That's not what I intended.”

“Oh . . . well good.” Tathy said, folding her arms.  
“But I think you might want to reconsider my earlier offer.” Chillax said. “I think you want to open my cell and let me out.”

“Mm . . . why?” Tathy asked.

“Oh . . . because something very bad is about to happen if you don't.” Chillax lied.

Something very bad was about to happen even if she did.

“Unless you've figured out in a few weeks what Cauli whose known me for half a century hasn't even come close to figuring out yet I'm pretty sure I'm not concerned with your threats.” Tathy said with a playfully dismissive flick of her wrist.

Cauliflora's power level was three hundred thousand, _not_ three hundred eighty thousand.

And if it wasn't Trunks—it couldn't be Trunks—there was only one being with a power level around that and if he were about to arrive it didn't bode well for the Earth.

Chillax said, “I'm about to be rescued one way or the other, Tathy . . . but like I said, you could open my cell and I could spare you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Tathy . . . right now General Boreal is on his way. He's in Scouter range, so that means he's _really_ close, like . . . just about _here_ close.”

Tathy's playful air disappeared. Without a word she turned and headed for the door but Chillax called after her, “Wait! Let me out!”

“I need to warn Cauli.” Tathy told him without a hint of her usual playfulness or airy attitude, “I'll deal with you later.”

“Deal with me now!” Chillax said, “Let me out, I can talk to him for you, get him to spare you!”

Tathy was back at the cell now, her eyes were going wild and Chillax said, “You're a mercenary, you're not loyal to Earth, let me out and you don't have to share their fate!”

“I'm loyal to Cauli.” Tathy said firmly, “I told you that.”

“Cauli's a mercenary too.” Chillax pointed out.

“Not since she found her people again.” Tathy told him. “If your General is here she's going to fight him and if she's going to fight him she's going to need me at her side, we're a team.”

Chillax shook his head slowly, “Come on, you can't be--”

“Serious?” Tathy supplied, “Do I sound like I'm playing? What would you do if I let you out? Would you help us?”

“Like I said,” Chillax began but Tathy interrupted him again.

“You don't get it, you wanted to wish on the Dragon Balls, if Earth falls there _are_ no Dragon Balls.”

“I don't know that Trunks would have given me a wish anyway,” Chillax scoffed, “he never bothered to see me, remember? And besides I've had four months in this cell to come to terms with things . . . wanting to use the Dragon Balls was just a childish fantasy brought on by too much seclusion from the real world. But the real world has just shown up on your doorstep, life has resumed for me and it's furnished me with old responsibilities, responsibilities to my people.”

Tathy frowned at him. She said, “You know I thought it might not be so bad being one of your elites. You're not the worst of your kind I've ever seen, and you at least seemed to care about them, enough even to show a little faith in your enemy which I'm not gonna lie, tickles me a bit. That's why I bothered coming here you know.” Tathy said.

“So open up the cell and you _can_ be one of them. You'll be the start of my new team.” Chillax assured her, but she shook her head, tentacles writhing like angry snakes.

“I wouldn't want to be one of them now! You _don't_ care about them, the moment the chance comes for you to get a better deal for yourself you just . . . stop caring! That's not someone I'd follow.”

Chillax scoffed, but her words _had_ hit him. It wasn't that he didn't care, but he had to live in reality. He couldn't go through life just playing dumb and being childish like her, he needed to be an adult, he needed to be a role model for Karuto and the exemplary warrior for his race. He needed to be . . .

He shook his head slowly. He needed to be a true Arcosian Warrior. Just like Cauli, but on a different side he was who he was because of the expectations of his people, his family . . . when all that was held over his head who _he_ wanted to be didn't matter. He asked her, “What other choice do I have? The General is here, the Saiyan is not, I know Boreal will free me, I don't even know if Trunks would have _considered_ my proposal. Now you can help me and save yourself or you can die here with them . . . I'm offering you a chance Tathy, I don't have to.”

Tathy just shook her head back at him, “Sorry kid, but like I told you my old group was my family. I thought you felt kind of the same about yours, I thought that made you redeemable . . . worth spending time with at least. But clearly that's wrong, so if you'll excuse me my last sister needs me. This could be her last fight and _if_ it's her last fight I owe it to her to be by her side and witness it, to do everything I can to help her in it. I don't have time for you.”

Chillax sighed, his laughter and bluster were gone. He could see why she would see it that way . . . but she wasn't right, was she?

“I'm not selfish, I'm just realistic.” Chillax said quietly, but then he raised his voice. “What do you want me to do, beg the General to spare everyone on this pathetic planet? I'm not Karuto! I don't help my enemies hurt my family!”

“Neither do I.” Tathy said, and with that she turned and left.

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

_**Next Time On Dragon Ball COED . . .** Karuto finally meets his story time hero, will it be everything he's hoped for? As he spars against Rhuby and Cauli he tries to tell them who his is and convince them to come with him, but when the little Arcosian declares his intentions to buy Lord Stobler's very best slaves could things get dangerous?_

 

_Character Image: Captain Rime and Commander Aurora_

__

_Note: With Rime I wanted to go for a bit of reptilian look, with Aurora was originally going to be designed by one of my friends but he never got around to it so it fell to me, which was fine, I did reuse the downturned horns but I like them, I went for kind of a geisha-killer clown look with Aurora. Fun Fact: like with Verglas I was expanding and designing more Arcosians without horns, originally I'd planned to reserve that for everyone's "final forms" if the story got that far. At this point due to the overall lack of feedback and waning audience I kind of doubt it will so I decided to just go crazy and have fun with the designs. Incidentally Aurora was, like Frostburn and Verglas originally envisioned as a female however like them his gender changed when I learned the Arcosians are a single-gendered race in canon._

 


	65. Levity and Mirth

**Episode Twenty-Nine**

**'Levity and Mirth'**

 

Karuto had to admit that he was a little nervous. Maybe he should have paid more attention to Tathy's stories, but he hadn't gotten the impression from them that Lord Stobler was all that friendly. Meeting the alien in person however . . .

“Oh I daresay sire, usually only the richest nobles get to actually stand in during the morning drills but for you dear boy I can make an exception for the richest tourist!” Lord Stobler was saying as he scuttled through the lavishly decorated sandstone halls of his villa leading Karuto to the training yard.

“Th-thanks,” Karuto managed, jogging along to keep up with the surprisingly speedy alien.

“Think nothing of it! But do scuttle along faster if you want to make it in time my dear old boy, the Sensei is very strict! That's the key you know: a strict Sensei!”

“O-oh!” Karuto feigned being impressed.

He had managed to get a meeting with Stobler in . . . well, the most unexpected of ways. For starters he'd needed a place to stay the night, some of the Stobler fans had directed him to a hotel for aliens. He'd found that Cauli's chip worked just fine there, and he'd found that the cost of rooms compared to what was on the chip was . . . well . . . in any case he might have gotten the nicest room and the best food but . . . it wasn't like the money was any good back home, right?

They'd also had a . . . concierge? Someone whose whole job it was to get Karuto whatever he wanted or at least to contact people who could. More of the fizzy fruit flavored drinks in his hotel room's small refrigeration unit? All he had to do was ask. Dinner reservations and transportation to a fancy restaurant? They'd taken care of it and even found some nice lady to meet and sit with him at the restaurant so he didn't have to eat alone. Though she _had_ gotten confused and tried to go back to the hotel with him, but he told her he didn't have any food there and he'd be fine.

All the same it was like being a little kid in the palace on New Arcoss again, Karuto had even ordered them to get him a toy just like he used to when he was little and just like the servants in the palace they'd done it. It was just a tourist souvenir, a little stuffed animal of a cartoonish looking Robusuta fighter dressed for the arena holding a sword and shield, they'd even found one in the colors of House Stobler for him and it was awesome . . . he guessed technically it belonged to Cauliflora since he'd bought it with her money but . . . well . . . it was _so_ cool and it wasn't like she 'd need it it was . . . just a silly kid thing.

Anyway he'd named him Yabby. Of course he understood this wasn't the kind of service that just anyone could expect, they were going the extra mile and then some for him because he was so wealthy, and he'd tipped generously because fair was fair. Cauliflora's credit chip could afford it and he knew she wouldn't mind.

Besides if his plan worked he'd be saving this race from extinction and this place from destruction, so he didn't feel that bad living it up for a night. But through all that he'd never lost sight of his mission, and the hotel concierge had said that he could certainly call Lord Stobler's people and see about arranging a meeting, and just like that Karuto _and_ his doll were welcome guests in Lord Stobler's home.

Not only that but Karuto was being invited to watch them train. In fact, “Train, dear boy? Why if you like I'll have the old Sensei give you a few pointers!” Lord Stobler had told him before they rushed off for the yard.

Karuto had said that he was there because he wanted to start an arena team of his own on his own world. He'd claimed that he'd visited arenas on multiple worlds looking for the greatest styles of training to bring back home and that the people of War World, the Robusuta were the best in the galaxy, which they'd been happily ready to believe.

And so it made it a lot less suspicious when Karuto asked questions about the twin terrors. Still as forthcoming as Lord Stobler had been that morning Karuto hadn't expected to _meet_ them this soon.

And yet there he was, ushered quickly into the yard as a tall green creature in blue and white barked orders to the group of warriors going through their morning exercises. Karuto was struck by two thoughts. The first was _Oh my gosh, Cauli looks so different_ and the second was _Oh . . . so that's what Bass was . . . that's . . . huh._

Bass was a lot taller than Cargo had been but there was no denying it . . . Bass was a Namekian.

Karuto didn't know how, but he knew right then that his mission had just expanded.

The Earthlings would want another Namekian, and maybe Bass could make their Dragon Balls work and before Mister Trunks got back they'd already be ready.

Still the difference in Cauli was noteworthy too, not just that she had both eyes and her tail but the fact that she was . . . well . . . He wouldn't have called Cauliflora in his own time unhealthy looking but compared with seeing her younger self he couldn't call her anything else. Her pale beige skin had a more healthy hue to it, her eyes were intact and bright her face wasn't that semi-constant frown instead she was smirking, laughing at something her small purple alien friend had said.

Poi, Karuto guessed. Cauli laughed and shoved him playfully but the power difference between them was extreme and he tumbled forward. Bass's stern glare turned to the both of them and he barked something Karuto didn't catch and both of them bowed—well Poi climbed to his feet then bowed—in apology.

Lord Stobler chuckled, he said, “Oh-ho-ho don't mind that, just a bit of uh . . . levity, yes, that's it! Not lack of discipline mind you, no, no, if your fighters are always doom and gloom they won't try very hard to make it out of the arena after all! I allow my fighters just a bit of mirth!”

“That's great!” Karuto said, “I like levity and mirth!”

“Ah well not too much of it, or they'll go soft.” Lord Stobler said. He chuckled as the big Namekian came over and bowed to him.

“Lord, the morning drills are concluded.”

“Good, good. Sensei this is young Lord Karuto, he's come to witness how we train fighters. He's a _very_ important person.” Lord Stobler said, and though Karuto was indeed young he was old enough to know that it was Cauliflora's massive fortune that made him important.

But he also knew all about being a Lord, he was an Arcosian after all. Lord Stobler didn't return Bass's bow so neither did Karuto, he just clasped his hands behind him and nodded regally.

Lord Stobler instructed the Sensei, “He's a great fan of our girls, take them and offer him up some instruction. I'll have the Medic sent over in case there's any mishaps and I'll come see how things are doing in an hour or two, yes?”

“Sounds fantastic.” Karuto nodded. He knew he'd have to ease Lord Stobler into letting him make the purchase, especially given how things were going for the Robusuta.

Bass was a giant, Karuto barely came up to his knee. He was head and shoulders above Cargo, and Cargo was himself taller than Mister Trunks. The giant Namekian whistled sharply and called, “Cauliflora, Rhubara, attend.”

The two came over and Karuto felt . . . well he felt nervous again. Even though he'd spent a whole month getting to know Cauli in his own time-line here . . . well this was a totally different Cauli, it was weird. She was younger, she had a totally different . . . aura, would be the word he guessed.

And of course there was Rhubara, the Saiyan he'd come to meet. The Saiyan he'd _needed_ to meet, the Saiyan who had done the right thing even when it meant fighting her own kind. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat and tried to sound regal as he said, “A pleasure to meet you finally. I've been . . . shall we just say a fan?”

He wasn't sure if he expected them to recognize his race or his armor but the two acted as if they didn't have a clue what he was, and since they weren't telling he decided he wouldn't either. They both bowed to him and followed after Bass as the large Namekian led them into an inner chamber sort of like the gym where Chillax and his elites used to drill. There was a wide circle in the center of the room and Karuto could tell it'd serve as a practice arena during their sparring.

“That's a fearsome looking companion you've got there. I approve of his colors, glad I won't have to fight him.” Rhubara said suddenly and Karuto blinked in amazement when he realized she was talking to him.

_Companion?_ He thought, then he blushed when he realized, “Oh, Yabby? Hah . . . yeah . . . I mean . . . you know, that's uh . . . childish amusement. For uh . . . the kids back home?”

“Right . . .” Rhuby said, trailing off with a slight smile. “And where do you come from, what brings you here?”

Cauliflora looked a little more irritated, she whispered loudly to Bass, “That's a great question, what exactly do you need us for? I promised Poi I'd tell Tathy--”

“I certainty didn't need you to waste time spreading gossip.” Bass said, interrupting her. “Your Lord bids you entertain this visitor, he is an aspiring Lord himself I'm told.”

“I am.” Karuto said, “I'm looking for fighters to fight a very important battle.”

“What sort of a battle?” Rhubara asked.

“Not that we care.” Cauli added quickly. Both Bass and Rhubara looked at her in surprise but Karuto felt like he could guess what was happening, especially when the Saiyan girl added, “After all whatever battle you're going to fight is probably going to happen far away from here, right? Far away from _us_.”

Cauliflora might have suggested this as the right time to take her off the planet, but that didn't mean she wasn't already enjoying it. Rhuby had wanted to leave from the beginning so it made sense Rhuby was approaching him, trying to figure out if he was some sort of rescue, which he was, albeit not the sort she was expecting, and Cauliflora was . . . well . . . reluctant if not angry.

Karuto understood, but she'd understand too soon enough. He smiled at her after his fashion and said, “Don't worry, Cauliflora, I'm not here to ruin anything. I'm hoping I can make things better for more than just one friend.”

He didn't know if she'd understand what he was telling her but she scoffed and folded her arms as if she didn't care. “Whatever.” She said and Bass cleared his throat.

“Address the Lord with proper respect.”

“My apologies,” Cauliflora said, sounding surly. “So I assume you want to see Rhuby and I fight, eh?”

“No, not really.” Karuto said. “I already know what you can do, and I don't need to see you two fight each other. Actually since your Sensei is here I was hoping maybe this could be more of a training session?”

“That does make sense, Lord Stobler did order our Medic to attend as well.” Bass nodded. “Very well, but with no disrespect intended I can tell there is a very great power disparity between you three.”

Cauli scoffed again and Karuto heard her whisper—quietly this time—to Rhuby, “Of course there is, he's an Arcosian!”

“I noticed.” Rhuby whispered back. “Why are you upset?”

“What did you call him?” Bass demanded, “I'm warning you Cauliflora, I've not seen this degree of insubordination since you first arrived. Do you need me to teach you a lesson?”

“No!” Cauli said, snapping to attention, “I'm sorry, Sensei! I'm just a bit . . . uneasy.”

Bass seemed irritated but Karuto said, “It's okay, I expect it must be off-putting to meet a fan like myself.”

Bass look unconvinced but bowed slightly, “Our thanks for your understanding. Cauliflora, take a moment to compose yourself, Rhubara you begin, and be mindful. Fight as if you are fighting a child.”

Rhuby smirked, “Oh I don't think this Little Lord will have any trouble keeping up with me. We can talk more about this battle of yours while we train if you like, Little Lord.”

“Sure,” he answered absently. But that's when it occurred to Karuto that Cauliflora and Rhubara couldn't sense energy and they didn't have scouters. _Do they assume I'm stronger just because I'm related to Cousin Frieza? Do they genuinely not know how strong_ they _are?_ Karuto had just enough time to wonder before Rhubara lunged forward.

To put it bluntly she was fast, but to be more precise she was faster than Cousin Chillax even in twenty times earth's gravity. Karuto barely had time to react and when she closed the distance and struck out with a punch that probably would have cracked Karuto's armor or worse he only dodged it through a combination of instinct and the fact that she'd intentionally missed.

He whipped his tail around to try to trip her, Karuto hadn't exactly ignored all of his combat lessons after all. Still though she did jump up to avoid the swipe when he brought his leg around to kick her back to the ground he just didn't have the strength and connecting with her stomach felt like kicking a titanium beam barefoot.

“Ow-ow-ow!” Karuto cried, dropping to the ground and clutching his foot.

“What did you do?” Bass demanded, sounding alarmed, “I told you to fight as if you were fighting a child!”

“I was!” Rhubara said, “I didn't expect him to kick that hard. Are you okay?”

Injured pride aside Karuto tried to play it cool, waving his hand and laughing, “Oh-hah uh . . . owow—I mean it's no big deal, I'm just playing along! See, I'm fine—ow!”

The little Arcosian tried to stand but he felt lances of sharp burning pain course up his leg the minute he put weight on his foot. Bass looked doubtful, and to Karuto's surprise Cauliflora actually looked concerned, even asking, “It's not broken is it?”

Rhubara looked horrified, “I-I didn't mean to . . . block so hard?” She offered the Sensei who just glared at her.

But none of the three came over to actually help Kartuo, instead a new alien was the one to do that. He was dark green with a lighter green face, he resembled Bass but rather than antennae he had two short horns on the side of his head.

_This must be the medic,_ Karuto realized as the dour looking creature who in stark contrast to bass was almost the same size as Karuto. He knelt down inspecting Karuto's injured foot and said, “Injuring our guest already I see. Typical. Cauli I assume? Always so aggressive.”

“Actually it was me . . .” Rhubara said sheepishly.

“Really it was me.” Karuto said.

“Uh-huh, whatever you say, Lord. As for the both of you I keep saying you have no concept of your strength but this really takes the cake. What are you doing, Bass? It's your job to restrain these two dumdums.” The medic said, holding a hand out and with some sort of white light eliminating all of the pain that Karuto had been feeling.

Before he knew it he was able to stand on his foot again without pain.

He said, “Wow, that's amazing! You can fix a broken foot just like that?”

“You broke his foot?” Bass hissed at Rhubara.

“I broke his foot?” Rhubara sounded horrified.

“Oh don't be idiots of course you didn't break his foot!” The Medic scoffed, “It was just a minor sprain, painful but hardly unexpected. I don't expect Lord Stobler will punish you too harshly.”

“It was an accident, and my fault, I kicked as hard as I could!” Karuto said.

“You don't know how it works here,” Cauliflora scoffed, “this isn't Arcoss, kid. If a slave injures a free being that slave's either injured in kind, or that slaves master pays a cost then that slave is usually beaten, but not badly enough that they can't still work off that cost.”

_Ah._ Karuto realized, _So Cauli wasn't concerned for me, she was concerned for Rhuby._ He just said, “Well Lord Stobler doesn't have to find out about this, right?”

Rhubara looked hopefully at Sensei, and the tall Namekian hesitated for only a moment before nodding slowly, “If you say so, Lord. Do you want to continue?”

“Yes, very much . . . only uh I'll need to be a bit more careful.” Karuto said, bowing slightly which elicited surprised looks from everyone.

“I'll take him on this time.” Cauli said, stepping forward. “We'll let Abs of Steel here rethink how to take a hit.”

Rhubara blushed and shoved Cauliflora roughly when she passed her by as they traded places. Cauli just laughed and winked at her fellow Saiyan.

She stood where Rhubara had stood at the beginning of her sparring match with Karuto and Karuto took his place again. This time Bass came over and corrected his stance. He told him, “Against a much stronger opponent try not to use your own force, find ways to use their own force against them. If she tries to punch leap up and use your tail to direct her blow to the ground. Not so hard that you damage yourself of course. Direct her, don't force her.”

Karuto nodded, and the Sensei stepped back. The Medic stood at the edge of the circle ready to intervene when necessary. Cauliflora smirked and said, “So you kicked her as hard as you could huh? Rhuby shouldn't have been any kind of a challenge for one of your kind, what's up with that?”

“Actually I have a theory about that!” Karuto said, “I know neither of you has had a scouter in a long time but—ooh!” The little Arcosian leapt up and whipped his tail out to redirect Cauliflora's southpaw punch. She stumbled forward but not badly enough to punch the ground. She rolled forward instead and as she did her foot swung around behind her to drop kick Karuto out of the ring.

And surprisingly stop just a hair's breadth from his face, leaving Cauliflora practically standing on her head. “That's one to me,” she said, and Karuto quickly understood that since it was so obvious she would have hit him there was no reason to actually follow through with hitting him.

He descended and nodded. Bass said, “That's more like it, take it easy on each other. Little Lord, when you evade attack you must keep moving, be prepared for any follow-up.”

“Keep moving, got it!” Karuto said and the two fighters separated again. Karuto told Cauli, “Well uh as I was saying neither of you has had a scouter for a while, but based on what I've heard when you ate the fruit on Goulder--”

This time again the sparring was over quickly, though Karuto lasted . . . slightly longer. Cauli punched with her right arm this time, Karuto jumped up again, deflected her, dodged her follow-up attack by dodging to the right only to be taken down when Cauli came up turning her roll into a flip and that right arm of hers stopped just short of clotheslining him.

“Uh best two out of three?” Karuto offered.

“That _was_ two out of three, you mean three out of five.” The Medic scoffed behind him, and Karuto could almost hear the roll of his eyes in his tone.

But the little Arcosian just dismissed it with a laugh, “Hah, sorry. I'm really not much of a fighter.”

“Noted.” Bass said, and it stung a little more than it probably should have, “But there's no shame in that, especially not for a Lord. Your job is not to fight your warriors, only to find good warriors to fight for you. You still show some promise, and I can tell you've been trained.”

“Y-yeah.” Karuto said, smiling a little.

“I'll go next if you don't mind, I'll be a lot more careful.” Rhubara said and Bass nodded. This time as they passed it was Cauli who shoved Rhuby, she didn't offer any explanation or excuse she just shoved her. Rather than seeming upset Rhuby smiled wide and glanced over her shoulder at the other girl shaking her head slightly. “Keep that up, see what happens.”

“You started it.” Cauli said in a playful tone.

“I'll end it too.” Rhuby said with a wink of her own.

It was . . . strange for Karuto. He hadn't imagined either of them being so . . . playful? Cheerful? Honestly he'd imagined Cauli would be just like she was in his own time, but it made sense that she wasn't. Like she'd said this was her ideal existence fighting every day with her best friend why wouldn't she be happy?

And it sort of made Karuto happier to see her this way. But it also made him sadder to think of how long she _hadn't_ been like this and reminded him of why he'd come and what he needed to do.

As Bass went over and whispered some instructions to Rhubara Karuto looked back at the Medic. What had Tathy said his name was? He actually couldn't remember so he decided to ask, “So uh . . . what's your name?”

“My name is my title for as long as I hold it, so my name is Medic just as my brother's is Sensei.” The Medic said.

“Oh, I see. But you're brothers, so you're a Namek too?”

The Medic seemed confused, “A what? Now see here I won't just be casually insulted, I--”

“No, no, Namek—uh Namekian, it's the name for your race, right?” Karuto clarified.

“Oh . . . well I'm not sure, actually.” The Medic said, blushing slightly, probably in embarrassment at his outburst. “Our father came here many years ago and after conquering the Arenas himself he decided to be a Lord and made a dozen sons to battle for him.”

“What happened?” Karuto asked.

“He sold us.” Bass said, “All of us, though to the best of my knowledge my brother and I are the last, all of the others have fallen in the Arena, it is likely that our roles serving Lord Stobler as Sensei and Medic are the only reason we persist, otherwise I'm sure our luck would have run out by now as it does for all fighters.”

“That sounds horrible.” Karuto said with a frown, “What happened to him?”

“He took his winnings, purchased some champion fighters, a slave army and a grand ship and he left this world.” Bass said coldly, “I do not know any more than that and I do not care to know. But what _you_ should know is that in addition to dodging blows you should know how to deliver them. Against Rhubara I've given her orders not to strike at you for ten blows, use those ten to strike her. If you can land a successful hit it'll be your round.”

Karuto nodded, “I'll do my best!” He said and returned to his place in the circle. _I should take both the Namekians too, there's room and my friends might need them. Besides, this is a chance for them to meet with some of their own kind when Mister Trunks' mission is over!_ Karuto thought. Then he realized that he was thinking of the Earthlings as his friends and it made him wonder if maybe Chillax wasn't a little bit right. Had he gotten too attached to the alien enemy?

He meant to talk to Rhubara about the planet but instead Rhubara asked him, “You uh . . . mentioned Goulder and the fruit . . . how did you know we ate any of it?”

Karuto smiled, maybe he wasn't the only one and maybe that was okay. He said, “Oh, I heard the story from an old friend of yours.”

“A friend?” Rhuby seemed surprised, “I didn't know anyone else made it.”

“Well Turles did,” Karuto said, “but actually it was Konpeito who told me.”

Rhuby seemed frozen, “Y-you met . . .” She lowered her gaze and said, “So . . . you must have been with the team that finished the conquest.”

“I was.” Karuto said, but quickly added, “But don't worry! Konpeito survived, he joined us!”

Rhubara smirked and said, “He would have. Survived that is, joining up though now that's a surprise.”

Still Karuto could tell she was hiding some sadness and he said, “Um, but uh . . . well he told me all about Goulder and--”

“Are you two just going to stand there?” Bass asked.

“R-right!” Karuto said and sprang forward. He tried to strike as quick as he could, left, right, tail, tail, sweeping kick and not a single blow struck.

Still his mission wasn't to spar, his mission was to get Rhuby and Cauli to come with him so he tried to keep talking while he fought and the fact that Rhubara wasn't actually attacking back helped. He said, “But anyway we need you for a mission! You and Cauliflora both, I know it sounds crazy!”

“It doesn't sound that crazy, but I don't think you'll get us. I mean we're slaves here . . .”

“I've uh . . . I've been given . . . well no, but I do _have_ the resources to purchase freedom for both of you if you're willing to come with me.”

That stunned Rhubara and she actually froze in the middle of the ring allowing Karuto to successfully land a punch on her shoulder that joyfully did _not_ shatter his fist.

Cauliflora shouted, “What are you doing throwing it like that?”

“C-Cauli you heard,” Rhubara said, “we can--”

“I heard too, Little Lord you would do well not to repeat what you've just said, especially not to Lord Stobler.” Bass warned him. “He won't part with his champions cheaply.

“I have the money,” Karuto assured him, “Enough for you two as well, if you're willing to come! Your people are in danger too, I came from--”

“Who cares about that?” Cauliflora scoffed, “Rhuby we can't go yet!”

“Why not?” Rhubara asked. “The arenas are getting boring, you said so yourself! If we _can_ leave, if Lord Frieza cares enough to send one of his own--”

“The arena's getting boring but if we win these Summer Games we're going to be in the Legendary bracket, we'll fight opponents even stronger than Bass, isn't that worth it at least to try?” Cauli insisted, and Karuto guessed this was why this had been the time her future self had suggested. The Arena had gotten boring for this brief period of time, but it must have gotten better once they were Legends. Cauli said, “We don't need to go back out there, Rhuby. Here we can be . . .”

She trailed off but Karuto said, “I um . . . someone who's a lot like you told me that you'd come if you knew the fight was bigger and better, and it is! Your uh . . . your people are being led by the Legendary Super Saiyan! Please, please will you all come with me?”

Cauliflora seemed annoyed, Rhubara actually went over to her and took her hand. The two exchanged a look, though Karuto could only see Cauliflora's side of it since Rhuby's back was turned to him. She looked reluctant, but gradually it seemed like she was about to give in, she had the same look she'd had when she finally told Karuto when the right time to ask her to leave would have been.

But no one was able to answer as Lord Stobler came in and asked, “What's all this then? Standing around, I would have thought you two would be battling! Don't you realize how important this guest is?”

“Uh . . . well yes, actually,” Cauliflora mumbled.

Karuto knew he should try to take things slow but with Cauliflora's resistance wavering he didn't think he could afford to hesitate. He rushed forward and said, “Lord Stobler, there is simply no one better suited to the task I require. For my impossible battle I must have the best warriors, please allow me to buy these four from you, I'll pay any price!”

Karuto couldn't read Robusuta expressions but he felt Lord Stobler's tone was pretty universal, and he didn't sound pleased. He said with barely contained rage, “Let's . . . discuss this . . . in my office . . . _now_.”

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

_**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** Trunks and Videl find themselves in a situation similar to Mai's, but will they resist like she did, or will they submit? And what happened to Mai? What happened to the Saiyans and the EDF? What is happening on New Namek!? _

__ Character Images: Sensei and Medic  


_ Note: The updated Bass and his smaller brother Kazoo (you can't tell from the picture but Kazoo is as short as Namekians get) I added scars because I could, and I liked them, Kazoo is actually designed and submitted by a friend of mine but I suggested the name and personae of "The Great Kazoo" when he was having trouble thinking of what to call his Namekian, and in the end added him to the cast of this story. Fun Fact: Bass 2.0 is paler than his older self as I was attempting to match Piccolo's skin tone as for a while I wavered on whether or not to keep these two as the Sons of Slug since without including the Trials of the Arena mini-arc between seasons two and three I wasn't actually still certain Slug himself would appear in the story at all, and if I wasn't going to have him having them be his sons serves no real purpose, so I lightened Bass' skintone to match the typical Namekians where before I'd had it a couple shades darker to help hint he was descended from Slug. _

 


	66. I'm a Survivor

**Episode Thirty**

**'I'm a Survivor'**

 

The prison complex was . . . weird. Trunks wasn't sure if it was because the Planet Trade Organization were aliens, or if it was because they had re-purposed an existing structure but it was unlike any prison he'd ever seen before. It was just full of large tanks, it looked more like a brewery. The lights were out and there was no switch. There was a control panel but no one bothered with it, instead they started checking the tanks for any signs that they might be prison cells.

Trunks wouldn't have noticed when the scouters stopped working, though he did notice that he couldn't hear Basil trying to reach the others anymore.

But he didn't know it meant they were being jammed until he sensed the enemy's power. It wasn't that impressive, but it was noticeable. “We've got incoming,” Trunks told Videl.

“What?” She asked, “I'm not seeing anything on the scouter . . . Basil, is there anything coming at us?”

There wasn't a response. Trunks could sense that about ten power levels of reasonable—for the PTO at least—strength approaching. He was tempted to go Super Saiyan and just throw himself at them but something stopped him. Instead he said, “There's at least ten of them coming this way, I can sense them.”

Videl didn't question him. “Alright, scouters seem to be down so Anise watch the door, see if that panel can lock it. The rest of you take up firing positions.”

“What about the tanks?” Trunks asked.

“They're not prison cells,” One of Videl's soldiers reported, “They're just full of some kind of liquid.”

“Good, maybe we can have a drink after we rescue the Namekians.” Videl said with a wink, apparently having come to the same conclusion that Trunks had about the purpose of the facility. She issued orders to her team, “Card, see if you can find an elevator, they must be lower. Anise, how's that--”

The door slid open easily and an Arcosian in white armor with a matching bone white carapace and a black dome and empty eyes to match it stood in the doorway. He grabbed Anise by the throat with his tail, but didn't finish her off. He walked into the darkened twilight of the facility a smile over his pale face. The bands on his cheeks were black and his face resembled a human skull.

Trunks took a step forward but Videl put a hand on his shoulder.

“Not so fast kid, let's see if we can negotiate.”

“We don't have to.” Trunks told her.

“I know, but I think it might be smart to try.” Videl told him. She called to the Arcosian, “What say you let my trooper go, friend?”

“I'm not your friend,” the Arcosian said, “but I will let you stand down and surrender. Your monkey abomination is dead, destroyed when the engines on that troop transport went critical. My men are taking your ship, and capturing your other squad as we speak. This little shin-dig is over.”

Trunks scowled, he was about to say something but Videl beat him to the punch.

“Say you got our monkey abomination, what's that supposed to mean?”

“I'm sure you felt the blast, your strike team that hit the _Polar Express_? Oh they're dead, nothing would have survived that, not even the Legendary Super Saiyan.”

Trunks realized then that the enemy had mistaken Turles for him. This _had_ all been a trap . . .

“And what about the Namekian prisoners?” Captain Videl demanded, “Where are you hiding them?”

“Obviously the life-signs you detected from this fuel depot were faked. The only prisoners we took are sitting in the _Frozen Vengeance,_ our Admiral's flagship. If you want to see them you're more than welcome to . . . as our prisoners. But with the highest power level among you just teasing a hundred you won't stand a chance against me and my elites, not even with your stolen-tech blasters.”

Trunks clenched his fists. He knew what they had to do, but it bothered him to do it.

He raised his hands and said, “I . . . surrender. Captain, we should stand down, submit to this Admiral.”

Videl hesitated and then lowered her gun. “Let my trooper go, promise we won't come to harm and you've got our surrender, Arcosian.”

The Arcosian's tail released Anise and she fell to the ground hard, coughing and rubbing her throat, but alive. Their captor grinned, “Well that was almost too easy. But I guess when you're born so weak knowing how to pick your fights is a vital survival skill. Good choice, Earthlings. You're now the prisoners of Captain Sleet. Men, collect their weapons.”

The PTO elites snatched the blasters and scouters from Videl and each of her troopers but when they came to Trunks and found he had nothing he ended up needing to offer them an excuse.

He said, “I uh, I wasn't here as a soldier, I'm uh . . . I'm--”

“He's our medic,” Videl said quickly.

Sleet gave him a skeptical look. He asked, “So, your job is to help them if they're injured?”

“That's right.” Trunks said.

“Yet you don't so much as budge to help this one?” Sleet asked, refrring to Anise.

“I-I didn't want you to think I was attacking you . . .” Trunks offered.

The Arcosian laughed, “With your power level of five? I could give you a free hit and never know when it landed!”

The elites laughed and Trunks thought, _Don't do it, I can't promise to keep my cover if you give me an opportunity like that._

But Sleet smiled wickedly, he pointed a finger at one of Videl's soldiers, Trunks knew that one was called Card though he didn't know if it was her real name, it sounded made up. Sleet charged a blast and said, “Well medic, you should be able to heal this one, right?”

Trunks could sense he was about to fire but Videl shouted, “If you blast one of my troopers the surrender is off, and you might not think there's anything we can do to you but you'd be surprised!”

Sleet lowered his hand and laughed, “Oh? Well now I'm half tempted. But don't worry, I wouldn't blast in here. These fuel tanks are highly volatile, and just full of the same fuel that vaporized your Saiyan abomination, the blast they'd cause would be enough to end all of us. Come along prisoners, lets get you back to the Admiral, though I won't promise he won't blast a few of you for fun.”

Trunks kept his hands in the air as he was led out of the fuel depot but he did have time to wonder . . . how had the PTO built this place on New Namek, why had they stored so much fuel here?

He heard Card whispering to Videl, “Captain, I'm starting to think we landed on the wrong planet . . .”

“Looks like it.” Videl said, “Unless the Namekians set up a bunch of gas stations.”

“Do you think Cargo led us into a trap?” Anise asked.

“If he did it must have been because they had his people prisoner. Maybe they offered to free them if he lured m—the Saiyan abomination to this planet.” Trunks whispered back, remembering how adamant Cargo had been that he personally come along and remembering the urgency with which Cargo had pushed them all to leave. But even now he didn't feel like Cargo had been lying.

Between himself, Captain Videl, Master Roshi, his mother . . . _someone_ should have sensed it if Cargo was lying to them. They'd had their suspicions about Cauliflora, but not Cargo. Was it just because he was a Namekian? Because his mother had met him before? No, it was because there was honesty in his desperation, at least Trunks thought so.

“He might have told the truth, a lot could have happened in the two months between when he got away and we got here, we don't know how quickly the PTO can build.” Videl said quietly, “Anyway it's going to be all right.”

That much was true, it wasn't like they were in that bad a situation. It was dangerous for the troops, but that had always been the case. Now instead of having to sneak around looking for Namekians they were being brought to the enemy Admiral _and_ the Namek prisoners and once they arrived . . .

Trunks nodded his agreement with Videl, “That's right. We just need to meet the brains behind the operation . . . and find those missing Namekians. Then our mission's complete.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

In the aftermath of the blast the bridge of the _Humanity's Hope_ felt especially empty and quiet. Even though they hadn't shared the trip with the crew of the _Defender One,_ Basil and the others all knew that barring some miracle at the moment it looked like they'd lost a lot of good friends.

And some bad ones, and some lukewarm acquaintances but all the same the young engineer couldn't bring herself to stop trying to raise them until the silence on the radio became static.

“This is no good,” she grumbled, “I can't reach anyone now!”

“Scouters are down!” Thyme reported, “What's going on?”

“We're being jammed,” Genora reported.

“What? What could be strong enough to jam this ship?” Thyme asked.

“Another ship? But I don't how they'd . . . fish paste!” Genora swore, “Not just another ship, but a ship that knows the security codes for _this_ ship because you never changed them.”

Basil frowned at her strange alien comrade, “Genora . . . is there a _reason_ you didn't mention these security codes to us?”

“If I said it was because it didn't occur to me you wouldn't believe it.” Genora grumbled.

“I can believe it,” Basil assured her, “but I don't like it.”

“How did you, the science fiction fan not think of this?” Thyme accused her.

“I was too busy learning to read an alien language!” Basil cried.

It was Genora who said, “There's no sense blaming each other now! We've got bigger problems!”

“Okay so what do we do? What happens next?” Thyme asked.

“Well,” Genora said, “I think now we've got a choice. We either abandon the others and hightail it before this other ship closes in on us and we can't run . . . or we sit here and hope Trunks realizes there was a second part to this trap.”

“What do you suggest? You're the experienced star farer.” Thyme told her. Basil frowned because to her there was really only one option.

They weren't' leaving without Trunks.

Genora seemed to consider for a moment before she groaned and said, “If we run we won't have anywhere to go because their ships are just as fast as ours and they'll catch us wherever we go. Besides nowhere will be safer than here because here is where your Super Saiyan is.”

“So running is a no-go.” Basil nodded.

“But if we stay,” Genora continued, “they'll probably show up soon and board us, since my power level is about five hundred and I'm still the strongest person on this ship we'll of course be quickly overwhelmed.”

“So what do we do?” Thyme asked again.

“I plan to put my hands in the air very carefully and surrender.” Genora said.

“Okay, but what if we're not cowards?” Basil asked icily.

“Then you'll die.” Genora said. “But I suggest taking a leaf out of my book, Baz and putting your hands up.”

“You mean we lose?” Thyme scoffed. “I don't think so, there's no way! Not after everything we've done and everything we lost just trying to get here!”

“I felt pretty similarly four months ago for what it's worth.” Genora said, “Listen, you don't have to surrender if you want, maybe Trunks will come back first but for me . . .” She trailed off.

Basil scoffed, “But for you it's easy to just switch back?”

Genora's eye twitched and she turned on Basil, she stood up out of her seat and said, “Well I may be a coward but I'm a coward whose survived in a universe where my whole species is just fodder for a dying galactic empire, my sisters died months ago and I don't owe you anything! So yeah, if Trunks gets back great for you but if he doesn't and it's a choice between loyalty to you or my own survival I'm going to survive because why _wouldn't_ I? What, because you're nice to me? You think that means more than my dead sisters or my dead crew? Choose your words with a bit more tact, human! Now that you know what it's like to lose everything in an unfair battle you can start to _approach_ what I've had to feel for _months_ so don't judge me!”

Basil frowned but she knew Genora was right. They'd offered her friendship of sorts but that didn't make her their bosom companion, she was just trying to survive in a hostile environment and for what it was worth she hadn't blasted the two of them in an effort to impress the enemy.

But Basil wasn't entirely convinced that wasn't still on the table in case they got boarded before Trunks came back. Still she did nod and look away from Genora. She wouldn't apologize for being . . . was it rude? Well she wouldn't apologize for it.

Not yet, anyway.

But she wouldn't continue down such a nonproductive route of conversation.

The three of them waited in uncomfortable silence until they saw a ship just like the _Humanity's Hope_ closing the distance. It hovered nearby but the pounding on the door to the bridge came long before anyone could have moved from that ship to theirs, and Basil realized they must have been boarded minutes ago, probably close to when their scouters went dead.

The team of PTO soldiers stormed the bridge hands or blasters raised to fire, one of them in a blue suit of armor stepped forward. He was one of Genora's species only his coloration was a sort of pale off-yellow tan. He had orange spots with thin green rings around them and he declared in a high pitched voice, “I am Lieutenant Cantal, stand down and submit yourselves to the Frieza Forces!”

Genora, who never had resumed her seat after her outburst at Basil took a few steps towards her fellow Appullatien, hands raised in the air. “These two humans offer their unconditional surrender.” Genora said.

“Good! That's good!” Cantal said, then he told one of his men, “Quick, input the new codes and open a channel to the _Avenger_!”

A humanoid in navy armor rushed over, shoving Genora side to get to the center console and go to work. Now Cantal seemed to notice for the first time that Genora was one of his own people, and he asked her, “And you? What are you doing here? You're not an Earthling.”

“I'm a survivor from the _Cold Heart's_ original crew. I've been serving the enemy for the past month and I piloted this ship to this location,” Genora said and Basil scowled, glad she hadn't apologized now.

“So you're selling us out after all.” Basil said scornfully.

The Lieutenant however raised his hand at Genora and said, “You know the penalty for collaborating with the enemy!”

“I do, but I made my choice.” Genora said, spreading her arms and inviting the blast gathering in the Lieutenant's hand. Basil stared in utter confusion which was how she missed what happened next.

There was a loud bang and something that sounded like a wet thud, and then suddenly a hand grasped the Lieutenant by the back of the neck and slammed his face forward into the deck, his scouter coming free and skidding to a stop on the floor near Basil's console. The hand then yanked him backwards and flung him into the wall with a sound like a water balloon hitting a brick wall.

Turles was on the bridge, his armor was broken, the shoulders and tassets were completely melted. His eyes were wild, his scouter was gone and his tail twitched like that of an irritated cat. He glared at the rest of the team on the bridge, though there were only three.

They nervously raised their blasters to fire and then the others caught up.

The other members of the EDF that is, Basil felt an enormous weight lift off of her chest when Kodva, Schip and Rhyce appeared and each accounted for one of the remaining PTO soldiers on the bridge.

“Well . . .” Thyme said quietly, “that was . . . quite a sight.”

Basil had to admit he was right, and part of her was afraid that she'd see it even if she blinked. The team's retaliation for the ship's explosion had been brutal.

Turles glared out the bridge's view port and said through gritted, angry teeth, “Be right back . . . I'm going to bring that ship down . . .”

“Wait, don't!” Basil said. She looked at Genora and frowned.

Genora who'd welcomed death for the second time . . . maybe friendship wasn't enough but Basil still felt the need to say, “I'm . . . sorry, Gen. I shouldn't have jumped to doubting you . . . if you're still on our side . . .”

Genora smiled slightly and nodded. Basil got out of her console, offering it to Genora who took it and opened a channel, “ _Avenger, Avenger,_ this is the _Cold Heart_ , we're back under Frost Clan control.”

“Good to hear it, _Avenger_ , where's Lieutenant Cantal?”

“The Lieutenant is still mopping up fish-brained scum on the lower deck, but the bridge is ours.” Genora said.

“Open visual contact for confirmation.” Whoever she was talking to aboard the _Avenger_ said, and everyone did their best to get out of the way and avoid being viewed by Genora's console as she did so, proving that she was indeed a member of that iconic PTO servant races.

“Confirmed, well done team! The Captain's returning, await further orders.” Whomever she was talking to said and the transmission ended. Basil picked up the Lieutenant's scouter and put it to her ear but it wasn't any use.

“It's a blanket jamming signal,” Genora said, “it's easier to jam the frequencies scouters work on than it is to jam individual scouters, we can communicate with them because of the codes they put in before Turles here turned them into chum. Their scouters probably weren't working any better than ours, that's why they didn't notice Turles and the others. Since they thought they had it made they didn't think they'd need eyes on us for this part of the mission. But if they think their mission is completed they'll drop the jamming signal any second now.” Genora said.

“In that case now can I destroy the ship?” Turles asked.

“Not yet,” Basil said. “I want to see if we can find out what the state of things is. Genora, can you ask them about Trunks and the others?”

Genora nodded, she opened the channel again, “ _Avenger_ , _Arcoss_ _Avenger_ , we could use some help clearing the lower decks, what is the status on our other pieces in play?”

“Commander Pitaya's squad just eliminated a whole Earthling platoon, and the Captain's captured the other. I'll direct the Commander to you, that should be enough. Once the Captain's on board we'll make for the _Frozen Vengeance_ and hand our prisoners over to Admiral Frigus.”

“Appreciated, _Avenger,_ ” Genora said, “Over and out.”

Turles growled, “So _now_ can I--”

“No!” Kodva shouted, which was quite unlike him but Basil guessed that surviving what seemed like a nuclear blast was probably enough to shake his Zen. The former monk said, “They're going to take their prisoners aboard then they're going to see their Admiral.”

“So?” Turles demanded.

“So if they eliminated one squad and not the other then Cauliflora must be with the squad they didn't wipe out and since she's stronger than the enemy she must have surrendered so they'd take her to their Admiral! So let's not get in her way, and we'll let them lead us to the admiral too!” Kodva said angrily, “And then we fry the bigger fish!”

Turles scowled but after a few deep breaths he nodded, “Good, good thinking bald man. All right, Captain Turles approves, now if you don't mind I'm going to go meet this Commander just in case he's too much for the others.”

“How many of you made it?” Basil asked.

“All of us thanks to Kor.” Schip said. “A few of us closer to the blast were pretty messed up, but he got us up and running. The _Defender One_ is toast though . . . don't suppose we can catch a ride home with you?”

Basil smiled, “Oh I don't think that'll be a problem . . . although . . . um we might have a secret to share with you.”

“Like what?” Kodva asked, sounding weary.

Basil smiled sheepishly, “Um . . . like Cauliflora never left Earth.”

“Then . . . I might have just ticked off Turles for no good reason?” Kodva sighed.

“No, no . . . your reasoning was sound and it should still hold true . . . because she traded places with Trunks.” Thyme told him.

That actually made Kodva smile, and it was Rhyce who, despite the bodies littering the bridge let out a loud long laugh.

“Well . . . that's a surprise. I hope the Admiral likes it as much as we do.” Schip said before joining in Rhyce's laughter.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Pitaya had never been more ashamed, or embarrassed.

The Earthling woman had lunged at him, blaster drawn but . . . somehow when she fired that beam of golden light he just assumed it was a blast from her blaster even though he'd _seen_ them using flashlights when they surprised them.

Her bluff had worked magnificently and Pitaya and his team had been tripping over each other scrambling to fly away from the fuel depot as quickly as they could. Unfortunately once they realized the depot hadn't exploded they realized they'd been duped and without functioning scouters it was impossible to find the Earthlings.

So Pitaya had done something . . . well, maybe a bit cowardly. He lied and reported the mission a success.

After all they'd have recaptured the _Cold Heart_ and left the area before those Earthlings could get back to their ship, even if the ten of them were still alive they'd be stranded here on this world and no one would know they'd survived his team.

And since none of his team wanted to die they'd all agreed to the lie. As Pitaya had been using the communicator he had that allowed him to talk to the _Avenger_ even while the interference field was in place they'd all shouted to be heard in the background over the transmitter, telling about how brutal their slaughter of the earthling platoon had been each member of the squad embellishing shamelessly to make themselves sound like a proper team of heroes.

Then as if to salve his ego and allow him a proper chance at redemption the communications officer on the _Avenger_ told him, “Commander, the Captain has some prisoners we're going to load them up and report to the rendezvous point. But Cantal is having trouble clearing out the Earthlings on the _Cold Heart_. Captain Sleet orders you to render assistance and then assume command of the vessel and meet us at the rendezvous.”

“As ordered, _Avenger_.” Pitaya said with relief. He wondered if he'd be promoted to Captain and allowed to keep the ship. The original plan had called for Hail and Verglas to evacuate the blast site and assume command of the _Cold Heart._

Perhaps their loss could be his gain. He smirked at his men and with their communicator deactivated he said to them, “A chance to get a bit of revenge!”

They all cheered at that and the ten of them arrived at the _Cold Heart_ in no time. They found the main doors open, but the cargo hold was pitch black. They went inside, scouters still nonfunctional as they did but Pitaya could hear the _Avenger's_ engines firing up, if she were leaving it meant she'd be dropping the interference signal soon.

Pitaya led his men into the darkened interior of the ship. He could smell blood, but he couldn't see any enemies or any energy flashes.

“Once we have scouters again we can start to communicate, that'll make this hunt easier.” Pitaya said.

“Yes sir!” One of his team agreed and then as if on queue suddenly their scouters came back to life . . . and they blared the alarm of high power levels.

Right in front of them.

The lights went on suddenly blinding Pitaya who'd been trying to read the numbers on his scouter. He took the scouter off and tried to rub his eyes but when his vision cleared he saw that they weren't alone on the ship and their companions definitely weren't Cantal and his team.

At first Pitaya wasn't sure what he was looking at, the creatures before him were humanoid but they wore twisted, half melted half blasted remains of black Planet Trade armor, they were bloody, bruised and battered and their eyes were like those of a pack of feral animals, full of rage barely restrained.

They reminded him of some horrible undead creatures and when he saw the tails either wrapped around their waists or twitching behind them he realized that they were Saiyans . . . an unsettling number of Saiyans . . .

But all the Saiyans were gone, and the Super Saiyan had been killed in the blast from the _Polar Express_ hadn't he? Pitaya wondered if they' all died, if somehow they were in the underworld with these . . . Saiyan revenants. One of the Saiyans, a bulky male as tall as Pitaya himself stomped forward growling like a wild beast, the Commander fell into a fighting stance and said, “All right men, there's only eight of them. We have the advantage.”

“No. You don't.” Another Saiyan, this one shorter than the one with darker skin and a smaller but still quite muscular frame said as he charged forward ahead of the others. “It's a pleasure to meet you Commander, let's see how you deal with a Captain!”

Pitaya had enough time to raise his hands to block the first blow . . . he just wasn't able to actually block it, the Saiyan's fist smashed through his defenses and then his face, and then it was all over.

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

_**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** The forces of Earth reunite on New Namek, except for Trunks and Videl's squad, who go on to meet Admiral Frigus. Will Trunks rescue Dende, or will the wily admiral have yet another card up his sleeve? And when General Boreal lands will Cauliflora, Roshi and Tathy have anything up their own sleeves? Find out next time on Dragon Ball COED! _

 

_Character Images: Gelato and Sundae_

_Notes: Sundae looked a lot more like Aurora than I'd planned, but I'm okay with it. Gelato is a lot plainer than I wanted him to be, he should also be a lot buffer but he's as buff as I could make him. Fun Fact: Could you tell that I was just playing with the names of these two? Originally I'd asked a couple of friends if they'd mind me using their Arcosian characters in the story, one never got back to me the other revealed he'd literally never made an Arcosian, and so their names were chosen based on the line of logic, "something cold . . . maybe food based . . ."_

 


	67. Super Elite

**Episode Thirty-One**

**'Super Elite'**

 

Mai was panting when she reached the _Humanity's Hope_. She didn't know what she'd find inside but she could guess since that other ship had left peacefully that the fighting was over. _If our people somehow lost I_ _won't be able to bluff whoever is on that ship with a flashlight this time,_ Mai thought to herself, _and if Genora's down we may not be able to fly it home, we just have to hope for the best._

It wasn't that she lacked faith in Trunks, she knew that he was more powerful than anything else on this world and she knew he'd protect them all with all of his might. But she also knew he couldn't be everywhere at once, and the enemy might have outmaneuvered him just as Earthlings had had to do with the Androids so many times just to stay alive.

But she didn't share those worries with her team, she knew they knew. Instead she just told them, “Almost home, let's hope they roll out the welcome mat.”

“Think they'll have dinner ready?” Tarragon asked as they neared the ship.

“That's the dumbest thing you've ever asked, Tarra,” Rosemary scoffed, “It's _lunch_ time, buy a watch!”

“Okay, okay, you're right! So what do you think they'll have set out for lunch, Rose?” Tarragon asked and Mai raised a hand to silence them.

Mai tried her scouter, the numbers came to life and she swallowed hard. “Well . . . there's a lot of really high power levels aboard that ship . . . I think it's safe to say _someone's_ gotten aboard. They're too many and too strong to be Squad A and Trunks, too few to be the rescued Namekians unless things went really south.”

“What do we do, Lieutenant?” Rosemary asked.

“We've gotta at least secure a ride home . . . or . . .” Mai gulped, “We know that ship engines going critical . . . tend to take care of high power levels.”

Her squad was quiet for a moment before they all murmured their various agreement. “If that's what it takes,” Tarragon said.

“All right then, we infiltrate, find the engine room and--”

“And please don't blow us up!” Thyme's voice rang in her ear suddenly.

“Thyme? You're still alive?” Mai asked. Of course she recognized the voice, and the fact that it had to be Thyme because the enemy was on a different Scouter frequency, they'd made sure of that much at least before they left Earth.

“Yep! It's good to see you're okay, Lieutenant, they said you were dead!” Basil spoke up too.

Mai smiled, “They exaggerated, but I don't blame them considering the fact that we made them trip over themselves running from a flashlight. Those prisons aren't prisons, they're fuel depots set to blow, just another trap they set for Trunks.”

“We know,” Basil said, “Trunks and Captain Videl's squad were captured and taken aboard the other ship, they're going to meet the Admiral where the prisoners are _actually_ being kept.”

“Captain Videl's squad? Why are we just standing here?” Tarragon demanded.

“She'll be fine, she's with Trunks!” Rosemary whispered, but Tarragon didn't seem reassured.

“Well we need a ride, we're not going to catch up to that ship on foot. Want to let out the ramp, Basil?” Mai asked.

“I dunno, we don't usually pick up hitchhikers, you might have to show a little leg.” Basil said, but the ramp did come down, probably because of Thyme or Genora, and Mai directed her troops onto the ship. She boarded last herself, though it wasn't tactically sound to do so she used the opportunity to give each of the women in her squad a quick visual inspection to see how well they were faring on what was becoming a very stressful morning.

They were real troopers in more than just one sense, all of them seemed to be holding up just fine, even Tarragon. When she was finally aboard the Lieutenant had to admit she was surprised by what she found inside, she'd spent the last month traveling on the _Humanity's Hope_ , and it felt as much like home to her as any place so to find it so ransacked . . .

Well that was surprising and even a bit distressing but that all sort of paled in comparison to seeing Beeta standing by the doors when they boarded the ship. She was battered and bruised but there was no mistaking her dour Saiyan. Mai stared at her in surprise and said, “We thought you were all dead!”

“We are, we just haven't stopped moving yet.” Beeta drawled. The Saiyan woman shut the door and immediately Mai felt the slight tremor run through the ship that meant it was lifting off. _Good,_ she thought and now gave Beeta the same inspection she'd given her own soldiers.

The Saiyan's usually straight black hair was actually pretty mussed, her eyes were usually sunken but now it was worse from noticeable exhaustion. Her blue and green armor had been devastated so that mostly all that was left was the darkened breastplate with the pauldrons and tassets mostly gone, even her skintight black leotard—or whatever it was the Saiyans were all wearing under their armor—was frayed and ripped in places, and she had some cuts and bruises.

The Saiyan elite told her, “We survived the blast, maybe it's that we were tough enough, but I think it's because we weren't close enough except for Turles, and he was alright. He sort of deflected some of it too, and I think that helped more than anything. Our scouters were destroyed, our armor is wrecked and I think most of us were knocked out, but not for very long. A few of the more powerful enemies made it too, we took 'em prisoner.”

“Prisoner? Are you sure we can contain them?” Mai asked.

“We're keeping them sedated.” Beeta assured her.

“With what?” Mai asked, there were medical supplies but she didn't recall there being a lot of sedatives on the ship.

“Fists mostly.” Beeta said dryly. “It was Rhyce's idea, she said we could trade them for the Namekians.”

“Not a bad plan since they're sure not where we thought they were. They faked the life signs, they knew we'd be scanning for them. But how'd you get to the ship without anyone noticing?” The Lieutenant asked.

“We were all so messed up we probably didn't look like much on scouters, and when we got here they had a blanket jam down. At least that's what I hear from the bridge. It could be they just didn't bother to look for us after the first few minutes, but I doubt that. They were willing to blow up one of their own ships, the sort I doubt they can easily replace these days just to get us.” Beeta actually smiled, “Shows they're scared, and that means they're smart.”

“They're not that smart, they're scared of flashlights.” Rosemary mentioned, but Mai shook her head.

“No. We won't get them with that again, and besides with all these traps they've set it's obvious they had plans within plans ready for us. So what about Trunks and Captain Videl?”

It was Kodva who answered her, coming down the hall from the bridge the battered warrior monk said, “They're aboard that other ship, now that you're here and we've mopped up the enemy we're going to pursue and when we get close make our offer.”

Mai nodded, “It's good to see you're okay. Trunks will be pleased.”

“Not as pleased as us.” Kodva said with a bit of a wry smile.

Mai nodded again, “Yes. I can imagine. If scouters are up is there any danger they'll notice you all?”

“We're keeping our levels as low as we know how. That doesn't come naturally to all of the Saiyans though, luckily they're pretty worn out. But in any event they've got Trunks on one of their ships, they've got bigger problems if they detect us and decide to get aggressive.”

Mai smiled, “In that case let's catch them up and finish this.”

“That's the plan.” Beeta said and for a moment her gloom seemed to lift, presumably at the thought of the impending battle. Mai shuddered, Saiyans really were a frightening race.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The seven space pods came down from the sky like missiles slamming through buildings and into the streets surrounding Capsule Corporation. There's been no time to evacuate the civilians to the bunker and the old Turtle Hermit clutched his staff tightly thinking that some poor people may have been injured or even lost their lives in that landing.

But it was evening and this was the business district, those buildings may have been empty or at the very least not filled to capacity.

Besides he needed to stay focused on the matter at hand.

Cauliflora had had Tathy retrieve their star ship and park it prominently on the lawn of Capsule Corporation, the blue alien had also dressed herself in a uniform from the stolen ship. Cauliflora had said it was part of the plan, but Roshi could sense the Pod that belonged to General Boreal and he very much doubted any plan was going to be enough.

If Boreal wanted a fight they were going to be in trouble. The old Turtle Hermit didn't care about numbers but he could still tell when he was outclassed by a fighter.

The General wasn't just stronger than Cauliflora, he was _much_ stronger than she was, and he and Tathy had nothing on the other powers from those pods. Kalt must have been some kind of a runt compared to these fighters.

But the old hermit wasn't clutching his staff in fear, he'd lived too long and through too much to have much need for that emotion. Instead he was clutching it in anticipation, if Cauliflora's plan worked so much the better but he strongly suspected this would come down to a fight, and he intended to give as good of an account as he could.

Cauliflora was dressed in black and green armor, though it was a combination of Bulma's Earth pattern and the sort the other Saiyans usually wore, it had black bracers and boots with green shoulder straps, stomach and tassets. She wore a black suit under it and she did look like a Saiyan warrior prepared for battle.

But Tathy wore a strange uniform, a skin tight purple suit with white gloves and boots and a sort of white chest piece with a strange design on the front. Master Roshi didn't know what purpose it'd serve, but he hoped it served it well.

He could easily tell which of the enemy was Boreal, the General was tall for his kind, taller than Kalt had been, nearly twice as tall as Chillax. He was of a surprisingly lithe build; muscular but not buff the way Roshi could get, instead if anything he reminded Roshi of the Androids in build. The light gray carapace of his head curved back into four sharp horns around a ruby red dome, there was no white to his eyes or any pupil that Master Roshi could see, just two red orbs staring at them and a wicked almost human smile.

He was quickly flanked by a pair of Arcosians smaller than himself and only slightly larger than Chillax, one blue and one red. Others emerged from the other pods around them and slowly deliberately made their advance on the three warriors standing at the steps of the Capsule Corporation building.

Master Roshi thought, _at least they're not rushing for the attack._ He tapped his staff on the ground and said, “Welcome to Earth, travelers. I am Master Roshi of--”

“You fought with Kalt.” General Boreal interrupted, clasping his hands behind his back, “Yes, you pulled off that impressive combination attack with the Iwatian. Pity you don't have him now. I must warn you . . . I didn't bring anyone as weak as Kalt. Didn't seem necessary.”

“I can see that.” Master Roshi nodded. “But in any event, I--”

“You are no doubt wondering why you're still alive and speaking,” General Boreal interrupted again, “That is because you have something we want, or rather I should say some _one_.”

Cauliflora stepped forward now and said, “Master Roshi is speaking to you politely, _friend_ , it would be rude to keep interrupting him.”

General Boreal eyed her and said, “And who are you? Where did you come from? I don't recall seeing you in the recording of the massacre.”

“I just missed it.” Cauliflora said with a nod and sounding mockingly mournful. “I'm Cauliflora, daughter of Zorn who was a chief advisor to King Vegeta. I now serve Prince Trunks and you are trespassing on Royal Grounds.”

“Noted. And who is this third one?” General Boreal asked dismissively.

Roshi expected Tathy to give a cheeky wave and introduce herself but to his surprise she declared, “I am Jaco, Super Elite member of the Galactic Patrol and Earth is under my jurisdiction!”

“Jaco certainly seems like a male name.” General Boreal said dryly.

“So does Boreal!” Tathy shot back, “But Jaco is what it says on the uniform and on my slick ride so I guess Jaco is my name and I guess I'd know better than you!”

The General's smile widened a bit and he shrugged. “Very well. In that case I'm sure the Galactic Patrol would be all too eager to see a kidnapped child returned to his loving family. Good officer . . . Jaco . . . perhaps you'd be so kind as to help facilitate this exchange?”

“Oh is that all you want?” Cauliflora scoffed, “We just hand over the prisoners and you're on your way eh?”

“Prisoners?” The blue Arcosian flanking the General asked, but the General shook his head.

“Unless your prisoners are our own people I'm afraid we don't much care. The lesser races don't factor in for much. Appullatiens, Iwatians . . . _Saiyans_ , all just trash. But an Arcosian life, now _that's_ important.” The General said, putting emphasis to no doubt rile Cauli, but to Roshi's relief the Saiyan warrior didn't even shrug.

Tathy said, “Well if you promise to leave this world in peace and not return I will bring your prisoner up myself! I'm sure he'll be happy to see you, the no good opportunistic scoundrel!”

Cauliflora shot Tathy a stern look and said, “Just a minute there officer, that's _our_ prisoner.” She looked to Boreal and said, “What do we get for surrendering him?”

“Survival, and I can guarantee it for at least six more hours.” Boreal told her, the other Arcosians laughed.

Master Roshi tapped his staff on the concrete again and said, “So be it! Peace for even a little while is better than war. Officer, would you please go retrieve our prisoner?”

Tathy nodded slowly, walking back into the building leaving the rest of them on the lawn.

_If we can buy Bulma some time whatever it is she's working on might just help us._ Master Roshi thought. _But it had better be something spectacular._

Cauliflora asked Boreal, “What happens after six hours, General?”

“After six hours I'll learn whether or not Admiral Frigus' trap successfully killed your Super Saiyan. Trunks did you call him? Well if he survived the Admiral will no doubt have failed to do so and my attack on Earth will be _very_ imminent. If he failed then I'm sure the Twins themselves will want to do the honors and you can all live . . . until they arrive. So I do expect you'll join me in hoping that your Prince Trunks is very dead.” General Boreal teased.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Chillax had never felt better than he did the moment Tathy opened his cell. He'd been let out for brief exercises before, always under supervision but this time he knew . . . he was free. It felt so good he could almost have hugged the eccentric blue alien, but instead he had to inquire about her strange outfit.

“What's with the getup?” He asked her but she just scoffed at him. He raised his hands and said, “Fine, don't tell me. But it's happened, hasn't it? You're handing me over in the hopes it buys you a reprieve? It won't work, this planet is doomed.”

Tathy's pupils were dilating and contracting and she just shrugged. “Whatever. Come on.”

Chillax shook his head, “I know how the PTO operates, all right? If the General isn't blowing things up it's because you've got something he wants and if that something is me you've got no guarantees once you hand me over. But I wasn't lying, you could come with me. I'll need to start a new team and you're strong.”

“You should have tried harder to get your old one back. You talk about responsibility, but if I had a way to get _my_ old friends back I'd _have_ no higher responsibility!” Tathy snapped, and Chillax did feel her words bite and dampen his upbeat mood.

“Whatever.” He scoffed, and she shook her head.

She told him, “Doesn't matter though, move it.”

Chillax smiled rudely at her, “Well I'm not your prisoner anymore so you can't tell me what to do.”

“Move it _please_.” Tathy said sarcastically and Chillax bowed gallantly in return.

“Was that so hard?” He asked with a smirk. He told her, “You know I will miss having you around to bother me. If they want me to help conquer Earth and I have to fight you I'll destroy you quickly and painlessly. It's the least I can do for a friend.”

“I'm not your friend, buddy.” Tathy scoffed.

“No, I suppose that's a bit too strong a word. But it rolls better than 'source of mild amusement that kept my otherwise borderline solitary confinement from being totally maddening' don't you think? Apart from Karuto you were the closest thing to that after Trunks left . . . so for what it's worth--”

“Don't thank me, just get in the elevator.” Tathy snorted, avoiding eye contact.

Chillax shrugged and he followed her to the irritating sighing elevators, but this time when he disembarked and it told him to have a nice day he smiled because he knew he would. They crossed the empty lobby and came through the doors to stand at the top of the stairs that led to the path to the street where the General stood flanked by Cooly and Icebreaker with Hiemal and Gelid standing to the left near Roshi and Gelato and Sundae standing to the right near Cauliflora.

Chillax had never been happier to see his half-brother, and even Cooly seemed surprised, and he even laughed, “Hah! Chillax? I can't believe you made it!”

The Arcosian Commander couldn't resist smiling out of sheer relief, but he hid the fact that he too really couldn't believe this moment had come. It almost didn't feel real until he walked past the Earthling and the Saiyan, not sparing so much as a side glance at them to stand with his own people.

Even Icebreaker, who'd never been overly fond of him gave him an approving look and said, “Found a way to make it, eh? Well done, Commander. But we didn't even detect you!”

“I was held in a prison cell that used gravity to weaken me.” Chillax explained.

“It must not have worked, you're as strong as ever!” Cooly sad, “Stronger even, you're almost as strong as me!”

_Really? Just from living in the heavy gravity?_ Chillax wondered. But then, he could sort of understand it . . . coupled with his brief bits of outdoors exercise living in a heavy gravity environment could have strengthened his muscles, but he'd always been a finesse fighter. Would it have helped his speed?

“And what about Karuto?” General Boreal asked. “We know you have him, we saw the report from the mercenaries you chased off.”

“We don't have him,” Cauliflora said, “We have no idea where he is.”

“That's true,” Chillax told the General, “Karuto pulled a fast one on them, he stole a ship and escaped. I thought he'd sent you for me.”

General Boreal shook his head, “We've monitored this world and no ship has come or gone from it since those mercenaries, there is no way that Karuto stole a vessel, we would have intercepted it.”

The Earthling Roshi sighed and said, “He did take a vessel, but it travels in a way you wouldn't have detected or been able to intercept. We don't know where he is, but we will return him to you as soon as he arrives back.”

The General took a deep breath and seemed to be considering it, Chillax felt the need to mention, “They wouldn't have hurt Karuto, sir. They're a bunch of merciful fools. If they say they'll give him up, I think they really would.”

General Boreal shook his head and said, “Unacceptable. I want Lord Karuto returned _now_.”

“Please be reasonable, we have no way of retrieving him,” Roshi insisted, “Our only vessel of a similar type requires recharging and will continue to recharge for a while to come. Karuto will come back sooner or later we can only wait.”

“Wait how long?” Boreal demanded.

“As long as it takes him to come back.” Cauliflora said flatly.

Chillax said, “I don't think they'd lie,” but he was cut off by Hiemal.

“You're too close to this, you're just identifying with your captors!”

“I'm not their friend!” Chillax said defensively, taking a threatening step towards Hiemal. Hiemal's power level was only eighty thousand, Chillax could easily wallop him and teach him a lesson.

But the little Captain snarled angrily, “General we were sent forth by the Twins with a mission, you can't just trust these Earthlings when they say they don't know where Lord Karuto is!”

“Are you detecting him on your scouter Hiemal?” General Boreal asked sharply, “Because if you know where he is by all means let me know. Otherwise keep your peace, Captain, because it is clear to me that the power level we thought belonged to Karuto belongs to the Galactic Patrolman there.”

Hiemal shook with rage and Gelato spoke up now saying, “General, what if we take one of the Earthlings for added insurance? This old one, we'll just take him back with us and hold him until they return Karuto.”

Master Roshi said, “I'm willing to go with you if that's what it takes.”

Chillax nodded, “You see, they're even volunteering, it's obvious they're not lying. They've been searching for Karuto for two days.”

“Two days?” Hiemal roared, “It could be two more days! We can't wait that long, our forces are on top of this world, the _Black Ice_ , General we can't--”

“No!” General Boreal snapped, “I am the General, Hiemal, I give the orders. I _accept_ this bargain, we will take the Earthling champion and we will hold him hostage until Lord Karuto is returned!”

“No!” Hiemal roared, “You can't be serious! I won't accept that!”

Now it was Icebreaker who took a step towards Hiemal, “It's not for you to accept, that's the Generals order now stop shaming yourself, Captain!” The Major snarled.

Hiemal's son Gelid jumped between his father and the General's second in command, “Now let's settle down, my father is simply taken away with passion for--”

Hiemal began charging a blast in his hand, he shouted at the Earthlings, “You will surrender our Lord or I will destroy this city!”

“General stand your man down or I will _put_ him down! We can't give what we don't have!” The Saiyan Cauliflora roared her warning and Chillax could feel she was already powering up for the attack.

But what she was doing was the opposite of helpful, she was only escalating the situation. General Boreal growled, “Hiemal you fool, if you release that blast I will see to it that Lord Frostbite--”

“Lord Frostbite will thank me for ensuring his son was returned to him as any father would!” Hiemal roared, “I will count to ten, Earthlings! Return Lord Karuto or else! One!”

“I will count to _five,_ and then I will kill you, Arcosian.” Cauliflora warned.

“Two!” Hiemal roared.

“Hiemal, stand down!” Chillax snarled. “They're not trying to trick us, they wouldn't do that!”

“Three!”

“Are you sure you're not their friend?” Gelid scoffed and Chillax almost hit him for that. They didn't need anyone _else_ making things worse, Gelid was contributing to the escalation just as badly as Cauliflora only unlike her Chillax wasn't even sure _how_ he thought he was helping.

“Four!” Hiemal cried, and Cauliflora suddenly started forward but Tathy stretched her arms out and grabbed her around the waist and held her back, Roshi tossed his staff aside and the whole world seemed to move in slow motion.

Hiemal panicked seeing Cauliflora coming for him, he stretched his hand out and fired his blast at her, a blast that would no doubt barely faze the Saiyan but it was strong enough and large enough that it'd end Roshi and Tathy.

Or so Chillax thought but even when the rest of the world seemed like it was in slow motion the blue alien's fluid movements didn't slow, she held Cauliflora back and then like a rubber-band being shot threw herself into Hiemal's blast, absorbing it all and expanding to twice her normal size for a moment as everyone stared in shock.

“T-Tath!” Cauliflora gawked, Chillax could see Tathy fighting to absorb Hiemal's energy for a split second . . .

Before she failed.

The blast was nothing compared to what it would have been, but it was enough to knock Cauliflora back a step and send Roshi to his knees. There was a cloud of smoke, but as it cleared Chillax could see that Tathy was gone.

The Commander wasn't even actively aware of it when he quietly raised his hand and pointed his finger, he didn't actually realize what he was doing until he was already doing it. He only said to Hiemal, “ _She_ was my friend.”

The next thing he knew Hiemal fell to the ground clutching the hole in his throat from where Chillax's beam had struck him, Gelid was staring in shock and Boreal grabbed Chillax by the scruff of his neck.

“Traitor! What do you think you're--” He began before being cut off by Cauliflora's shout.

“Alpha Strike!” She roared as her fist, engulfed in burning violet energy struck the General's cheek. Her punch burning with all the energy of her three hundred thousand power level blasted him back into and _through_ his battle pod. Chillax fell to the ground and rolled looking up to see Cauliflora with a blazing aura already turning to her next opponent, Gelato.

The Captain of the _Dry Ice_ met blows with the Saiyan and for all his bulk and might the power difference was obvious, Cauliflora punched through his block striking him in the face then grabbing him by the neck of his armor with that same fist to yank him back towards her as she brought her knee up to meet his face.

The Earthling Roshi had transformed into his bulkier form and was already trying to keep Sundae from rushing to his Captain's aid but that didn't account for Gelid, Icebreaker, or Cooly.

Luckily for Cauliflora she only had to deal with Icebreaker and Cooly attacking her back because Gelid came for Chillax.

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

_**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .**_ _Two different worlds, two different times but Trunks and Karuto wage two very similar battles meeting with powerful beings who have something they want. Can they both succeed in getting what they came for? And will either be in time to save the Earth?_

 


	68. Be Happy

**Episode Thirty-Two**

**'Be Happy'**

 

Under guard aboard the alien vessel that had sprung its trap on them Videl's squad seemed stoic but Trunks could sense that deep down they were as nervous as he was. He mentioned, “If we can get them to give up the Namekians it'll all be okay.”

Videl asked him, “Do you think we're in much of a position to make demands?”

“This doesn't have to get any worse than it already has,” Trunks told her, “and if they just give up the Namekians we can get our Dragon Balls working and wish everyone back . . .”

“Easy.” Videl whispered, tilting her head towards the two humanoid aliens that were guarding them but Trunks didn't really mind if they heard him. The thought that he'd lost his remaining students was so much more powerful it was making him angry and that was making it difficult to see a way for any of this to end without violence.

But he knew it needed to. On some level even though he couldn't see it he knew he needed to find the way. He couldn't just use brute force for everything, he _had_ the brute force to put the PTO down but if he could get them to stop on their own wouldn't that be better?

All he wanted was peace. That was all he'd ever wanted. He wanted to stop fighting, he didn't want to give in to his darker side, his Saiyan side. He'd trained others hoping they could take the mantle and he'd just gotten innocent people killed, he'd gone back in time and plucked doomed warriors from the past only to let them die here in his own time fighting a fight they didn't even see as their own and how could he argue with them?

He just had to focus, keep seeming nonthreatening until he could get to the admiral and make his requests. _And they have to be requests, I can't make demands, even if I do have the power to enforce them_. Trunks thought, fighting to focus and keep his calm. The PTO ship was the same as _Humanity's Hope_ and as such it lacked a brig, instead they sat in a cargo hold under armed guard.

“It won't be long now.” Trunks assured the others, speaking quietly so the guards wouldn't overhear, though it was more for Videl's peace of mind rather than out of concern for them.

“How can you tell?” She asked.

“I can sense the Admiral. He's not much compared to me, but he's strong enough to notice.” Trunks whispered.

“What are you going to say to him?” Videl asked.

“I'm going to ask him to give up the Namekians and let us return to Earth in peace.” Trunks said simply.

“Based on what?” Videl asked.

“I . . . don't know? Based on I won't blow them all up? I won't kill everyone on this planet, take a pod and destroy their home-world? I don't want it to come to threats but I don't know what else I've got.” Trunks admitted.

Videl smirked, “Okay maybe let me do the negotiating.”

“Bluster won't work with them unless you can back it up.” Trunks warned her.

“I won't bluster,” Videl said, raising her hand in the air as if she were swearing and getting a startled jump out of the guards before quickly lowering her hand again and whispering, “I'll simply talk to him officer to officer and see what I can do. If he doesn't listen . . . then you can give him your ultimatum.”

“We should just kill them all.” Card muttered, “You heard them, they killed everyone else.”

“No they didn't.” Videl said, “They didn't kill the Namekians, our mission is to rescue the Namekians. Like Trunks said, they can restore our Dragon Balls on Earth.”

“Yeah the magic wishing orbs,” Card said, “But right now all I can think is that these people killed my wife and we're going to ask _nicely_ that they let us go? Not even _you_ negotiate that well, Captain.”

Trunks was surprised. He frowned at Card, “Who was your wife?” He asked and Card blinked back in surprise.

“Did I say . . . uh, well . . . Tarra . . . we weren't supposed to uh . . . actually tell anyone that.” Card muttered. “Trying to avoid transfers and such. I guess it doesn't matter much now.”

Trunks wasn't really sure what to say to that, but it wasn't helping his mood. He hadn't thought about it, but he wasn't the only one who'd lost people today. Every life lost was a family left to mourn as well.

All he could really say was, “I'm sorry.”

“It's not your fault.” Card muttered. “Heck you came along because you knew we couldn't do this without you and we were the idiots who thought _you_ were wrong! Just . . . blast it all this mission couldn't have gone worse.”

“No,” Trunks agreed, “but . . . for what it's worth . . .” He hesitated, not sure if he should admit what he thought given what Card had just told him. But he decided he had to try to reassure them all at least a little and he whispered, “Mai's not dead.”

“What?” Videl raised an eyebrow.

“I . . . didn't feel it.” Trunks said. “When my students started to die at the Battle of the Bunker I _felt_ each one, I felt Soda get hurt and . . . that was why I lost control. But . . . I don't know how to explain it, I just _. . ._ didn't feel Mai die. I don't think her team went down and if there's a way for them to rescue the crew from the _Hope_ I think they'll do it.”

Card looked uncertain but Videl smiled and nodded to Trunks as the door suddenly slid open for Captain Sleet, who stood there with a smile on his skeletal face. “You're all looking well. Enjoying your trip?”

“No, not really. The service is lousy.” Captain Videl said.

“Pity, but at least it's over.” Captain Sleet said, “I was just going to throw you in a hole and laugh at you for being stupid enough to surrender, but the Admiral wants to see you himself. You see . . . right now General Boreal is assaulting your world so there's a very good chance you're the last of your species.”

That riled the troops up and Trunks stared dumbfounded at the alien Captain.

“E-Earth? Earth too?” He asked, “How did Boreal get there so fast?”

“I'm sure you can ask the Admiral, come on.” Captain Sleet chuckled and Trunks forced himself to fall into step behind him desperately trying not to think about what he'd just been told.

_It's a lie. It's a lie._ All he could do was tell himself that it wasn't real. His mother, Master Roshi, Soda, Anavill, the King . . . everyone on Earth . . . all of Earth because he hadn't been there . . . Trunks shook his head slowly as he walked, absently he could hear Videl telling him to keep cool but all he could hear was his own voice whispering “It's a lie . . . it has to be a lie . . .”

His darker side was screaming at him, he had the power to put all of these monsters in their place he had the power to make them all pay for what they'd done . . . why did he want _peace?_ That was the _human_ in him, the _weakling_ in him, his father would have destroyed them all, Gohan would have— _no_ . . . Gohan . . . wouldn't have . . .

The thought of his old friend and mentor brought him back to himself as one of the Guards' scouters beeped an alarm. “What is that?” Captain Sleet demanded, turning to the Guards.

Trunks struggled to get his power level back under control quickly. The Captain wasn't wearing a scouter himself, so it fell to the Guards to tell him what they'd read.

“Um . . . just a hiccup in the scouter, sir. It . . . well it . . .”

“What?” Captain Sleet asked, sounding annoyed, “Did you pick up Admiral Frigus or something?”

“N-no, it said . . . it said m-m-million . . . m-more than a million.”

Captain Sleet laughed but it was an uneasy laugh, an uncertain slightly worried laugh. He looked at them again and said, “None of these could have a power level like that . . . they're just Earthlings.”

“C-could have been a bug.” The guard said, “You know, maybe something residual form the blanket jamming.”

“That's all it was,” Captain Sleet assured the guard, and it sounded like he was assuring himself too. “Come along, prisoners, let's not keep the Admiral waiting.”

Trunks nodded and tried hard not to think about any of it. Once they had the Namekians . . . it'd all be okay. Once they had Dende he could undo all of it. He'd undo all his mistakes. They'd all be okay.

Still he saw the worried look the guard gave him as he passed and he couldn't help smiling sinisterly as he thought, _Over a million? And that's just from me not paying attention._

He wanted peace. He wanted to resolve this without further loss of life . . . or at least his human side did. But Trunks was starting to think, or perhaps it would be better to say accept, that his human side might not be what was needed for dealing with alien threats.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto shifted uneasily in Lord Stobler's office. He and the others were all gathered together on one side of the desk while Stobler sat on the other tapping his . . . were they fingers? Tapping his finger-like-things on the desk angrily.

“This is unacceptable, unacceptable, this simply is _not_ how things are done. No, no, this is _not_ on.” Lord Stobler snarled, “I cannot believe you would weaken my House so much, oh I thought you were an adoring fan but no, _no_! You sir are a thief! A robber come to steal my champions in the middle of the night!”

“It's . . . morning.” Karuto offered.

“This is no time for jokes!” Lord Stobler gurgled angrily and slammed his claw down on the desk, “You would ruin my House!”

“I am saving it.” Karuto said evasively. “In eight years if I don't have these two--”

“I'd kill them myself before I let even one of them go!” Lord Stobler roared.

“Yeah, actually.” Karuto nodded. “That's pretty much what I heard, I'm here to prevent that.”

“Then you were foolish to come here and try to purchase them from me, that's only going to cause it!” Lord Stobler screeched, he pointed an angry Claw at Bass, “Was this your idea? Did you put him up to this? Did you suggest he purchase your freedom too? I know you meant to free yourself from this House, free yourself from my fortunes, you rat, you thief!”

“My Lord, I did no such thing, I assure you!” The Sensei said.

“He only mentioned he knew about our people, but he'd never even heard of Lord Slug and we've never seen him or his kind before.” The Medic added.

“How could you betray me like this?” Lord Stobler roared, “After all I've done for you?”

“Please!” Karuto cried, “I'm trying to save your world and you! I mean I'm mostly trying to save them, but the byproduct would be--”

“Silence you knave!” Lord Stobler roared, “I'll hear no more from you you—you—you— _you_!”

Karuto held up the credit chip and insisted, “If you prefer I will just transfer the money to them and they can purchase their own freedom, if they really don't want to come back with me then maybe--”

“You idiot, you don't _let_ slaves purchase their freedom! It's an _embarrassment_!” Lord Stobler roared, “You can't mean to free them, can you? That's even worse! You'd shame me by buying off my Champions then freeing them, buying my Sensei and my Medic, then freeing them? You were sent by Barc and the others, weren't you? You slime! You filth! That's how you got so much money, isn't that so? You--”

“Lord!” Cauli shouted suddenly, “Lord I don't even want to go! I want to stay in the arena, you promised me the fighting would get better and I believe it, all I want to do is fight with Rhuby by my side so just calm down and that'll be the end of it! We're not going anywhere!”

Lord Stobler _did_ settle down a bit. But only a bit. He drummed his fingers against his desk and snarled, “How many of the others are involved in this conspiracy? How much money have you got? How much money did they pool just to bring me down, you little thief?”

Karuto shook his head, “I'm not a thief, the money came from someone who . . . who would like to see these two Saiyans join what's left of their race. Their home world was destroyed, their families killed and I came here to offer them the chance to get their revenge!”

Lord Stobler screeched again, “I don't care about any of that!” He cried.

But Karuto hadn't said it for him. He'd said it for Cauli.

“What?” Cauli demanded, “Planet Vegeta? Our race? What?!”

“These Namekians too, their world is under attack even now, and I am trying to give them a chance to fight for it, please Lord Stobler, take the credit chip and let them go!” Karuto insisted, offering the credit chip to Lord Stobler.

The Robusuta's eyes got greedy and he snatched the chip. He stared at it for a moment, then . . . Karuto would swear he smiled even though his mouth wasn't built for it. Lord Stobler said, “You're obviously . . . some kind of conman . . . that's a crime, yes, yes, a crime . . . but I won't turn you in, no, no, I'll just take this . . . and you can stay in my House . . . forever . . . as my new _slave_.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Admiral Frigus wasn't quite what Trunks had expected. Most of the members of Frieza's race were fairly short, or at least the ones he'd seen but the Admiral was statuesque. He lacked horns, and his figure was neither particularly muscular nor particularly lithe. All the same dressed in his white armor with a cream colored cape wrapped around its pauldrons there was no mistaking him.

“This one is their Captain,” The Arcosian Captain Sleet said, presenting Videl but Admiral Frigus didn't seem interested in her. Instead he gazed levelly at Trunks.

He said, “Thank you Captain Sleet, I'll take control of the prisoners. Return to your ship and await further orders.”

“Sir.” Sleet saluted.

Frigus clasped his hands behind his back and said, “Keep the prisoners under guard here on the bridge, Captain Rime. I'll speak to that one in the office.”

“Their Captain?” Rime asked.

“No, that strangely dressed one.” The Admiral said, pointing to Trunks.

“What about their Captain?” The green Arcosian, Rime, Trunks supposed, asked.

“You can talk to that one Captain to Captain.” Frigus said with a wave of his hand. He led the way to the office and asked Trunks, “Shall we?”

Trunks was confused but he followed. They walked in silence as admiral led him away to an office just off the bridge. It was small with a just a desk, some chairs and a side door that maybe led to a closet or something. The Admiral reached for a pair of clear glasses already set on the table and asked, “Thirsty? I promise it won't be poisoned . . . thought I doubt we have anything on this ship toxic enough to slay the Legendary Super Saiyan.”

Trunks was surprised, “You . . . know who I am?”

“Yes, of course. Do please have a seat.” Admiral Frigus said. “Your hair and your eyes are different, but I'm from a race of shape shifters, you'll have to disguise yourself better if you want to trick me.”

“You're the first to say anything.” Trunks said.

“Perhaps I cared more than the rest.” Frigus said with a shrug sitting behind a desk as Trunks took the opposite seat. “I've spent the last four months watching the recording of your assault on Kalt over and over again . . . planning my revenge only now to find that it's failed spectacularly. But then you Saiyans are a hard race to exterminate.”

“You're awfully calm about all this.” Trunks said carefully.

“I didn't want to panic the crew, besides what does it benefit me to panic myself? If I may be totally frank, and since I expect my life will end soon I see no reason not to be, I'm not very calm _inside_. Not because I'm sure you're going to assassinate me, I was prepared to fail in my mission. Rather how could I be calm sitting across from _you_? As I've said I watched that record over and over again to the point that even I could tell I was going mad . . . your face was burned into my memory the moment I received the final transmission from the _Cold Heart_.”

“Because I killed your friend and defended my world?” Trunks scoffed.

“Because you killed my son!” Admiral Frigus snapped, but he quickly recovered. He shook his head and said, “I don't imagine you'd understand, but I admired Lord Frostburn before he was even a Lord. Cunning, powerful, ambitious, Frostburn was everything to me my entire life and when my Lord chose my DNA to create a new member of the Clan it was more than I'd ever dared to hope for . . .”

The Admiral laughed and leaned back in his chair staring into space as if recalling some distant event, he said, “Mind you our race doesn't reproduce the way yours does, we are fully capable of producing offspring by ourselves. DNA combination was a new trick to try to increase our strength, no one could naturally match Lord Frieza so we needed to find some way of making ourselves stronger. Frostburn wanted my strategist's mind combined with his overpowering might . . . and Chillax was the result.”

“You're Chillax's father . . .” Trunks said slowly.

“That's what I said.” Admiral Frigus said, taking a long sip of his green drink. He whispered, “I stole the assignment for Earth from Boreal and gave it to Kalt . . . because I wanted my son to be happy, to revel in honors and triumph, to go down in the history of our people, to groom him not just to follow in Frieza's footsteps, but to _be_ Frieza. I was selfish and hypocritical, I put my own desires before those of this Clan for the love of my child . . . and it cost me what mattered most, Saiyan.”

The Admiral chuckled bitterly, “Then I set up this wonderful trap for you . . . I threw away Clan assets, I threw away Clan _members_ just for the chance to kill _you_ and I failed . . . but enough about me . . . why are you here on this ship letting me continue to draw breath?”

Trunks wasn't sure what to say to that so he just said, “I don't want to assassinate you, I want the Namekians. Give them to me and call off whatever attack you've sent to Earth and you and what's left of your people live.”

“And if I don't?”

“Then I'll rip this ship apart until I find them.” Trunks assured him.

The Admiral nodded slowly, “Well we can't have that . . . Dandy, isn't it? Oh no, it's _Dende_ , that's right. Do come in, show yourself, Dende.”

Trunks didn't know Dende well but he could tell the Namekian who walked into the office from the side door really was him. He resembled Cargo, only shorter and slimmer, he wore tattered white and red robes and his eyes were downcast as he dragged heavy chains clasped around his wrists and neck.

Trunks was about to rush over and break the chains but the Admiral said, “If you tamper with them they'll send a shock to his brain that will cease its function . . . do sit back down, and let's discuss my terms for releasing this prisoner.”

Trunks sat down and scowled, “You think you can set _terms_?”

“I know I can, and I know you'll meet them . . . because otherwise I'll never give you the key to those chains.” The Admiral said simply. “So let's begin Saiyan . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“Guards, take the slaves away.” Lord Stobler said.

Rhubara could see the horrified look on the little Arcosian's face, she could see the conflict on Sensei's face and even Cauli looked like she wasn't sure what to do next, and a part of Rhuby understood, _Planet Vegeta . . . home . . ._

They'd always assumed they could go home whenever they wanted, Cauli always told her it wasn't like Planet Vegeta was going anywhere and now . . . now it was just gone.

And whoever had done it Lord Frieza had clearly thought enough about vengeance to have a member of his own clan track them down, but this Arcosian was just a child and Rhuby could tell he was out of his depth. She looked at Cauli and shook her head slightly. She put a hand on the other girl's shoulder and squeezed gently before she stood up and said, “I'm sorry Lord Stobler, I don't mean to speak out of place, but I think you should return the credit chip.”

“Don't be a nitwit, it's obviously evidence, I'm certain that Barc will confess but only after I've used it to buy his entire stable.”

“You're certain then?” Rhubara asked and Lord Stobler gave her a confused look. She nodded and said, “Then . . . bargained well and done. You've clearly accepted my new Lord's payment, that chip for four slaves.”

Lord Stobler laughed, “Oh . . . what? Don't be silly old girl! Get back to your cells, all of you! I'll think of how to punish you for this little attempted insurrection later.”

Rhuby cracked her knuckles and said, “I'm sorry, I just can't . . . you don't own me anymore.”

The little Arcosian's eyes widened as he understood what she was saying and Cauli jumped up and nodded.

“I'd have fought for you for a century just for the fun of it, but I won't do it without Rhuby . . . and you _did_ accept the chip.”

“I didn't accept it!” Lord Stobler roared.

“You're holding it, you're not giving it back, I think that's accepting it.” Rhuby told him. “Otherwise give it back.”

“Unless . . . you're stealing it?” Bass asked now, standing up.

“I . . . I would never!” Lord Stobler sputtered.

“If you stole it you must return it, and if you return it you know he will transfer the funds to us and you will be required by _law_ to allow us to purchase our own freedom no matter how embarrassing it is to you.” Kazoo told their former Lord, then he feigned realization and said, “Oh drat, are we on their side too? Oh all right, all right.” He rolled his eyes and stood alongside Bass, “Grr.” He said without effort.

Lord Stobler laughed, “Rhuby . . . Rhuby, my dear . . . sit down, you're causing a scene. Cauli, sweet child there's no need for this . . . you're my _champions!_ Don't you see this is just a ploy by the other Lords to keep you from the glory you deserve? Oh Sensei, Medic, don't think me a villain! I would never steal . . . it's only . . . none of his money can be trusted, I'll just hold onto it until the proper authorities--”

“Oh so you'll be calling the proper authorities?” The little Arcosian stood up now, clearly having found his confidence, “You'll certainly tell them about the portion of it that was paid to you, right? And I'm sure they'll want it back if it's counterfeit, but _if_ those credits are legitimate as I _know_ they are and as _you_ secretly _know_ they are . . . won't that be shameful? And like they said, if you won't take my money from me I'll just give it to them, maybe I'll make it worse, maybe I'll give _all_ your slaves enough to buy their freedom . . . you know I'm good for it.”

Rhuby smiled, “Lord Stobler . . . sometimes it's good to know when you've lost. Now I think it's best if the five of us walk out of this compound.”

“Or else what?” Lord Stobler snarled.

“Or else you might not have a compound left.” Rhuby said honestly, “I have hated this place since I arrived . . . I just wanted to go home and now I don't even _have_ a home. I am a Saiyan warrior, a low-class warrior but still a _Saiyan_ warrior. For all we've done for you in the arena you still don't really understand what that means, don't make me show you.”

“But . . .” Lord Stobler shook his head, “I . . . I can't!”

“You have enough money to buy and sell all your competitors, you can own half the War World!” Karuto insisted. “What is all this for if not that?”

“I don't want half! I want it all!” Lord Stobler roared, “I want to go down in history!”

“I'm giving you more money than any Robusuta has ever held, you are wealthy beyond wealth! Just let me take them back with me,” Karuto said, “Or else you _will_ go down in history, you'll be right at the back of the book where it talks about your people's extinction! Only no one will read it because the planet will be a barren wasteland!”

“What are you--” Lord Stobler began but Karuto actually started to shout at him now.

“Your world will end, your people will end, you will die and your arena, that grand glorious place will be swept away in a flash of light, I know! You can stop it all by just letting them go, forget your pride, you have the money to go down in history while there's still history to go down in!”

Lord Stobler sank in his seat and shook his head slowly. He looked at the credit chip, and muttered, “But . . . but . . . but I want . . . I want it all . . . I want everything . . .”

“I just want a story with a happy ending for a change!” Karuto cried, “You're rich and you're alive, that's happy, be happy! Cauli and Rhuby are going to survive and come with me and join what's left of their people on a new home, that's happy, be happy for them! The Sensei and the Medic will get to join _their_ people even though they didn't know they had a people, that's happy--”

“And I'm happy for them . . .” Lord Stobler forced himself to say with a defeated sigh, his stalk-eyes drooping. He nodded slowly and said, “Go then . . . bargained well and done. I accept your payment, take your Fighters and go fight your fight little Lord.”

Karuto seemed stunned for a moment and then he jumped up, punching his fist in the air triumphantly and shouting, “Yes!”

Lord Stobler suddenly looked old, he gurgled pitifully then seemed to see the credit chip for the first time, perhaps realizing the truth of his new found fortune. He straightened up and with some degree of dignity he said, “Very well then, you four are free of this House . . . may your enemies tremble before you now and may your respective peoples envy the power you gained under my roof. And when you are taking your vengeance just remember that you're Champions of the Arena, Champions of House Stobler . . . defeat won't be any more acceptable just because you have a new Lord. Go my Legends, make your enemies tremble.”

Rhuby smirked, and bowed to Lord Stobler for the last time before she told him, “That is what we do.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time On Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The battle for Earth is in full swing, even though the Earthlings receive help from an unexpected source can they turn the tables?_

 


	69. Alpha Strike!

**Episode Thirty-Three**

**'Alpha Strike!'**

 

“Do you already have a ship, little Lord? You have no money now, no credit chip, if you had planned to purchase one,” Bass was saying but Karuto waved his hand.

“Don't worry about it, I came prepared! And you don't have to call me Lord, I'm Karuto and you're free now!”

“As you wish.” Bass said, then the tall Namekian smiled, “I have to admit, I dreamed of this day since the moment I understood what freedom was . . . but I didn't expect a strange alien child to be the one to free me.”

“Is it that obvious I'm a child?” Karuto asked with a frown. The four former slaves with him exchanged glances and smiles but it was Rhuby who answered.

“Yabby gives it away.”

Karuto pouted a bit, and gave Yabby a hug, “Don't listen to her, I don't blame you.” He assured the doll. Then he reached into his battle jacket and produced the capsule that contained the time machine. “We're going to need a nice open space for this . . .”

They chose an open field outside of the Stobler grounds. The Four former Fighters had said their goodbyes, obviously Karuto hadn't wanted to deny them that chance even though he could tell Lord Stobler would rather they just be gone.

It hadn't been tearful or anything like that, and seeing Bass and Kazoo leaving definitely had a greater impact on everyone than seeing the Saiyan girls go. Karuto supposed that was because the Saiyans had only been around for a couple of years but the Namekians had been around for far longer, perhaps their entire lives.

But eventually the goodbyes were said, final words exchanged and Karuto stood with his four new friends ready to summon up the time machine and take them into the future. He didn't quite know what would happen because of it, from what he understood Cauliflora and Tathy wouldn't be changed and the Warworld from his own time would still be a barren lifeless rock.

But this one in the alternate past that Mister Trunks had created would live on, minus a pair of Namekians and a pair of Saiyans. The new Cauliflora and the old Cauliflora would exist together, sort of like sisters or maybe clones. It might be weird, but he was sure they'd be able to move past it.

Karuto smiled and said, “Well, if you're all ready let me take you to your new home.”

He threw the capsule on the ground of the road approaching Lord Stobler's home, it expanded to the larger time machine in a puff of smoke. It looked like a pentagonal box with a ball on top, the ball was the cockpit and the box was where the passengers would sit. Karuto rushed over to the cockpit and climbed in, “Quick!” He told them, “We should hurry! Oh . . . um . . . you've all got to be really calm cuz there's going to be some surprises but I can't tell you now cuz you wouldn't believe me!”

The Namekians got inside but Rhubara hesitated, Cauli grasped her hand and pulled her gently, but insistently towards the time machine.

“Come on, it's better than a pod.” Cauli whispered to her.

Rhuby forced a smile, and Karuto, sensing her hesitancy and suspecting she just didn't like space travel said, “The trip is going to be practically instantaneous, it's more like . . . um . . . oh, like teleportation!”

Rhubara nodded and slowly approached the ship, eventually though Kazoo jumped out in a huff and grabbed her.

“Oh for pity's sake why didn't you _tell_ me you had this problem?”

“Can you do something about it?” Cauli asked.

“Don't be stupid, of course I can't!” Kazoo scoffed, then shook his head, “I mean can! Of course I _can_!”

“What are you going to do?” Bass asked and Karuto hopped out of the cockpit and went around to see.

“We'll just blindfold her and--”

“No!” Rhuby shouted, shoving him away and jumping back a pace, “It's worse if I can't see!”

“Oh!” Karuto said, “Then the cockpit!”

“What?” Cauli asked.

“Well it'll be cramped . . . here,” Karuto handed his doll to Kazoo, “take Yabby, don't let anything happen to him.”

Kazoo raised an eyebrow and sighed, Karuto ushered the other three into the passenger compartment then led Rhuby up to the cockpit.

“See, it's half transparent see. I promise, we'll get inside, the top will close but you'll blink and we'll be where we're going. Then we'll get out.”

Rhubara nodded, and with some difficulty they were able to squeeze into the cockpit together. It helped that Karuto was so small, and Rhuby and Cauli weren't yet fully grown.

It was subtle but Karuto could tell from looking at Cauli that there was a difference between this Cauli and her fully grown older self, it was akin to the difference between Beeta and the other Saiyans; slight but noticeable.

And in this case welcome. They got inside and Karuto keyed in the sequence to return, the hatch closed the ship began to hover off the ground, electricity seemed to surge around it much the way it had the first time Karuto had used it and then . . .

They were back and his scouter was going crazy.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The fighting for Earth wasn't going at all the way Roshi had hoped, and that was with Chillax fighting on their side, albeit unexpectedly. The Arcosian Commander was struggling against own kind, his muscles had grown from almost constant exposure to heavier gravity but he wasn't used to them and it was obviously making fighting in his usual way more difficult. Still he was holding his own well enough but Roshi knew that no matter how well the rest of them did the fight was going to be decided by Cauliflora and General Boreal.

Cauli was angry, she was being aggressive and she was pushing the General's two assistants back at first but only until the General himself had dusted himself off from the wreckage of the ship she'd punched him into and joined the fight, then it became a matter of the General doing the brunt of the damage while his two supporters rushed in to strike her and retreat before she could retaliate.

Roshi wanted to help but the old hermit had problems of his own, the Arcosian he was fighting for some reason made him think of a tasty ice cream sundae with a cherry on top, but this opponent was no sweet treat. The Arcosian he fought was aggressive and powerful, and the Turtle Hermit was being pushed to his very limits far worse than when he had fought with Kalt.

Of course his limits then and now were different.

_A shame Trunks couldn't help Cauli turn Super Saiyan before he left,_ Master Roshi thought, _of course we didn't know if we could trust her, but he trusted her enough to leave her to protect the planet. Would have been handy if the young'un gave her a few tricks to help with it._

That line of thought wasn't helpful to the cause course, and Roshi had bigger problems. His opponent lunged for him, the creature was all fists and kicks and tail, the Turtle Hermit's wealth of experience was keeping the fighting even despite the enemy's superior strength.

Just as Chillax was having trouble defeating a weaker opponent because he was simply unused to fighting with his body's new capabilities Roshi's opponent was finding that just having the power didn't matter much if your opponent was more able to use his than you were to use yours. Naturally it helped that Roshi had a good amount of power himself, and were he not pushing his strength to the limit he'd have been readily beaten.

However as it was he was able to hold his own, even though he wasn't seeing a lot of chances to take a shot of his own, at least until the Arcosian unexpectedly stumbled, rolling to the ground his foot caught by . . . something.

Roshi didn't hesitate, he drew his hands back and began to charge his blast, “Kah . . . may . . . hah . . . may--”

He sensed the opponent behind him just in time and leapt up into the air to avoid being kicked in the back by the brawny navy colored Arcosian. Roshi had thought that one unconscious from Cauliflora's initial attack on him, but unfortunately he'd recovered.

_Great, now I've got two opponents of my own._ Roshi thought irritably, _Or do I?_ He wondered, spotting the thing that had tripped up the white Arcosian he'd been fighting.

It was a slimy blue hand emerging from what appeared to be a growing puddle of blue slime. The Arcosian looked at it in alarm, his comrade growled and aimed his hand at the puddle to blast it, turning his back on Roshi and allowing the old man to unleash his own blast first.

“HA!” Roshi roared, sending his wave of brilliant blue energy to engulf both of the Arcosians, feeling no concern for the blue puddle.

_If Tathy can come back from what they did to her I don't think I'll do her in!_ Roshi thought. The blast on the ground created a dust cloud, just the sort that Roshi didn't need. He knew his opponents wouldn't have been finished off with a single blast, he just needed to hope that he'd hurt them enough to give him time to come down.

He wasn't really a flier, he'd only leapt up high to avoid the navy Arcosian, so after leaping up high and blasting them with his Kamehameha Wave gravity was once again taking hold of the old Master.

He came to earth harder than he'd have liked, bending over as a jolt of pain rippled through his back which, by a staggering coincidence meant that he ducked under the navy Arcosian's punch when he emerged from the dust cloud.

Roshi leaned back with a satisfying snapping noise from his back and turned to the alien, “You don't give up easy, do you?”

“Surrender isn't in my vocabulary.” The Arcosian grunted, cracking his knuckles. Roshi started to step back, not wanting to expose his back to either opponent and not wanting to rely on Tathy of restrain his first foe for long, after all if she were still mostly a puddle it was probably the unexpectedness of her grab that made the cream colored Arcosian stumble, not the strength of it.

“If this were the old days this is about the time Goku would show up and save the day.” Master Roshi sighed.

“I don't know what that means,” the Arcosian told him, “but no one is coming. You're on your--” He stopped suddenly as Roshi saw his scouter begin to beep and the old Hermit suddenly sensed a new power.

Had Bulma succeeded in her plan? Or . . . had someone else just arrived?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Anavill hadn't known what to do, she felt helpless in her chair once the fighting started. She couldn't do anything to help, no matter how badly she wanted to and even if she had the use of her legs she could tell just from trying to watch the fighting from the Capsule Corp. lobby that she was hopelessly outclassed.

But when she saw Karuto come back and run for the doors she cried out, “What are you doing? Where have you been, we--”

She stopped when she saw the four forms that emerged from the elevator with him. Two humanoid women with Saiyan tails, one of them with long black hair and the sort of grayish complexion that Turles sported, the other with shoulder-length hair with a skin-tone closer to Cauliflora's, in fact the girl _looked_ a lot like a slightly younger Cauli. Both wore teal-blue tunics with weighted metal boots and bracers, the one with longer hair also wore a pair of baggy pants while her companion wore a knee-length skirt.

Still despite their strange clothes there was no mistaking that they were Saiyan just as there was no mistaking that the giant with them was a Namekian, thought Anavill was less certain about the smaller green creature no taller than Karuto himself.

That smaller green creature gave her a look and scurried over, “What kind of chair is that?”

“I—what? It doesn't matter, listen Karuto your--”

“The General came, I know!” Karuto cried, “This is bad! I don't know what we're going to do!”

“I know what I'm going to do.” The girl who looked like Cauli said, “I'm getting in on that.”

“We don't know who we're supposed to be helping.” The Namekian pointed out.

“So we don't help either group, we put 'em all down and--” The one who looked like Cauli was saying but Karuto interrupted her.

“No, no, you can't! I didn't bring you here to get you killed, General Boreal can't be fought, he's got to be reasoned with!”

“And . . . he's the bad guy here?” Long-hair asked.

“No . . . well I mean technically!” Karuto cried.

“He's attacking Earth, so yes.” Anavill said, then waved the smaller green alien away from her, “Stop it!”

“You _want_ to stay like that? Or are you too stupid to see I'm trying to help you?” The creature snorted, “Never mind, it can be both or neither I'm not just going to ignore an injury . . . oh you idiots healed this wrong! What kind of backwards primitive prehistoric planet have you taken us to, you miniature madman?”

Anavill didn't have time for him, the world was under attack and Trunks was off fighting aliens far away. She told Karuto, “General Boreal showed up, we handed Chillax over but they wanted you too. It looked like they were going to settle for taking Master Roshi until you returned but instead one of his guys went crazy and blew up Tathy, then your cousin just out of nowhere blasts the guy that did it and then it was all chaos!”

“Tathy?” The Namekian blinked, then turned to Karuto, “You _also_ have a warrior named Tathy?”

Karuto shook his head, “It's the same Tathy, I uh . . . I meant to tell you. So wait, Tathy's _dead_?”

“Well they blew her up, there wasn't anything left!” Anavill said.

“They just blew her up? She's fine then, we've tried that.” The green creature muttered. “She'll take a few moments to collect herself then she'll be back in the fight.”

“Who else is here?” The girl who looked like Cauli asked, looking through the tinted glass door, “You guys got anyone else I know?”

“Look, I've got to settle them down,” Karuto said, “I'll talk to the General, if he wanted me I know I can--”

“This isn't the kind of thing you'd be heard shouting over, let us settle it down for you first.” The Namekian said.

“No you can't!” Karuto cried, “General Boreal is the strongest of our kind apart from the Twins, he's stronger than all three of you put together, he's a legend!”

“Oh . . . did you not know?” Long-hair asked, smiling slightly, “I though this was why you bought our freedom.”

“We undo legends, kid.” The girl who resembled Cauli said, opening the door and stepping out without seemingly a second thought.

“It is what we do.” The Namekian agreed, ducking under the doors and following the first Saiyan girl out.

“Don't worry, we'll just bring it to a stop.” The long-haired girl told him and she rushed off after them.

“What about you?” Anavill asked the little green alien who was getting on her nerves with all his poking and prodding of her chair.

“No, not my thing, but you can go after them if you like. Go on, stand up, stop being a lazy old oaf.”

“I can't stand!” Anavill said angrily.

“Prove me wrong, dumdum.” The green alien said, unceremoniously grasping the handles to her chair and flying upwards, dumping her out of the thing so that she stumbled forward and on instinct . . .

Moved her legs.

Anavill stared in shock, Karuto rushed over.

“Wow!” He gasped, “You really are an incredible medic!”

Anavill looked down at her own legs . . . she was standing. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks, she looked at the green alien, still floating overhead holding onto her chair examining it as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world to him.

He glanced down at them and said, “What? Oh . . . yes, yes, you're welcome, just don't touch me.”

Anavill swallowed a lump in her throat and turned to those glass doors. She took her first uncertain step, then another. She couldn't believe she was walking . . . but now she wasn't going to just sit idly by and hope for the best.

She was going to fight.

Or so she thought before Karuto grabbed her wrist and said, “Hold it right there, you're going to be like an ant compared to them! Even if you can walk again you haven't trained except for when you showed me things!”

“They're attacking my world, as happy as I am to stand I can't just stand here!” Anavill insisted, even though she knew he was right.

“You don't have to, but don't try to fight them!” Karuto insisted, “Just stay close to me, we'll get them to stop!”

Anavill nodded and together she and the little Arcosian opened the door and walked out into the chaos.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The elder Cauliflora though she didn't yet know that that was a distinction she needed to make was very much up against the ropes. She was battered, she was tired, even her blood lust was starting to feel like it was being slaked more on her own than that of her enemies.

Of course maybe that was because she could taste so much of it. She spat pure red and struggled to her feet, glaring at the General and his entourage.

“Three on one and it's taking you this long?” Cauli smirked defiantly and spat a bit more blood.

“You did bring this on, Saiyan but that doesn't mean we won't relish it. You'll have to forgive us for savoring this moment . . . it's not every day we get to kill one of your worthless kind.” General Boreal explained.

“It's not every day I get to kill an Arcosian.” Cauli shot back, though she could tell the odds of her pulling that off were slim.

The General advanced towards her, raising his hand and pointing a finger he said, “Well I'm happy to disappoint you, monkey . . . how about I make a hole and let some of that hot air out, eh?”

He fired a ruby red blast but Cauli was yanked out of the way by a long telescoping arm. She laughed in relief, “Tathy? You pulled yourself together pretty quick!”

But when the giant Namekian took a step past her she realized she'd been wrong, it'd been _Bass_ who had grabbed her.

“Oh . . . I'm dead.” She reasoned. “Good to see you again, Sensei.”

The Giant Namekian turned his head and looked at her, his scarred green face twisted in confusion for a moment before he asked, “Are you . . . how is this possible?”

“You're the ghost, you tell me.” Cauli said, but she didn't wait around for an answer, instead she sprang back towards General Boreal, his cohorts now tied up fighting two other fighters wearing the blue and white of House Stobler.

Fighting them . . . not fighting ghosts, they were fighting the actual fighters. Fighters with tails . . . _How?_ She wondered, _What's happening? Why are . . . what is . . . is that_ me _? Is that . . . is that . . ._ She looked at the young Saiyan fighting the red and yellow Arcosian in absolute disbelief.

“Rhuby . . .” She said in a half-whispered gasp.

The General turned to her, his lip curling as he snarled, “More of your kind? It's still not enough, Saiyan! Now there's plenty for all!”

“Rhuby!” Cauli shouted, ignoring the General, “You can't be here!” She turned back, looking at Bass, was she dead? No, the general and his fighters were fighting these specters of her past, “What are you . . . none of you should be here!”

“We came with the little Lord, he said he needed us to fight.” Bass told her, “How are you here?”

Cauli's brain slowly began to put the pieces together, as impossible as it sounded . . . Karuto . . . Karuto had . . .

She looked again, the General was smiling sinisterly, “Oh I see . . . these ones mean something to you do they? Well they fight pretty evenly with my first and second officers . . . can't have that. Hmm . . . well now this one looks like she could be your sister . . . is that it?”

The general threw a blast at the younger Cauliflora before Cauli could do or say anything, even before Bass could reach out and grab her to pull her to safety.

If he'd wanted her dead she might have been, instead his blast simply threw her off her feet and allowed the general's blue assistant to start pummeling her mercilessly, prompting the big Namekian Bass to spring into action, punching the Arcosian in the face with all the power his giant frame could muster only to have the blow caught by a single finger from the smiling Arcosian.

“And what are you supposed to be?” The Arcosian teased, “Some kind of jolly green giant?”

But the General wasn't done, he smiled at Cauli then he stretched his hand out again, energy gathering for a stronger blast, this one aimed at Rhubara.

The scum was going to blast Rhuby. Not _her_ Rhuby, but still Rhuby, as hard as it was to wrap her brain around it in the moment Cauliflora couldn't allow that. She gave him one stern glare before she whispered, “I'm not losing her again . . .” she felt her hands shaking, she felt herself losing control the way she had forty years ago when she'd seen Rhubara's eyes close for the final time.

That wasn't happening again. “Not again!” Cauli roared and in a golden flash she hurtled herself at the General, his movements seemed sluggish now as he turned his blast to her instead, his eyes shone with fear, actual fear and something inside of Cauli reveled in it. She ran right through his blast and punched him hard in the chest, his armor cracking like a glass window being struck by a hammer, he flew even further than when she'd hit him before with her Alpha Strike.

Cauliflora didn't question it, it was just the same as it'd been when she destroyed the arena her primal side was in control all she wanted was to kill her enemies and everything was her enemy.

_No, no, not again!_ She told herself, _not again, Bass is your friend! Tathy is your friend! Only the General is your enemy, just focus on him, only him!_

It was not a good day to be General Boreal.

Cauli understood whatever had taken control of her the day she destroyed the arena and started destroying all life on War World had taken control of her again, it'd felt like being an Oozaru without transforming and that was how she felt now, but just like the Oozaru over time she felt like she had some greater measure of control of it now, she was at least conscious in the moment . . . or had she been before?

She didn't want to think about that . . . But she did want to think about hurting the General, that satisfied her brain a great deal. She rushed at him wondering if perhaps she'd found some way to tap into the same Battle Rage the Evil Twins used, was that what had left her to obliterate the population of the War World all those years ago?

If so the heightened power level must be what had the General so worried, and he _was_ worried she couldn't just see it she could smell it, she could taste it, she could _feel_ it. Every ounce of her being sensed that her prey was afraid now, and he was indeed her prey.

She threw punches faster and harder than he could block or stop, forcing him to devote every ounce of speed he had to dodging but even at his best his movements were still sluggish to her and she had no trouble connecting when she wanted to.

But only when she wanted to, she let him dodge many of her blows, let him think he was doing well, she toyed with him unable to stop herself from taking a perverse glee in letting her prey think he stood a chance. The fight had swung violently into the other direction now, but in a strange way Cauli was more helpless now than she had been before because for the life of her she just couldn't imagine why she _wouldn't_ savor the kill.

Other than the thought that there were others . . . yes, others to fight, others to kill, powerful opponents all around her . . . she threw herself forward focusing her energy into her left hand for her strongest attack, she roared, “Alpha Strike!”

The blow would have finished General Boreal, Cauli knew it instinctively, he was barely hanging on as it was.

She didn't need the full powered attack, but she wanted to make a statement.

“Omega Blast!” Another voice shouted and a torrent of blue energy blasted the General from the side knocking him out of her path causing her strike to slam into the ground creating a crater that went perhaps twenty feet down like a dent in the Earth, it even knocked many of the other fighters off their feet or forced them to take off into the air.

Cauli spun around, glaring at the fool who'd dare knock her kill out of the way. The General was lying on the ground struggling for breath, but he was alive and that made her furious! Who had done that? Who had just made themselves the next to die?

She saw her, standing at the edge of the crater, long black hair blowing in the wind, purple eyes unrepentant. Cauliflora had no control of her own mind, she just pointed and snarled, “You . . .”

The girl smiled at her and just confirmed, “Me.” She fell into a stance, but she'd be a fool to think she could fight.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The battle for Earth reaches its conclusion, have the Defenders of Earth traded one unstoppable monster for another? Can Cauliflora be restrained, or will our heroes have to do the unthinkable? And what will happen across the stars when another Saiyan goes out of control?_

 

 


	70. Resistance is Futile

**Episode Thirty Four**

**'Resistance is Futile'**

 

The battle for Earth had already been horrifying for Karuto from the start, when he and Anavill marched onto that field he'd quickly waved down Captain Gelato and cried, “Please stop the fighting! I'm here, I came back, they're ready to hand me over!”

Gelato did relent, and Master Roshi seemed to be relieved, especially since Gelato's second in command, clearly taking his Captain's lead relaxed his stance a bit, though he didn't outright stand down.

Neither did Gelato, he said, “Karuto, you're safe? What is going on?”

Maybe it was the time he'd spent in the past letting him live like a big shot but Karuto had . . . well . . . sort of gotten used to pretending to be a powerful jerk so he shouted, “You fools ruined all my plans, that's what's going on!”

That much _was_ true, though not in the way they'd likely expect. The little Arcosian shouted, “Stand down now! We need to get the General under control and withdraw our forces, my father will be _furious_ when he learns you attacked one of his agents!”

“The . . . that Jaco person?” Gelato seemed confused, “Is . . . that--”

“Yes!” Karuto guessed, he'd actually meant Tathy. He didn't know who Jaco was but he didn't care, if it was making the Captain second guess it was good enough for him. “Did you think my father didn't have plans?”

“An inside man in the Galactic Patrol . . . that makes sense!” Gelato's second in command cried, “Lord Frostbite is clever!”

“Yes,” Karuto agreed, “Now quickly, get in your pods and return to your ships and the staging area, I'll handle this!”

“But what about your cousin, Chillax?” Gelato had demanded and then things became truly scary.

Because then there was a flash of yellow light, and when Karuto looked Cauliflora had . . . transformed.

She was shrouded in yellow light, similar to Trunks when he'd turned Super Saiyan but it was different with her. Even so suddenly Gelato was all too happy to comply with Karuto's order to leave, he and Sundae rushing for their pods. Karuto could see that the fight had more or less stopped as everyone stared in awe or horror as Cauli toyed with General Boreal, and the little Arcosian found himself actually feeling scared of her.

He'd been scared of Trunks when he was a golden-haired warrior, and like any small child with a fascination with dangerous predators Karuto's fascination with the Saiyans turned to fear when there was nothing between him and death at their hands. It was one thing to see an ice shark at the aquarium, it was another thing to swim in its tank.

But he couldn't just let the General die, that wouldn't be right. As scared as he was he cried out, “Someone has to help the General before he gets killed!”

Someone apparently was Rhuby because nobody else so much as moved apart from the outraged elder Cauli and the struggling General. Rhuby held her hands out at her sides, rapidly gathered power in each and then with a shout of “Omega Blast!” she thrust her hands forward and a thick beam of blue energy shot from her to the general, knocking him out of the path of Cauli's next attack, one that probably would have killed him.

He was still beat up, but far less so than he would have been.

Karuto breathed a sigh of relief, but that relief was very short lived because Cauli didn't calm down.

“She's worse this time.” Tathy mumbled, and a quick look showed Karuto that mumbling was about the best she could manage since her mouth wasn't fully formed yet. She seemed to be literally pulling herself together again with tiny bits and pieces of her rolling themselves to the largest presumably to form a whole.

“She's done this before?” Karuto demanded.

“Yeah, when Rhuby died . . . her hair didn't turn yellow that time, what did I miss? Did Rhuby die again?” Tathy asked. Later Karuto would realize she'd been joking, but her words would prove frighteningly prophetic as before there was time to answer her Cauli sprang for Rhuby. The Super Saiyan had power gathering in her fists and Karuto was shocked to think that the Saiyan Warrior was so far gone she'd attack one of her own kind.

“She's about to!” Karuto moaned pitifully, helpless to act, “Someone's got to stop Cauli!”

Bass tackled her and despite the size difference failed to bring her down or even slow her down. The other fighters in any shape to do so did the same, throwing themselves at Cauli but Rhubara stood firm, unafraid.

Cousin Chillax and Icebreaker were even helping to hold her back, though Cooly and Gelid had both gone over to General Boreal's side. Karuto was about to rush over and see if he was okay, but the two hefted him up, one of his arms over each of their shoulders and they dragged him towards a pod, his feet dragging on the ground since he was so much taller than the two of them.

Karuto guessed that meant he was fine, he turned his attention back to the crowd trying to restrain Cauli.

If he hadn't he might have missed it when a giant Earthling as tall as Bass flew in, landing hard with a crash that knocked everyone off their feet except Cauliflora who dragged them all along with her as she cranked her arm back to unleash a devastating punch.

Which the tall Earthling very calmly caught and held. He had a red mohawk and wore a black suit under green armor, he was unlike anything Karuto had ever seen before.

“You will stand down now.” The Earthling ordered her, and she didn't comply, instead taking another swing which he caught, now holding both her hands he lifted her off of the ground and told her, “Resistance is futile.”

Rhuby walked around to the side of the giant Earthling, watching Cauli carefully.

Younger Cauli dusted herself off and put herself between the two two of them, protecting Rhubara from . . .well, herself technically, but Karuto could see there was no danger now, Cauliflora was calming down, she looked around in confusion and Karuto could see from his scouter that her power level was plummeting even before she fell unconscious.

With Cauli—the older one—unconscious the giant Earthling let her go, allowing Bass to rush in and catch her.

“We'll need to get her to Kazoo,” Bass said, carrying her carefully off for the Capsule Corp. building. Anavill followed, but the rest stayed outside still standing in the rather deep crater Cauli—the older one—had made.

Cauli—the younger one—put her hands on her hips and said, “Do I even want to know who that was or why they could make their hair yellow like that? She was _strong,_ I felt like a child compared to her! That's not the legend we're here to kill, is it?”

“No!” Karuto cried, “I mean . . . well I'll tell you who she is later. But who is this?” Karuto asked, indicating the large redheaded Earthling.

“He's Earth's newest Defender, Karuto!” Bulma answered him, and he turned to see her and the Soda lady standing at the edge of the crater.

The sound of more pods lifting off turned Karuto's attention skyward, the General, Cooly and Gelid were withdrawing, and Karuto knew the General would be okay if they could get him to a healing tank quickly enough. He saw Icebreaker back away from the crowd slowly, noticing that the rest of their kind apart from Chillax had left, but Bulma noticed him too and asked, “Just where do you think you're going, Tomato Can?”

As if noticing Icebreaker only because Bulma did the giant new defender advanced on him, leaving the Arcosian Colonel standing frozen in fear.

“Wh-who are you?” Icebreaker asked Bulma, “Are you the Queen of Earth?”

“No. But I suppose you could say I'm the dowager queen mother of all Saiyans. I'm the mother of Trunks, the Legendary Super Saiyan you're all so afraid of. Who are you?”

“He's Icebreaker, General Boreal's second in command!” Karuto cried.

“Then given how badly injured the General appeared that makes you the ranking officer, doesn't it?” Master Roshi asked, and Icebreaker shrugged. He wasn't taking his eyes off of the giant human fighter. “You've seen what we have here on Earth, are you willing to stand down and stop the attacks?”

“I can't make that promise.” Icebreaker told him, though it was clear he was nervous he was trying hard to seem braver than he was. Karuto could relate, but finally Icebreaker muttered, “But I can say that if you let me live I will relent, at least until I'm no longer the ranking officer. Especially now that we know there's another Super Saiyan.”

“I believe the actual King of Earth would be pleased to open up actual peace negotiations as soon as possible,” Bulma said, “we want this to end, we want you to go away until you're ready to come as friends. Am I clear?”

“Completely transparent, ma'am.” Icebreaker said nervously. “Does that mean you're letting me go?”

“We're not monsters, if you're done trying to hurt us you can leave. But if you try anything you've just seen we have another Super Saiyan and this guy here who's even stronger than she is.” Bulma told him.

Chillax added, “Return and contact the Twins, tell them the situation. She's right, we need to negotiate a lasting peace.”

Icebreaker nodded, and then made a very undignified retreat, running like a frightened child for his pod, throwing himself into it and jabbing the button to launch. Karuto might have laughed but he definitely understood the fear.

But just like that it was over . . . the battle for Earth concluded.

Karuto smiled, “So, it looks like you're a filthy traitor, Chillax.”

“I am not, I dealt with an idiot.” Chillax sighed. He frowned at Cauli and Rhuby and asked, “Do I even want to know where you managed to scrounge up two more Saiyans, Karuto?”

“You should have listened to Tathy's stories more!” Karuto cried happily.

“Not that that would have helped.” Tathy called from the other edge of the crater, “Yeah don't worry about me or take _me_ to Kazoo or anything, I'll just keep reassembling myself! Also why is Kazoo alive? Why is Bass alive? _What_ is going on?”

“Tathy!” Cauli laughed, heading over to the damaged blue alien, “Of course they're alive! Anyway what are you complaining about, it's not like it's the first time you've been blown up!”

“Try it yourself and see how you like it.” Tathy said dryly but she did accept both Cauli and Roshi's aid in getting back inside. “You look good though, what's up with that?”

“Well I think it's pretty obvious where Karuto went, don't you think?” Master Roshi suggested.

But Tathy just made a confused “Ah'unno” sound.

As they went inside just before the doors closed Karuto did hear Cauli say, “Oh by the way, I promised Poi I'd tell you,”

He didn't hear the rest since the doors closed, though he did hear Tathy's laugh in response and despite the tense situation that had just passed and the terror of seeing another Super Saiyan it did make him smile.

“So what is this, the third Battle for Earth our kind have lost?” Chillax asked.

“It was more like a skirmish.” Karuto said.

“What do you mean lost?” Rhuby asked, “I thought you just won?”

“Right . . . I guess I should explain the uh . . . actual nature of the conflict to you.” Karuto sighed.

“If you like, I don't really care.” Rhuby said. “I'm free, I'm with friends, I'm with Cauli and we have a weird new world to explore full of people even stronger than we are, that's all I need to understand for now. The rest you can fill us in on when there's time.”

“Oh . . . neat!” Karuto sighed with relief.

“But I am wondering where Kon is.” Rhuby asked. “When will I get to see him?”

Karuto's relief disappeared and he sighed, “Um . . . well . . .”

“You can see him right now.” Chillax said with a shrug and Karuto was surprised.

“She can?” He asked.

“You said that Earthling woman had a copy of our ship's records didn't you?” Chillax said with a shrug, and Bulma answered him.

“Yes, the Earthling woman did, and her name is Bulma, young man!”

“Sorry, ma'am.” Chillax said with a slight bow, “But with your permission there should be a message in the ship's memory dump that this Saiyan will want to see.”

“Right, you can explain who she is and where she comes from while we're finding it. Soda, take our new friend inside, be careful with him it was a rush job, and one I'll still have to put some finishing touches on now that the end of the world is less imminent.”

“I . . . yes ma'am.” Soda said.

“Who is that?” Anavill asked Soda, “And what are you doing here?!”

“I guess there's more than a few explanations needed,” Soda sighed and the gang of Earth's Heroes went inside the Capsule Corporation headquarters leaving the grounds with a large crater and several smaller craters from the battle pod landings. There were emergency crews tentatively approaching now, but Karuto's scouter assured him there were no injured people for them to find or fires for them to put out.

Peace reigned, at least for the moment. But even the Arcosian child understood that it wasn't likely to last.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Turles grinned wickedly as their ship closed in on the two enemy vessels, “I can sense Lord Trunks is still alive, once he sees us we'll rise up and slaughter the enemy!” He turned to Lieutenant Mai, “You rescue your fellow Earthlings and the Namekians along with Cargo and Earthling fighters, once you're all aboard I'll summon up the Power Ball and we'll finish these scum off once and for all!”

“Sounds like a plan.” Mai nodded.

“We've got a transmission incoming,” Genora reported. “Do we ignore it?”

“No, accept it.” Turles said.

“Then everyone get out of sight so they won't know--” Genora began but Turles interrupted her.

“No, I want them to know. I want them to see me and know what's coming.” Turles said. Because his armor was so beaten up he'd found the Arcosian captain's cape and had thrown it on over his shoulders. He rather liked it, and he suspected he cut an intimidating figure. “Put them on screen, let me say hello.”

This was the moment he'd been waiting for, his chance to show his face to the enemy commander. To declare to the scum who had destroyed his people that _he_ had survived and that he would exact a deadly vengeance upon them.

The screen came to life showing him the ugly face of a green Arcosian Captain with reptilian eyes. He scowled at them and said, “Just as I suspected. Stand down, Earthling.”

Turles waved his tail and said, “Oh I'm no Earthling, but I hear you have a few of them on your ship. Not that I care what happens to them, but their friends will miss them if I don't recover them _before_ I blow your ship up. So what do you say you open up and march them over to me in exchange for me giving you back the prisoners I've taken?”

“You have prisoners?” The Captain sounded intrigued.

“You can thank the Earthlings for that,” Turles said honestly, “I'd have destroyed them all. But since I've got 'em I might as well exchange them.”

“I don't have the patience for this, Saiyan. Land your ship and let us discuss terms properly!” The Arcosian Captain scowled, but another Arcosian behind him and off-screen snapped an order.  
“Open the hatch, Captain, I'll meet with the Saiyan outside. We'll hand over our prisoners if they hand over theirs, and if they try anything I'll blast the _Cold Heart_ out of the sky. Even if they survive that they'll be stranded, and I'm sure they don't want _that_.”

The Captain smiled sinisterly as if his superior's threat held any weight and said, “Well you heard the Admiral. Bring out your prisoners, Saiyan.”

Turles smirked and said, “Gladly.”

The transmission ended and Lamson asked, “So what's the plan? We can't just hand over prisoners right?”

“Why not?” Kodva asked.

“Because they don't deserve to get off that easy.” Lamson said with a shrug, and Turles nodded.

“She's right. But the plan is pretty simple,” Turles said, “all of us Saiyans go to the prisoner exchange, the Earthlings stay aboard the ship, we trade prisoners then I blast the engines on their ship and we can let our closing statement finish the lot of them.”

“Do we still need to make a statement?” Telluce asked.

Turles gave him a stern look, “Do you have a problem with the plan?”

“You don't have to kill them if they're cooperating.” Kodva pointed out, but that wasn't what Telluce objected to.

“Actually it just doesn't seem necessary to transform. We're way stronger than the grunts and you're stronger than the officers.” Telluce explained. “We could take them and still remember it.”

Turles had to admit that sounded appealing so he nodded, “All right brother, I suppose that sounds reasonable enough. Sorry Earth-man but forgive and forget isn't the Saiyan way. Besides, it'll be a stronger message to wipe them out without having to transform, that way they know we're strong enough not to need our trump card to beat them.”

Kodva was clearly displeased but he was smart enough to know there was nothing he could say that would change Turles' mind. He'd been blown up, denied a proper fight, and now he had to pretend to negotiate with the slimy ice demons. No one else on the bridge raised any objection either, Turles was in no mood to be questioned.

The band of Saiyans fell in with him as he left the bridge and headed for the air lock, the Earthlings Rhyce and Schip brought their small group of still unconscious prisoners out, both carrying one over each shoulder and tossing them down roughly and unceremoniously so that the Evil Twins, Routz and Tell each had to pick one of the four prisoners up, throwing them over their own shoulders.

“Wreck their faces.” Rhyce said grumpily, but at least she was on board with fighting, unlike Kodva.

“We'll wreck their whole bodies.” Turles assured her.

“Come back safe.” Schip added.

“Against enemies like these? Shouldn't be a problem.” Turles said, then with a sneer at the scrawny Korrard he added, “For most of us anyway.”

Although Korrard _had_ survived the explosion of the ship. He'd been mostly shielded by the others but still Turles might have to reevaluate him. As it was Rhyce gave Korrard a light slap on the shoulder and said, “You'll be fine.”

Turles nodded to the two Earthlings and led his gang of Saiyan warriors out of the ship to meet with the enemy.

They were there, two Arcosians, one of them had an effeminate form and was colored white and red. He was clearly nervous and putting on a brave face, but the other Arcosian, taller and light blue with a darker blue dome and no horns was truly unafraid and that told Turles that that was probably the Admiral. The Arcosian held himself with a sort of dignity that Turles used to associate with Frieza's officers. They were flanked by about a dozen of their inferior troops along with Captain Videl and her people, Prince Trunks and a Namekian.

He'd been told in advance that Prince Trunks was with the enemy, so he wasn't surprised to see the Prince with the Captain and her people. He was surprised however to see only one Namekian. Hadn't they come to rescue the whole race?

It shouldn't have mattered, and normally it wouldn't but it might force him to hold off on killing all of the Arcosians so the first thing he said when they reached the enemy was, “Where are the rest of the Namekians?”

Rather than “Are out people all right?” Which Beeta asked.

“They are, but as for the Namekians, well that is the million credit question, isn't it?” The tall light blue hornless Arcosian said with a sigh. Evidently Admiral Frigus looked to the only Namekian present and said, “I'm sure he can explain it to you but first who have you got?”

“Two of your kind, two others.” Turles shrugged and Tell and the others brought their prisoners forward.

“All right then, the Earthlings can go free, hand over Captain Hail and Commander Verglas, then I'll release the Namekian. Your Prince goes last.”

Turles said, “All right then, make it snappy.”

Kayle and Oni brought their prisoners forward and Videl and her commandos came across. Videl directed her soldiers to get on the ship, Turles wanted to tell her that that was a smart place for _her_ to be as well, but he suspected she was going to wait for the Namekian.

The white and red feminine-looking Arcosian checked the two unconscious prisoners that had been handed over and said, “They're alive, Admiral.”

“Good. I'm surprised, but relieved that you had the restraint to spare them.” The Admiral said.

“You'll find they're full of surprises, just like Earth.” Prince Trunks warned the Admiral and Turles smirked. It was true, after all.

Next the Namekian was released, along with the remaining PTO prisoners. Turles wasn't concerned that the enemy was keeping Prince Trunks until last, he knew the Prince could handle himself. Still before the final massacre he wanted to know, “So where are the remaining Namekians? I don't want to wait for an explanation, tell me now. Be honest, your life might depend on it.”

“They're not here.” The Admiral shrugged. “They were never here. This place was a Galactic Patrol fuel depot until I decided to set my trap for you Saiyans, then we came here and took it from them. We were already sacrificing one of our ships, why sacrifice our own fuel?”

Turles glared, first at the Admiral then at the released Namekian, “Then you were working with them? Your friend told us a grand story about how your kind were enslaved!”

“They are!” The smaller Namekian said, “But not here! Whatever Cargo told you was to get you here to help us!”

“These two couldn't make us Dragon Balls to use,” the Admiral said, “so I used them as bait to lure you into a trap. Like I said, I'm sure Dende can tell you all about his adventures.”

Turles didn't have time for that, he took a step towards the Admiral but Trunks rebuked him.

“Stop. Turles calm down, there's still a chance for the Namekians.” Trunks said.

“Sure, just not for the Admiral and his crew.” Turles said, and he was about to spring forward but Prince Trunks rebuked him again.

“Stand down, Turles. We're exchanging prisoners then we're going home. All that matters is getting the Namekians back to Earth.”

Turles couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he couldn't accept it. Prince Trunks, Prince of all Saiyans was telling him _not_ to kill their enemies? That was . . . totally unacceptable. Maybe it was the fact that he'd nearly been blasted to oblivion but Turles refused to just roll over and let the Arcosians trick them and then get away, he refused to believe they'd come so far and spent so much time just for one Namekian prisoner.

It didn't matter that numerically speaking they'd won, what mattered was that there were still enemies left, he couldn't tolerate that. He sprang forward, intending to put a quick end to all of it but Prince Trunks was faster. In the blink of an eye Turles went from closing distance with the Admiral to being blocked by Prince Trunks.

His Prince didn't strike him or anything like that, he simply stood in his path as if daring Turles to do the striking, which Turles wasn't stupid enough to do. As embarrassing as it was he stood down immediately, wishing that virtually every other living Saiyan weren't there to see him so humiliated.

And a part of him couldn't help but wonder . . . was this real? Was the Prince of all Saiyans telling his warriors not to destroy their enemies? The enemies that had destroyed their home?

“This was the fight we came here for,” Turles whispered, “nothing mattered more to us than having a chance to pay them back for what they did!”

“This isn't the fight for that.” Trunks said calmly, “We need to get back to Earth as quickly as we can, we need to restore the Dragon Balls.”

“But these stupid Namekians can't do it!” Turles hissed.

“ _Dende_ can't make new Dragon Balls, that's true.” Trunks said, emphasizing the name but Turles had already heard the Admiral say it, he understood that they had the Namekian that could fix Earth's Dragon Balls.

Why didn't Prince Trunks understand that they _had_ the Namekian, now the Arcosians didn't matter? They could and should kill them all, there was literally no reason to let them live.

Btu Trunks told him, “Let them go Turles, this fight is over.”

Turles glared for only a moment before he was forced to take a step back. No one else seemed to know what to do, Trunks was telling them not to fight so they didn't but none of them understood why. The two bands went their separate ways, returning to their ships in a mostly sullen silence.

It was only when Trunks left them to go to the bridge that Lamson finally dared to echo Turles' own thoughts in a whisper, “Why did Prince Trunks want us to spare the enemy? Once we had the prisoners there was no reason not to finish the fight.”

“It's obvious, he's thinking about the Namekians that aren't here.” Beeta said evenly. “Just because the PTO accidentally gave us the one we were the most interested in doesn't mean Prince Trunks doesn't still want to get the others back too.”

“They don't have the others.” Turles muttered. “If they did we'd be going after them, you heard Prince Trunks talk about the Dragon Balls, they're more powerful than anything else and if the PTO has them the war will be over.”

“All the more reason to let us stop them before they find them, so why didn't he?” Lamson asked.

“I don't know.” Turles admitted. He clenched his fists at his side and scowled, “But I've got a guess.” _He might be the Legendary Super Saiyan . . . but he's still half human._ Turles thought angrily. _He's not a true Saiyan warrior._

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Things are so confusing, can Trunks explain just why he wanted Turles to spare the Admiral? What kind of deal did they make? And has Turles had a change of heart about serving the softhearted Trunks?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funfact: Originally (in the plans for this season) Cauli didn't turn Super Saiyan, she was supposed to Battle Rage like the Evil Twins do, the 5x multiplier would have been enough to stop General Boreal and still be a threat to everyone else except Android 16, certainly enough to wipe out War World's population, however I did it in part to really seal the Arcosians backing off and staying back. Besides, it's a bit of a fan service.


	71. Infinity

**Episode Thirty Five**

**'Infinity'**

 

The _Humanity's Hope_ was abuzz as the ship began to lift off from the false Namek. Little of what was being said was good, and Trunks knew it. He understood it.

As he stood in the hallway gazing out of one of the circular windows as the small planet rapidly grew smaller until it was just a speck of light they were racing away from he just hoped they'd all understand. The Dragon Balls were everything, with them . . . well it'd all be over, and no one else had to die.

Quite the opposite really, instead people could be brought back. He knew the Earthlings would understand that, but would the Saiyans? Turles was obviously upset, would the others feel the same?

He hoped the Admiral didn't double cross him.

His mind flashed back to that meeting in the office, knowing that everything he was being told could well be a lie.

_“I can assure you, unless you agree to my terms Earth will be conquered.” The Admiral had told him._

_“And I can assure you that if my mother is dead your entire race will follow her. I will hunt you down across the stars until there's nothing left.” Trunks had said angrily._

_“Is that so?” Admiral Frigus asked._

_“Believe me, I'm a man of my word.” Trunks promised._

_“I_ don't _believe you. Not about that.” The Admiral said simply, taking a sip of his drink._

_“And why is that?” Trunks had asked._

_“Because you haven't made any attempt to go on the offensive before. Nothing about you now tells me that you'd go out of your way to harm innocents. At least not if they weren't in your primitive territory, all we have to do is avoid the trees you've scent marked.” The Admiral said._

_“You haven't seen anything yet, and if my home and my family are gone I think you can guess at the change that could bring about in me.” Trunks had warned him._

_“Perhaps. But you're not fully Saiyan, you're not as savage as the rest of them. I suppose Earthlings were a good species for cross-stock, being a half-breed made you more level headed obviously. It gave you a softer heart, and that's why we can have this discussion at all, a proper Saiyan would have painted this room with my blood by now.”_

_“The day is still young, Admiral” Trunks said. He didn't like the way the Admiral called him a half-breed, though he couldn't argue that it was technically true the way the Admiral said it made it sound like he was some sort of dog or something and it just didn't sit right with him._

_But maybe it was just because he'd been so conflicted himself over his heritage lately . . ._

_“You need to call off the attack right now.” Trunks finally said, trying to rely on his Earthling half to remain calm._

_The Admiral looked at him through the glass and nodded slowly. “I can send that order and it will be enough for most of the fleet, but the General himself, perhaps even most of his men can ignore that order if they think they can take your world . . . and I wouldn't blame them.”_

_“Then obviously I can't agree to your terms.” Trunks had told him._

_“Ah but you can, and you know you can. Because I know that once I give you this Namekian it won't matter how many Earthlings are dead . . . they're the key to the dragon balls, aren't they? Frieza knew that so don't look so surprised.”_

_Trunks shrugged. “I wasn't surprised that you knew about the connection between the Namekians and the Dragon Balls, I'm only surprised that you think Dende has the power to restore the ones on Earth, but are still willing to hand him over to me.”_

_“What makes you think I'm willing to hand him over to you, exactly?” The Admiral asked._

_“He's still alive.” Trunks said, and Dende looked nervous at that revelation. But Trunks said, “If you knew how important he was and left him alive you had to be prepared to give him up, and if you're willing to give him up I'm willing to let you go. You and your people.”_

_The Admiral smiled slightly, “I've told you my terms. Agree and the Namekian is yours.”_

_“I'll agree. But how do you know I'll hold up my end of the bargain?” Trunks had asked._

_He'd never forget the Admiral's mirthless laugh, a noise that came across almost mockingly, “Because you're a man of your word.”_

The whole meeting would stay on Trunks' mind until he was back home . . . but what would he find there? Earth . . . his mother . . . would anything be left? And how did Boreal arrive so far ahead of when they'd expected?

Perhaps the General had been headed for Earth even before Kalt's mission failed . . . maybe he'd hoped he could take it even if it wasn't his assignment anymore. From what Trunks understood the Admiral had admitted that Earth should have been Boreal's destination in the first place so maybe he never changed course.

Still if Earth _were_ under attack stopping that attack was worth letting Frigus and his men escape with their lives, even if Trunks sensed he'd only have to fight them later.

It didn't matter to him, nothing was a threat to him and with Dende now as long as Earth was still intact and the Dragon Balls were still intact Dende could restore them . . . they could restore any lives lost in the General's attack.

But one thing the Admiral had been right about was that Trunks wouldn't and couldn't wipe out an entire race, not even if Earth was truly lost. He just couldn't envision himself doing so . . . did that make him weak? Would his father have thought so?

_Father would probably be disappointed in me for even wondering,_ Trunks thought to himself. He stared out of one of the windows of the _Hope_ as she hurtled through space towards Earth. He'd met with everyone, he'd seen what they'd survived and in a way it made him feel more secure. He could _feel_ the difference in their power, especially Turles, they'd all grown so much in just one month.

But Turles' growth was truly exceptional, it surpassed anything that even Goku had ever accomplished through training alone in such a time frame, or so Trunks thought. What was it that could cause such a difference in one Saiyan but not the others? The others had increased too but not nearly so much as Turles.

It made Trunks feel bad to think of Turles' rise of course but before he could brood on it too much an unexpected figure appeared in the window's reflection next to him.

“How are you holding up?” Mai asked.

“I'm fine.” Trunks said.

“Are you sure? Because you've been staring out of that window brooding for an hour.”

“I have not.” Trunks said.

“Yes. You have.” Mai told him firmly. “Beeta's kept an eye on you and the time.”

Trunks looked around and saw that the brooding Saiyan elite was standing at another window further down the circular hallway. He sighed and said, “Well I've been standing here but I'm not brooding.”

“That's how she described it. I thought she'd know best, and for what it's worth she says you're good at it.” Mai told him.

Trunks laughed, “You two were discussing my brooding capabilities?”

Mai smiled, “No. She only mentioned it when I asked where you were.”

“Well if _she_ thinks I'm doing well it'd be a shame to stop now.” Trunks said.

Mai's smile didn't waver. She just stood next to him, looking out the window for a while before asking again, “How are you holding up, though?”

“I don't understand.” Trunks told her. “What do you mean?”

“Dende told us what the Admiral told you, but we're a month away from Earth, we can't possibly get back in time to make a difference. All we can do is find the Dragon Balls, fix them and make things right after the fact . . . and that's weighing on you, isn't it?” Mai asked him and he sighed.

“I should have been there. You didn't need me here . . . you outsmarted an alien more than a hundred times stronger than you and Turles was strong enough to take any of those Arcosians . . . I should have had faith in him and the rest of you and stayed on Earth.”

“No.” Mai said simply. “I don't think so. I think we got lucky to have you along. You saw, Turles was ready to attack the Admiral even after you said not to, if you hadn't been here who knows what could have happened? The truth is that we did need you, and I'm glad you were here. You made a difference just by being here.”

“But what about Earth?”

“You couldn't have known, none of us knew.” Mai said. “You left them strong guardians, maybe it'll be enough. The Admiral underestimated the Saiyans, maybe the General will too. You aren't the only one who can do anything, Trunks, you don't have to be everywhere at once . . . you have friends, you should trust us.”

“I'm getting mixed messages here,” Trunks said with a slight smile, “You say to trust you but wasn't it not trusting you that got me on this spaceship in the first place?”

“No. It was concern for us and the mission. And in the end we needed you for the mission, but you also got to see some of your fears and concerns reassured, didn't you? So . . . maybe it'll be the same with Earth. But don't question yourself anymore, what's done is done and we can only move forward.”

Trunks looked down at the ship's floor thoughtfully for a moment, and then said, “I guess that's true. I've got to focus on what comes next, not what should have been.”

“Yes. Besides, I'm glad you were here, do you really think Captain Videl would have convinced that Admiral to hand over the Namekian we need?” Mai asked him, but rather than reassure him that only made Trunks feel worse.

“What if he really does have the others?” Trunks asked, “What if they can make the Frost Clan their own Dragon Balls?”

“They won't, Dende and Cargo both swear that their people are being held prisoner, but none of them will make any Dragon Balls.” Mai said. “Cargo says his story was true except for how he got the pod, Moori and the others really were killed.”

“Do you believe him?” Trunks asked her.

“Why do you ask that?” Mai wondered.

Trunks didn't answer her right away, but after a while he finally said, “I thought I could trust him, he's a Namekian, they're friends . . . but that was wrong. He led us into a trap.”

“To save his brother and hopefully his people.” Mai pointed out. “But Turles doesn't trust him either, he doesn't believe the PTO have any other Namekians at all, at least none living.”

“I guess it won't matter once we get to Earth, right?” Trunks sighed.

“What do you mean?” Mai asked.

“Well if this Dende is anything like the one I encountered in the alternate time line he should be able to make the Dragon Balls grant two wishes . . . so we just use one to wish everyone back and the other to wish the Namekians to Earth . . . if the Dragon says they're all gone we'll just wish them all back to life.”

“That could be dangerous, what if they died in a dangerous place?” Mai asked.

Trunks frowned. He hadn't considered that. “I don't know . . . I guess I spent this whole month thinking about how having them again would solve everything, I didn't think about . . . well, the fact that they really won't.”

Mai told him, “Yes. Trust me, I know pretty well what a monkey's paw the Dragon Balls can be . . . I wouldn't be standing here like this if it weren't for a wish gone wrong.”

Trunks looked away from the window to look at her, raising an eyebrow at her, “What do you mean?”

“Well I'm not just old fashioned, you know . . . I'm _old_.” Mai said simply. “I was with my former master just before the Androids attacked, he made a poorly worded wish and . . . well we were all reduced to toddlers. I know it sounds ridiculous, but--”

“But Dragon Balls.” Trunks laughed. He shook his head and said, “Well you can call it a wish gone wrong but I'm glad you're here no matter how old you are at heart. So I think it was a wish gone right.”

Mai blushed and looked away, “Thanks . . .” She mumbled before shaking her head and collecting herself. “Um . . . but anyway Basil is trying to make contact with Earth. Would you like to . . . brood on the bridge? So you can be there if we manage it?”

Trunks smiled slightly and nodded slowly, “All right. That is where the best window is anyway.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Beeta smiled slightly when Prince Trunks left for the bridge with the Earthling female.

She didn't need that kind of competition, if anyone was going to be gloomy and moody it was her.

The _Defender One_ hadn't had many windows, and certainly no time to just stare out of them. She found the cold black void comforting in a strange way, ever since her first flight in a space pod she'd taken a sort of . . . solace in the infinity that waited outside of that window.

The universe was just so massive that it made her feel small, it made her feel insignificant and while that might have frightened other minds to Beeta's it was comforting.

She didn't matter . . . so nothing she did wrong mattered. None of her mistakes really mattered, and none of her triumphs. Nothing was permanent, not even planets, even if Frieza hadn't destroyed planet Vegeta it would have been swallowed up by its sun eventually anyway.

But, despite what a lot of people thought about her, she wasn't depressed. Certainly not by that. There was one truth as far as the Saiyan warrior could tell and that was that the universe was too old and too big to care about minor squabbling stellar empires, even warriors capable of destroying planets didn't matter to the universe, it would continue unabated and maybe it was itself the only thing that would never end . . . or maybe it would.

The things they'd done that day might be history someday if their race survived to start recording history again. Someday she could go down as one of the Saiyans who led the first assault against the Arcosians . . . or maybe she wouldn't.

She was a Saiyan and she lived for battle but when there was no battle to fight her life slowed down to a boring crawl and yet somehow when she looked out that window, when she simply contemplated space itself time stopped mattering and she stopped mattering. Who she was, what she did, what her purpose was . . . none of that was important. She was seeing a piece of infinity that she might never see again and the experience was uniquely hers.

So even if it ended someday, even if the cold darkness was the same anywhere else it was the moment that gave her comfort, the finite in the infinite.

Which was why she didn't expect a human pest—or that is a human _visitor_ of her own to interrupt the lovely solitude, but interrupt he did.

“You have quarters assigned if you're ready to go to sleep.”

“I'm not.” Beeta said curtly.

“Most of the rest of the fighters have settled down to rest, haven't they?” The tall thin human male whose name she didn't remember asked her.

Beeta nodded. “They were all pretty exhausted.”

“Aren't you going to join them?” The human asked her.

“No.” Beeta answered simply, not feeling like she needed to answer him any more thoroughly than that.

The human smirked slightly and said, “Don't recuperate around others very well, I can understand.”

“And yet here you stand.” Beeta said, seeing no point in being gentle about telling him to leave.

But the human shrugged. “I'm pretty similar, I don't really like socializing or being around others.”

“I have trouble believing that.” Beeta said.

“It's true. Even now my brain is screaming at me 'walk away Thyme, don't speak words to that alien, just walk away!”

“Your brain sounds smart.” Beeta nodded.

“It is. It's one of the smartest.” The human, Thyme evidently, told her. “They say the average man doesn't multi-task very well and that women's brains never stop thinking about every little thing, but either I'm totally abnormal or that's a load of nonsense because my brain never stops going, a lot of the time it's best just to find a quiet corner and avoid the company of those who would interrupt my thoughts.”

Beeta folded her arms, “Okay . . .” she said, waiting for him to get to the point, assuming that he surely had to have one.

But he gestured out the window and said, “It's beautiful, right?”

“The cold empty void?” Beeta scoffed.

“Infinity.” Thyme said and Beeta shrugged.

“Whatever. I guess. So what?”

Thyme said, “I've looked at it a lot on the way here. I've seen things I could only dream of seeing, things I'll probably never see again, at least not in the same way.”

The Saiyan warrior frowned at the Earthling scientist and asked, “What exactly do you want?”

“For you to leave this window, find a cot and get some sleep, like the soldiers and the rest of your crew from the _Defender One._ We might need you all in top shape when we arrive at Earth.”

“In a month's travel?” Beeta asked. “I'll have plenty of time to fully recover by then.”

“Physically, sure.” Thyme said. Then he asked, “Why are you here instead of resting?”

“Why do you care?” Beeta asked.

“To be honest I don't.” Thyme said. “I'm not that sort of person . . . I'm only friends with Basil because she decided _she_ was friends with _me._ I don't _get_ people, I don't _like_ people and I'm not trying to like _you,_ if that's what you're worried about _._ ”

“Ah, I assumed this was some clumsy attempt at unwanted courtship.” Beeta said with a nod.

“That _is_ usually what women assume when I talk to them. But I said I don't like people.” Thyme told her.

“Not even for that?” Beeta asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not even for that.” He confirmed. “ _However_ Trunks did ask me to check on you and make sure you got some rest. He likes people, especially people he feels responsible for, which in this case is you.”

“Then why all the talk neither of us is enjoying?” Beeta asked, “Why not just tell me my Prince has given me an order?”

“Because he didn't give you an order, he made a request of me.” Thyme said. “And I engaged you in conversation to try to evaluate just where your own brain is when your eyes are looking out there.”

“Oh? Why?”

Thyme shrugged. “I thought if I understood what you're getting out of looking out there I could explain just why it won't go anywhere while you sleep.”

“And?” Beeta asked.

Thyme shrugged. “I like infinity too. We could fly this ship at its top speed for a thousand years and still never see everything, we're just an invisible speck on an invisible speck on the great “you are here” map of the universe.”

Beeta shrugged back. “I guess so.”

“So it's hard for me to tell you to ignore it if you don't want to.” Thyme said. “But I figure Trunks would want to know why I wasn't able to get you to get some rest.”

“Tell him I am resting.” Beeta decided, “I'll sleep in another quarter hour or so.”

“Alright.” Thyme said and started to head away but he was a fool if he thought he was going to get away.

Turnabout was fair play, Beeta asked him, “Just a minute. Before you go you said your brain never stops. So what do you think about?”

“Right now?”

“Whenever.” Beeta shrugged again.

Thyme shrugged back, “I do math for fun, think about experiments I want to run, anticipate what irritating thing Basil will say next, what awful thing the Boss will order us to do, whether or not I'll survive the week, that sort of thing.”

Beeta smirked, “You worry about survival when you have someone like Prince Trunks around?”

“No, I don't _worry_ about it. I just think about it a lot.” Thyme told her.

“Me too.” Beeta admitted. Of course for her it was the matter of surviving when there were more worthy people who could have or should have.

Better fighters. Smarter thinkers.

But then that was why she liked looking into the emptiness of infinity.

After she eradicated an entire planet that didn't deserve it, after she lost comrades when it should have been her, or even times like now when she didn't lose anything, but had simply made it through in one piece there was a certain sort of comfort in being able to just look out at the universe and know that all of it . . . was just a very small piece of a single strand of the great tapestry of existence.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The second barracks on the _Humanity's Hope_ had been given to the crew of the _Defender One,_ and most of the crew was fast asleep, only a couple stragglers stayed awake to discuss dark matters in hushed tones.

“Where's Beeta?” Turles asked in a whisper.

“I don't know, probably off somewhere being gloomy and weird.” Lamson answered him.

_Just as well, an elite like her would probably back the Prince just because he's a prince . . ._ Turles thought. He shook his head an whispered, “I'm not the only one, right?”

“Don't be stupid, of course you're not.” Lamson scoffed. “I wanted to kill them too, I can't believe Prince Trunks didn't let us. What could it have hurt? A few minutes late returning to Earth, if it's really been attacked the fight will be over by the time we arrive.”

Turles nodded. He asked her, “Did you talk to anyone else before they went to sleep?”

“No. But I think I know what you're after, and I don't think you have much to worry about.” Lamson said.

“Is that so?” Turles asked. “Why's that?”

“The Evil Twins will do whatever gets them into a scrap, that's just how they are. Of course Tell will follow your lead, he's your brother and Sharro is going to do whatever Tell does because of course she will, Routz is loyal to his teammates, the only one I'm not certain about is Kor.”

“What does he matter?” Turles scoffed. Kor was the weakest of Lamson's team after all.

“Trust me, he matters. We'd have been a lost worse off after that blast without him, but the way you pick on him for being weak I can see him siding against you just for protection.”

Turles nodded, “I'll try to be nicer to him.”

“Just don't disparage him so much.” Lamson said simply. She looked around and asked, “What about the others?”

“What _about_ the others?” Turles scoffed. “They're not Saiyan, this is a Saiyan matter, don't you think?”

“I think it's also an Earthling matter, he's half Earthling.” Lamson said cautiously.

“But he's our Prince, he's not their King.” Turles said.

“Why is that?” Lamson asked.

“Cauli asked me the same thing when she first arrived at Earth. She asked me why I hadn't gotten him to conquer the world yet, said the Earthlings would just use us the way the Tuffles did, the way Frieza did. I told her I thought he already knew.”

“But now you think otherwise?” Lamson asked.

“Now I think he knows but he doesn't understand the problem. 'Why _shouldn't_ the strong protect the weak?' I can almost _hear_ him ask it!” Turles hissed, his voice rising. In a flash Lamson was at his side, hand on his shoulder shushing him.

“Calm down, calm down. You know him best. So . . . what do we do?”

Turles shook his head, “Nothing yet. Even with Beeta and Cauli he's stronger than all of us put together.”

“Okay, but what are we _going_ to do?” Lamson asked.

Turles scratched his chin and smiled, “We're going to keep building our numbers. I'm going to carry on as Captain, I'll keep sorting through the files and finding good candidates for rescue and you and the others will help train them in the heavy gravity machines back on Earth. We'll get strong, strong enough that he can't ignore us.”

Lamson leaned towards him, her green eyes blazing a warning, “And what if he does ignore us? We're just insects to him, he's like Frieza times ten!”

Turles smirked, “Sure . . . but look at how fast I'm growing. At the very least he won't be able to ignore _me_ forever.” He twitched his tail and added, “Besides we have something he doesn't. So even if he's like Frieza times ten we just need to be like Frieza.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Things settle down on Earth, Cauli is herself again but she and Cauli are going to need to figure out the naming issue, Bulma will learn more about Karuto's adventure and everyone will learn more about the giant who so easily stopped Cauli's punch._

 


	72. Brassica

**Episode Thirty-Six**

**'Brassica'**

 

“So really I was just trying to help.” Karuto explained as Bulma sat down at her computer desk. Bulma raised an eyebrow at him, and then finally the little Arcosian confessed, “Well I mean . . . also I just really wanted to do it.”

“Uh-huh.” Bulma said. She knew how kids' minds worked.

“But it worked out for the best, didn't it?” Karuto asked.

“It could have been worse, as it stands the only loss to either side was Hiemal.” Chillax said with a shrug and Bulma nodded to him.

“I understand you were responsible for that, but what I don't understand is why. What prompted you to take our side?”

“I wasn't taking your side, I was . . . just dealing with an idiot. Negotiations would have gone peacefully if Hiemal hadn't acted up. Besides, at the time I thought he'd killed Tathy and that clearly elicited an unexpected response from me.”

“That's a very fancy way of saying you murdered someone for upsetting you.” Bulma said coldly. “That might be how you do things in the PTO but if you expect to stay with us you'll have to learn proper manners, now what am I looking for here?”

Chillax sighed and said, “Before we came to Earth Konpeito recorded a message, it was something most of the crew did. Haven't you gone through them?”

“No.” Bulma confessed. “Basil or Thyme might have before they left, but I didn't see the relevance of going through people's personal messages.”

“What if they had information you could have used?” Chillax sounded surprised, but Bulma shrugged.

“They were our enemies so any information might have been useful but personal items would have been a waste of time for me. I don't care if the squid man tells his wife to record the big game for him.” Bulma explained. “I left busy work like that for my assistants.”

“So we're looking for a message?” The new Saiyan girl asked and Chillax nodded. She asked, “Why can't I just talk to Konpeito now?”

“What's your name again?” Bulma asked her.

“Rhubara.” The Saiyan girl said with a slight shrug.

“Right. Well Rhubara unfortunately we lost him in the battle four months ago when the PTO attacked Earth. He helped redirect Master Roshi's blast to take out most of Captain Kalt's crew but Kalt himself got him.”  
“Oh.” Rhubara said. “Did anyone get Captain Kalt?”

“My son Trunks did.” Bulma answered, “Don't worry about it though, we'll bring him back with the rest of our defenders.”

“Bring him back? Sorry, I thought you meant he was dead.” Rhubara sounded relieved. Bulma was about to explain the mistake but someone else beat her to the punch.

“He is.” Karuto corrected. “She means they'll bring them back from the dead, they're going to use some Namekian wish orbs. Mister Trunks and the others went to New Namek to get them.”

Bulma said, “I can understand if this is all a bit beyond you.”

But Rhubara said, “No, no, people died and you're getting wish orbs to bring them back . . . makes sense.”

Bulma looked up from the computer screen at the younger woman—or at least she seemed younger, with Saiyans who could tell—and raised an eyebrow. Under such intense scrutiny Rhubara admitted, “Okay, no. Really I'm totally lost and just hoping this works out in the end, but it beats being enslaved on an alien world so I'll just smile and nod until I get the hang of it all,”

“Ah. Well you'll fit right in.” Bulma said with a slight smile.

“She was a low-class Saiyan warrior we sent to Goulder, the planet that Konpeito was from,” Chillax explained, “the planet you got Turles from.”

“Oh yeah, Turles . . . is he dead too?” Rhubara asked.

“No.” Bulma said. “He's with Trunks and the others on New Namek.”

Karuto asked her, “Um, is Turles trustworthy?”

“What? What sort of question is that?” Rhubara wondered.

“A simple one.” Chillax suggested.

“Why?” Bulma asked, “Do you still think there's something off about Turles, Karuto?”

“Yes ma'am. The truth is Rhubara was the Saiyan I thought Mister Trunks would go back for, she was the Saiyan that Konpeito told me all about . . . I don't know much about Turles before he showed up.” Karuto said.

Bulma tilted her head at him, “Is that so?” She asked, intrigued and remembering the reservations she and Roshi had had, “Well then Rhubara, if you don't mind what is your personal assessment of Turles?”

Rhubara just shrugged, “Eh.” She said. Bulma raised her eyebrow again and luckily the girl elaborated, “He's a typical Saiyan Warrior. Proud, self reliant, aggressive, you shouldn't have any trouble with your enemies if he's fighting for you. He and I were from the same clan but we really didn't spend a lot of time together. We used to fight pretty evenly though.”

“So you'd say you're pretty on par with him in terms of skill?” Bulma asked.

“Well her power level is one hundred eighty thousand.” Chillax pointed out, “With her tail she's strong enough to take on the Frost Twins and win, that is if she can control the Oozaru.”

“I can't. Did you say one hundred eighty thousand?” Rhubara asked, blinking her purple eyes in surprise.

“Yeah, you and Cauliflora are tied actually.” Karuto said.

“I had no idea my power level had grown so much . . . it couldn't just be the training on War World, I could tell I was stronger after eating that fruit on Goulder. To think all this time I thought it just restored my stamina.”

Bulma frowned, “What do you mean fruit? There was a fruit that made you stronger?”

“Yeah with a great big tree.” Rhubara shrugged.

“The sort that would have eaten the life out of a planet?” Bulma asked.

“What? No . . . I mean it looked too big for the planet, but there was plenty of life on it. That was why Lord Frieza needed us.”

“But Goulder was quite a bit larger than your Earth, and its gravity was heavier.” Chillax chimed in. “Odds are if that tree had been on earth it would have been visible from orbit. Why does the tree intrigue you so much?”

Bulma took a deep breath and just said, “No reason . . . but I think I may need to talk to Roshi.”

Or did she? She wondered . . . sure her worries had been confirmed, but did that change anything? As long as Turles was loyal it didn't matter who he'd been in the past of her own time line. Not only would they shape him into a proper hero but if he had been a villain now the people of that alternate past wouldn't have to deal with him or his tree.

The scientist shook her head and said, “Here, I think this is the file.”

“What do I do with it?” Rhubara asked, and that was a good question.

“I guess we can let you listen to it,” Bulma said, “or if you'd prefer I can store it on a disk and you can listen to it on your own in your own time. I can have the things you'll need to do that sent to your quarters.”

“I have quarters?” Rhubara was clearly surprised.

“Of course. If you and your friends decide to stay on with us and help defend this planet.” Bulma said. “What do you say?”

“I'd have to talk about it with Cauli first . . . but I think we would.” Rhubara said.

“Good choice.” Bulma said, she did check to make sure it was the right file though by playing a bit of its contents before packing it onto a disk and handing it to the Saiyan warrior. “Well then, welcome aboard. Now, I think we should go down stairs and make sure everything's all right, don't you agree?”

“Sure.” Chillax said.

Bulma smiled but she didn't get up from her desk, instead she said, “You two get a head start, I want to have a quick word with Karuto.”

Karuto seemed to shrink, Bulma recognized the behavior as that of a young boy who knew he was about to be scolded, so she didn't disappoint. “Karuto taking the time machine was reckless and we don't know the kind of damage you might have done. Am I wrong or do we have  _ two  _ Cauliflora's now? And now it turns out we might have messed things up for that other time-line by taking Turles too. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Karuto scratched the back of his head and offered a somewhat sheepish, “It worked?”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The first thing her conscious mind recognized were the voices. Familiar and yet strange, voices she hadn't heard for decades mingled with voices she'd only recently come to know.

But it was one voice in particular that cut through her mind and rang weirdly, it was somehow both the most familiar and yet the strangest sounding and as she opened her eyes Cauliflora could see herself, her younger self talking to her friends . . . just as if they'd walked right out of the War World arenas.

“What ever is going to happen next is going to happen within the next few hours, right?” She was saying, “We've got to be ready no matter what it is. That Arcosian officer might have backed down but once his general is healed they'll come in full force.”

_Do I really sound like that? Does my voice really sound like that?_ Cauliflora wondered. She mumbled to herself, “they'll come in full force . . . full force . . . come in full force,” comparing the sound.

It was different . . . she was pretty sure. She'd have to chalk it up the strangeness of the vision, or dream, or whatever she was having because she would swear her younger self and Bass and Tathy were talking in Capsule Corp lobby . . .

Her younger self actually turned to her and asked, “Are you agreeing with me, or mocking me, scarface?”

Cauli blinked, “Neither, I'm just testing my voice . . .” she trailed off as she began to understand and realize that none of this was a dream . . . she was awake. She asked, “Who are you? What are you doing here? Or am I the one in the wrong place?”

“I'm Cauli, daughter of Zorn. This is Bass and that little guy next to you is Kazoo, they're sons of Slug. That old guy there is Roshi, son of . . . I didn't ask, he's--”

“She knows who I am.” Master Roshi said, waving the other Cauli's words away and turning to the real Cauliflora saying, “Lay down, you clearly need more rest.”

“I should say not!” Kazoo scoffed, “I don't do shoddy work. Get up you, tell us who you are and why you tried to attack our Rhuby like that.”

“Rhuby . . . I tried to attack Rhuby?” Cauliflora gawked in surprise.

“Yeah, you did and I don't take kindly to that sort of thing, so you'd better get talking pretty fast.” Younger Cauli snarled.

Cauliflora's mind was racing, but she glared at her younger self and scoffed, “You look young. What are you, three?”

Younger Cauli scowled, “I suppose I'm three and one eighth, but I'm old enough to put you down old woman.”

“Old?” Cauliflora hissed, “ _Old_?!”

“Okay settle down,” Anavill ordered, stepping between them though Cauliflora knew the Earthling wouldn't accomplish much by way of stopping them if she and her younger self did want to fight.

Still Anavill fearlessly ordered them, “Settle down, take several deep breaths and _think_. We can't go turning on each other, we need to be ready when the General heals up and gets back.”

That was when Tathy came up on her blind side and whispered to Cauli, “They're exactly who they say they are, young Mister Karuto went and got them the same way Trunks and Turles got the others.”

Cauliflora turned and stared at Tathy and whispered, “Are . . . you serious?”

“As I've ever been.” Tathy told her, then seemed to think better of it and said, “Or maybe I should just say 'yes' instead.”

“So who are you?” Younger Cauli asked, then she asked the question Cauliflora didn't know if she had an answer for, “Why do you look like me? What are you, some Earthling version of me?”

Cauliflora shook her head, “I'm no Earthling. You said I attacked Rhuby, where is she? Is she all right?”

“She's fine,” Kazoo told her, “She's with the Arcosians and the Earthling woman with the blue hair.”

Cauliflora's mind was working in overdrive and as her younger self demanded again to know who she was she finally had an answer, “I'm Brassica . . . I'm also Zorn's daughter, that's why we look similar. You're my half-sister.”

“Half-sister?” Kazoo snorted. “If not the age difference you could be twins!”

“I'm Brassica,” Cauliflora snarled at the little alien she now knew was a Namekian, “or are you calling me a liar?”

“I'm not calling you anything.” Kazoo scoffed indignantly, but younger Cauli was unconvinced.

“Brassica huh? I don't remember having a sister, let alone a half-sister?”

“Sorry, didn't realize you officiated at all of our father's liaisons.” Brassica—it would be weird thinking of herself that way from now on—said with a scoff. “I'm telling you I'm your sister, let's not complicate this.”

Younger Cauli folded her arms and snorted. Finally she nodded and scowled, “Well sister or not if you _ever_ so much as _glare_ at Rhuby again I'll show you how much thicker blood is than water by drowning you in yours, you got that?”

Brassica just smiled and thought to herself, _Do I really sound like that?_

The group discussion of what to do about General Boreal continued until Bulma and the others returned. Rhuby looked downcast, but all Brassica could think was that she was there . . . she was alive . . . and _she'd_ tried to hurt her.

Tathy made a point of introducing Bulma and the others to “Brassica” by pretending she was talking just to Rhuby, and Brassica didn't put up much of a fight as Tathy made an excuse to lead her away, saying she wanted to make sure she wasn't too concussed, which Kazoo took great exception to.

“Her head wasn't even struck!” He'd cried as they headed for the kitchens where it seemed Master Roshi had taken refuge to rest on one of the cafeteria table benches.

“What's up with the name?” Tathy asked.

Brassica shrugged, “It was all I could think of. It was my grandmother's name, I just--”

“Why are you making up fake names in the first place?” Tathy asked her.

Brassica frowned, she folded her arms and said, “Because . . . I . . .” She took a deep breath and tilted her head towards the lobby, “I can't . . . I got a second chance and I blew it.”

“What?” Tathy asked.

“The rage . . . the rage that took over me when she died . . . it happened again and I couldn't control it this time either, I _tried_ , Tath, I really tried but . . . somehow I just couldn't and I was so far gone I almost attacked _her._ ”

“Not so much _almost_ , as totally would have had that giant guy not stopped you,” Tathy said, which didn't help, but the blue woman shrugged and asked, “But so what?”

“So . . .” Cauli—that is _Brassica_ —shook her head and said, “So last time I exterminated a whole planet and everyone I cared about on it except for you!”

“I remember, I was there.” Tathy said. “You blasted me, blew me up, pummeled me, tried to drown me at one point and not a single one of those things made you change your name.”

Brassica nodded and whispered, “Well there wasn't another me around that time. Now there is.”

“And . . .” Tathy asked, trailing off clearly hoping for a clearer answer.

But it was difficult for Brassica to really express it. To her surprise it was Master Roshi who voiced what she was feeling.

“If she tells them who she is she has to tell them what she's done to get here, and whatever they might think of her they may think it about the other her too.” Master Roshi said.

Tathy frowned, “I got over it. They're alive, they'll get over it too. This is great, and you can't enjoy it properly as _Brassica_ , you've got to tell them who you are!”

“No,” Brassica said firmly. She pointed in the direction of the lobby and said, “Don't you get it? This . . . me . . . this me doesn't have to be what _that_ me becomes, I can . . . have another chance, even if it's not really me. You heard her, she's three and one eighth—nineteen by Earthling standards,” she added for Roshi's benefit, “She hasn't made all of the same mistakes I have, she hasn't done the same things I have, and I don't want anything to change how they feel about her.”

“You mean you don't want anything to change how _she_ feels about her.” Master Roshi said sitting up from the bench stroking his beard. “Interesting . . .”

Brassica sat down on the bench opposite Roshi and Tathy sat next to her on her right side. Brassica explained, “All the mistakes I made . . . she doesn't have to be judged for them, and she doesn't have to make them. I can help her out, I can . . . I don't know, make it different.”

“You think you can just life coach your younger self?” Master Roshi asked.

Brassica shrugged, “Well she'd have to be pretty stupid to ignore advice from her big sister, right? Everything can be different for her . . . better.”

Master Roshi stroked his beard some more and then finally said, “Lies tend to get exposed over time. If you commit to this the longer it lasts the worse it can be when it comes out.”

“It's not going to come out, there's only one Cauliflora on this world and in this universe and she's in that lobby right now.” Brassica said. “The old one died when she lost control again, now what's left is a different person. She has to be.”

Tathy sighed but Master Roshi just nodded very slowly, “I'll explain your decision to Bulma and the others . . . but make sure you don't go trying to right too many of the wrongs of your life, remember that they're what made you who you are and you might not turn out so well if you don't experience a little adversity.”

Brassica nodded and the old Earthling got up to go to the lobby and talk with the others. As he left the cafeteria Brassica caught a glimpse of the rest of them and wondered what she was getting herself into.

As if she were reading her mind, or more likely just having the same thought Tathy asked, “Can you really do it? Can you really be a different person, pretend you don't know them? Pretend you don't know _her_?”

Brassica didn't answer. She just nodded slowly, even though she wasn't sure. It would just have to be her new challenge.

Tathy made a face as if she were holding back laughter that Brassica only saw out of the corner of her eye. The Saiyan woman turned and demanded to know, “What's so funny?”

Tathy blinked in surprise and said, “Oh! Right . . . I'll have to get used to that.”

“To what?” Brassica demanded.

“Not being able to get away with things just cuz I'm sitting on your right side anymore.” Tathy said.

Brassica blinked at her and shook her head, “I don't understand. What were you laughing at?”

Tathy beamed at her and said, “Well . . . two things now. The first is you're right, things _can_ be different for them. Especially if we keep younger-you away from any Spring Wine.”

“Oh shut up!” Brassica gasped, collapsing down onto the table and burying her head and moaning pitifully, “I don't even want to think about that night!” She said, though the memories were flooding back in all of their humiliating, shameful detail, she cringed just remembering how badly things had gone the following morning and no small part of her wanted so badly to die juts at the memory, “Oh . . . why would you remind me of that?”

“Just saying is all. But don't worry,” Tathy said, “I've got something that might make things a little better. Something _you_ clearly haven't noticed yet.”

“What's that?” Brassica demanded.

Tathy smirked and asked, “Well remember how great Kazoo's healing abilities are?”

“Sort of. Why?” Brassica asked.

“Shut your left eye.” Tathy commanded and Brassica rolled her eyes and did it. Tathy exclaimed, “No you idiot, I mean just the left one, wink!”

Brassica opened her eyes to look at Tathy in confusion. What did it matter if she had her blind eye open or closed? To her a wink was the same as a blink, but still she complied even if she didn't understand and she winked her good eye expecting the world to go dark.

But it didn't. She could still see Tathy . . . from her right eye, the eye that had been blinded . . .

Brassica didn't know how she felt, it was a bizarre feeling but in the end she found herself joining Tathy in a laugh. Kazoo had restored her sight and she hadn't even noticed.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Icebreaker felt a chill run up his spine as General Boreal was loaded into the healing tanks. He'd gotten back mere moments after the other, but it was looking like the trip might have been too much for the poor General.

Which suited the Arcosian officer just fine. He was ready and willing to become the new General, and his first order of business would be to get the heck away from Earth.

That was if the General didn't pull through.

“We have to figure out what to do next,” Cooly told him, “Gelid is livid and the _Dry Ice's_ crew is itching for revenge.”

“Settle them down, kill a few of them if that's what it takes.” Icebreaker said. Then, though it shouldn't have had to be said he added, “Not Gelid of course.”

“Of course not, I'm not my brother.” Cooly said.

“I still can't believe he did that. And for a member of the Galactic Patrol no less.” Icebreaker commented. “It would have been bad enough if he was just dealing out punishment for Hiemal's stupidity but the context makes it so much worse . . . but at least Lord Frostburn and Admiral Frigus should be happy.”

“About what?” Cooly demanded, “You think I'm going to tell my father, 'oh by the way Chillax is alive but he's a traitor' you're insane!”

Icebreaker shrugged, “Well what will you tell him?”

“That Chillax is dead.” Cooly answered simply.

“That's not true.” Icebreaker pointed out. Though he was willing to lie if it meant not going back to Earth.

“It will be when I cross his path again.” Cooly said, but that forced Icebreaker to interject.

“Um no, are you insane? Another Super Saiyan and that giant Earthling, the scouters didn't even pick him up but he stopped that Super Saiyan's punch like it was nothing, I saw it. Earth is too dangerous to approach, we should quarantine it.”

Cooly seemed about to argue when Gelato suddenly burst into the room unannounced and without invitation.

“He made it into the tank? Good. Gentlemen I just received a message from the Frieza's Fist, but it concerns you as well. All of our forces in the Earth system actually.” Gelato said.

“Let me guess, full assault on Earth?” Icebreaker guessed without enthusiasm. “Tell them what happened to the General.”

“I did, but they said it's not important.” Gelato said.

“Not important?” Both Icebreaker and Cooly demanded.

“Our new orders are to abandon Rupert Base and meet with the Twins on planet Frago.”

“What? What for?” Icebreaker demanded.

“Um . . .” Gelato hesitated, looking almost embarrassed as he answered, “They just said . . . for a feast.”

“A feast?” Cooly asked incredulously.

Gelato shrugged, “A feast to celebrate our people's return to greatness, a feast to celebrate our Dominion over the stars, at least that's what Glacien said.”

“What about Earth?” Icebreaker asked, trying to sound like he wasn't that eager to leave.

“What about Karuto?” Cooly asked.

“Glacien said he was going to handle it, that's all I know.” Gelato told them with a shrug.

Icebreaker thought it was insane but whatever got them away from Earth sooner. He nodded and said, “We'll make sure the _Black Ice_ is ready as soon as possible. This had better be a good feast.”

“It doesn't sound like it,” Gelato grunted, “from what I could gather it sounds like we're only having fruit.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

** On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .  ** _ Trunks and the others make their return to Earth not certain of what's in store for them there. _

 


	73. Home

**Episode Thirty-Seven**

**'Home'**

 

The trip back to Earth had been a slow one at first. They had definitely learned the maximum range on their communications equipment—or as Genora insisted the equipment on Earth since the ship would have no trouble communicating with any other PTO vessels on Earth—by basically listening for and calling out to Earth every single day for the first week.

It had been one of the longest weeks of Trunks' life. He knew that if Frigus honored their agreement the assault on Earth would have been called off, but he was trusting an enemy whose only good deed have been handing over Dende _after_ their trap had failed to work.

As such the trap had been an uncomfortable one for Trunks at that time, he'd spent a lot of time in seclusion leaving everyone else to their business as much as possible.

When he was around the others he tried his best not to let his uncertainty show, but both Mai and Videl had tried to reassure him that everything was going to be all right, which only told him that he was failing to keep a cool facade.

Really nothing had helped quite as much as the first transmission they were able to actually get to Earth, and hearing his mother's voice. The knowledge that everyone was fine and that Cauliflora had actually _beaten_ General Boreal had been an enormous relief and Trunks had finally been able to really believe that he'd made the right decision.

Not just to trust Frigus, but to leave Earth in Cauli's hands. Or Brassica's hands, though he hadn't quite understood what his mother meant by that. Still once they had the 'all's well' from Capsule Corp he finally felt like he could relax.

It'd worked . . . they'd gone to New Namek, well Fake New Namek and rescued Dende to restore their Dragon Balls, they'd be able to wish their friends back, they'd be able to just _wish_ the Namekians to Earth.

Everything should be . . . everything should be . . . well, everything _good._

But he didn't feel right.

Even though time had stopped dragging on after the first week just knowing Earth was safe hadn't changed the feeling that all was not well. Something was wrong and he just didn't know what it was.

His instincts were going haywire, but in the end he'd tried to just dismiss them, tried to take comfort in the fact that soon his fighting days could be done. Maybe that was what made him uneasy, maybe his Saiyan side didn't like the idea.

But he'd seen what his Saiyan side did when left to its own devices and he'd rather have no more of that.

He'd tried to mingle with the crew a bit, catch up with his students and the Saiyans but something felt . . . off.

He couldn't put his finger on it at first, but eventually he'd realized that Turles and some of the others were being . . . well, too friendly. They went out of their way to be deferential it seemed, and Trunks didn't have to think hard about why that might be.

He knew it'd probably shaken them to see the Legendary Super Saiyan anxious, it'd probably seemed weird to see their Prince trying to hide his uncertainty, after all if Videl and Mai could see it Turles and the others probably could too.

He'd tried to reassure them as best he could. Kodva, Schip and Rhyce were all alright of course, it mostly just seemed to be the Saiyans who were acting unusually, so Trunks tried to get to know each of them on an individual basis but other than Beeta they were all pretty determined not to be caught alone with him.

_No,_ he thought, _that's not it, you're misunderstanding them._

It probably wasn't that they didn't want to be caught alone with him so much as they just sort of seemed to enjoy the buddy system, after all hadn't his Father always traveled with that Nappa guy? And even so they weren't avoiding him, it was more like they were cautious around him.

Which actually made him feel more self-conscious, but as their Prince he was determined to try and get to know them, or at least get them to behave more normally. The answer, as he saw it, had been not to try to engage them individually but as part of an even larger group, and it seemed like they'd all managed to take at least a slight liking to Blue Team.

So the remaining weeks of the trip had been spent largely with Trunks and one or more of the Blues just spending time with the Saiyan warriors, and he'd learned a lot that had helped him keep his mind off of the length of their trip.

He'd learned that most of them were technically the same age as Raditz, or at least that was a name from their past that he could recognize, and most of them even remembered Raditz.

Well that wasn't much of an achievement for them, to them Raditz had been someone they knew a few months ago, for Trunks Raditz was pretty much a footnote in history and not someone anyone ever spoke much about, which made it sort of interesting to hear stories about Goku's older brother from Turles' older brother Telluce and his teammate Sharrot in the ship's mess hall.

He and Telluce were sitting on one side of a table and Rhyce sat on the other. Sharrot had started out sitting on Rhyce's side of the table but now she was standing as she told her story, she acted out parts of it and even the people in the mess hall who weren't involved in the conversation were watching them.

“So I threw the hover car at him, the _whole_ hover car, Tuffle driver and all!” Sharrot was saying, “Oh yeah, this was during the war, there were still Tuffles. Anyway my dad is there saying 'Jeez Bardock, looks like my girl can take yours!' and Raditz' dad is all embarrassed and didn't even correct him! It was his hair see, his hair was _so_ long. I was jealous actually!”

“Isn't that why you picked a fight with him in the first place?” Telluce asked.

“No that's why I picked a fight with Rhubara later that day,” Sharrot informed him, “with Raditz I think our dads were hoping we'd be friends cuz they were. But we didn't get along after I embarrassed him.”

“Why should he be embarrassed losing to a girl?” Rhyce asked, “You Saiyan women are just as strong as the Saiyan men.”

“We are, it wasn't that he lost to a girl that embarrassed him.” Sharrot explained, “It was that he started crying in front of his dad that did it. We were still little and he had hover car all over him, didn't need to be _that_ embarrassed but still, he didn't much like me after that.”

“He and Turles got on all right.” Telluce had said. “I think Turles just liked having someone weaker he could push around.”

“Isn't that all of us now?” Rhyce scoffed and the small gathering laughed.

Trunks shook his head smiling. “Hey he works hard, you all could probably do just as well if you worked as hard.”

“Not likely.” Telluce said with a smirk, “I've known him all his life and most of mine, he's _never_ been able to grow so much so quickly. I mean we didn't really train on Planet Vegeta, we just fought and fighting made us stronger. But all the same Turles and I always grew at about the same rate.”

“You weren't training in high gravity,” Rhyce pointed out.

“That's true but he still grew faster than us _in_ high gravity.” Sharrot said. “Something's weird about it.”

Trunks thought about that. He'd assumed Turles' fast growth was just typical of a pure-blood Saiyan but here was a pure-blood Saiyan telling him otherwise. “Maybe he's just a fast learner?” Trunks offered.

The two just sort of shared a shrug, it wasn't the first time Trunks had heard that Turles' growth was weirdly quick, but it was the first time he'd heard it from other Saiyans.

_So he's above average even for a Saiyan,_ Trunks thought with a weird sort of pride. _If it weren't for Karuto sending me back in time to rescue him who knows what a talented individual would have been lost. I wonder, since our Turles is from the alternate past if the Turles from_ this _time-line survived somehow._

Hadn't Cauli mentioned thinking she was on his trail near Earth sometime before? Trunks would have to ask her about it when they got back.

But speaking of Turles, Trunks was surprised when his star pupil appeared in the doorway of the mess hall and whistled sharply, getting Telluce and Sharrot's attention instantly.

“Come on you two, stop pestering the Prince.” Turles said.

“He wanted to hear about life back on Planet Vegeta,” Sharrot said sounding like a child who'd been caught stealing the last cookie.

Trunks thought the tone was strange enough to take note of, but he wasn't sure what to make of it. Was Turles _scolding_ them for talking to him? Why?

If it was the anxiousness Trunks had been doing his best to show that he was past that, he didn't need his Captain to try to reduce his stress levels by keeping everyone from bothering him, though he certainly appreciated the gesture.

It just didn't occur to him that it could be something else, what _reason_ was there for it to be anything else?

So he just said, “It's fine Turles, I like hearing about my father's home world. I wish I could have seen it.”

“It wasn't much.” Telluce said, “We should be going anyway, sorry Prince Trunks.”

Telluce and Sharrot both got up and then bowed slightly before leaving the mess hall in a bit of a rush. Trunks felt confused but it was Rhyce who actually voiced his thought when she said, “What was that about?”

“I just don't think they need to be wasting the Prince's time, do you?” Turles asked.

“I . . . guess?” Rhyce sounded as if she were just as confused as Trunks, which was nice in a way because it meant he didn't have to feel alone but it was bad because it meant he couldn't ask her about it later. “But I mean he _did_ approach them, didn't you, Master?”

“I did.” Trunks said.

“Well my apologies then.” Turles said, sounding sincere. “I won't interrupt next time, Trunks.”

“Well at least you've gotten the hang of not calling me 'Prince' all the time.” Trunks said, offering a smile, and Turles smiled back.

“I'm a quick learner.” Turles told him.

“That's true at least,” Trunks nodded, “Sit down Turles, I want to talk to people, I want to see how everyone's doing and that includes you.”

The Saiyan warrior didn't even seem reluctant even though Trunks somehow felt like he was. He took a seat next to Rhyce who looked like she wasn't totally certain she wanted to stay and he said, “So what can I do for you?”

Trunks nodded to Rhyce, she could go if she liked. He didn't feel like he'd need a chaperon to get Turles to talk to him after all.

So Rhyce made and excuse by literally saying, “Well if you'll excuse me but I've got some excuse to blah blah about,” and hopping over to a different table to sit with Mai and Beeta.

Trunks smiled and said, “Well . . . how are you holding up after the fighting on New Namek?”

“It wasn't New Namek.” Turles reminded him.

“Right, New Fake Namek.” Trunks acknowledged.

Turles shrugged, “I survived a hyper drive overload, it was quite the adventure.”

Trunks frowned. He wondered if maybe he could guess what the problem was. He asked, “Are you feeling uneasy around me?”

That actually seemed to catch Turles by surprise for a moment before he hid it and said, “Uneasy around you? Why would you think something like that?”

“Well I gave you an order I know you didn't like and I know it must have been hard to follow it.” Trunks said, and Turles' surprise seemed to return telling Trunks that he'd guessed right.

Turles who was so proud of being a Captain and setting an example for the other Saiyans must have felt bad for hesitating to obey orders.

_No._ Trunks thought. _That's your human side._

He frowned and considered what his Saiyan side might think. He asked, “I'm glad you listened, but I can guess it upset you to do it.”

Turles hesitated just a moment before forcing a smile and saying, “It was just a moment of emotion. It had been a rough day.”

“I know,” Trunks acknowledged. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully then said, “But it must have been hard to let the enemy go after all of it. And I know I didn't exactly try to explain the situation to you.”

Turles nodded, and Trunks continued, “I should have explained right away, but with Earth in danger I had other things on my mind. I know how loyal you are, I suppose I took it for granted that you'd know I had my reasons. But it was still wrong not to share them with you, Captain. I'm sorry.”

Turles frowned at him, there was a very strange look in his eyes for just a moment, a look Trunks had never seen before and couldn't really identity.

It vexed him enough that he _almost_ forgot to explain to Turles just what his reasoning was but he remembered. He told the Saiyan, “Frigus had Dende, but he didn't know what he had. Dende is all we need, once we have him the dragon balls can be restored, we can bring back the fighters we lost at the bunker, we can wish the rest of the Namekians to Earth in safety, we can do almost anything once we have them. I couldn't risk going back without Dende, and I couldn't risk Dende getting caught in the crossfire if we fought the Arcosians. They were willing to leave peacefully so I let them.”

Trunks continued to explain, hoping what he was saying wouldn't fall on dead ears, “I want peace, Turles. We don't have to spend our whole lives fighting the Arcosians. Karuto is proof of that.”

“Karuto is a captured subjugated child,” Turles said and it sounded like he would have said more before he caught himself and stopped.

But Trunks nodded, “You're right, he's a prisoner. But he's been a good ally, we owe him a lot. We owe him your life after all.”

“And I haven't forgotten that.” Turles said. “But that wasn't Karuto at the prisoner exchange. What did I owe that Admiral? He destroyed one of his own ships and almost a hundred of his own men in a trap. A trap meant to kill you, but instead you let him go.”

“He'd all but surrendered,” Trunks explained, “I needed him to call off the assault on Earth, and I needed Dende to be safe so we could use the Dragon Balls again. I don't think he's a good guy or anything like that, but at the time I wasn't in a rush to kill him. Besides if peace is going to start anywhere we've got to be willing to take a chance and trust each other, don't you think?”

“Yes.” Turles nodded. “I do think that peace requires trust, and it's not my place to question the Prince of all Saiyans. I suppose if you feel I haven't been quite myself since then . . . well our kind weren't built for long trips in confined spaces without the ability to either hibernate or fight something. It was a great shame to lose the _Defender One_ and the chance to train, as we head back to Earth I can only think of the time I'm losing unable to properly train myself or my fellow fighters.”

“You don't have to feel responsible for losing the ship, it wasn't your fault. And I can understand feeling cooped up, but we're almost home.” Trunks reassured him.

“Right. Forgive me for not being quite myself then.” Turles said.

Trunks frowned. Turles sounded sincere, but why did he still feel like things weren't right?

But then Turles asked him, “Can we use the Dragon Balls to wish back planet Vegeta and the Saiyans?”

“I don't know, probably.” Trunks said. “I know there's a limit to their power., but maybe.”

“Well until we know for sure I will continue to list the Saiyan warriors that would best go unnoticed from rescue. I will assemble a fighting force of our people and train them in the high gravity to make them a force the universe would tremble at.”

Trunks nodded. He didn't need the universe to tremble, but he thought he understood what Turles was doing.

He was trying to keep himself occupied and setting his sights on the future, it made sense.

Trunks smiled at him and said, “Good luck in that, Captain.”

Turles saluted but didn't say anything. He just left, and the other Saiyans who'd been in the mess, Beeta, Kayle and Oni all slipped out as well. Trunks noticed it and some corner of his mind wondered about it but he said nothing.

He sighed and Rhyce came back over bringing Mai with her. He raised an eyebrow at her but Rhyce just shrugged at him.

“You already know what I'm going to say.”

“Actually I don't.” Trunks said.

“I don't like him.” Rhyce said simply.

“Oh . . . right.” Trunks sighed.

“Do you trust him?” Mai asked him.

“Of course. Why wouldn't I?” Trunks asked.

Mai hesitated, she seemed as she wanted to say something but was holding back. Still Trunks didn't need to hear her say it to know what was going unsaid.

_She_ didn't trust Turles.

_But she hasn't had much chance to get to know him, he's never been anything but loyal._ Trunks thought. He was about to discuss the matter further with her when they heard Genora's voice over the intercom.

“We're approaching Earth and detecting multiple extremely high power levels.”

That got everyone's attention. Trunks rushed to the bridge, they were still too far away from Earth for him to actually sense anyone.

Mai and Rhyce went with him, they arrived to find Genora and Videl on the bridge, Basil and Thyme probably taking a break or catching some sleep, after all the ship could fly itself back to Earth it just needed one member of the bridge crew around in case of an emergency.

“What kind of power levels are we getting?” Trunks asked.

“Well there's at least five very high ones, three . . . sorry, four closer to what we'd expect from an Arcosian.”

“So higher than the five?” Trunks asked.

“No.” Genora said flatly.

“Do you think the transmission we got from Earth was a lie?” Mai asked Videl.

“Don't be ridiculous, they're probably just the folks we left behind.” Videl said, casually lounging in the captain's chair.

“We didn't leave that many fighters behind.” Trunks told her.

Videl sighed, “Genora contact Earth, let them know we're home and ask whose coming to meet us.”

Genora relayed the message as Trunks tried hard to focus and sense who those high power levels belonged to.

But he was still too far away.

Finally Trunks could hear his mother's voice on the radio, “What? Say again, what's the problem?”

“Earth the ship's scouters are detecting very high power levels.” Genora explained. “Are you in any danger?”

Trunks knew his mother sounded too calm for there to be any real danger even before she asked, “Do I sound like I'm in any danger? We're fine, you're probably just picking up our new fighters practicing.”

“Why didn't we detect them sooner?” Videl asked loudly as if she thought Genora and Bulma were talking on the phone and she wanted to be heard on the other end.

“From what we gather the high gravity of the training room distorts scouters,” Bulma explained, “they've spent a lot of time in there.”

Trunks shook his head, “Are those the new recruits Master Roshi gathered from the new tournament?”

“The tournament hasn't happened yet, we're waiting on you.” Bulma said. “Don't worry about it, just bring yourselves in for a landing so I can give you a big hug right before I ground you for the rest of your life!”

Trunks smirked, “I'm an adult, and the Prince of all Saiyans, you can't ground me!”

“Is that a fact? Sorry, I didn't know you'd moved out from under my roof young man!” His mother said and he decided to change the subject before it got too embarrassing.

“Genora, are we detecting any PTO forces in the system?”

“Not one.” Genora said. “No ships, no transmissions. Just some sensor echoes on Pluto, but nothing worth noting. They probably built a base and abandoned it.”

Trunks nodded, that fit what Frigus had told him so he said, “We'll be home soon, Mother. _Humanity's Hope_ out.”

“I should have been one one to say that.” Genora grumbled but she pressed the buttons obediently.

“Sorry, you can get the next one.” Trunks told her. He turned to Videl and said, “It sounds like all's quiet on the home front, I can't wait to meet these new fighters though. They're all sporting some pretty high power levels.”

“Very high.” Videl nodded. “Too high.”

“What do you mean?” Trunks asked.

“I'm just looking at these numbers and the ones that aren't on par with the Saiyans from _Defender One_ are beyond what your students have manged.”

“Oh great!” Rhyce cried, “I'm left behind again!”

“You're not,” Trunks assured her, “I won't let you be.”

Rhyce frowned and folded her arms in a bit of a huff, but Mai asked, “Genora, what are those power levels?”

“You mean the numbers?” Genora asked.

“I mean the species. Can you tell yet?”

“Um . . . the ones that surpass the Blue team are mostly Saiyan . . . one Arcosian, one Namekian.”

“That makes sense, Cauliflora and Chillax were back there and . . . wait, a Namekian?”

“One of the two I'm picking up.” Genora reported. “I've got a link to our satellites from here.”

Trunks blinked. “I . . . don't . . . what? _How_?”

“There are two Arcosians, two Namekians, three Saiyans and something that just registers as unknown . . . you think that's Tathy?”

“Probably, but how are there three Saiyans?” Mai asked.

“How are there any Namekians?” Trunks added.

Then he realized who it must be.

_That must be Father and Goku! Mother must have used the time machine to bring Goku and the others back, maybe Piccolo and Dende too just in case we couldn't pull it off, or maybe she brought them to help when General Boreal showed up. If that's what happened the time machine would just barely be recharging, maybe they wanted to stay a little longer to greet us when we came back._

He started to feel excited, he might get to see his father, he might get to show his father the Saiyans he'd rescued, the world they were building on Earth.

He smiled, all the more eager to get home now. He watched the small blue-green planet approaching, going from the size of a sparrow egg to the size of a golf ball, then a baseball, he heard Mai and Videl start giving orders to the crew and getting everyone ready to disembark but for as long as the first week had been on the Hope's return voyage Trunks found that the final few minutes were far worse.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The Capsule Corporation headquarters was a guard tower and a barbed wire fence away from finally realizing its not entirely intentional goal of looking like a super villain's lair, or so Bulma thought as a half a hundred Royal Guard gathered around the large landing pad that had been constructed for the _Humanity's Hope_ over the ruins of the across-the-street neighboring porcelain egg shop.

The shop itself had escaped the events of the General's attack undamaged but the same could not be said for its inventory, for which the owners had been quite distraught. Bulma had bought the place and given its owners a good enough deal that they could replace their inventory and still move someplace where life would be a little less . . . turbulent.

Then she tore down the building and flattened the land—or rather asked the now fully reprogrammed Sixteen to do it—and built the landing pad so that the ship wouldn't mess up her lawn.

Still no lawn was more beautiful than the sight of that alien ship descending from the skies. Bulma was standing on the balcony watching as it came down, Master Roshi and Soda standing by on her left and right side respectively.

“It's quite a sight, isn't it?” She asked them.

“One for sore eyes.” Master Roshi said with a nod she was only able to see from the corner of her eye.

“The King will be here shortly, he was tied up with some affairs of state.” Soda commented, and Bulma nodded to her.

The older woman smiled as the ship touched down and extended its ramp. The troops and the fighters were the first out with Trunks taking up the rear along with Cargo and Dende.

“They're home.” Bulma said and let out a long content sigh.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On The Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Earth's Defenders take stock of their situation, both the good and the bad and Trunks receives an unexpected message about the Dragon Balls on the next episode!_

 


	74. Something Nice

**Episode Thirty-Eight**

**'Something Nice'**

 

As the son of Prince Vegeta descended from the ramp of the command ship Rhubara couldn't help but think he didn't seem like any Saiyan she'd ever seen before, but there was no mistaking him. He looked an awful lot like his mother and if that weren't enough to make it obvious who he was the power that radiated from him would have been another big clue.

But Rhubara was glad, at least she could feel him. Sixteen made her uncomfortable because in addition to being a lot stronger than her she couldn't sense his energy so sparring with him was difficult. Rewarding because she and Cauli and the others could fight without any restraint—outside of not destroying the training room that was—but difficult.

She could also sense Turles, it was easy to recognize him even though he'd gotten older. Over the past month she and Cauli had trained extensively in heavy gravity and still she felt no small amount of shock realizing that Turles was easily as strong as they were.

But none of the others came close . . . why was that?

Turles and the Prince walked almost side-by-side, Turles trailing behind just slightly less than Rhuby would have expected from someone subordinate. Maybe the rules on Earth were different than on Vegeta.

“You're better at sensing energy than me, do you feel that?” Cauli whispered to her, “I can't wait to spar with _him_!”

Chillax commented, “You're only feeling what he wants you to, he's like an iceberg. What you see is just a fraction of what's beneath the surface. His power level is in the millions and when he uses his Super Saiyan transformation it's even worse, but he likes compressing it down to ridiculously low numbers just to mess with others.”

Bass laughed, “I don't think that's why he does it. It's probably just easier not having to manage so much power all the time. He's more than a legend, he's like a god . . . for all the power we've gained training in one hundred times this planet's normal gravity this past month we're nothing compared to him. We're insects.”

“If you love him so much why don't you marry him?” Cauli scoffed. It was an Earthling taunt she'd learned from Karuto.

“She's right, bad form complimenting another fighter by insulting the rest of us.” Brassica agreed and Bass nodded in apology.

“Sorry,” he said, “I didn't mean to belittle everyone, but he really is something. I can see why he's your Prince.”

Cauli folded her arms and scoffed again. Rhuby could see her partner was trying to act as if she weren't concerned but it was an obvious front, she knew that Cauli would be worried now about the pecking order and where she'd fall in it and where she and Rhuby had been the toast of House Stobler they would have to work hard to stand out on Earth.

Cauli would be nervous, Rhuby knew, but she also knew the other girl would quickly get excited too and her competitive fire would become a blazing inferno. Rhuby just hoped her own flame could burn as brightly, she didn't want to be left behind.

“I'm not worried, the stronger the opponent the better the training,” Cauli said, coming off as slightly more honest and with a bit of that fire starting to show.

Chillax shrugged but he was smiling, and it was easy for Rhuby to tell he agreed just from the time she'd spent with him over the past month. Their power levels were all very close and the young Arcosian's drive to get stronger was on par with that of a Saiyan so they'd taken to training together frequently in the high gravity room—once Rhuby had gotten used to going inside there that is.

She still wasn't crazy about the elevator, her heart always skipped a beat when she had to step in or out of it. It hadn't helped that one of the Earthling soldiers said that accidents were rare because until that point it hadn't occurred to Rhuby that accidents were _possible,_ so naturally like a fool she'd gotten Karuto's help to research elevator accidents and now she was even _more_ uneasy in the thing.

But it was something she had to tolerate to get stronger . . . so she would, even if it made her anxious every single time.

Karuto's solution had been to just use stairs and train in the garden with Master Roshi. “The gravity room might increase your power level, but Master Roshi says it's not all about power level,” the little Arcosian had said and Rhuby sort of got that, but getting stronger wasn't the only reason she shut her eyes, got in the elevator, and trained in the gravity room.

“I kind of want to see him spar with Sixteen, don't you?” Cauli asked her suddenly, gently nudging her out of her thoughts.

“It'd be a sight all right. What do you think, big guy?” Rhuby asked the stoic Sixteen.

The large Earthling glanced at her and said, “If it aids in the protection of life on Earth I will comply.”

He had an odd way of talking, and he seemed extremely loyal to his orders. Bulma had explained it having something to do with reprogramming but Rhuby hadn't really understood. She'd tried her best but after a while she just smiled, nodded, and waited for the lecture to end.

Cauli smiled and said, “Throw Brass in there so it's interesting.”

Bulma, Master Roshi, the two Earthling women, Karuto and Tathy, all of them were on the upper levels of the building since they hadn't been in the gravity room training when the ship arrived. That left the group of them standing behind the big glass entry doors of the Capsule Corp. building watching through tinted glass as the returning warriors were led across the street by the weak human soldiers, or the 'taller Tuffles' as Cauli was calling them whenever her sister wasn't around to scold her for it with the back of her hand to the back of Cauli's head.

Brassica was a whole different set of problems for Rhuby, she knew it wasn't unusual for Saiyans to have half-siblings, far from it half-siblings were the norm, only the rare oddballs like Raditz' parents ever bonded for life. It wasn't the idea that Cauli just happened to have a sister and that that sister had evaded the destruction of planet Vegeta that was a problem, it was just . . . well Rhuby really couldn't put a finger on it, but she didn't believe Brassica was who she claimed to be.

Part of it was that Brassica felt so _similar_ to Cauli. It had taken Rhuby more than a week to really finally be able to sense the subtle difference between them. Her first thought was that obviously Brassica was really just Cauli, only an older version of her who hadn't time traveled. She'd shared this thought with Cauli, but the other girl had dismissed it. “Don't be stupid,” she'd said, “why would an older me be here if an older you isn't? Wouldn't go anywhere without you, remember? Besides it's not like half-siblings are weird or anything,” and so on.

Cauli was all too eager to accept having a sibling, even if Rhuby didn't trust it. But like Cauli had said, neither of them would ever go anywhere without the other, so why would there only be an older Cauli and not an older version of herself too? There were no answers that failed to make the young Saiyan uncomfortable, so she'd accepted it enough to keep quiet about it.

Not that she didn't trust Brassica . . . _conditionally_. The older female felt so much like Cauli that Rhuby often found herself feeling relaxed enough to almost feel like Brass really was an old friend, and that actually made her uneasy. Still, Brassica had done nothing yet to show that she didn't deserve to be trusted . . . but that still didn't mean she actually trusted Brassica _unconditionally_ , and she found it all the more suspicious when Brassica suddenly excused herself from their group to talk to the returning fighters.

“I've got to explain a few things to the Prince and the others before they meet you.” Brassica told them.

“She probably means me more than the rest of you,” Chillax commented, “I _was_ in a cell threatening to blow the planet up the last time he saw me.”

“She could mean us,” Bass said from across the large doorway, “You see those two, they're obviously more of our kind, don't you think Kazoo?”

“Your kind you mean. They look more like you.” The smaller Namekian scoffed.

“You're my brother, our kind is the same.” The giant Bass sighed.

“Perhaps, but clearly our father blessed me with more distinguished features.” Kazoo said lightly.

“Horns _are_ better than antennae.” Chillax agreed.

Between the door and the fact that Brassica was clearly talking quietly to the prince Rhuby couldn't hear what was being said, and it made her uneasy.

“Can you hear what they're saying out there?” Rhuby asked Bass, knowing that the Sensei—or rather the Namekian had hearing superior to her own.

“I can.” Bass admitted.

“And?” Rhuby asked when it became clear he wasn't going to elaborate on his own.

“And _what_?” The tall Namekian asked before rolling his eyes and telling her, “She's only telling the Prince that Karuto obtained our service without permission, and warning him to be prepared for what he'll see inside. Nothing strange.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“What happened to your eye? And what do you mean I have to call you Brassica?” Trunks demanded. He could sense strong power levels behind the doors and he was eager to meet them, but Cauliflora, or rather Brassica was making a rather unusual request before he or the others entered.

He and blue team were standing at the front of the group along with Captain Videl and Mai. Turles was right at his side, which had actually become unusual because the Saiyan warrior was still keeping mostly to the other Saiyans, but for whatever reason he was more inclined now to march side by side with Trunks and Trunks hoped it meant that he was getting over the disappointment at not being allowed to massacre the Admiral's crew.

But something in him was thrown off his ease by it, and this strange request by Cauliflora—er that was by _Brassica_ was only making him feel more confused and concerned. Just what had happened while he was gone?

“I'll explain it later, but for now we can't very well have two people called Cauliflora can we?” Brassica shrugged.

“Why don't we call you Cauliflora and her Cauli? Or just call her Flora? Junior? There are workarounds that don't result in whole new identities.” Kodva pointed out.

“Do . . . do Saiyans literally never meet anyone with the same name?” Schip asked.

“We've never been overly plentiful, but duplicate names were a thing of course and we dealt with them.” Turles answered him, “But I think what she means is that we can't have two of thesame _person_ wearing the same name.”

“What I'm not following is how we have two of the same _person._ ” Rhyce spoke up. Trunks sighed and was about to explain but Captain Videl brought the discussion to an end.

She said, “Look, it doesn't matter. She's asking us for a favor and I'm sure she'll explain later just as she said, so why not just agree so we can all walk through those doors and finally call this mission complete?”

Brassica nodded, and Trunks sighed in acquiescence. “All right. Fine. If that's what you want we'll try to keep it in mind . . . but you're telling me Karuto used the machine and brought back Namekians? Were either of them able to restore the dragon balls in our absence?”

“Your mother didn't want to ask them, she was hoping for the success of your mission.” Brassica shrugged. “But I know them, or at least I knew them years ago and they didn't even know they were Namekian until the kid told them. So I doubt they'd have been able to do it.”

Trunks nodded some more, trying to take stock of the situation and finally saying, “Well let's meet our newest Defenders, then start talking about the restoration of the Dragon Balls!”

Brassica nodded and the doors opened. Trunks expected to see a younger Cauliflora and meet Rhubara and two new Namekians but he wasn't fully prepared for the other two people standing on the other side of the door.

Chillax was a surprise, but not nearly as much so as Android Sixteen.

_Why didn't I think of that?_ Trunks wondered. He had told his mother about the reformed Android Sixteen of Goku's time-line, but it hadn't occurred to him to look for Gero's lab to find out if the Sixteen of their own time-line was still there.

Honestly he knew his mother was a genius, but now that he laid eyes on Sixteen this felt so obvious that he blushed. “It's . . . an honor to meet you here, Sixteen.”

“Likewise. Your wise mother has told me all about you.” Android Sixteen informed him.

“And did she tell you to call her my 'wise' mother?” Trunks asked.

“Affirmative.”

“Yeah, I thought so . . . well I won't grudge her on it.” Trunks laughed. He smiled at Chillax and said, “So . . . you got out of your cell, huh?”

“Ironically by doing something that technically would have seen me sent to prison on my world.” Chillax told him.

Trunks' smile broadened, “I can't wait to hear about it, and I'll have to tell you all about my meeting with your father. Don't worry, he's still alive.”

Chillax seemed surprised, “You mean you engaged our forces and . . . didn't eradicate them?”

“It wasn't necessary.” Trunks told him. He noticed Turles grimace from the corner of his eye but he let it go. “Anyway you two must be Cauliflora and Rhubara.”

The two looked no older than the rest of the Saiyans Trunks and Turles had rescued, though Trunks knew they were from Turles' team so Karuto had rescued them at some point after their growth spurt but before they'd escaped the planet they were enslaved on.

“That's us. I'm Cauli, she's Rhuby.” The younger Cauliflora told him, tilting her head towards Rhubara.

Trunks didn't miss that they still had their tails though, he was glad Earth lacked a moon because he could sense the strength of these two and he didn't want to imagine how Earth would have fared without him if their might increased tenfold and they lost all control.

Still seeing younger Cauliflora reminded Trunks and he asked again, “By the way . . . Brassica,” he said, almost forgetting the new name, “what happened to your eye?”

“You mean who repaired the damage? I did.” A very short Namekian said lightly. He was a stark contrast to his companion, who was easily as tall as Android Sixteen. The small Namekian had darker green skin than Dende or Cargo and short stubby horns on his head rather than antennae, still Trunks could tell he was a Namekian due to . . . well, everything else about him.

“My name is Kazoo, the _Great_ Kazoo if you prefer, and you _should,_ because I _am_ great. Unfortunately as great as I am I couldn't do anything about her tail,” The Namekian said, “I can't replace missing body-parts but I can restore anything that's still attached. I fixed your chair-bound fighter too, it wasn't too difficult.”

Trunks blinked in surprise, but it was Schip who said, “Wait, you mean Ana? You . . . you--”

“Yes.” Kazoo interrupted. “To save you having to stammer it out. I restored her ability to walk, fly and fight.”

Trunks let out an impressed chuckle, “Well then it's good to have you with us, Great Kazoo. And your companion is . . .”

“This is Bass, son of Slug, former Sensei of House Stobler, legend of the Arenas of War World!” Young Cauliflora announced with such enthusiasm that it actually made Trunks take a step back in surprise.

The large Namekian smiled though, and bowed low saying, “You can just call me Bass.”

“No need to bow so low, Bass,” Trunks told him, “I might be the Prince of all Saiyans but that doesn't mean I expect a lot of pomp and circumstance.” He nodded to Dende and Cargo, “Dende here is a healer too, and Cargo is an aspiring fighter himself. Unfortunately they're the only two of your kind we brought back with us, but once Dende here has completed the restoration of the Dragon Balls we'll be able to wish the rest of your people here in safety.”

The two other Namekians were expressing their enthusiasm at meeting more of their kind and learning about their people, but no sooner had Trunks said what he'd said than he heard a voice in his head that seemed to drown out all the rest of the world for a moment. It was a loud and firm voice, not the sort of thing he usually heard when he thought to himself, it certainly wasn't his own inner voice.

Instead it was the voice of someone he hadn't thought he'd hear from ever again, at least not until _after_ there were Dragon Balls again.

“Gohan?” He asked aloud, causing a few of the people who'd heard him to look confused but he ignored that and listened carefully.

With his ears, which he realized was pointless because the voice was in his head . . . was he going insane?

_Trunks!_ Gohan's voice came through again. _“Trunks, can you hear me?”_

Trunks blinked and said, “Um . . . someone get Master Roshi?”

He couldn't really think of what else to do or say.

But he heard Gohan's laugh in his mind, and then he heard his old mentor say, _“You're not going crazy, Trunks. It's really me, it's Gohan! I'm talking to you from the other world, I'm with King Kai. Listen, we know what you're planning, King Kai's been watching you, but he needed me to be able to actually talk to you.”_

“Why?” Trunks asked aloud.

“Why what?” Turles asked him. Everyone was staring now, but Trunks waved a hand urging them to be silent. Even though he didn't need his ears to hear Gohan he needed to be able to focus.

_“Well it's not that he couldn't have done it, but he knew you'd pay more attention to me, and you'd know you could trust me and what I'm going to tell you. Listen Trunks, this is really important if you want to restore the Dragon Balls properly.”_

“Okay, I'm listening . . .” Trunks said.

“Is this . . . usual for him?” Kazoo whispered, and Trunks could feel himself blush, he knew how odd this had to seem.

Still he “listened” to what Gohan had to tell him.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Karuto had never expected there to be so much activity over a single ship returning, this was more than even his daddy and uncle would have gotten.

He supposed it made _some_ sense, after all the PTO was a very military organization and the Earthling military forces were behaving with a great deal of discipline, the sort he'd have expected.

But in the kitchen it was pandemonium. Chef Asiago was in an almost panicked state, “What do you mean that's all the Eggplant Parmesan? I told you we needed enough for a hundred people! And you there, have you checked the hams?”

“We're doing everything we can sir, we want Master Trunks' return celebration to be a success too,” one of the kitchen staff was telling him, “but there's still hours until dinner time and you've got us working to feed an army!”

“There _is_ an army, but I'm not worried about _them_! They're normal mortal men and women, you need to be ready to feed _more_ than just an army, there's the Royal Guard to consider but there's the aliens too!”

Another member of the kitchen staff spoke up, “But you heard Missus Bulma, they only brought back two Namekians!”

“Never mind the Namekians boy, they drink water and that's good enough for them, I could handle the entire Namekian race with a garden hose!” Asiago cried angrily, “Do you not realize the trial ahead of you? The _Saiyans_ , you young fools, the _Saiyans_ are back! You think feeding three of them was bad? Now we've got a whole dozen of them! A baker's dozen if you include Trunks, and speaking of which, where's the baker?”

“I'm right here!” Anavill sighed, “The cakes are almost done and the cookies are cooling, _my_ part of the work is all under control it's your new staff that's not taking this seriously.”

The chef turned a jaundiced eye on them and told her, “They will . . . they'll learn soon enough.”

But the younger cooks didn't seem all that impressed to Karuto. One even scoffed, “So what if there isn't enough? We can only do so much, they'll probably be grateful enough after two months of space ship food!”

Karuto decided to help the aging Earthling chef out by telling his staff, “Just keep in mind, the Saiyans don't really view you as . . . well . . . people. Even if they did they're not beyond eating . . . um . . . people. Meat is meat to them.”

“Wait, you mean they might eat _us_ if they don't get full off of our cooking?” One of the younger cooks gawked and Karuto nodded to her gravely.

That put some extra speed to their steps. Asiago cried, “You'll never be proper chefs if it takes the fear of _being_ the meal for you to take your jobs seriously! Get to work! You, what are you doing to that rice? It's _rice,_ it's the least complicated thing in this kitchen!”

Karuto suppressed a laugh and nodded to Anavill, “Hey,” he told her, “I was supposed to get you, Missus Bulma says you can take a break from the baking, you're a Defender after all.”

“I know that, but this just . . . it's something I wanted to do for them. I wasn't much help when Earth needed defending and now that they're back I know they've been through so much I just wanted them to be able to come back to something nice.”

“Something nice like seeing their friend waiting for them?” Karuto suggested and Anavill smiled.

“I guess. But I'm a littler nervous too, I mean . . . I pushed them away, I don't even know if they'll want to see me after everything.”

Karuto had spent a lot of time with Anavill, especially since she'd started training again. Because she had gone so long without walking she was a little uncertain on her feet at times, so instead of training with 'the big kids' as Master Roshi had put it Anavill, along with Soda was continuing to train with him and Master Roshi in regular gravity.

Karuto hated delivering milk.

But he enjoyed training with the old Turtle Hermit and the two young humans. He'd considered once trying to train with the others but he'd watched them and thought better of it.

He wasn't on their level yet, and he still got to spend time with all of them outside of training so it wasn't like he didn't still get to talk to his cousin, or to Rhubara or to either version of Cauli.

But he _trained_ with Anavill, so he'd gotten to know her pretty well. He told her, “I think they'll be super excited, I know I would be. Anyway just because you push people away when you're hurt of feeling sad doesn't mean you need to win them over with wonderful cakes and cookies, they'll be happy just to know you're feeling better!”

“True, but I'll bet the cakes would help.” Anavill said with a smile.

“Well I'll look after the cakes, and I promise not to eat any of them!” Karuto declared. He'd actually taken quite a liking to cake making. From what he understood he was quite talented at it, Chef Asiago had even once said he'd 'never seen a cake catch fire like that before' and Karuto had never been prouder of anything he'd ever cooked.

“Just go!” Asiago chimed in, “I'll make sure everything goes smoothly in here, you'll need to let those cakes cool before you frost them anyway, you know that!”

Anavill laughed and said, “All right, all right, I can spare a moment from the madness as long as you can promise me you won't let Tathy steal all those cookies I've got out cooling.”

“I'll guard them with my life!” Karuto cried, but actually he knew that Tathy wasn't going to try anything, she was with Soda and Master Roshi and Master Roshi had promised not to let her out of his sight.

Anavill took a deep steadying breath and went out of the kitchen but Karuto remained.

It wasn't that he didn't want to see Mister Trunks and the others . . . but actually he was a little nervous.

Now that Trunks was back, now that the ship was back . . . well the General and his people hadn't come back, but when Chillax had told him that they'd showed up trying to rescue _him_ instead of Chillax . . . well Karuto knew two things.

The first thing was that he knew that the Earthlings wouldn't give him up until Mister Trunks was back because as long as they had him they knew that General Boreal and his people wouldn't just find some way to blow the planet up from afar, and anyway they didn't have a ship to take him in, the Galactic Patrol ship they'd captured was damaged during the righting.

But he also knew once Mister Trunks was back . . . once that ship was back . . . well things might be different. They might just decide to take him over as a gesture of goodwill.

And it wasn't that Karuto didn't want to go home, it wasn't that he didn't miss his parents but . . . well there was just so much more to do on Earth, he didn't want to have to go _yet._

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks and the others go up to the Lookout to see if there's enough of it left to suit their purposes, but what are King Kai's instructions, and how will they help? Meanwhile something's going on in outer space, but is it something that will help or hurt our heroes?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: This chapter was originally going to be called 'Restoration of the Dragon Balls' as each episode of Season Two is named for a quote from the episode. I changed it because it was too much of a tease.


	75. The Eternal Dragon!

**Episode Thirty-Nine**

**'The Eternal Dragon'**

 

The lookout was far different than the one that Trunks had been to in the past.

Well . . . _technically_ it was the same one, it even looked the same having been spared the Androids' destructive rampages. When their time line's Piccolo had died taking Kami with him apparently the Androids had had no reason to try to find it, or maybe they just didn't know about it. Trunks wasn't sure, and King Kai hadn't told him, but still he'd expected to arrive where King Kai had said the lookout was and find empty air.

Instead he'd found the Lookout.

He and the fighters he had with him descended ahead of his mother's hover car to make sure it was safe, even though he didn't expect there'd be any danger. His mother had assured him there were no rogue Androids in Gero's lab when she'd activated Android Sixteen, and since he'd destroyed Cell almost a year ago when the bug had tried to steal his time machine Trunks couldn't think of any threats that might still be hanging around Earth.

But he sensed for energy all the same. If nothing else he should have at least been able to detect Mister Popo, but Trunks found he was unable to sense the elusive little man . . . genie . . . um . . . well the elusive whatever Mister Popo was.

_Is he a god? What if he's a god?_ Trunks wondered with some small amount of alarm. After all he really didn't understand how any of this other world stuff worked. _Of course now it seems rude not to have found out sooner if he was alive._

As a child of course he hadn't known about it, and Gohan had never tried to take him to the Lookout. But he knew once he'd gotten back from the past the second time when he'd destroyed the Androids he should have found the Lookout and checked on his own time line's Mister Popo.

But there was no point fretting over it now. Trunks looked around, scanning the pristine looking place once more time before nodding up to the flying car carrying his mother and the rest of their group.

Initially he'd planned to bring with him just his students, Turles and the Namekians, but in the end the group to arrive was a bit different. Soda was absent as were Rhyce and Schip leaving him just Kodva and Anavill out of his students, though he was still happy to have them along. Caul—uh that is Brassica and Master Roshi were with the rest of . . . well, the troops, Trunks supposed he could call them. Beeta, the twins and Lamson's Saiyan team, not to mention the Royal Guard forces under Captain Videl.

_We're getting pretty crowded._ Trunks thought to himself as he considered it. He _had_ brought all four of the Namekians, but instead of just Turles he had acquiesced to the Captain's suggestion that he bring an honor guard.

Trunks didn't feel like he needed one, but by way of mending fences with Turles as best he could he'd agreed to bring along the two new Saiyans, Cauli and Rhuby. It could be a good chance for him to get to know them as well, and maybe they wouldn't be angry at him for sparing the Admiral's forces like the rest of them seemed to be.

Not that he blamed them, even now seeing that Earth was still standing he knew that had more to do with his mother activating Android Sixteen and Brassica becoming a Super Saiyan than it likely had to do with Frigus honoring their arrangement.

But he knew that they couldn't just keep killing all of their enemies. In order for them to make peace, in order for _him_ to find peace, they needed to start offering gestures and trust.

He'd discussed it with his mother and she'd agreed, which he'd appreciated, then she'd informed him that he was grounded, which he hadn't.

He was twenty three after all. Hardly her little boy anymore. he was an adult and that meant facing the world and accepting the adult consequences of his actions, adult consequences didn't include being grounded. Of course when he told her that she'd agreed and suggested that adult consequences _might_ include paying rent with the income he lacked from the job he didn't have and they'd decided to let the matter rest for a while until the Dragon Balls were restored.

He and his fellow fighters descended, landing on the lookout and Trunks felt strange being there. There was something about the place that just didn't feel . . . right.

His mother's hover car landed, she'd brought Karuto along and she'd also brought Basil and Thyme though Trunks wasn't sure what the reason was other than perhaps that she was just being glad to have them back.

“I'm not reading anything on the scouter,” Turles informed him, “this place is totally abandoned.”

“The place doesn't seem like much, but I do sense a powerful energy here . . . not of any individual, just . . . an ambiance.” Kodva commented.

“I agree,” Bass said, “this place itself is powerful . . . but it's not quite right.”

“It's lacking a Guardian.” Trunks guessed. “It's lacked one for a long time.”

“Twenty three years, actually.” A small plump familiar man in a turban and baggy white pants said, emerging from a doorway looking a bit uncertain.

“Mister Popo!” Trunks called, “I'm glad to find you safe and alive . . . you probably don't know me.”

“Of course I know you, I'm surprised you know me.” The strange little man said, looking at their group in awe, “No one's come here in so long . . . but I expected you'd come eventually.”

“You did?” Trunks asked.

“Of course. The Earth needs a new Guardian after all.” Mister Popo told him.

Trunks nodded, “That's true, that's why I brought them with me,” he said, indicating the Namekians, “This is Dende, in the past he became the Guardian of Earth after Kami fused with Piccolo . . . oh, right, I traveled to the past to . . . well, learn how to destroy the Androids, that's how I know about you, we met there.”

“I don't remember.” Mr. Popo said, and Trunks was about to elaborate about the divergent time lines when he realized the strange man-genie-god was joking.

At least he was pretty sure. He smiled and said, “Yeah, I guess you wouldn't, it was a different time and a different you after all.”

Mister Popo eyed Dende carefully before saying, “And he's the Guardian in that alternate time line?”

“Brought by Goku himself.” Trunks nodded. “We were hoping that he could restore the Dragon Balls and take his place as Guardian.”

“I wish it were that easy,” Mister Popo said, “but I don't know, I thought someone else would be Kami's successor . . . to be honest I thought it would be you.”

Trunks blinked, “Me? I'm . . . I'm not divine at all.”

“But who could be a better Guardian of Earth? You're strong and you think of the Earth and its people. All of them, not just the ones from one land or another. You're a selfless mortal who, with the proper guidance and training would be a suitable Guardian.”

Trunks blinked, this was not what he'd signed up for. Gohan, and by extension King Kai hadn't mentioned _anything_ about this.

To his surprise Turles said, “Are you thinking of refusing? Is he not telling you that you could become a God? If you're concerned about our people _I_ could lead them in your absence,”

Trunks shook his head, too overwhelmed by the very idea. He said, “I just don't think I'm right for the job, anyway Dende seemed to be doing fine in the past and we need him to restore the Dragon Balls.”

“Restoring the Dragon Balls and being Guardian of Earth are not necessarily connected.” Mister Popo said. “But I understand you're not ready yet and this place _has_ been a very long time without a Guardian. So then shall I take the young man to the statue of the Dragon?”

“Actually,” Trunks said, “if you don't mind . . . well King Kai had a suggestion on how to restore our Dragon Balls and make them even better than they were before.” Trunks indicated Kazoo, “Dende, you and Kazoo will have to work together to restore them.”

“What?” Dende blinked, “But . . . but that won't work.”

Trunks shrugged, “I know you can do it yourself, and in the past you made the Dragon Balls even more powerful than they were before. But King Kai told me that we need to unite the two halves, that is to say a son of Guru and a son of Slug, together you'll be able to make the Dragon Balls more powerful than they are even in the past, more powerful than the Namekian set.”

“But it won't work,” Dende said firmly, “I mean the Eternal Dragon can't have _two_ creators, otherwise every Namekian could lend some of their power to it.”

“That's right . . .” Trunks said, “It can't have _two_ creators.”

Dende looked shocked, Kazoo just looked confused.

“What are you implying, Master Trunks?” Anavill asked, “that they should . . . take turns?”

His mother and her group arrived then as Cargo exclaimed, “He's _implying_ that they should use the fusion technique! Don't you realize what that would mean?”

“I do.” Trunks said. “I was told all about, I understand what's supposed to happen.”

“I don't.” Kazoo said brightly. “Remember that despite being a Namekian I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of my Race. What is this fusion?”

Cargo explained, “It will mean one of you is going to absorb the other one. The absorber will receive a boost of power so overwhelming that it'll surpass what he and the absorbed could have achieved even working together normally _but_ the cost of sharing a body is that the _absorbed_. . . stops having a body.”

“So one of us has to die?” Kazoo snorted.

“No, it's not dying,” Dende said, “and the absorbed doesn't cease to be, he just becomes . . . well a second mind in the body, but he can't actually control the body without the primary host's consent. It's sharing a body but with one party being in control of the body because it is _their_ body, the other providing their knowledge and experience, their mind and their power.”

“Then I'll do it.” Bass said simply. “If it's power you need I have more of it than my brother, if it's experience and knowledge I was the greatest Sensei of the War World, and I'm willing to sacrifice myself in his place.”

“Don't sell me short like that, Bass,” Kazoo scoffed, “You think your knowledge and experience surpasses my own?”

“It's not that simple,” Cargo said before they could start to argue, “the fact that you're more powerful could result in Dende going from absorber to absorbed. Anyway both Namekians have to agree and I know my brother won't agree, right Dende?”

Trunks sighed, “I don't think King Kai would have meant for one of you to give up everything just so we could have the Dragon Balls back, what Gohan was telling me sounded more like a temporary--”

“Gohan talked to you?” His mother asked, and he shrugged helplessly.

“You're hearing your dead mentor's voice in your head?” Basil asked.

“You make it sound like that's unbelievable.” Thyme said.

“A bit . . .” Basil suggested.

“Well in case you're wondering hearing the voices of dead people certainly is unusual,” his mother told them, “but it's not . . . impossible. I did hear the voice of one of my friends through King Kai . . . and I don't think Gohan would mislead you, but this doesn't sound . . . well it doesn't sound _good._ ”

“Are you certain?” Kazoo asked. “I think it sounds fantastic!”

“Come now, brother, be serious!” Bass said.

“Yeah, don't kid around, Medic,” Cauli said, “you'll scare the kid.”

“Why should he be scared? He'll be the one with the body.” Kazoo said brightly, causing everyone to stare.

“I will?” Dende asked.

“Of course, dumdum. Look at me, I'm even smaller than _you,_ your body would be far preferable but my mind, my vast unsurpassed brilliance as well as all the powers I possess amplified and at your disposal? Of course you'll finally be prepared to serve this world as its Guardian. You see, Bass? I'll finally take my place among the Gods.”

“I don't think so . . .” Mister Popo said, “The Guardian of Earth can't have evil in his spirit and . . . with all due respect . . .”

“Oh evil is just a concept!” Kazoo scoffed.

“Well as concepts go it's one that your spirit overflows with.” Mister Popo said evenly. “In just the time I've observed you you've been rude and even a bit megalomaniacal. Do you really think I would allow such a person to become the Guardian of Earth?”

“You were about to give it to the kid with purple hair!” Kazoo said huffily.

“Blue.” Trunks corrected.

“Eh.” Kazoo said, waving his hand to indicate 'so-so' and shrugging.

“I never said Trunks was ready to be the Guardian, I said I expected him to begin _trying_ to become the Guardian, he's fit for the role but would still need many years of training before he could actually assume it.” Mister Popo explained.

“But what about me? “Dende asked.

Mister Popo shrugged, “You . . . have a pure spirit and a good heart . . . I think you could become the Guardian of Earth, if you're willing to take up that mantle.”

“Oh come now!” Kazoo said, “Are you telling me that you're not only going to tell me of a method where I no longer have to bother caring for this body of mine, and instead could simply devote my everything to being a being of pure thought, then rip it away from me because I'm a little unpleasant to converse with?”

“To be fair brother would _you_ want to spend eternity sharing a mind with yourself . . . oh, look who I'm asking.” Bass said with a slight smirk. Trunks could tell the giant Namekian was mostly just relieved that the fusion apparently wasn't going to happen.

“Well I can change, I can change!” Kazoo cried, “Just think if we merged bodies we'd be more powerful yes, we'd restore the Dragon Balls to a superior luster and then we could simply . . . start training the very same way that this . . . shadow demon wanted to train Lord Trunks.”

Dende hesitated, “I . . . I don't know, this is all really unexpected.”

“It would take a very long time indeed for you to absolve yourself of the evil I sense in your spirit,” Mister Popo warned, “even now your desire is purely selfish.”

“Selfish it may be but once my 'self' is two people I'll have to care about the other one, won't I?” Kazoo was saying. “Come on kid, think about it! You're hesitant to become Guardian of a whole world right? We're like two sides of the same coin, we're both amazing healers, you're the only one here I think I _might_ be able to respect as much as I do myself someday!”

“Kazoo!” Bass said sharply, “Stop trying to tempt him--”

“We'll both get what we want! You'll have my knowledge, my power, my experience everything at your disposal and in exchange for this power up you'll get _time_ , time to prepare yourself for your role as Guardian, or for them to find someone else! And I'll . . . maybe learn a bit of humility!”

“I . . .” Dende seemed to be hesitating.

“ _Trunks!”_ Gohan's voice rang through his brain, _“Trunks, King Kai says you've got it all wrong, it's a temporary fusion, you have to perform a . . . wait, a dance? Okay, okay, yeah, a dance! Just long enough to restore the Dragon Balls, then they'll separate on their own!”_

Trunks nodded, though he didn't know if Gohan could see him. He raised his hands and said, “Hold on a second--” but Dende had already made his decision.

“I'm sorry, cousin, but if I'm going to be Guardian of Earth I think I need to be able to make decisions on my own. I might have the conscious mind and the body, but I can already tell you'd try and probably succeed in overwhelming my mind.”

“Is that possible?” Kazoo asked, sounding almost greedy for the answer.

“I don't want to find out.” Dende said. He turned and bowed to Mister Popo, “I'm sorry, if you're willing I'll become the Guardian of Earth.”

Mister Popo smiled approvingly, but he didn't say anything.

Kazoo did though. “Phooey!” the small Namekian cried, then folded his arms and all but pouted.

Trunks laughed and said, “Okay, okay, now that that's over what King Kai actually meant was--”

“Just a minute,” Dende interrupted, “I uh . . . well I don't know who King Kai is, but I think I can restore the Dragon Balls myself. I don't need help, not that I don't understand why you'd want to make sure everything goes perfectly. I can do this, you'll see! I can make them superior to what they were and I can make them superior to . . . to whatever the other me did in the past time line. Give me a chance, Mister Trunks, you'll see.”

Trunks sighed.

“It's not often that we get advice from beyond the grave, do you really think its wise to ignore it?” His mother asked.

“No . . . but I think if I rely on the strength of others to help me do things I'd be a pretty poor Guardian, don't you?” Dende said.

Trunks nodded. Who was he to tell someone they couldn't embark on the journey they chose if it meant they could better themselves and the world?

“Well then what about you?” Kazoo asked Cargo, “Why don't you absorb me? You seem like you could use a bit of smarts! We'll show your brother, we'll _surpass_ being a god!”

_Well, maybe not him,_ Trunks thought. He said, “Hey, stop trying to get people to absorb you, I was never talking about that. It would have been a different kind of fusion, a dance.”

“What kind of dance? Karuto asked.

“I . . . don't know.” Trunks admitted.

“Well how were you going to get them to do it if you don't know it?” Basil asked.

“I don't know.” Trunks sighed, “I assumed King Kai would tell me.”

“Your dead mentor?” Turles scoffed.

“No, that's Gohan, King Kai is the one letting Gohan's ghost talk to him.” His mother explained.

“Oh, well that makes so much more sense.” Cauli said sarcastically.

“Does it not?” Dende asked.

“None of this makes sense.” Cauli told him, folding her arms and letting her tail come loose from her waist to sway back and forth like an irritated cat. “I'm still waiting to see this dragon.”

“I think we'd _all_ like to see the dragon at this point.” Trunks mother said, settling everyone down. “Mister Popo, if you don't mind . . .”

Mister Popo hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. “Very well. Please come with me, I suppose it _is_ time after all.”

“What do the rest of us do?” Anavill asked Trunks.

“I guess we just hurry up and wait.” Trunks admitted. “This could take a while.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

King Kai hung his head slightly, “Dende has decided to restore the Dragon Balls without the help of the Son of Slug. This is most unfortunate.”

“Why?” Pastel asked. She'd been sitting paying close attention to the old King as he and Gohan had talked to Master Trunks in the . . . world of the living?

“He'll be able to make them better than they were, that's true. But had they fused the dragon balls would have had a greater amount of _power_. They'll still function the way they want but their limitations will probably be greater than they would have been if they'd followed my advice.”

“What is this fusion thing you mentioned anyway? Why didn't you mention it before?” Gohan asked.

“I'm an immortal being whose lived longer than your planet has buster!” King Kai blustered, “Things slip my mind, and I never thought there'd be any sons of Slug left, and anyway there's never been a chance like this before.”

The old blue bug-like man sighed and calmed down from his bluster a bit to admit, “Truth be told I didn't really know they existed until it was too late, the War World is such an awful place I didn't like paying attention to it.”

“But what is so special about a son of Guru and a son of Slug?” Pastel asked.

King Kai explained, “Guru was the most powerful Namekian sage of his time, only sages of the Dragon Clan can create Dragon Balls or restore them. But Lord Slug was the most powerful warrior of his time, a Super Namekian whose power would have been even greater than Guru's. Even though that Kazoo is a sage he's not a sage of the Dragon Clan so he could never have restored the Dragon Balls on his own but with the help of one of Guru's sons, or better yet fused together they could have made a powerful set of Dragon Balls, perhaps even a perfect set.”

“I didn't realize the Dragon Balls were imperfect.” Gohan said to King Kai.

“Oh but they are, you see the proof of that every time they turn to stone.” King Kai explained. “A perfect set of Dragon Balls will scatter after they're used, but they'll remain active so that they can be gathered and used again.”

Gohan put his hands on his hips and said, “Well . . . I don't know, I don't think we need anything like that really. I mean there'd never be an end to it, you know? People just gathering the Dragon Balls and wishing on them all the time . . . it'd be chaos.”

“Perhaps.” King Kai said. “But there are an awful lot of people to wish back to life.”

“That's a very good point, I'm one of them.” Pastel said.

“We all are.” Gurein agreed.

Gohan smiled, “Don't worry. Have faith in Dende. I knew him back on Planet Namek and if he says he can restore our Dragon Balls and make them even better I know he can. Maybe they won't be perfect, but we never knew they were imperfect before, I can't see us starting to mind now.”

“I never knew magical wishing orbs _existed_ before . . . I mean part from magic-nine-balls.” Bocan said.

“Magic-eight-balls.” Pastel corrected him. But Bocan snorted.

Bocan smirked, “You mean you could _afford_ the eight-ball? I had to settle for the bargain brand, Miss Moneybags.”

Pastel blinked at him a few times then finally shook her head and laughed, “You're such an idiot.”

Konpeito whispered to Gurein, “What's a magic-eight-ball? Or magic-nine-ball for that matter?”

“I don't know, I grew up in a nomadic village tending to bonsai trees and keeping my little sister from breaking too many noses, I didn't have time for magic balls. At least not any that had numbers.”

Pastel laughed and asked, “But what about it King Kai? How long will it take for us to get wished back?”

King Kai didn't answer for a moment, he seemed to be thinking. Finally he said, “It's all going to depend on Dende.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The process had been long and grueling, Dende had never worked so hard on anything in his life.

But something inside him felt inspired, maybe because they'd thought he couldn't do it himself, maybe because they'd suggested he fuse with someone else, maybe just because he didn't like how long it took him to reject the offer.

But whatever it was it pushed the young Namekian to greater lengths than he could have ever imagined. He focused on the stone statue of the Earth's Eternal Dragon until he could practically see the thing breathing in its glass case.

To the young Namekian the Dragon might as well have been flesh, he could see its scales shimmer in the sunlight, he could see its whiskers blowing in the wind, it breathed, it moved, it was alive . . . or at least it seemed like it could be as he focused on it.

When he finally held out his hands to revive the power of the Eternal Dragon and bring it to life he did so without conscious thought, his body simply acted without his conscious mind's control and when he said the words he felt as if he were in a trance.

There was a flash of light . . . and then he was done.

The humans were celebrating, Bulma was saying that the Dragon Radar was working . . . Dende just hoped they'd be pleased with his work.

Earth had Dragon Balls again . . . and that meant that both it and soon his own home of New Namek would be totally safe once more.

 

**To Be Concluded . . .**

 

**On this Season's Last Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Earth's Defenders make their wishes on the restored Dragon Balls, Rhubara and Cauliflora decide whether or not to support Turles, Chillax makes an unexpected decision facing his future and . . . does Karuto have to say his goodbyes?_

 


	76. A Very Simple Wish

****Episode Forty** **

****'A Very Simple Wish'** **

 

The matter of gathering the magic wishing orbs was a simple one, and the reason most of the other Defenders hadn't gone up to the lookout with them. All Turles and the others had to do was wait, and it offered him a good opportunity to talk to Cauli and Rhuby.

It was a bit easier to relate to them than it was to Brassica, after all for them it had just been two years since they'd been separated, closer to the almost six months Turles had experienced as opposed to Brassica for whom it had been almost a lifetime.

They were both exceptionally strong, more like him. Brassica had been strong, but it was also clear she had gotten strong enough to get through her average struggles with ease and never tried to improve for the sake of improving over the forty or so years she'd roamed the stars.

Although in the month since these two had been rescued both they and Brassica had trained and were bordering on matching Turles in might. But only _bordering_ on it, Turles was still stronger and despite the fact that Brassica had been stronger than the both of them on arrival both Cauli and Rhuby had surpassed her. Turles guessed there was something about Goulder that had changed them, but clearly whatever it was had a lessened influence as time wore on.

_It must have been the fruit_ , he expected, and when he finally managed to find a moment to talk to the two of them alone he used that as an icebreaker.

“So you two ate the Fruit of the Great Tree as well?”

“The what?” Cauli blinked, then laughed, “Oh right! Um, Rhuby did.”

“You had some too, you just weren't really conscious for it.” Rhubara informed her.

“To think such simple fruit would have helped us to grow so strong.” Turles said. “It's just like those wall paintings, don't you think?”

“What wall paintings?” Rhubara asked.

“I didn't get to see them.” Cauli reminded him, but of course he remembered.

He nodded, “Right . . . they depicted the Iwatians venerating the tree, those who ate pieces of fruit went on to be bigger, stronger, _better_ than their peers. Seems like they knew their own god-tree pretty well, doesn't it? We're all taller and stronger than our peers, we grow more from training. Just look at yourselves, you were both weaker than Brassica when you arrived right? But you've been training with her and you've still surpassed her in just a month.”

“Maybe we're just good at what we do.” Rhubara suggested.

“We're Saiyans, we're the _best_ at what we do,” Turles said with a smirk, “But you've got to admit that the three of us are even better than the best.”

“I'm always happy to admit that I'm better than other people.” Cauli joked, then she asked, “But what of it?”

“Well it just seems to me that the three of us should stick together. We were part of a team once, after all, even if you weren't there for most of it, Rhuby,” he said, shortening her name as if they were close comrades to see how she'd respond to it before adding, “but even though you weren't with us on Goulder you and Cauli have been friends since forever and you and I are from the same clan so again it makes sense that we can work together.”

“Sure, but isn't that what we're already doing?” Rhubara asked, sounding a little skeptical.

Turles could respect that, it was borderline un-Saiyan to beat around the bush so even though it made him uncomfortable to say it with Trunks so nearby he had to ask them, “Don't you think the strongest Saiyans should be the ones in charge? Like it used to be, like it's always been?”

“Sure.” Cauli shrugged. “But isn't that how it is now? Prince Trunks is the strongest Saiyan and he's in charge.”

“Is he though?” Turles asked with a raised eyebrow. “With the Earth King calling the shots Prince Trunks is like a vassal lord, don't you think? He's like what your own father was to King Vegeta, a trusted comrade and advisor perhaps but not an equal by any stretch of the imagination.”

“Well that made sense, my father was weaker than King Vegeta . . . but Trunks is a lot stronger than the Earth King . . .” Cauli scratched her chin thoughtfully and Turles smiled as she caught on to what he was suggesting.

“Well he's the King of all Earthlings which is fine,” Rhubara said, “but Prince Trunks is the Prince of all Saiyans so we follow him.”

“Right. Right, absolutely.” Turles agreed. Then he added, as if the thought were just a minor thing barely occurring to him, “But . . . I mean Prince Trunks was born on Earth . . . that kind of makes him an Earthling . . . so if our Prince is the subject of another King doesn't that make _us_ his subjects too?”

“Let him give me an order I don't like and we'll see how that plays out.” Rhubara shrugged simply. “The way I see it Prince Trunks technically has _more_ power than the Earth King.”

“Yeah, besides Prince Trunks might have been born on Earth but he's still a Saiyan.”

Turles feigned relief, “Of course. That's true, this won't be anything like the Tuffles abusing our power back on Planet Vegeta. After all, King Vegeta was as smart as Tuffle, so it's almost poetic that Prince Trunks is half Earthling. He can be as compassionate as an Earthling.”

“Yeah . . .” Cauli said again, though she sounded as if she'd fully realized what Turles was telling her.

And that was good enough, she was smart enough to make it the rest of the way on her own. He turned away from the two of them when Lamson and Routz arrived with the first Dragon Ball, and it wasn't long until the other pairs arrived with theirs, helped by the scouters. Turles had to admit he didn't think much of the little orange orbs.

But he hadn't thought much of the Fruit from the Great Tree either. The Saiyan Captain folded his arms and waited alongside his fellow Saiyans as Lady Bulma gathered the Dragon Balls and prepared to summon the Eternal Dragon. Turles had to confess that he _was_ rather interested in what would come about from that.

“So these will be able to do all the things I asked you for?” Trunks asked Dende and the short Namekian nodded.

“Yeah, I mean I'm pretty sure. We won't know for sure until we summon him and try it. But everything you asked for, I did my best.”

“You could have done better with my help.” Kazoo said lightly, but no one paid him any mind as Bulma placed the balls together and after she called out a word Turles wasn't paying enough attention to catch they began to shine with a bright white light.

It contrasted the skies as they went dark all around them as if in an instant a pitch black cloud had rolled in overhead. There were flashes of lightning and loud rumbling crashes of thunder and the large platform they were standing on started to shake, Turles half expected the spindly post it sat on to suddenly crack and send it toppling down to the ground.

But it held as the white light of the Dragon Balls shot skyward like a thick bolt of lightning growing longer and twisting and curving, expanding and taking shape.

Turles had seen great monsters, he'd transformed into a great monster but he had never seen the like of the Eternal Dragon. The creature was massive and serpentine, easily able to wrap itself around the lookout over and over again, which he could see it had done as its long green scaled body writhed like a snake in motion, though his upper body raised up so that his head could stare at them like a serpent about to strike its prey remained mostly motionless.

Its flowing mane blew in the wind and Turles had to confess to feeling in awe of the power he could feel from it.

The dragon's eyes were giant golden orbs and yet he could feel them on him, watching him and judging him like a predator judges its prey. In a slow, rumbling, thunderous voice that chilled the Saiyan to his bones the Dragon spoke.

“It is I, the Eternal Dragon . . . You who have gathered the Dragon Balls and summoned me, I will grant you any wish you desire . . . state your wish.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

Trunks took a deep breath and looked around at everyone gathered with him. This was the moment they had been building towards, this was the moment they had fought for . . .

The Dragon Balls were returned . . . their time line could finally be set to rights.

First thing came first though, Trunks called up to the Dragon, steeling himself and trying to sound as calm and confident as he could even though he had to admit he found the dragon a little intimidating.

_Two wishes,_ he thought, _just like the Earth Dragon Balls in Goku's time line. Make them count . . ._

“State your wish . . .” The Dragon said again and Trunks nodded.

He'd thought long and hard about how to phrase his wish. He needed to try to get the most out of his wishes after all without breaking the rules and upsetting the Dragon or exceeding its power. He cried out to Shenron, “Eternal Dragon . . . if it is within your power please bring back to life all those who were lost in the battles with the Planet Trade Organization in the past six months!”

“A rather _extensive_ wish . . .” The dragon scoffed, and he seemed to hesitate. Trunks wondered if he'd failed in his careful phrasing, but finally Shenron's eyes flashed and he said, “Your wish is granted.”

“You were able to do it?” Trunks breathed a sigh of relief.

“It was extensive, it was not difficult. Very few lives have been lost in battles with the Planet Trade Organization in that time period.”

_That'll be because we slowed them down,_ Trunks thought again breathing a sigh of relief. He asked now, “Then Eternal Dragon, for my second wish I ask you to bring all of the Namekians from wherever they are here to Earth!”

Trunks got the distinct impression that Shenron was glowering at him as the Dragon said, “Another extensive wish.”

But his eyes flashed and he said, “Your wish is granted . . .”

 

****Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z** **

 

The skies were pitch black and Kalt could easily have believed he was still dead and in some terrible afterlife.

But if he were dead so were the hundred or so Earthling soldiers in orange in black uniforms pointing blasters at him and his crew, and so was the Earthling in Saiyan armor standing atop the bunker where the rest of his crew were appearing in flashes of light and looking around in confusion.

Kalt didn't know what had happened but he knew he was on Earth, he'd been revived from the dead somehow . . . his ship was gone but his crew was alive, he was alive.

A short Earthling woman approached him flanked on either side by armed Earthling soldiers but Kalt wasn't concerned with their inferior firearms, he'd dealt with them during the fighting for the bunker . . . however long ago that had been.

“Captain Kalt of the Planet Trade Organization? I'm Captain Videl of Earth's Royal Guard. You are hereby ordered to surrender at once. You and your crew will be taken prisoner and no harm will come to you if you surrender now.”

“And if I don't?” Kalt asked with a smirk.

“I thought you might need some convincing.” The Earthling Captain said, and she tossed him a scouter which he activated only to have it immediately alert him to the Earthling in Saiyan armor's power level.

“As you can see if you don't surrender your return will be a brief one.” The Earthling Captain told him. “So what will it be?”

Kalt glared, but finally he raised his hands into the air and nodded. “I surrender, Earthling.”

 

****Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z** **

 

Sitting on a rock ledge looking down on the place he now knew to be Yunzabit Heights Chillax couldn't ignore just how dreary the place was. It was cold and desolate and it had probably been a horrible place to die.

But like a good commanding officer Chillax was going to be there when his men arrived. One by one enveloped in a yellow glow they appeared, alive and whole . . . his team, his Elites.

The Arcosian Commander flew down to them, to his surprise they scrambled to attention and saluted.

He just wasn't used to that anymore. He waved a hand and said, “Easy guys . . . I'm not a Commander anymore, you don't have to salute.”

“You're _our_ Commander!” Damson told him.

“Actually I'm a defector.” Chillax said.

“We know, King Kai told us.” Prage said.

“What, from the afterlife?” Chillax blinked.

“ _In_ the afterlife.” Ganmo explained. “He's kind of a big deal there, he needed us to help him train those Earth Elites.”

Chillax shrugged, “I guess I have a lot to learn. But in any event I wanted to be here when you got back.”

“Well what is our next move?” Ayappa asked.

“Our next move?” Chillax wondered. “I think yours should be to go back to the Organization with everyone else, it's what I'd be doing if I still could.”

“But since you can't what are you doing instead?” Avaug asked. “King Kai didn't tell us that.”

“Maybe because he didn't know.” Chillax shrugged. He smiled at them and admitted for the first time out loud, “I only decided today actually. The Earth King has asked if I would be willing to join his Royal Guard's new special forces and I'd pretty much decided I'd do it.”

“So we're going from being Planet Trade Elites to Royal Guard Elites?” Damson asked. “Either way we're still your squad. You helped us get where we are and you've treated us like we're more than just fodder. There's nobody like that back in the PTO.”

“You endured imprisonment waiting to use those dragon balls to wish us back, do you think anyone else would have done that? You only let it go when it seemed impossible and at that point we all just assumed you were right to do so.” Ganmo agreed.

“But you'll be aliens on an alien world.” Chillax pointed out, then after brief consideration added, “Maybe except for you, Ganmo, you might pass for a nose-less human.”

“Neat!” Ganmo said.

“Anyway we might be aliens here, but so what? None of us really had families back in the PTO, and here at least we'll have each other.” Avaug shrugged.

Chillax smirked and said, “Well then . . . I suppose we'd better go let the King know.”

“I'm sure he'll be thrilled.” Damson said, “After all he's going to have six new members for his elite force now.”

 

****Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z** **

 

Trunks looked around but there was no one on the lookout apart from those who'd been there when the dragon was summoned. Trunks had expected the Namekians to be brought to the lookout but instead it seemed they were just . . . on Earth.

_That'll be fine though, at least they're here now where they can be safe._ Trunks thought.

He turned to the Eternal Dragon and frowned, not really sure what the proper protocol was. The Dragon's intense stare met him and he felt those eyes watching him impatiently, waiting for something.

He bowed to the creature, “Thank you, Eternal Dragon.”

“I have no time for thanks!” The Dragon thundered, “State your wish!”

Trunks blinked in surprise, he asked Dende, “You . . . were able to make it grant _three_ wishes?”

Dende smiled proudly, “I told you I'd make it more powerful! I told you I'd be more powerful than whatever other me there was.”

“Why didn't you say something earlier?” Trunks asked, “I had no idea you were going to do that!”

“Just in case I was wrong.” Dende said a little sheepishly. “Why, is it a problem?”

“Of course it isn't!” Trunks said, but his mind was racing. “I just wasn't prepared, I don't know what to think, I don't know what to . . .” He trailed off and laughed, “That is . . . well . . . Eternal Dragon . . . if it is within your power to grant my third and final wish . . . bring back all those who were killed by the Androids!”

“No.” The Dragon said flatly.

“No?” Trunks blinked. “What do you mean by that? Why can't you do it?”

“With the wishes you've already made there isn't enough power left to grant a wish that extensive. In their years of destruction the Androids ended _far_ more lives than your war with the Planet Trade Organization has ended in six months, and these are lives lost for years.”

Trunks lowered his gaze and sighed. _I guess that was a little overly ambitious . . ._ he thought.

So he asked instead, “Dragon . . . can you bring back my mentor Gohan at least?”

“A very simple wish.” The Dragon told him and his eyes flashed.

The Dragon began to disappear in a golden light, and in that same light—before it became so bright that Trunks had to look away—he could see the shape of a man begin to form. As the Balls shot up into the sky and dispersed once again the young warrior could finally look and behold his mentor Gohan standing before him complete and whole.

Trunks couldn't stop a few tears from springing to his eyes, of all the wishes he hadn't expected this one to affect him the most, even if it was the most unexpected.

To an extent at least.

“Gohan!” His mother cried, running over to him and hugging him tightly, “You don't look like you've aged a day since the last time I saw you!”

“Yeah . . . you don't really age in the afterlife.” Gohan said sheepishly.

“That's good, I thought it was more of this Saiyan longevity nonsense!” Bulma cried before looking back at Trunks, “What's the matter with you, Trunks? Aren't you going to come over here and greet Gohan properly?”

Trunks smiled, he could almost hear himself whining 'but mom, all my subjects are watching!' even if it wasn't true.

Enough of them were . . . could he afford to do something as un-Saiyan-like as embrace his old friend and mentor?

In the end he did start forward but Gohan met him half way and clasped his wrist firmly, “The Prince of all Saiyans can't go to pieces just because of one warrior, Bulma. Isn't that right, Trunks?”

Trunks smiled, and he nodded. Still he shook Gohan's wrist firmly and for far longer than was probably necessary just from the sheer joy of seeing him again.

The excitement of the Dragon Summoning would take quite some time to die down, even now Earthlings and Namekians were rejoining old friends and meeting new ones, Dende and Cargo excused themselves, going with Bass and Kazoo to greet their long lost brothers while Trunks and the others went down to the world below to rejoin their old comrades—in the case of himself and the humans at least—leaving Mister Popo alone on the lookout again, though this time at least the ancient being would know it would only be for a short time.

 

****Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z** **

 

The celebrations were long and rather raucous—even by Saiyan standards—but eventually they did die down and people did get go off to get some sleep.

People other than Rhubara, who lay awake on her too-soft bed thinking about the message from Konpeito that she'd been given by Lady Bulma. She hadn't had the nerve to listen to it at first so she'd kept it a secret, and now that Kon was alive again it hardly seemed necessary. She'd heard from him firsthand what happened to Goulder, what had happened to Kori, what had happened to Misiri and all the rest.

To him they'd parted ways so long ago but to her it had only been a couple of years . . . she didn't really know how she felt about it. It somehow hurt just as badly as knowing Planet Vegeta was gone.

Maybe worse. When it came to planet Vegeta most of the people she actually cared about had either been dead beforehand or had survived along with her. She certainly felt a sort of genetic obligation to mourn the fact that her species was doomed to extinction now, but even that felt muted with the knowledge that viable offspring with humans were not only possible, as shown with Trunks and his mentor Gohan, but that they seemed to be even more powerful or at least have greater potential than they typical Saiyan.

So in a sense her species would survive, even if it meant it had to change to do so.

Rhuby sighed, tossing and turning in her bed a while longer, periodically looking over at the clock by her bed which told the Earth time in obnoxious red numbers that she'd learned to understand over the course of the last month. It was when she had only a few hours before the day's training would begin anyway that she finally gave up on the ambition of sleeping at all. She was a Saiyan, she needed physical activity to get her mind off of her problems.

Deciding that she had better things to do than listen to Tathy snore she'd slid quietly out of bed and began to quietly get dressed in her training kit.

They all had to have roommates, and Rhuby's just so happened to be Tathy. Cauli was sharing her room with Brassica, which made sense since the Earthlings probably assumed the two sisters would want to have the opportunity to get to know each other in their downtime, but the Earthlings didn't understand Saiyans.

Still it did mean that Rhuby didn't have anyone to talk to about what she was feeling. After all, even if she knew Tathy well Tathy was not Cauli. Besides this wasn't even the Tathy she'd known, this Tathy was almost fifty years older and wiser it was true, but to a seemingly ageless being like Tathy that time didn't seem to have made much difference.

Rhuby had asked how Tathy had ended up traveling with Brassica. The slime girl had claimed, 'she showed up looking for her sister after you guys left and I decided to go with her' but Rhuby was skeptical.

She didn't really know why, she just was.

Or maybe it was all in her imagination and this Tathy was just as likely to keep anything from her the Tathy she'd known just a month ago—to her personal time line that was—but whatever the case might be Rhubara found herself dressed in her weighted clothes and armor—a new suit of the old Saiyan style colored blue at her request—and sneaking out of her bedroom only to find, to her surprise, Cauli doing the same thing.

“What are you doing out here?” Rhuby whispered.

“I couldn't sleep, figured I'd just get started training early.” Cauli told her.

Rhuby smiled, “Same here.”

“What a pair we make, eh? At least training together will be more fun than training alone.” Cauli smirked. “What kept you up?”

“Just . . . thinking about things.” Rhuby said, “About our planet, our people, about lost friends.”

Cauli folded her arms and leaned against the door to her room. She watched her with those blue eyes of hers as if she were a puzzle of some sort that she was trying to figure out, and figure her out she did when she asked, “Were you thinking about the Iwatians that died?”

“I was.” Rhuby admitted, remembering that talking to Cauli about her feelings was what she would have been doing if they were roommates after all. “I . . . I'm more bothered by what happened to them than I am by what happened to our own planet.”

“Well no one's using special ships to try to rescue any of them, but Turles says that's what he'll be doing for as many of our people as he can,” Cauli shrugged, “I can understand feeling . . . a bit upset.”

Rhuby nodded. She smiled at her old friend and asked, “Well, want to head down and get started?”

“No.” Cauli said, getting up from leaning on the door and heading for the stairs. “Let's train outside, you know where Master Roshi usually trains? It might be a bit remedial but we can train with Karuto and the others when they wake up.”

“Really?” Rhuby asked. “Why?”

Cauliflora shrugged as they descended the stairs by floating rather than stepping so as to avoid creaking steps. Even if their whispered conversation might still disturb the sharper ears in the compound they didn't need to inconvenience anyone else. Cauli said, “We'll both be tired right? Anyway I know you don't like getting in that metal sighing box.”

“I'm not afraid to do it,” Rhuby said honestly, “it just makes me uncomfortable. I can use it, it's no big deal.”

Cauli turned to face her when she reached the bottom of the stairs and asked, “Well if you want to use the gravity room that's fine . . . but let me ask you something.”

Rhuby got to the bottom of the stairs and landed, tilting her head to indicate that her partner should go ahead and ask. Cauli folded her arms and adopted a mischievous smirk before she whispered, “Do you force yourself into the box and suffer being uncomfortable because training in the heavy gravity is something _you_ want or is it because you know _I'll_ be down there?”

Rhuby felt her cheeks flush, “Wh-what? What's that supposed to mean?”

Cauli's smirk widened into a full smile, “I think you know exactly what I mean. You're not going down there to get stronger, you're going down there because you want to train with _me_ . Tell me I'm wrong.”

Rhuby sighed and shrugged. The truth was she _did_ do it just so she could keep training with Cauli. There was no point lying, so she just admitted, “You're not. We're partners, right? I'm supposed to have your back, I can't do that if I fall too far behind.”

Cauli nodded sagely, “Yeah, just as I thought. But it's like I told you back before we left planet Vegeta, you don't have to go out of your way trying to keep up with me. If I end up getting too much stronger and having to protect you I'll just protect you. Just live up to your own potential is all I ask.”

Rhuby shrugged and said, “Well my own potential seems pretty limitless when I'm with you. Besides maybe someday I'd get stronger than you. Then it'd be my job to protect you, wouldn't it?”

“Well in that case if you think you're up to it I'll just go and watch that TV thing.”

Rhuby laughed, then covered her mouth in embarrassment hoping she hadn't awoken anyone. Thought it occurred to her to ask Cauli, “What about everyone else?”

“What about them?” Cauli asked. “They can keep up with us if they want, but I don't care as much about training with any of them.”

Rhuby smiled, “It's not that, I mean what about what Turles said about us being stronger because of that fruit? What if they _can't_ keep up with us?”

“Then we'll just have to protect them too.” Cauli shrugged.

“But . . . I mean what Turles was saying it sounds like he doesn't trust Prince Trunks.”

“Yeah,” Cauli nodded, “Turles is a sly one, and he'll act loyal while he lies to your face and plots behind your back, I learned that on Goulder. But this thing between him and Prince Trunks won't be any different than between him and Kumber, he'll plot and scheme but in the end the person he's plotting against will still be too strong for him to do anything without help.”

“Didn't it seem like he was asking for ours?” Rhuby asked as the two of them walked outside into the garden. It was dark and there was no moon but the starlight and the street lamps lit things well enough for Rhuby as she and Cauli went out onto the court where most of the training took place.

“It did,” Cauli admitted, “and I think our best bet is to stay friendly with him without making any promises. Against Kumber I had reason to keep Turles on my side but I've got no quarrel with Prince Trunks yet.”

Rhuby frowned, “There's so few of us now, and there were never very many of us to begin with. I know its our nature, but if we start fighting each other there'll be even _fewer_ of us.”

Cauli shrugged, “Try not to worry about it. I don't think anything will happen for a while at least and we might have a better grasp of where we need to be once it does. For now just like always you watch my back and I'll watch yours and we'll get through this just like everything else.”

Rhuby nodded. However things ended up she could at least take some comfort in knowing that she and Cauli would be on the same side.

In the darkened garden however her frown gradually became more of a slight grin as she asked her best friend, “Ready to train?”

“Without breakfast and with zero sleep? You better believe it.” Cauli winked.

The two had time to fall into stance before Rhubara felt a tingling sensation running down her spine and she realized she was sensing a high power level.

“So much for training . . .” Cauli said.

“Don't think it's friendly?” Rhuby asked.

“I don't think it'll matter. It's nothing we can't handle. Let's go take a look.” Cauli said and even though they were still wearing their weighted training armor the two flew off in the direction of the incoming power level.

 

****Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z** **

 

When the morning actually came Karuto got out of bed—he had an actual room now, the cells were taken up by Uncle Kalt and his crew, and Captain Hiemal who'd been unexpectedly revived by the Dragon as well—and went downstairs for breakfast, nearly missing the sight just outside of the window, but when he saw it he froze and rushed over to the window to look out of it at the sight of a _second_ Arcosian Command vessel on the Capsule Corp. grounds.

_What is another ship doing here?_ Karuto wondered. He quickly ran to Missus Bulma's office instead of to the cafeteria but she wasn't there. It was about that time that he realized he hadn't seen another person since he woke up, what if something was wrong?

Master Roshi had been teaching him to sense energy so that was what he was trying to do when he heard Missus Bulma's voice over the building's intercom. “Karuto, please come to the upstairs lounge.”

Karuto only knew of the one lounge so he headed there, feeling a little silly for nearly panicking. After all it wasn't like it was weird not to see anyone, everyone was probably eating breakfast or getting ready for their daily tasks, it wasn't like he'd found a dead body or—

The little Arcosian jumped in fright and made a loud squeaking noise when he saw Cauli and Rhubara slumped over outside of the doors to the lounge eyes closed and looking as if they were dead.

Only they both jumped up in surprise at the noise he'd made, auras sparked the two looked around wildly for danger, Cauli mumbling, “I wasn't sleeping, you're sleeping!”

Karuto stared in surprise, he asked them, “Wh-what's going on?”

Cauli shook her head and said, “Uh nothing! We're just guarding this door! No one gets in, Karu!”

Karuto smiled a little. He didn't know how he felt about being called 'Karu' but he was pretty happy that some of the fighters had given him the nickname since he'd started training with them. He understood that it was a sign of acceptance, so he liked that he _had_ a nickname he just sort of wished it were something cooler.

“Actually Missus Bulma called me on the PA.” Karuto informed her and Cauli yawned.

“Yeah . . . I totally heard that . . .” Cauli said.

“Lucky thing you did, because I'm pretty sure I was asleep for it.” Rhuby said with a knowing smile. She nodded to Karuto, “I trust you, go ahead.”

Karuto smiled and, feeling a lot more reassured opened the door to the lounge.

Inside sat Missus Bulma, Mister Trunks and Mister Gohan, Master Roshi, Brassica and . . . Uncle Kalt?

Not just Uncle Kalt, but Cousin Chillax and . . . “Papa?” Karuto gawked.

There was no mistaking Glacien, the chief scientist of the Planet Trade organization had a snow white carapace with teal-blue bands and dark magenta eyes. A four-horned head just like General Boreal but a masked face similar to but different than Karuto's.

Glacien smiled with his eyes the same way Karuto did and said, “Well, well, well. There he is . . . I'm glad to see you little one.”

Karuto had gone a very long time without seeing either of his parents. He knew that it wasn't the same as Earth parents, and he knew not everyone felt close to their progenitors but both of his still meant a lot to him. He hadn't seen Glacien since Alpha station but what had been half an Earth year felt like a lifetime ago.

The little Arcosian ran over and hugged his progenitor and said, “I missed you so much!”

“I missed you more.” Glacien said, “And Lord Frostbite missed you the most. But that's come to an end.”

“It has? Is he here too?” Karuto asked in awe.

“No.” Glacien said, “We couldn't risk either of the Twins coming here with so many Super Saiyans running around, luckily I'm a lot more expendable in case the negotiations had failed.”

“Negotiations?” Karuto blinked. Did that mean what he thought it meant?

Glacien smiled, “Admiral Frigus made an arrangement with Prince Trunks, in exchange for reviving Kalt and his crew—which the Admiral at the time thought included your wayward cousin—he would recommend to your father and uncle that an armistice be signed with Earth. It's not quite the same thing as declaring peace, but it's a start.”

“A good start, and one that we were all too happy to accept.” Missus Bulma said, “The King howled with delight over the phone, and he's on his way here to make it official. Hopefully soon we'll have real peace.”

Glacien nodded slowly and beamed at Karuto, “So pack your bags little one, you're coming home.”

Karuto blinked. “I . . . what?”

“Part of the armistice was the release of all prisoners,” Chillax told him, “I'm technically a defector, but you're still a prisoner . . . or at least you were. You and the rest of Uncle Kalt's crew—at least the ones who aren't defecting with me—are going to return with the _Frieza's Fist._ ”

“Don't call me 'Uncle' anymore.” Uncle Kalt scowled at Chillax, “I can't believe I mentored a turncoat like you.”

“Enough, Kalt!” Glacien snapped, “Chillax has made his choice and he's already grown more from that than he ever did under you're training. It'll be up to him to see how it plays out but I won't have you slinging insults, we'll be keeping this civil.”

“Yes . . .” Uncle Kalt said, lowering his gaze as if he were afraid of Papa. Karuto was surprised because Papa was a lot weaker than Uncle Kalt . . .

But then now that he thought about it, now that he tried to sense it he realized that wasn't the case at all. Papa was . . . _Papa is as strong as Daddy!_ Karuto realized in shock, or at least Glacien _felt_ as if he were as strong as one of the twins, but that would mean an increase in power of . . . well fifteen times at least, Glacien's power level had only been thirty five thousand, Karuto himself should have been stronger by now but Karuto could feel the difference now that he focused on it.

Karuto frowned, “I'm learning so much here,” he said, “can I come back someday?”

“Maybe. When peace is achieved.” Papa said patiently.

“You'll be welcome, Karuto.” Missus Bulma said with a smile.

“I'm glad,” Karuto said, but he had a bad feeling now that peace wasn't _really_ what the Twins had on their minds . . . if a scientist like his Papa was this strong . . .

Karuto looked at Mister Trunks and the others and said, “I-I'll see you again someday, so don't slack in your training! You wouldn't want _me_ to be stronger than _you_ when that happens, you'd be totally embarrassed!”

Everyone laughed, even Karuto forced a laugh because he didn't want anyone to think anything was wrong.

But inside he hoped they didn't think he was joking.

_I've got to find out what's happening to the Clan,_ Karuto told himself, _If we're ever going to have real peace it has to be because both sides want it . . . maybe I can talk to Daddy and convince him, but whatever they're up to I've got to stop it . . ._

The little Arcosian said, “I better go pack my things and say goodbye to everyone else!”

“Be quick,” His Papa told him, “Once the Earth King arrives to make things official we'll be starting on our way back. Your Father is very eager to see you after all.”

Karuto smiled, in spite of everything that actually did make him happy.

But he knew he had a dangerous mission ahead of him. He loved his family, and in a way he loved his friends on Earth. He'd have to be careful if he were going to make sure there was a happy ending for all of them.

 

****Season End** **

 

****On the Next Season of Dragon Ball COED . . .** ** _The Defenders of Earth can finally enjoy the fruits of their labors, at long last they can actually join in and experience the world, some for the first time while Frieza's people enjoy fruit of a different sort. As two tournaments rage on two different worlds everyone will set out to find his or her place in the universe while Karuto sets out to find out just what he can do to keep the peace between all those that he cares about. Meanwhile Turles continues to plot against the Prince of all Saiyans, will he bring more of their kind to his side? And what will he do when he starts to suspect that Rhuby might not see things his way? Will the next war be against an enemy from within? Find out in the next exciting Season of Dragon Ball COED!_

_And before that . . . experience the_ ****Trials of the Arena . . .**** _As Cauliflora tries to find her bearings in the Arenas of Warworld she and her partner Rhubara struggle first to accept their lot, then to excel at it. As the years of their own tale play out the two listen to their Sensei tell them the stories of the greatest warrior ever to grace the Arena, the one they must aspire to be like, the Champion of Champions: Lord Slug._

 


	77. Trials of the Arena Part One

**Trials of the Arena**

**Part One**

**Winter**

 

_'Winter is the time we say goodbye to Autumn's colors and come together to weather the dark and cold. Things may seem bleak but we need only endure a while until the birth of Spring'_

 

To those inhabitants not born on the gigantic planet the War World was well known for its harsh environments as well as its harsh seasons and winter was one of the worst. The training grounds of House Stobler were devoid of snow, but the ground was frozen and hard.

No doubt unpleasant for the two Saiyan girls training on the hard frozen ground as they were thrown into it time and time again by their sparring partners.

Bass, the Sensei of House Stobler stalked around the square training field watching his two prospective champions struggle. They were physically stronger and faster than their opponents, in fact they were physically stronger and faster than their Sensei, but their training wasn't about defeating their opponents quickly, it was about prolonging the fight.

“You have to learn how to put on a show,” The Sensei explained, and not for the first time. He could see that Cauliflora was getting impatient and he suspected that if he didn't speak up to remind her not to she would lash out in frustration and likely injure her opponent.

Again.

Bacore was one of the most durable fighters apart from Tathy, but they'd learned early on that both of the Saiyans were fully capable of breaking his once-thought-to-be unbreakable bones. Bass, the Sensei in charge of teaching all of the fighters of House Stobler was in no rush to send another one of his students to the Medic.

“I _get_ that I have to put on a show, but isn't winning quickly a good show?” Cauliflora demanded.

“Not if the audience doesn't get a chance to enjoy it,” Bass told her. “You need to knock your opponent around a bit first, make a spectacle without killing your opponent. At least not until the match is over. As you can see Bacore and Poi are both experts at that.”

“Yeah, they're real tough when I'm not allowed to go all out!” Cauliflora said angrily.

“Well it doesn't help that it's so cold!” Rhubara, the other Saiyan girl said, throwing her small opponent Poi to the ground roughly so that she'd have time to complain before the purple alien sprang forward forcing her back to deflecting his rapid-fire blows.

“Yeah, you could try giving us something better than what amounts to a burlap sack to wear!” Cauliflora agreed, “We Saiyans weren't made for cold weather!”

“More's the pity for you.” Bass said a little too sharply. This wasn't the first time the two had complained about the cold, and he could see that they truly were affected by it but he couldn't very well change the weather for them. “You'll get proper clothes and armor when you _earn_ proper clothes and armor, as it stands you're still not even real Fighters. If you want to keep warm I'm sure you could just become the Mistresses' personal maids. Though I'm not sure how you'll pay your debt in this lifetime if you do.”

“We can't _earn_ those things until you let us fight in the arena!” Cauliflora snapped, getting to her feet and marching over to glare up at him. Her opponent looked confused but Bass tilted his head, subtly telling Bacore to just help Poi in battling Rhubara while he and Cauliflora argued things out.

It didn't feel overly unfair to him, Rhubara had the strength to fend off both opponents and it might help her to have to divide her attention between the two of them. Such as it was Rhubara was slightly weaker than Cauliflora, but her full force was still enough to devastate most of the fighters in the House all at once.

Her companion Cauliflora similarly didn't seem terribly concerned for Rhubara's safety, though the Sensei knew that was a confidence in her companion's capability rather than a disinterest. Actually the two of them were exceptionally concerned with each other's wellbeing, it was the reason that Lord Stobler wanted them trained for paired competition, theorizing that if they were already used to being a team they'd certainly do better in the lower Arena brackets working together.

At least to start with. If they could master that they'd be allowed to fight more independently, though Bass wasn't sure if that would be better or worse for them.

Bass explained, “I know you're cold, but you're not going in until I'm satisfied with your training. Bacore and Poi are highly resistant to the cold, but I will happily let them take a break and replace them with Tathy and Neyho, and if your partner satisfies the training requirements before you do she'll go inside while you remain out here. So keep all of that mind while you _cry_ to me about how unfair things are.”

“Well they _are_ unfair!” Cauliflora shouted, stomping her foot angrily. Her eyes blazed at him, but Bass rolled his in response.

“You're not a beloved guest here, we won't roll out the finest furs for you or give you the softest bed to sleep in, you won't be given sweet Spring Wine just because you whine to me like a spoiled infant. You will wear what we tell you, eat what we tell you, drink what we tell you and you will _do_ what we tell you because your life is no longer your own until you earn it back. Every Fighter here has endured what you're enduring, so if they can do it and you can't doesn't that make them better than you? ”

“I don't need wine, but a fur would be nice. I wore fur tunics when I was a kid, and it'd be fitting since all of this is just childish nonsense!”

“I agree, and yet here you are still throwing a temper tantrum.” Bass said.

“I don't mean me complaining,” Cauliflora scoffed, “I mean we're not made for cold and you have us training harder than anyone else in it! We can beat Poi and Bacore but we have to do it slowly? Or we have to be flashy about it, but we can't kill them?”

“Exactly. It's difficult, isn't it? You're warriors and now you have to be Fighters. I understand your frustration, that's the reason I'm letting this conversation continue. _However_ I am your Sensei so when I give an order you will follow it. If it helps, think of me as your commanding officer.”

“But I'm stronger than you!” Cauliflora insisted, “I should be the one in charge!”

“You're stronger but you're not a real fighter yet. How would you teach everyone?”

“Who cares?” Cauliflora scoffed, “Stobler has Rhuby and me now, he'll win everything. Just let us loose in that arena and we'll dominate!”

“You'll win technically, but you'll never get any matches. Who would want to fight you if they have no chance of glory? Who would want their fighters to fight you if they know they'll just be defeated outright?”

“So what, we lie in the arena?” Cauliflora demanded, “we pretend the enemy has a chance?”

“Yes.” Bass said, shaking his head in amazement that she'd missed such an elementary facet of Arena combat. “It's a _performance_ ! You're an entertainer now, a martial entertainer but an _entertainer_! You don't fight to kill you fight to amaze, you don't fight to quickly defeat your opponent you fight to grandstand, you fight for the roar of the crowd! You make the fight last just long enough for the crowd to reach the edge of their seat before you end it!”

“How am I ever going to win my freedom that way?” Cauliflora demanded.

“You nitwit that's _exactly_ how you win your freedom.” Bass scoffed. “Don't you know about Lord Slug?”

Cauliflora folded her arms and shifted her weight to one leg. “What in our history together makes you think I've know about _anything_ on your world other than what you've told me?”

_A fair point,_ Bass thought but he wouldn't admit it out loud. Instead he said, “It surprises me that you haven't heard of him from the real Fighters. Finish your training today and I'll tell you the tale.”

“I don't care about stories!” Cauliflora complained, but she _did_ go back to the training.

She did restrain herself more, but it was still another hour in the cold before Bass finally felt that they'd performed well enough to go inside into the warmth of the heated common hall, and truth be told it was more out of pity than satisfaction.

Not pity for the Saiyans, he'd trained and broken more fighters than he could remember in winters past, but pity for Bacore and Poi whose durability was put severely to the test against the two.

Besides it was nice to come in from the cold and enjoy the heat of the common hall. The place was built for servants and slaves, so it wasn't overly beautiful or ornate, just a large square room with some sandstone tables and benches gathered near a large fire set at a hearth on the far side of the room. The Fighters and even many of the lower lesser slaves were gathered around the fire drinking deeply from large clay mugs being filled from a cauldron that Bass knew from experience would be full of spiced winter tea.

Far from some luxury bestowed on them by their Lord, the spiced winter tea was actually quite bitter and unpleasant to drink but it had a pleasant smell and it was effective at warming the insides. Bass took a mug of his own and sipped it sparingly.

He wouldn't finish it as really he just needed water, but as the Sensei it was important to show the Fighters that he too suffered what they were expected to suffer.

As he sipped his bitter tea he pretended to have forgotten about the offer to talk about his father, but despite her feigned disinterest Cauliflora _did_ ask. As Bacore brought her a large mug of warm tea which she seemed to hold for warmth rather than drink she asked him, “So who's this Lord Slug guy? Is he like Lord Stobler or is he better? Does he have good fighters? Stronger than you lot?”

“He had some of the best, but he himself _was_ the best.” Bass explained. “Lord Slug was an alien slave at first the same as you, but he fought his way from the bottom to the top of the Arena. He mastered the same things I'm trying to teach you to earn money and his freedom. Once he had that he made his own stable and he dominated the War World until he had the money to leave it with all the power of a warlord.”

Cauli's eyes had a gleam to them as she leaned forward and said, “Oh yeah? Well come on then, tell me all about him!”

Bass rolled his eyes but if he had to be honest he actually enjoyed talking about the exploits of his father, and did so as often as he could. So even though he made a show of being annoyed about it he was actually pretty eager to begin his tale.

“To begin with, like you he was far more powerful than his average opponent . . . so he had to learn how to prolong fights without getting bored, or making it too obvious that he was just toying with his foe . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Standing behind a door of iron bars looking into the circular Arena that he would soon be taking to the Namekian known as Slug anticipated his next fight, his next chance to prove his dominance over the inferior lifeforms of this rock.

“You hear that out there?” His Lord asked him, “the crowd is restless.”

Slug smiled eagerly. “I'll give them something to cheer for,” the Namekian warrior said with a vicious smile.

“You'd better, old chap. Because you're not earning any money for me the way it is!” His Lord snapped, “Your strength won't mean nothing if no one comes to see your matches.”

Slug slammed his fist against the bars of the cell on the table and roared, “I won the last fight, and I even let him cut me! They don't complain when they know a champion is going to win why should they complain when they know I'm going to win?”

“Because you win too quickly and without spectacle. It's always the same with you. You must give them a show, you must entertain them!” His Lord told him and he scoffed, so the fat Robusuta insisted, “Show them something they haven't seen before, let them go home saying 'I saw Slug, he did something amazing' not 'I saw Slug, it was pretty much what you'd expect' old boy!”

Slug scowled but he thought to himself _Oh I'll let them see something they haven't seen before all right! The pack of ingrates, maybe I'll let them see the stands catch flame before I crack every one of their disgusting shells!_

His mind was filled with such dark thoughts as he marched into the arena dressed in the purple and gold of his House. He raised his fist to the crowd, shouting out to them, “Are you prepared to bask in my glory?”

The response was half-hearted but at least it wasn't jeering. Slug looked across the way at his opponent, a swordsman from a reptilian race with four arms he was wielding four swords. He was tall and had digitigrade legs that bent in two places, but his feet were massive taloned things like a bird's.

He coughed a few times before raising two of his hands to the crowd and shouting in a raspy voice, “Are you prepared to bask in the glory that I will bring to _you_?”

This got a better reaction but Slug was no boot licker.

He cracked his knuckles and shouted up to the Games Master, “Begin the fight, I want to break his face!”

The Games Master did just that, raising a thick over-sized claw to the crowd and indicating that the fighters should begin.

And begin they did, Slug quickly realized that his opponent was not without skill . . . but he also was not a threat.

The Namekian easily got behind his opponent and grasped two of his arms squeezing his wrists until he was practically crushing the bones in them, sending two of the Fighter's swords to the sandy ground, easily dodging attempts by the other two arms to strike at him.

His opponent couldn't see behind him so the strikes were almost blind, Slug just had to wiggle and dodge a bit but he never had to release his opponent's wrists. This fight would be over in . . . _Oh . . . that's right . . ._

The Namekian released his opponent and cried, “Ah so you slipped out of my grasp, you dastard!”

But his opponent fell forward grasping his injured wrists and scrambling away to roll to his feet, glaring but with panic in those eyes.

Slug reveled in the panic but he heard the crowd begin to boo and complain. He scowled at them, “Are you not entertained?!”

Clearly they weren't, but he heard them cheer again when his opponent rushed him from behind. Slug realized at that moment that the crowd really did just want to see him lose . . .

And that was when he realized what he had to do if he wanted to please both the crowd and his Lord, if he wanted to show them all something they hadn't seen before.

Slug would have to lose.

His opponent came in fast with a raspy roar, the Namekian looked over his shoulder to see that his opponent had dropped his second sword to his lower arms and was now wielding both double handed. He swung them both in what would no doubt have been a devastating cut to anyone other than Slug.

So Slug allowed it to be a devastating cut to him as well, raising his arm to stop one of the blows only to see it severed at the elbow, the crowd gasping in shock and his opponent's eyes widening in amazement.

“You fiend!” Slug snarled, falling back a few paces and holding the bleeding stump of his arm, “Your swords, they're made of iron!?”

“S-steel?” His opponent sounded confused, looking at his sword as if he expected it to have some kind of magical property since, after all, he was hardly the first to land a successful blow on the Namekian Fighter.

But he was the first to sever a whole limb as if it were nothing. “Steel! My secret weakness!” Slug cried in feigned horror, “So you learned the secret arts needed to defeat me did you?”

“What are you doing!?” His Lord was shouting from behind the iron barred gate, but Slug ignored him. He was doing exactly what the Robusuta had asked him to.

He was making the fight interesting.

“On the day I was created by the Gods themselves they warned me that I would have but two weaknesses in this mortal world. I have been impervious to all manner of weapons and techniques, but here you have discovered my first great weakness, my vulnerability to steel!”

“Uh . . . yes . . .” His opponent said with a cough, but sounding very confused, “Yes, that's right Slug, I heard of your weakness and I fully intend to exploit it! Today is your final day in the Arena!”

“You dastard!” Slug cried again, “I won't give up so easily! You've taken my arm, but 'tis but a scratch to me!”

He charged for his opponent, stretching forth his remaining arm to punch the reptilian fighter in the face only to have his opponent raise one sword in his defense, cutting down the middle of Slug's hand from the space between his middle and index fingers all the way to his wrist before the second sword came up severing his other arm at the elbow as well.

The fighter seemed in awe of himself, his eyes no longer full of fear but instead filled with a fiery resolve. Slug stumbled forward, falling to his knees and roaring in pain, “My arms! My arms! You vile fiend!”

“You damaged two of my own arms, I merely made us even! It's just unlucky for you that you don't have two more.” His opponent sneered and began to circle him, raising his swords high to the crowd, “What say you all?”

The crowd roared incoherently, they were at the edge of their seats. Slug looked up at them and he knew this next moment was crucial.

He fell to his knees nearby where his opponents other two swords had dropped, he looked at his foe and hissed, “Bring an end to it then!”

The Games Master gave the signal that his foe could take his life and the crowd watched in hungry anticipation eager to see a legend die that day.

But instead they'd be witness to a legend born. Slug's opponent charged forward, swords raised for a pair of strikes that would sever his head and impale his heart.

That was when the Namekian Fighter sprouted new arms and with his telescoping capabilities reached out to grab the two fallen swords.

One he used to deflect the blow coming for his head, the other he pulled close to his body then shot out punching it through his opponent's chest and shoving the reptilian warrior all the way back to his side of the arena with his telescoping arm and impaling him on the wall with his own sword.

The reptilian fighter looked down in shock and confusion before his yellow eyes glazed over and the crowd stared in stunned silence.

Slug stood up and said, “You discovered my first weakness, but you should have studied harder to learn my second, because while my first great weakness will allow you to injure me only my second great weakness can allow me to die!”

The Fighter reached out towards him with a feeble dying hand as if still trying to strike him even though he'd dropped all of his swords now. Slug just sneered as his opponent gave up the ghost and the crowd went into hysterics.

But luckily for Slug they were the good sort, the sort he'd expected.

They simply could not believe what they had just seen, Slug had never allowed himself to lose a limb before and so they had no idea that he could regrow them, his Lord had no idea.

Slug returned to his side of the Arena to the screams and cheers of an amazed crowd, his Lord however was hollering, “What the devil was that? I've never seen anything like that before!”

“And neither have they.” Slug said simply. “Better still now every opponent I face will be desperately trying to guess my second weakness. So you see old crab, every time I fight the crowd is guaranteed to see something they've never seen before.”

“Fine but you were still defeated, the Games Master signaled for your death! This is highly irregular!” His Lord cried.

“Listen to them, do you think they care?” Slug sneered.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The common room, or common cell perhaps she should call it, was mostly empty. The other Fighters had gone about more drilling while Cauli and Rhuby sat and listened to the Sensei's story, even Bacore and Poi having moved on to other things, presumably near other sources of heat.

The others, Cauli supposed, had heard it all before and didn't care about the details, but she'd sat fully enthralled by the short tale. She finished her repulsive tea and slammed the mug down on the table saying sarcastically, “Great guy this Slug sounds like! When can I fight him?”

“Never.” Sensei told her with a sigh, “I told you already he bought his freedom and left this world like a warlord with an army of battle slaves, some of the fiercest Fighters ever encountered, and a ship. He could rule half the stars by now.”

“I doubt it, I don't fancy his chances if he runs into Lord Frieza.” Rhuby said quietly, sipping more of her tea but Cauli winked at her.

“Who knows, maybe it'd be one heck of a fight! I sure wouldn't want to miss it!” Cauli told her.

“Then we should earn our freedom quickly.” Rhuby said.

“Yeah, but we've gotta work up the crowd first.” Cauli said, cracking her knuckles. Then she leapt back and pointed a challenging finger at Rhuby, “Come on then, let's train some more!”

“You're meant to be a team, not competitors.” Sensei reminded her, “Who will you train with?”

“Well it seems to me like only one person could really fit the ticket,” Rhuby said, finishing her tea in a swig that she visibly regretted, setting the mug down with a shudder. “I think the best way to go about it would be if you trained us yourself, Sensei.”

Bass sighed and said, “Very well, maybe it _will_ help you to be ready by spring. But don't think I'll be an easy opponent, it won't be my strength you'll be competing against it'll be my experience and you'll still need to show me that you can last and entertain in a fight.”

“Sure, of course, we'll be entertaining!” Cauli said, she nudged Rhuby, “Right?”

“Well I haven't quite perfected regrowing my arms,” Rhuby said with a grin, then a more remorseful sigh as she turned and looked at her bottom, “or . . . my tail.”

Cauli looked at Rhuby's bottom too, thinking to herself how bizarre it felt to be missing a part of herself. A whole piece of her body that she'd always taken for granted, now it was just gone. She would still sometimes try to twitch her tail only to have no tail to twitch, it was strange at least and it was probably just as bad for Rhuby, who'd lost her tail even earlier.

She must have been lost in thought and gazed too long because the other girl twisted her hips away and gave her a confused look, but Cauli just said, “We'll get 'em back . . . there's still time.”

Rhuby smiled, “I hope so too.”

“And just think, if we do we can _really_ show the Robusuta something they haven't seen before in the Arena!” Cauli added.

“Oh? What's that?” Sensei asked, but Cauli didn't tell him. She'd let it be a surprise.

Spring couldn't come fast enough, but neither could her tail's return. Once she had her tail again she and Rhuby would win their freedom one way or another.

Even if it meant having to transform into rampaging Oozaru.

At least that was the plan then, but spring brought a lot of changes.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 


	78. Trials of the Arena Part Two

**Trials of the Arena**

**Part Two**

Spring

 

_'Spring is the time when we recover from the harshness of winter. Old life is rejuvenated and born anew, and new life takes hold eager to feel the warmth of Summer.'_

 

By the second Spring festival Cauliflora's more mutinous thoughts had subsided, but Rhubara's had not. She wasn't about to summon up a power ball and transform into an Oozaru and destroy everything but she did still want her freedom.

Even though she was relieved to finally have her tail back she still wasn't complete while she was a prisoner. Cauli might be able to look past the specifics of their situation, but Rhuby wasn't.

She wasn't sure if she couldn't or if she wouldn't, but just accepting the situation completely really didn't seem to be in her Saiyan blood. It hadn't taken Cauli long to start enjoying the fun of Arena combat and the roar of the crowd, so even though their tails had returned she and Rhuby hadn't used the power ball to destroy the Robusuta and escape from the War World.

But Cauli's Saiyan blood was the same as her own so Rhuby didn't think that they'd be there forever, there was no way Cauli would want that. Rhuby knew sooner or later they'd leave the War World and go home to planet Vegeta and the rest of their people even if the thought of the trip bothered her.

But for now they remained. Her best friend was having fun so she'd just have fun with her, or at least do the best she could even if it was hard sometimes.

She liked fighting for the sake of a challenge and she liked the lifestyle that their victories could buy them but for Rhuby the roar of the crowd wasn't all that great and beating weak opponents was boring. She knew deep down Cauli was feeling the same way so she'd assumed that some day soon Cauli would ask her to summon up a power ball, even if she wasn't sure how that would make her feel.

Truth be told the only thing that kept them there during the second year was that they didn't have the credits to leave and they were enjoying themselves enough not to rebel, which was handy because while Rhuby _would_ use force to obtain her freedom if it came to it there was at least a part of her that hoped she didn't have to.

She liked a lot of the Fighters they'd gotten to know, she liked Sensei and Medic.

Which was why instead of the power ball she'd been carefully saving her credits in the hopes that when Cauli was finally done having her fun Rhuby could cover the cost of her own freedom and whatever Cauli was short towards the cost of hers as well.

It meant living a little less extravagantly than her prize winnings really entitled her to, but it actually sort of seemed to encourage the other fighters to respect her more, which didn't help her with the problem of liking them.

But truth be told Rhuby didn't mind liking the others. It made her imprisonment feel less horrible.

“Okay, okay, now stop me if you've heard this one before,” Poi was telling her, “what do you call a boy named Lee that no one talks to?”

“Lee, since that's his name?” Rhuby guessed.

“Lone Lee.” Poi corrected her. “Eh? Eh? Lonely, get it?”

“Yes . . .” Rhuby sighed, shaking her head slowly and smiling. Really she found Poi's enthusiasm for his own jokes far more amusing than the jokes themselves.

“I get it, I just don't want it!” Cauli scoffed, “Give me your best shot!”

Poi scratched his chin and said, “Okay, okay, how about . . . which hand is better to write with?”

“My right hand, that's why it's called my right!” Cauli declared triumphantly.

“No, it's better to write with a pen!” Poi told her, then he started to giggle until it became a full laugh.

Rhuby smiled and put a hand on Cauli's forearm stopping the other girl from getting too agitated, “This doesn't make sense!” Cauli insisted.

“They're jokes,” Poi explained.

“I know jokes, these ones are just . . . weird!” Cauli sighed.

“Well then tell me a joke.” Poi told her, and not for the first time. Rhuby had seen this scene play out so frequently she had lost count.

She hid her smile as Cauli pantomimed rolling up her sleeves—her teal tunic had no sleeves—and said, “All right, all right. So you've got three Tuffles and a Saiyan, the three Tuffles run into a bar, what does the Saiyan do?”

“They duck!” Poi guessed.

Cauli grinned widely and said, “The Saiyan tosses the bar away and says 'good, got all three of 'em!”

Poi did laugh at that even though Rhuby was fairly certain he didn't fully understand what Tuffles were. Rhuby smiled but she didn't join in the raucous laughter.

Joking around was all well and good but she didn't want to stay on War World forever joking around. She wanted to go _home._

Her mood must have shown because their Sensei came over and gave her an evaluating look before asking her, “What's on your mind, champion?”

“Nothing?” Rhubara offered. “I am a blank slate, Sensei.”

“You seem melancholy. That can lead to an accident on the training ground, and we can't have that.” Bass told her, “Is something bothering you?”

“No, Sensei. Nothing important.” Rhubara answered and the green giant nodded.

“All right then. Your fifteen minutes of rest are over, everyone back out to the yard and resume training!” Bass ordered and like the rest Rhubara rushed off to the training ground to practice.

She squared off with Cauli as usual and the two sparred but Rhubara did think that maybe Bass was right.

“ _Are_ you all right?” Cauli asked her quietly so no one else would hear her, though Rhuby had her doubts when it came to the Sensei's hearing.

Rhuby forced a smile, “I'm fine, I was just . . . thinking of how long we'll be here, and what will it take for us to leave.”

“Well we need the money, right?” Cauli told her with a smile, “If we get elevated to Legend status we'd get better fights right? And they'd pay better too. So that'll speed things up. Don't worry, after this spring we'll be well on our way, Rhuby.”

“Yeah.” Rhuby nodded and she continued with the practice session, she was just going through the motions. She blocked a punch, then a kick before throwing a punch of her own and then a kick, _The same thing over and over day after day,_ she thought. _I'm just waiting to die of old age here, how can Cauli stand it? Block a punch, block a kick, throw a punch, kick, block a kick—no!_

Rhuby realized for about a quarter second that she'd screwed up before Cauli's fist slammed into her face right between her eyes sending her staggering back a pace clutching her face as the other girl yelped in surprise.

Luckily the punch hadn't been at full strength or she might not have a face anymore, but the blow to Rhuby's pride was going to last a lot longer than the pain in her face. Her partner rushed over to see if she were okay but Rhuby waved her away, “I'm fine, I'm fine!” She assured her and tried to laugh as if it were all some kind of prank but Cauli was having none of it.

The other girl gripped her wrists and tried to move her hands from her face saying, “Quit fussing and let me see!”

“And when did you become the Medic?” Kazoo demanded, shoving his way between them. The small green creature was head and shoulders shorter than the two of them but neither made any attempt to resist the Medic. He looked at Rhuby shaking his head in disappointment before telling the both of them, “Follow me, dummies.”

“I'm fine,” Rhuby said, but she fell in and followed Kazoo all the same not willing to risk disobeying the medic. Still she did offer, “It wasn't even a real punch!”

“I know, it should never have struck you.” Kazoo said as he led them back into the mess hall. “When a rookie messes up in a routine drill it's one thing, when an Arena Champion about to enter the Legends League does it it's a cry for help! What's the matter with you?”

“Sensei says she's meh-lan-cully.” Cauli tattled.

_“Melancholy,_ and so what? I need more than that.” Kazoo scoffed and indicated that they should take a seat, which they did. “Is there anything the matter between you two?”

“No?” Cauli was asking rather than telling, giving Rhuby a worried look but Rhuby shook her head.

“No.” She confirmed. “I just . . . I wasn't feeling it today I guess.”

It probably didn't surprise anyone more than Rhuby herself, training with Cauli was the closest training came to being fun. The Medic scratched his chin and jumped up onto the table so that he could actually stand above them as he walked up and down. He asked, “You seemed fine earlier, do you just need fewer breaks?”

“Maybe.” Rhuby said. Less time to think about her situation might help.

But Kazoo shook his head, “Nitwit! You can't work yourself to death, you won't be any use to anyone that way. You want to win your freedom don't you?”

“Yes!” Rhuby said, but then she hesitated for a moment and wondered if she dared to mention more . . .

“I just . . . I don't know when that will be!” Rhuby said without even meaning to. “I don't like the Arena fights, they're _boring_ ! I want _real_ fights, not choreographed dancing! If I have to just keep this up I don't know how long I can last!”

“Rhuby . . .” Cauli whispered, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“So that's what it is . . . all right then.” Kazoo sighed. “Listen here, buying your freedom isn't a quick process but if it's real visceral fighting you're after you'll get it, you just need to be patient. My father was the same way I hear, you just need to be more like him.”

“I don't think I'm the fatherly sort.” Rhuby said, forcing an attempt at levity. Cauli smiled but the Medic didn't laugh.

Instead he just said, “Lord Slug had to figure out one of the harder lessons when it comes to winning freedom, and that's that sometimes you've got to keep your eye on the prize even if the path isn't all it's cracked up to be. But listen . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Slug glowered at the battleground, suppressing the urge to just kill everyone in the Arena and win his freedom that way. He could _rule_ this world, especially if the caliber of fighters he'd been put up against was any indication.

He could sense their worthlessness, he could sense the weakness of everyone else in the arena.

His Lord scuttled over and said, “Are you prepared for your matches today, Champion?”

“When do I become a Legend?” Slug snarled.

“When you win enough Champion matches.” His Lord told him, and not for the first time. “I say, you understand that you're strong but not everyone knows how strong Champion Slug is!”

“I don't like that title . . .” Slug commented.

“Legend Slug will suit you better, I'm sure old lad.” His Lord told him, but Slug felt like he had a different idea.

But he didn't share it. Instead he muttered, “The corpse I'm about to face, what do you know of him?”

“I know he's a Champion the same as you. It'd be bad form not to mention dangerous to underestimate him.”

“Is he immortal?” Slug asked.

“No. Same as you.” His Lord told him pointedly.

Slug scoffed. “Just tell them to hurry up and start the fight. I want to kill something.”

His Lord scoffed and said, “Just try not to ruin a good thing. Keep the crowds happy and try to enjoy yourself.”

“Enjoy myself?” Slug raised a questioning eyebrow at his owner.

The Robusuta clacked his claws and said, “Might as well, old lad!”

With that he scuttled off to tell the game runners that Slug was ready. The Super Namekian slapped the bars that kept him off of the battlefield shouting, “Let me into that Arena! Slug wants to slay!”

The crowd roared with approval and agreement, they were eager for the bloodshed and that was their one endearing quality.

Across from him emerged his competitor. Nine feet tall with a spiked green shell and a yellow hide, his wide gaping maw was filled with sharp teeth and he had a fiery red mane. He wore spiked armbands on his biceps and wrists and his hands were deadly claws but other than that he wasn't wielding any weapons.

That suited Slug fine he preferred Fighters who let their fists do the talking. His opponent today was a fearsome creature to be sure, but Slug had seen many a fearsome creature. He knew that he was the most fearsome creature of all, and he was eager to prove it.

He heard the crowd roar with excitement, though some loudly cried that Slug's opponent didn't stand a chance.

Not just because no one did, but because he hadn't even bothered to bring any steel weapons with him.

It'd be his funeral of course. The Games Master declared the beginning and Slug charged for his opponent.

But the Dragon Turtle-man threw his head back and with a smoking roar spat a gout of flame at him when he'd closed the distance.

Slug wasn't able to avoid the blaze entirely, but he was fast enough to roll out of the way of the worst of it. _So that's how it is, is it?_ He thought with a wicked grin.

He threw a punch, his arm lengthening so that it could close the distance without him having to risk the rest of his body in the line of fire, but when his fist struck the turtle's hard shell its back spikes shot outward, impaling his hand and causing him to cry out in alarm more than pain.

All the same it set the crowd to cheering like madmen. Slug needed to turn this around.

He decided to show his opponent the kind of fire he could breathe, opening his mouth wide and preparing to blast his foe the dragon-turtle instead sucked his arms and legs inside his shell. At first Slug thought that he was only going to try to take shelter from the blast, but then the shell began to spin and then improbably shoot towards him like some giant green spiked projectile.

Slug avoided the strike the best he could, his foe slamming into the wall of the arena and cracking it from the force of his attack.

In spite of himself the Super Namekian was beginning to enjoy this fight. Cracking his knuckles and his neck Slug said, “All right, it looks like they've finally found me someone worth my attention! It's about time!”

The dragon emerged from his shell and fired off three quick balls of flame which Slug decided to simply swat away. He lashed out, his arm like a bull-whip slapping the first ball of fire into the ground only to discover that it wasn't just fire, but a ball of molten rock.

That stung, burning his hand badly and causing another shout to escape him much to the crowd's delight. Slug glared and tried giving his opponent a bit of the good old fashioned Evil Eyes. Of course when the Super Namekian did it his gaze really could kill because his eyes shot a pair of powerful ki beams.

They didn't kill his thick-limbed opponent who managed to spin and take the blast to his shell instead, which dissipated his ki attack. Slug growled, “So you're not going down easily are you? Well then I guess I'll have to get really rough!”

His foe sucked his limbs into his shell again, this time Slug braced himself as the dragon-turtle began to spin until it finally shot towards him like a lightning bolt.

And just as quickly Slug dodged out of the way, his opponent slamming into the arena wall again and emerging from his shell to get his bearings. As he was doing that Slug got behind him and sprang forward, grabbing him by the tail and flinging him across the ring.

Slug didn't wait, as his foe was flying he followed up with a blast from his eyes before the dragon-turtle could gain control of the flight, or suck himself into his shell. The blast struck home, his foe roaring loudly in pain before slamming hard into the wall of the arena, again leaving a crack from the force of the strike.

But this time he was out of his shell and his fleshy head was exposed to the force of the hit. To his credit he staggered to his feet holding his head for a moment before shaking it and roaring angrily.

Slug smirked as his opponent kicked at the sand before charging like a raging beast. Slug braced himself and met the monster head on.

The force of the creature made him slide back a few feet but soon Slug's superior might won out and he began to push his opponent back. The dragon-turtle raised his beefy fists and brought them down hard on Slug's shoulders, pounding him with incredible strength, so much so that Slug actually lost his grip for a moment.

Which was all it took for his enemy to shove him away and take sever vicious swipes with his claws, cutting through Slug's fine armor and gashing his chest.

_Now I'm mad!_ Slug thought, _Do you have any idea how much this tunic_ cost _me?_

The crowd was going insane, now would be as good a time as any to end it. Slug sent his arm telescoping behind his foe grabbing his tail again and flinging him away again.

Only this time Slug did not wait for his enemy to hit the wall, instead he reached out with his other arm and like the snap of a whip brought his opponent back to him, pummeling his softer belly with a score of punches thrown all in the blink of an eye, then finally finishing with a point blank eye blast.

The arena was full of smoke but when it cleared there was Slug standing triumphant with his opponent teetering on weakened legs.

Slug laughed wickedly as the Games Master declared him the winner before his foe had even fallen down.

But he also thought to himself, _That was actually a lot of fun. I don't mind letting this one live, at least this time._

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Cauli folded her arms, “That's really neat, Medic . . . but what has that got to do with anything?”

Kazoo blinked owlishly at them, “Do I _really_ have to spell it out for you?”

“Let's pretend that you do, and then let's make that fantasy a reality.” Cauli suggested with what she hoped was a lighthearted smile.

“Lord Slug thought he was too powerful for any old opponent as well,” Kazoo said, “but the Spring Games and Springtime in general . . . well it's a time when the unexpected can occur. If you're patient you just might find yourself being surprised.”

Cauli smiled at Rhuby and said, “So . . . maybe you'll fight an opponent you actually like, just like Slug did.”

“Lord Slug.” Kazoo corrected.

Rhuby frowned at them both though and lowered her gaze. Cauli reached out and put a hand on her partner's shoulder, telling her, “I know it's not fun now, but what choice do we have? One we're Legends the fights should get a lot better, we'll be fighting people closer to our own level every week, it'll be _great_!”

“Not every week, there aren't enough Legendary fighters for that sort of thing, but certainly every month.” Kazoo said. “Not that that should discourage you. So brighten up. After all it is Spring, a fine time for young Fighters looking to make a name for themselves, or to increase their fame, you will face opponents you don't expect.”

“I'm sure we will . . . but I don't know that that makes me feel any better.” Rhuby said. Cauli wasn't sure what she meant by that, what could be better than fighting a strong new opponent?

She gave Rhuby's shoulder an affectionate squeeze and said, “Sometimes you say really strange things, but even so I'll always be right alongside you so there's that at least, right? This all can't be _that_ bad, can it? I mean we're together fighting new opponents all the time . . . and someday we'll go home, right?”

“Right . . . and as soon as we can afford it we can go free, right?” Rhuby whispered, reaching up and squeezing Cauli's hand.

There shouldn't have been, but there seemed to be something questioning in her tone. But Cauli couldn't imagine why. It wasn't like she _liked_ being on War World after all . . . other than the Arena and the crowd . . . their comrades and the less cut-throat nature of their hierarchy . . .

And of course knowing that through it all she had her best friend to watch her back. Through thick and thin through every adventure they could count on each other, and as much fun as War World might have been on its own with Rhuby along it was so much better. But other than that . . . well it wasn't like Cauli wanted to stay _forever_ or anything.

So she smiled at Rhuby and nodded. She told her, “Once we can afford it: freedom. You and me, Rhuby, I wouldn't go anywhere without you.”

“Wouldn't go anywhere without you either.” Rhuby said with a slight but honest smile. Cauli smiled back until Kazoo cleared his throat loudly.

“Right, well enough of that.” Kazoo said. “Just remember that life always begins anew in the Spring, no matter how dark winter might have seemed. Spring brings new challengers, it brings new adventures so try to look forward to the unexpected and embrace it.”

“We will, Medic.” Cauli nodded.

“Yes sir.” Rhuby agreed.

“So get back to training.” Kazoo added.

The two Saiyans saluted then rushed off. But Cauli couldn't help but think as she and Rhuby ran back to the training ground that really . . . life on the War World wasn't exactly the worst.

After all they were nobodies on Planet Vegeta, but here they were Champions about to become Legends. Home wasn't going anywhere, but why not do a little more to follow Lord Slug's example? Why not become Lords themselves? They could live like queens, train strong worthwhile fighters of their own, they could win enough money to return to Planet Vegeta in triumph . . .

Sure the fights could be a bit boring in the Champions bracket, but once they advanced surely things would get more interesting, maybe then Rhuby would see the War World the same way she did. And even if she didn't they could just destroy the whole place, after all they had the power and they had each other to look out for one another.

Of course she couldn't imagine then that as early as the next summer something might drive a wedge between them, or that they might not see anything the same way ever again.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 


	79. Trials of the Arena Part Three

**Trials of the Arena**

**Part Three**

_Summer_

 

_'Summer is the time when the life of Spring flourishes wild and free. Responsibilities ease and sometimes allow us to discover great wonders as the world changes and dresses in the colors of Fall.'_

 

The spring festivals were finished and with the Legendary status of his fighters confirmed Lord Stobler was allowing himself some much needed personal time.

He'd taken his stables' Sensei along to discuss the state of his fighters while they headed towards the market. Even though the shopping trip was for his personal enjoyment he still wanted to be kept apprised of the fighters who were keeping him so wealthy.

Perhaps he was getting old but he found that he very much preferred mixing business with pleasure, it kept him from forgetting either for too long.

“Are the Saiyans still quarreling?” Stobler asked. According to his understanding the two fighters making him the most money had gone from having a harmonious relationship to actively avoiding one another. It had come about at the end of spring so it hadn't affected them in the Arena yet and he hoped it wouldn't last long enough to do so.

“I wouldn't call it a quarrel, my Lord,” his Sensei informed him, “Simply a . . . lack of their usual casual friendliness.”

“Fine, fine, are they still lacking their usual casual friendliness?” Lord Stobler rolled his stock-eyes. “I need them ready for the Summer Games!”

“The problem persists.” Bass admitted, and Stobler sighed.

Her clacked his claws in irritation, “I don't have time for any infighting. Can they be relied upon in the Arena?”

“To fight and win? Of course.” The Son of Slug commented. “Why do you ask?”

The Robusuta eyed a piece of jewelry that his wife might like, then decided to buy it for one of his mistresses instead. Arena fights weren't the only sort he liked.

Handing the package to the giant son of Slug to carry as they continued through the market the Robusuta Lord explained, “I'm just thinking, what do we know about Saiyans? They're both twice the size they were when they first arrived, they've grown tails, it's all mad!”

“Regrown tails, my Lord.” Bass corrected but Stobler waved a dismissive hand.

“Yes, yes, _fine_ old chap, fine. My point is they've clearly grown up. So perhaps heir kind is actually very territorial, yes? Perhaps their less friendly behavior is actually because they're older and now that they're not juveniles they don't need to travel in a pack so to speak. Some fish can't be kept two to a tank for example. You get the picture?”

“Yes, Lord.” Bass nodded. “It's an intriguing theory, but I doubt it's the real problem. At least that doesn't seem to be what Tathy has suggested.”

“Tathy's not a Saiyan!” Stobler pointed out, waving a scolding finger at Bass, “What makes her think she's qualified to make guesses? I like my theory, it makes sense scientifically. All animals are basically the same after all.”

“Uh . . . yes, my Lord.” Bass said, but he sounded unconvinced, so Stobler sighed with irritation.

“All right, fine!” He cried, “What does the Immortal Jelly think the problem is?”

“Well Tathy was witness to most of the event that caused the problem, it was definitely a specific event involving the wine you gifted them. Apparently Cauliflora drank far too much of it.”

“Ah so it's a disagreement about portions is it?” Stobler laughed, “Why didn't you tell me old boy? Just tell Rhubara I'll buy her her own jug if she gets along with Cauliflora again!”

“Begging your pardon Lord, but from what I witnessed while I was there it wasn't that. Rhubara didn't like the stronger wine very much, she willingly let Cauliflora take her share. It was Cauliflora's attitude while intoxicated that seems to have resulted in the quarrel, and from what I saw she was becoming quite irascible before I left . . . but the others all seemed to be taking it fairly well, Rhubara included.”

“Ah so now _you're_ calling it a quarrel!” Stobler scolded.

“It was closer to one at first, Lord, but it's since settled into its current . . . uneasy state.”

Stobler nodded as he examined a toy his son might like if ever he produced an offspring worthy of being kept.

But he hadn't, so he kept moving down the market stalls, continuing to talk to Bass, “But in any case for whatever reason we've fought them together in every fight. Perhaps this change is just nature's way of saying that they're ready to take on one on one matches, ready to start standing alone and earning me twice as much money!”

The Sensei nodded slowly, “They're certainly capable of eliminating any fighter I've seen in single combat, but as you know, my Lord, most of their wealth is generated by the overwhelming odds they're put up against, often it's their teamwork that sees them to victory rather than their brute strength and it took a very long time to teach them pageantry over savagery. I think if we split them up with the goal of seeing their earnings double we'll see them begin to take more losses.”

“Pair them with different teammates then. Let the Saiyans do all the damage, assign partners specifically to watch their backs.” Stobler suggested irritably. Did he have to make _all_ the decisions?

Oh right . . . he did, because that was what it meant to be Lord.

“They're Legends for a reason, none of our fighters can compete on that level.” Bass told him.

“No. But our Sensei did.” Stobler pointed out with some reluctance. “I know it would be highly irregular to return you to the Arena--”

“I would welcome it, my Lord!” Bass said suddenly, eagerly even, “I can assure you I will bring you great honor again, I--”

“Steady on, chap!” Lord Stobler scolded, remembering how close Bass was to being able to afford his freedom and the scandal and embarrassment that letting him go would cause. “I don't mean to actually split them up! Hah, you've just caught me in a bit of a jest!”

“Of course . . .” The Sensei nodded.

Lord Stobler breathed a sigh of relief, then finally acknowledged, “Then perhaps the thing to do is to separate them and take the losses.”

“My Lord?” The Sensei asked in obvious surprise.

There was a part of Stobler that was just as surprised as Bass. But he had to admit he'd taken losses before and they were easier to suffer than having to find a new Sensei, or the blow to his prestige that would accompany no longer owning the two surviving Sons of Slug.

He clacked his pincers and said, “Well absence makes the heart grow fonder. My mistresses are always a little less demanding and a little more appreciative if they think I've forgotten them for a few months. We'll see if our Saiyans forget their quarreling once they've been embarrassed in the Arena once or twice, eh? Let the two of them see that the fights are harder without each other, then they'll join forces again.”

“Or they'll rise to the occasion and conquer alone,” Bass nodded, “very wise, Lord.”

“Yes, I thought so.” Lord Stobler said happily. “Either they'll rise to the occasion as solo entries, or they'll solve their differences and work together again, either way I shall stay on top or be back to it before too many losses. It'll be just as when your own father Lord Slug learned his own lesson about teamwork, eh?”

“Which lesson about teamwork was that?” Bass asked, sounding surprised and Lord Stobler had to admit he could understand why.

“I thought you knew all your father's stories old boy!”

“So did I.” Bass agreed.

Lord Stobler chuckled, “Ah well . . . this is one I saw myself you know, I was barely more than a cricket at the time. Ah but Lord Slug was still just Legend Slug then, and you could see the age starting to show on him. All the same it was quite a sight to see . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Standing by the iron gate that led out into the Arena the aging Namekian stood, arms akimbo as he heard his Lord explain the fight. It was his first two-on-two fight, he'd never needed a teammate before and truth be told he didn't think he needed one now. He knew he could slaughter both his foes alone, he could slaughter both his foes and his 'ally' without difficulty.

Slug shook his head in disdain, dismissing the words of his Lord as he introduced the fighter he'd be working with. The Namekian scoffed, “So you were serious after all, eh? I told you I can take these two myself!”

“So you did, but that's just not how the game is played.” His Lord informed him, indicating the light-blue-skinned humanoid by his side he added, “That's why I've brought Anglia here to give you a hand.”

Anglia was very young, he had messy golden hair and two small horns, his House's colors seemed to be blue and white, but he carried no visible weapon. He spoke eagerly though, saying, “I won't slow you down, Legend Slug.”

Slug scoffed. “You might think so, and you might do well in your own matches but compared to me you're just a runty kid.”

“He's already blazing his way through the Champion ranks, he's quite strong.” The Lord said, causing Slug's jaw to drop at the insult of fighting alongside someone of lower rank. He'd just assumed Anglia was a relative newcomer to the Legend bracket, not some nobody from a lower tier. He was about to protest but his Lord added, “His Lord is smart enough to know it's better to ally with our House than it is to see his Champion slain fighting against you, and this will elevate your own glory due to the perceived miss-match.”

“Smart, but a Champion to side with me in the Arena? Not a Legend?” Slug scoffed. “He's just going to get himself killed.”

“I thank you for your concern, but I am more than a match for the two we'll be fighting today.” Anglia assured him.

“I'm not concerned, I'm insulted.” Slug corrected him. “For the sake of propriety your Lord should have provided a Legend to fight alongside me.”

His Lord indicated a younger, smaller Robusuta and said, “Well Lord Stobler here is quite young, his House hasn't had the opportunity to raise a fighter to the Legend bracket yet. But Anglia is a powerful fighter, one I wouldn't mind acquiring for our own stable.”

The panicked look on the younger Robusuta's face told Slug all he needed to know. His Lord had chosen an ally he could easily take advantage of, if Anglia did well he'd just force Stobler to sell him away to their stable.

Slug smirked, he could better understand the insult now. His Lord was trying to avoid bringing in an ally on their level for social reasons, and if the rookie showed promise he could make him theirs instead of having to worry about losing any of the lesser fighters of their stable to him later.

Slug folded his arms and laughed, “All right then boy, feel free to sit back and take notes, you won't be needed in the actual fight.”

“If you say so.” The other fighter said with a bow. Slug slammed on the iron bars of the gate, “Open up! Let me kill something!”

The gates did open, and Slug and Anglia marched out into the arena to the roar of the crowd but Slug was surprised to hear that just as many of the people were cheering for Anglia as they were for him. It annoyed him, but he understood the young blood probably had a following because of the sheer audacity of his inclusion in this fight.

So Slug decided he'd let him die early, just to make the point that one did not simply stroll into the Legendary bracket.

Their opponents emerged from separate gates, as Slug understood it their Houses were actually the deadliest of enemies only working together now for the spectacle of this battle.

They looked identical, both of them were wearing masks and black suits and hoods. However their tunics were different colors, one of them blue and the other golden. Slug wondered if their Houses were cousins since their colors were so similar but he also realized he didn't care.

What mattered to him was getting to destroy these two.

The Games Master raised his claw, commanding the fight to start and immediately his opponent in blue gathered energy for a blast.

_Ah, some fellow ki manipulators, eh? This might not be so bad!_ Slug thought. He smirked and planned to deflect the blast of blue energy but Anglia shoved him out of the way.

The blue-skinned alien cried out, “Look out, Lord Slug! That's no ordinary blast!”

Slug was about to break his pretty-boy face, the fact that he rather liked being called 'Lord' aside.

But before he could punish the impudent pup the ball of cold, frozen energy shot between them, through the space Slug had previously been occupying.

It hit the wall of the arena and froze it. Slug realized he probably would have had to give up an arm if he'd deflected the blast.

It wouldn't have been enough to take him out of the fight, but it would have irritated him. So for that he decided not to intentionally get Anglia killed right away.

The yellow foe threw an attack of his own, shooting a spear of some sort from under his sleeve and striking Slug hard in the shoulder.

The Namekian had just a moment to observe that the blade was still connected to some sort of chain before his opponent started to retract that chain, yanking him across the arena towards him.

His opponent shouted, “Get over here!” but Slug had no intention of complying. Instead he focused his eyes on a point in the chain and shot a beam that cut it in half before he could be pulled too far.

Then he reached out with his own stretching arm and shouted, “ _You_ get over _here_!”

He grabbed the enemy by the throat and yanked him over, pulling back his fist for a punch that would knock his head off of his shoulders.

But his foe managed to reach up and pull his mask away, opening his mouth and breathing a gout of flame at him. Slug raised a hand to protect his eyes, the flames washed over him with searing intense pain. He'd thought himself too strong to be bothered by fire, but in the end it seemed the flames his opponent commanded were far more powerful than regular fire.

Slug still didn't release his quarry, instead continuing to bring his arm back until it was to its comfortable length, then, despite the pain he punched his opponent hard.

But not as hard as he wanted to, and his opponent caught his fist and stopped it.

He jumped back a few paces to try to collect himself, but the blue opponent came at him from behind.

A glance showed him that Anglia was taking on his yellow opponent now, but Slug doubted the freezing foe would do much to help his burns.

The Super Namekian dodged most of his foe's attacks, then jumped back and laughed, “Hand to hand isn't quite your forte, is it?” Slug taunted.

His opponent didn't respond with words, but instead gathered energy for another freezing blast. Slug laughed harder and said, “Just try it!”

He sprang forward, prepared to dodge out of the way of his opponent's blast but the blue foe instead pointed his freezing blast at the arena floor, and Slug was suddenly running on ice. He slipped and stumbled and waved his arms around to steady himself, and that was when his opponent leapt forward to disprove the statement that he was poor in hand-to-hand.

Slug was too off balance to deflect half the blows coming in for him, and he had to admit his opponents were fighting well despite the power difference.

It didn't help that his skin was so sensitive from being burned. The crowd was roaring in excitement, this was amazing to them.

And Slug had to admit he understood why. Here was he, their greatest Legend being pushed back by two foes they also admired, two foes who were themselves foes.

But surely they had to know that the conclusion was forgone.

No one beat Slug.

The fighting was pitched but once Slug got back onto balance he stated to turn things around.

And that was when his wicked mind started working.

He knew his opponents hated each other . . . so he'd use that to bring them down.

He punched his blue foe hard, knocking him off his feet but instead of finishing him instantly Slug snarled, “Stay out of my way, I don't have time for a fool like you! I want to fight a _real_ enemy!”

He turned his back on him and leapt in to fight the yellow enemy instead.

Anglia was holding his own well enough but Slug didn't need him getting the way so he shoved him aside roughly to fight the yellow opponent.

The crowd laughed, humiliating the other fighter but Slug knew what he was doing even if it caused embarrassment to his ally.

Between the insult and the laughter of the crowd his blue foe lost control and threw himself into the fray. Slug battled the both of them but managed to make sure to dodge and deflect certain blows in just such a way that the two accidentally struck each other more than once.

And yet that wasn't quite enough to get them to turn on each other, Slug realized he needed a new method.

So instead he let them land more blows on him, allowed them to beat him down until he was on his knees roaring in pain.

They both leapt back a pace, each preparing for their final attack, his blue foe gathering energy for a blast and his yellow foe removing his mask to breathe flame again.

Slug saw Anglia move for the blue foe and he himself leapt up and got behind the yellow foe as both sent off their blasts.

The ice blast struck the yellow foe in his chest, freezing him solid and the flames burned the blue foe.

The crowd went wild, and the fight was done. Slug laughed and nodded to Anglia, “You'll make it to the Legend bracket yet, you've got promise. I'll remember your name, which is more than I do for my Lord!”

The other fighter bowed low, “I'm honored.”

And remember him he did. Though Slug's own Lord didn't purchase Anglia that day some years later the day did come when Slug himself took command of the alien's contract and made him one of his officers.

After all it was he who first so rightly referred to him as Lord Slug.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Bass was impressed, “That's fascinating. So you actually met Lord Slug! Not only that but your grandest fighter fought alongside him?”

“That's what I said, isn't it?” Lord Stobler scoffed and the son of Slug bowed his head slightly.

“Of course, I didn't mean to imply dishonesty. I am just impressed, Lord.” Bass assured him. “What happened to Anglia? I've never heard you mention him before.”

“We traded him. Lord Slug made me an offer I couldn't refuse, two of his fighters for one of mine.”

“That's impressive.” Bass admitted. “Which two fighters did you get?”

“Yourself and your brother.” Lord Stobler grunted. “You probably don't remember, you were still young. All the same it was a good trade.”

Bass was even more impressed now.

Impressed and honored that his Lord considered him to have been a good exchange for a Legendary level fighter who had stood alongside the borderline mythical figure that had been his father, Lord Slug.

“But you understand what I'm saying don't you? Even with a weak companion one strong warrior can win a fight with or without help, your own father proved that.” Lord Stobler explained.

“Yes Lord, I suppose.” Bass said.

But the truth was that wasn't what he'd taken away from the story of the match.

Perhaps Lord Slug didn't need Anglia's help to win, but he would have had a much harder time without it. Having someone to watch his back saved him from getting frozen from the onset. Even as the fight carried on it was clear to Bass that his father had underestimated both of his opponents and from what he himself could recall that was actually one of the great Lord Slug's flaws.

So he said, “I think it would still be best to try to resolve the situation between the Saiyans. They're an effective team, and at this level that's not something you find often.”

“Perhaps not. But if there were a level above Legend they'd probably be at it, so really they're strong enough and popular enough to be able to get embarrassed a little before they have to worry too much about losing the crowd.” Lord Stobler said. “But I'll talk to them all the same, figure things out.”

“Thank you,” Bass said, “but I can handle that if you'd prefer. There's no need to trouble yourself, Lord.”

“No, there is. It _is_ my stable and as I've just explained I've been at this since before you were born. I know how to talk to my Fighters.”

“As you say, Lord.” Bass sighed. But somehow he could tell that nothing Lord Stobler would say would resolve the issues between Cauli and Rhuby.

They'd have to sort that out for themselves before it became something more dangerous than a spat between best friends. The two of them had the power that, if they were to fight each other seriously, Bass suspected the Arena itself wouldn't survive.

But then he scolded himself for thinking such an outlandish thing. The very idea of any individual being able to bring down any of the Grand Arenas was laughable. Only Lord Slug would have had that kind of might . . .

But then he thought to himself the chilling thought that the two Saiyans actually were pretty comparable to what he could remember of his own father's power. Perhaps weaker, perhaps stronger but they were certainly in the same general area . . .

He mentioned to Lord Stobler, “Lord . . . have you ever thought that perhaps there _should_ be a category beyond Legend? I mean when it was only Lord Slug who had that kind of power it made sense . . . but Cauliflora and Rhubara are at or at least nearing that level as well.”

Lord Stobler clacked his claws and said, “Truth be told the thought has occurred to me. And it would be all the more glorious because they're both mine . . . but the time to pit them against each other hasn't arrived just yet. So I'll have to solve their dispute, at least for now.”

 

**To Be Concluded . . .**

 


	80. Trials of the Arena Part Four

**Trials of the Arena**

**Part Four**

Fall

 

_'Autumn is the time when the freedom of Summer fades. Work must be done and the harvest must be gathered for the night comes swiftly and preparations must be made for the cold of Winter.'_

 

It was the autumn of the final year that Cauliflora and Rhubara would be imprisoned on the War World, but neither of them knew it at the time.

No one knew what was coming, and if they had perhaps Lord Stobler would have behaved a bit differently . . . but as it was he sat in his office alone while he waited for Rhubara to be brought in. What he had to say to her was best said in private.

She'd grown quite a lot in the years he'd owned her but it did seem she'd settled into her adult body as it were. As part of a race with an exoskeleton who periodically had to molt Stobler could, to an extent, envy her for that.

He smiled pleasantly and indicated that she should take a seat, which she did. He said, “So, Legend Rhubara, I'm sure you're wondering what has brought you here today.”

“I was told you wished to speak to me, Lord Stobler. It's not my place to wonder beyond that.” The Saiyan woman said.

“Very proper but let's speak candidly . . . you've brought this House more glory than any fighter before it. Yourself and your partner are the absolute top of the Arena, the very best there is at what you do. That means certain . . . shall we say perks? I need to be certain that you two are _happy._ ”

“This is not the first time we've had this conversation, Lord Stobler.” Rhubara said wearily, “I am very happy.”

“Ah now now,” Lord Stobler shook his finger reprovingly at her, “You shouldn't lie. You're right, this isn't the first time I've had to talk to you dear girl, so let's just lay it all out on the table this time . . . your partner says your heart isn't in the fighting. Dear Cauliflora is worried that you'll lead yourself to some disaster.”

“Perhaps I will, that's just how the Arena goes, isn't it?” Rhubara asked. Lord Stobler smiled.

He tried to feign concern for her, saying, “Oh my dear, my dear, it's just that sort of attitude that will lead you to catastrophe! If you go out there without a desire to return you'll surely fail to return. So tell me . . . what is it that you want?”

“I want to bring honor to this House.” She said, and not for the first time. As he'd said they'd had this conversation before, but he would force her to go off-script this time, he would learn what it was she was truly after.

“Very nice. Now what do you want?” He asked again.

She frowned, “I'm sorry I--”

“I don't need you to be sorry, I need you to be honest. What do you want?” Lord Stobler insisted.

Rhubara lowered her gaze and took a deep breath. She said again, “I only want to bring honor to this House.”

“And you have. A great deal of it. Now tell me, what do you want?” Lord Stobler insisted.

“I don't understand why you keep asking me that, Lord.” Rhubara said, looking irritated.

“I don't need you to understand why I do anything, I need you to tell me what you want.” Lord Stobler insisted.

Finally the Saiyan woman broke, she stood up from her chair sending it sliding back across the room, she placed a firm hand on his desk, but did not strike it or in any way attempt to damage it—otherwise she probably would have destroyed it—and she said, “I want to go home!”

“You are home.” Lord Stobler suggested.

“No I'm not! I'm on this alien world enslaved by beings who love fighting just as much as Saiyans do, but don't like actually fighting, who revel in death but don't like risking their own, you have no idea what that's like! I spend almost every week in a giant coliseum killing worthier beings and none of them can compare to me, I've moved beyond them!”

The Saiyan woman stood up straight and declared, “I want my freedom! I want to go back to planet Vegeta! I want to be with my people, I don't want to be here anymore! I have _never_ wanted to be here, I just want to leave!”

Lord Stobler waited until he was certain she was finished, then indicated the chair that'd been thrown back by her outburst. “If you don't mind?” He asked, and seeming almost embarrassed Rhubara rushed over, picked up the chair and returned to her seat.

Then Lord Stobler took his life in his claws and said, “That's all very interesting. But what do you want?”

Rhubara tilted her head and looked at him in confusion. “I . . . what? I just told you, Lord . . .”

Lord Stobler steepled his fingers and clacked his claws as if he were in deep thought. He gazed at her with his stock-eyes in a manner he hoped conveyed sympathy he didn't actually feel.

Truth be told he knew all about Rhubara's desires, he'd known for a long time. He knew exactly what it was she _really_ wanted but until she could admit it there was no moving forward with the next leg of his plan.

So he elaborated just a bit, “You want your freedom, but I've paid close attention to your spending. You have more than enough money to buy yourself, more than enough to buy a small ship, or indeed a large one since you don't do so well in confined spaces.”

“Not confined spaces, inescapable ones.” Rhubara corrected.

“It's both.” Lord Stobler said gently, reaching out and taking her hand as if he were consoling an old friend rather than simply manipulating an unruly slave. “And that's why these past ten years have been so hard on you . . . but you've endured in a way few others could have . . . so I have to ask you why? Why aren't you simply using the money in your credit chip to buy your freedom?”

“I . . . because it's not just about me.” Rhubara said, looking embarrassed, “I mean I won't go anywhere without Cauli. I won't leave until she will.”

“Ah but she's reluctant to do so, isn't she?” Lord Stobler nodded. “Unlike you she _loves_ it here. She has everything _she_ wants. She has enemies to fight, glory to win, a crowd that loves her . . . and _you_.”

Rhubara blushed, “She has the crowds, and the fighting, but she doesn't care about _me_ anymore.”

“Doesn't she though?” Lord Stobler asked. “You know I don't recall her ever coming to me to tell me that she was worried about Bacore, or Tathy, or Poi . . . only you.”

“I'm her partner, she's just worried I'll slip up in the arena.” Rhubara scoffed.

Lord Stobler patted her hand, “Oh come now . . . that's not true. So tell me . . . what do you want?”

“I want her to come home with me.” Rhubara whispered.

“And how will you make that happen?” Lord Stobler asked.

“By waiting until she's had her fill of this?” Rhubara shrugged, “Then we'll buy our freedom and a ship and go home.”

Lord Stobler gave her a dramatically skeptical look, “Ah so you'll just wait for the bad behavior to correct itself? I should have allowed you to have a pet so you could see how well that works out.”

“What do you mean?” Rhubara asked.

“You won't correct her behavior by embracing it . . . you've got to force her to see things your way. How long have you suffered to make her happy? Ten years? How much is that in a Saiyan's lifespan? And what will she do to make you happy in return? _When_ will she agree to your plan and go home? When will you get what you want, Rhubara?”

“I don't know . . . why would she _ever_ give up what she wants for what I want?” The Saiyan woman sighed and leaned back in her chair looking at the ceiling and admitting, “I . . . guess she wouldn't. So do you mean to tell me I'm just wasting my time?”

“Incorrect.” Lord Stobler said. “You're too humble, you refuse to see what's obvious to everyone else but you.”

“And that would be . . .”

“That _you_ are what makes her happy you nitwit!” Lord Stobler said with a feigned good-natured laugh. “You two are far more than just best friends! You're twin souls! I don't think one of you could survive long without the other, I think you'd die of grief!”

“That's insane,” Rhubara scoffed, “We're Saiyans, Saiyans don't _need_ others!”

“Then buy your freedom right now and go home. Prove to her that you don't need her.”

“I . . .” Rhubara shook her head and lowered her gaze again. “I can't.”

“Then stop denying the obvious.” Lord Stobler said, and clacked his claws matter-of-factly, “Instead focus on how to change things. Focus on how you're going to get what you want.”

“How?” Rhubara asked.

“You're going to stop giving and hoping that she pays you back on her own. You're going to start _demanding_ your fair share, young lady!” Lord Stobler declared. “You're going to stand up for yourself and tell her that one way or another things are going to change! That she can either have the War World or have you, but she can't keep having both!”

Rhubara looked pale, “But she'll just choose the War World! She _likes_ me, she _loves_ this place! And why would I be so selfish as to deny her--”

“After ten years dear girl it's hardly selfish to stand up for yourself. The truth is that Cauliflora could fight strong opponents on _any_ planet, not so?” Lord Stobler asked, and Rhubara nodded, “And with all the strength you two have gathered here you'd be big players back on your own world, not so?”

“We would!” Rhubara said as if this were the first time the thought had even occurred to her, and given her low level of personal ambition Lord Stobler wouldn't be surprised if it really were.

“It's time to stand up for yourself, to show that same courage you show in the Arena to your friend instead.” Lord Stobler declared.

“How, Lord?” Rhubara asked.

Lord Stobler had to work hard not to let his excitement and greed show when he said, “ _Fight her!_ ”

Rhubara seemed taken aback, “What?”

“Fight her in the Arena and _win_! Show her that you're stronger than she is, that you're done with this world and you're leaving and she can either stay behind, embarrassed on a world that will always view her as the second best between you . . . or she can go with you and stand by your side and have a fair rematch someday.”

Rhubara shook her head, “I could never force her like that!”

“It's for her own good!” Lord Stobler insisted. “Dear girl, please! I'm not going to be around forever . . . I would if I could, but medical technology just isn't there yet. So let this old crustacean tell you a thing or two . . . sometimes you've got to be firm and hurt the ones you love for their own good. And someday she'll thank you for it, thank you for getting her off of this rock and back out amongst the stars with you . . . all you have to do is fight her in the Arena . . . and win.”

Rhuby shook her head, “What if the crowd calls for her death?”

“They won't dare! They love her!”

“But . . .” Rhubara shook her head, “I've seen them call for the deaths of more Legends than anything else, they love to see Legends end! Cauli and I are undefeated together, if we split and one of us defeats the other they'll _demand_ the poison dagger.”

“No I can assure you they'll do no such thing.” Lord Stobler insisted but he had little by way of reassurance since he'd more or less hoped that Rhubara wouldn't realize the rather inconvenient truth that the more fame one had the more eager the crowd was to see the tale come to a close.

But he said, “I know . . . there's a story about old Lord Slug . . .”

“Ugh, _another_ one?” Rhubara sighed, then she blushed and said, “Um, I'm sorry, my Lord, I didn't mean to sound so--”

“It's fine, it's fine. But let me tell you when you first came here you had to learn to stop being a warrior and instead be a fighter. Well Lord Slug needed to convince his fighters to become warriors when he decided to take them out of the Arenas of War World and out among the stars . . . and he learned that sometimes the way to convince others isn't with your words, but with your fists . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Lord Slug cracked his knuckles as he stood in the center of the Arena. The stands were packed in this, the largest stadium the War World had to offer. The Great Lord Slug, the slave who had become a Lord, returning to the Arena's sands one last time to battle all of his Legends at once.

He was old, but he knew he would win. He was a Super Namekian after all.

He had purchased an army of battle slaves, he had purchased a ship to carry them all, he had sold every slave not worthy of coming along with him, every son so that that they could find their own glory in the Arena instead of trying to live off of his success.

Which was pretty much the reason he wouldn't just free his fighters. They hadn't _earned_ that. They would be his officers, his commanders, they would fight with him across the stars and spread his fame and the terror of his name.

Anglia, Wings, Zeeun and Medamatcha, his four fiercest fighters, his Legends stood surrounding him, ready to prove their worthiness in combat. They were all still young but their power was undeniable and it was for that reason that Lord Slug had chosen them to stand against him in this final battle, this final tribute to the Arenas that had forged him into the warmonger he was today.

The crowd was going wild before the match even began, and this time Slug himself was the Games Master, he would decide the final verdict and finally he could decide when the fight would begin. He raised his hand, indicating that they should start, but the four of them just stood, not quite prepared it seemed to risk it all against their Lord.

He wondered which they feared more, the idea that they would defeat him and be punished, or that he would defeat them and shame them all before the crowd. The crowd thought he was over the hill, thought he'd gotten soft in his advancing age, that that was why he'd left the arena and become a Lord, and even if they didn't admit to it he wouldn't be surprised if his own Fighters thought the same thing.

But he'd put those thoughts out of their mind today. He was still stronger than all four of these Legends, and he'd prove it. He had decades more before he'd start to worry about his age and when that time came there were . . . remedies.

He knew they were all thinking that they'd have to pull their punches, but none of them were stupid enough to say it out loud. They knew what he'd do to them if they did.

But none of them were making a move so he told them, “If you won't start things off . . . I'll have to make the first move!”

He stretched out his arms to grab Zeeun and Wings, the two largest and then swung them into their comrades, the crowd roared and the fight was on.

Anglia probably knew Slug wouldn't let him get close, so he tried telescoping his own arms, reaching them through the sands of the arena to try to grab Slug's ankles, but Lord Slug leapt up and came down hard on the fighter's delicate looking hands.

Zeeun, having steadied himself leapt towards Slug in a move meant to keep Slug from noticing Medamatcha in his shadow preparing to spawn his miniature clones.

_But who taught you two to work together like that? Idiots!_ Lord Slug thought, springing forward and bowling Zeeun backwards, knocking him back into Medamatcha and sending the both of them to splatter into the walls of the Arena.

They were lucky to be caught by Wings who flew in and stopped Zeeun before he hit the wall with one massive arm, and with the other caught Medamatcha and then hurled him back at Lord Slug for another attempt.

Lord Slug just reached down, took Anglia's injured hand and then yanked him through the sand lashing out with him as if he were a whip, striking Medamatcha to the ground.

Zeeun and Wings came on next, Slug intercepted them both, stretching out his arms to clothesline the two fighters, leaving them to fall flat on their backs near Anglia and Medamatcha.

He stomped over to them growling, “So you think that pitiful attempt will be enough to stop me? Maybe I was wrong about you four, maybe you're not worth keeping around!”

He stretched out his hand, allowing energy for a blast that would finish them all to gather, but the four of them quickly scrambled to their feet and began blasting him instead.

Four full powered barrages struck him like a sudden hailstorm, but against the mighty Lord Slug even four such attacks were just a nuisance and he braced himself against the blasts, taking hit after hit without flinching. He held his arms in front of his face, knowing that his fighters would use the blasts to offer them an opportunity to reposition themselves, encircling him again before they all launched their final devastating attacks.

He stood firm until the barrages stopped, then before the smoke cleared he lashed out with his telescoping arms, flailing them like two long tentacles and whipping them around, knocking all four of his Legends down hard so that when the smoke cleared the one standing was him, and him alone.

His fighters were lying on the ground around him in obvious pain, and obviously beaten. He raised his fist to proclaim the fight over, to show them all that he still had what it took. He roared his triumph but even his mighty call was drowned out by the roar of the crowd, which was like a wall of sonic force as it washed over him in a glorious cacophony.

Lord Slug looked down at his Fighters, “Do you see now?” He asked, “This place is nothing! You can leave it now and continue to serve me or stay here fighting a hundred battles that mean nothing! We're capable of far more among the stars, leave this world behind, come with me!”

“We will, Lord Slug!” The four of them cried together, getting up so that they could take a knee in reverence to him.

The crowd was over half a million strong, over half a million voices chanting the same word in an exhilarating roar. “Slug! Slug! Slug! Slug!”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The crowd was over a half million strong, over a half million voices shouting the same word in a bone chilling chant, “Death! Death! Death! Death!”

Cauli smiled wryly and said, “So . . . that's it then . . . ingrates. After ten years of entertainment . . .”

“They can't be serious!” Rhubara panted, “I won't do it!”

“You don't have a choice, you know that . . . let me die this way, Rhuby . . . to the roar of the crowd. They're roaring for my death, but they're roaring for _me_.” Cauli said, looking up at the packed seats of the Arena with a smile.

_This,_ she thought, _is a good ending. Here in the Arena._

Lord Stobler threw down the ceremonial blade. “Make an end of it, Rhubara, you are not a free being yet!”

Rhubara glared at him as she caught the blade. She stalked back and forth as the crowd's roar grew louder. Cauli stayed in her kneeling position waiting for her final moment and wishing hat Rhuby would just get on with it.

“Let's kill them all.” Rhuby whispered. “You and me, we could do it. The others would stay out of our way.”

“You know we can't, they'll just crush us with the gravity projector.” Cauli told her, “You have to do it, Rhuby, it's either my life or both of ours!”

“Damn it all Cauli . . . we could have gone free!” Rhuby said angrily, “It didn't have to come to this.”

“I know . . . I'm sorry.” Cauli admitted.

“A warrior's never sorry, remember?” Rhuby told her.

“But I am.” Cauli sighed. “Please Rhuby, just end it. I'm okay with this.”

Finally the other woman stomped over to her and grasped her by the scalp and yanked her head back. She looked down and their eyes met for what Cauliflora suspected would be the last time. She looked into those purple eyes, the same she remembered looking into so many years ago for the first time. She thrilled ever so slightly to see the fierceness to them, the warrior's spirit riled in Rhuby as she told Cauli, “Catch it.”

“What?” Cauli asked.

“Catch the blade when I strike down, save yourself, we'll struggle a bit and end in a draw.” Rhuby told her.

“They're never believe it!” Cauli whispered harshly, “Just do it, Rhuby, let me die like a Legend!”

“Trust me!” The other woman pleaded, “I'll make it convincing.”

Cauli nodded. She swallowed hard and Rhubara brought the blade down quickly but before it could reach her throat she thrust her hand up to catch the blade at the hilt and try to stop it.

Only she didn't catch the blade, her hand had barely made contact with Rhuby's wrist when the blade suddenly twisted and struck Rhubara hard in the stomach.

Cauli stared in horror, “What? No!” She screamed as Rhubara fell to her knees. “Rhuby what did you do?”

“You were right . . . they'd never have bought it.” Rhuby told her with a wry smile of her own. “They'll believe it now . . .”

“No!” Cauli shrieked, her weariness forgotten as Rhubara slumped forward and she caught her in her arms, the blade's poison doing its work. “It should have been me! You idiot!”

Rhubara's eyes were getting cloudy, she whispered, “Freedom isn't worth much . . . without you. Won't leave alone . . . at least you can be happy . . . fight lots of fights, beat lots of opponents, Cauli.”

“Rhuby . . .” Cauliflora whispered, holding her close, “I . . . I didn't want to fight without you! You should have gone home, Rhuby, you should have just gone home!”

“You know me . . . wouldn't go anywhere . . . without you . . .” Rhubara's voice was very weak now.

Cauliflora gently laid her down. She told her, “Isn't that what you're doing now?”

Rhuby smiled weakly, but she just said, “Mm . . .”

The crowd's roar must have been deafening but Cauli's ears seemed to be ringing, she could only hear Rhubara as she took her final, weak breaths.

And then she stopped. The roar of the crowd finally seemed to reach her, that sound she'd lived for for ten years struck her like a tidal wave of hateful noise. She stared at Rhubara's still form and held her limp hand looking into hazy eyes that would never look at her again. She lowered her head and whispered a few words that Rhubara wouldn't hear anymore, so it was okay to say them now.

Words true Saiyan warriors never said, and for good reason because hearing herself say them out loud gave her no sense of peace or closure at Rhuby's death . . . instead it made her angrier.

Angry at the crowd, angry at Lord Stobler, angry at the War World itself and more than anything angry at herself for falling in love with it all, for living for the crowd until it cost Rhuby her own life.

She was vaguely aware that someone was talking to her but something was happening, and she wasn't sure what. She could see the ground shaking around her, she could feel her skin burning, there was a fiery glow from her aura and she hadn't even realized she was powering up. It felt as if she were surrendering to the Oozaru's darker more primal mind again, but this time there was no full moon, no power ball, no reason for it.

This was something in her own mind. She could _feel_ the dam about to break, she could feel the power coursing through her body threatening to rip it apart and she almost welcomed it. The rage building inside her, these stupid shellfish and their stupid games. Rhuby had _won,_ she should have lived.

“I'm going to kill you . . . every last one of you . . . I'll show you what a True Saiyan Warrior does to an alien planet!” She growled angrily. She was shuddering, she might actually explode from the power coursing through her own body, she knew there were others around her but she couldn't quite tell who they were and it wouldn't have mattered if she could have.

When the moment came, when everything became a flash of light and rage and power the shock-wave she sent through the Arena crashing into the stands and bringing them down was nothing to her but the beginning.

What had just happened wasn't right, it wasn't fair, and everyone needed to know what that was like. Everyone needed to feel the helplessness she was feeling, they needed to stare the cruelty of fate in the eyes and know that nothing would change it.

She wanted to kill everything, she was _going to kill everything_.

 

**Tale's End.**


	81. Queen Mother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's difficult for me to tell how well or poorly this story is really doing with this audience, but I hope you all enjoyed Trials of the Arena, and I thank you for indulging me, even if it got a little goofy in some spots. The Trials chapters are important to me because they allow me to pause the plot so to speak and receive feedback, really see if I need to make course corrections while giving me a chance to write something a little different thematically that still shows how some of the characters think and see the world and sort of subtly inform of their motivations and hopefully answer in-story some questions about why characters do certain things. Still, I know they're not everyone's thing so thank you again and hopefully you'll all enjoy Season Three.

**Season Three**

**Episode One**

**'Queen Mother'**

 

It was afternoon in West City and with the day's training complete the Prince of all Saiyans and Hero of Earth stood on the balcony of the Capsule Corp headquarters looking across at the landing pad where the alien command ship _Frieza's Fist_ had landed so that Arcosian ambassador Glacien could discuss the terms of their ceasefire.

It felt like yesterday, and still Trunks wasn't used to the idea that they no longer needed to fear any attack from Frieza's forces. The bounty had been called off and the bounty hunters had stopped their attacks as well, everything was calm and peaceful.

It was exactly what he'd wanted, and now that he had it the old saying came to mind: careful what you wish for.

It felt so strange that they had peace now, and that the Dragon Balls were restored. His mentor Gohan had come back to life, his students were wished back and even his mother's pet project of bringing more Saiyans to Earth had yielded some surprising results.

Earth was safe. For the first time since the Androids there was peace and security, a team of powerful defenders and even auxiliaries. Humanity had had to accept sharing their world with Namekians, and with Saiyans but there was a lot of world and not a lot of humanity left so for now at least that was going pretty smoothly.

So . . . why was he so uneasy?

Truth be told Trunks couldn't have put his finger on it if his life depended on it. Maybe he'd grown accustomed to the stress, or maybe he just didn't trust how radically everything had changed, but something in him didn't like the peaceful feeling and knew that something was coming.

Something awful.

“You really should try to relax,” Mai said, coming out onto the balcony holding a clipboard and a rather large stack of paper, “maybe Gurein could show you some meditation techniques.”

“I'm fine.” Trunks told her with a forced smile.

It wasn't that he wasn't happy to see her, but this was a conversation they'd had before and with increasing frequency in the past weeks. 'You need to relax more' was almost becoming her version of 'hello' and 'goodbye.'

“You seem restless.” The young-looking Lieutenant said. “It's not suitable for you to be pacing around all the time, you're like a caged lion at the zoo. Majestic and powerful but a little sad.”

Trunks raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“It makes me sad to see you like this. You're more cooped up here than you were on the ship.”

The young Half-Human leaned over the balcony and looked at the landing pad again, currently occupied by the _Humanity's Hope,_ the ship that they had captured from the PTO which had now been freely granted to them as spoils of war fairly won by the allegedly repentant Frost Empire.

Was it the ship that bothered him? Was it that he was reminded of the . . . unusual nature of the end of that conflict every time he saw it?

To his surprise Mai came up beside him on the balcony and raised a hand in front of his face. He blinked and looked at her with some scrutiny, “Sorry?” He offered.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Mai asked.

“About what?”

“I know just telling you to relax make you relax, so I thought we could discuss things instead. That is if you're not too busy.”

Trunks sighed. Mai indicated some of the patio furniture and they took a seat on either side of a table and Trunks sighed again as Mai began working on the large pile of paperwork she had with her.

“Are you sure you want to talk?” He asked.

“I'm mostly going to listen. Don't worry, I do this with Captain Videl all the time.”

Trunks scratched his cheek, “Uh, you do? _Videl_ has . . .”

“Moods?” Mai offered.

“I was going to say deep existential quandaries,” Trunks said.

“Is that what this is then?” Mai asked, looking up from the stack of papers.

“No, not really.” Trunks told her, and she nodded and returned to work. “I guess . . . what bothers me is that I don't know what's next. I don't know . . . I don't know what the next threat is . . . and what's worse is I don't really feel like we beat the last one.”

“That's a scary thought, but you don't sound scared.” Mai said, turning to another page and filling it out quickly.

Trunks frowned, he wondered how useful her counsel could really be in this situation, would he be better off talking to a wall?

Still he shrugged and said, “Well I'm not . . . I mean I'm strong enough to defeat any of them . . . and they recognized that and backed off . . . that's a good thing, right?”

“It is.” Mai agreed.

“Only . . . they had so many tricks up their sleeves, they were really trying to win without having to be stronger than me, so why just give up? Why not try to outsmart me?”

“They did try, and they failed.” Mai answered, turning to another page.

Trunks frowned, “But what if they—do you have to do that?”

“Yes.” Mai answered, but she did look up. “The paperwork needs to be done.”

“Then why did you come to talk to me while you were doing it?” Trunks asked. “If you wanted to have this conversation why not have it later?”

Mai shrugged, “Because it needs to be done, and you needed someone to talk to. The truth of the one doesn't negate the truth of the other, understand?”

Trunks tilted his head, “Is that a metaphor for my current situation?”

“What ever will be will be,” She told him, “you can't live your life as if you fear the enemy's return. There are other things to concern yourself with. When the Androids were around we still had paperwork, we still did it.”

“You're saying I still need to be doing my paperwork?” Trunks asked.

“I'm saying that paperwork helps you not to worry so much.” Mai said, as she finished the final page, looking up to him and saying, “and when it's done you can focus fully on other matters.”

“Fantastic . . . but I'm a little lost.” Trunks admitted.

Mai smiled and brushed some of her long raven hair over her shoulder, “I'm saying that as long as you keep doing what you're supposed to be doing things will be easier.”

“Well why didn't you just say so?” Trunks asked.

“I wanted you to figure it out on your own.” Mai shrugged. “Now if we weren't at peace with the PTO what would you be doing to prepare for them?”

“Training my fighters, helping Soda with the King's Elites . . . preparing for whatever came next.”

Mai raised an eyebrow, “And isn't that what you're doing now? Not right at this moment, you're talking to me. But normally, day to day, aren't you doing exactly that? You're already preparing to whatever comes next so logically your paperwork is getting done, Trunks.”

“Okay . . .” Trunks said, “I still feel a little lost though . . .”

“The paperwork is a metaphor for all the normal things you do every day, Trunks.” Mai explained but Trunks laughed.

“No, not the metaphor, I mean me.” Trunks explained. “ _I_ feel lost. I understand you're telling me to keep going through the motions and doing what I've already been doing; training students and preparing for whatever comes next but how do I prepare for the unexpected? Especially after failing on that trap planet? There are smarter mentors around now, so what do I do? What _can_ I do?”

“What do you want to do?” Mai asked. “Master Roshi has returned to his island for now, your mother and Turles are working to bring back more Saiyans, the Namekians have settled in nicely and they're building a home for themselves, Captain Soda is hard at work training the new Elites and your mentor Gohan is hard at work training with you and the others to catch up and to bring them up to speed as well. Earth has never been safer, everyone has something to strive for and focus on. What about the Prince of all Saiyans? The Defender of Earth?”

The Defender of Earth thought about it for a while then shrugged. “I don't know.”

Mai tapped her chin for a moment, then asked, “Can I make a suggestion?”

“Go ahead.” Trunks shrugged.

“Get a life.” Mai said.

“Um . . . what?” Trunks asked.

“Get a life. Build model air planes, take up fishing, go drinking with your friends, drive fast cars, play video games, find something that speaks to you and then as you young people say . . . you do you.” Mai explained. “You've been on duty almost your whole life . . . well stop it. Take a break. You're part of a team, so relax.”

“But the defender of Earth is always on duty, I mean threats can come at any time.” Trunks told her.

“Yes.” Mai nodded. “But the truth is when the paper work is finished, when the training for the day is done you need to be able to . . . stop and rest. Take those few hours of freedom and just be yourself. Relax. Don't worry about alien invaders, alien invaders aren't here right now. Don't worry about what nefarious plan they might concoct because they probably haven't concocted it yet. You're probably thinking about them a lot more than they're thinking about you.”

“So . . . just don't think about it? That's . . . not easy.” Trunks told her.

“Don't waver, don't stop doing your paperwork.” Mai insisted, “It has to be done, the training the preparation it all has to be done. But once it _is_ done there's no point driving yourself mad waiting for tomorrow's batch.”

Trunks frowned. “All right, I get it . . . so . . . what do you do?”

“Oh me? That's not important. You do you, you don't have to do me—um I mean—uh . . .” Mai blinked a few times then lowered her head as her cheeks turned beet red, “I did not mean that the way it sounded.”

“Don't do you, got it.” Trunks said, trying to laugh it off but he suspected he'd made it worse.

“Um . . . well I better go.” Mai decided.

Trunks didn't want her feeling any more awkward than she already did, so he nodded and forced a smile, “Well thanks for the talk, it . . . helped.”

“I hope so.” Mai said and rushed off. Trunks smiled a little after she left.

He thought to himself that relaxing wasn't really his thing, and this wasn't the first time this had come up. But as far as getting his 'paperwork' done went maybe there was a way he could get it taken care of without having to stress quite as much.

At least now that he knew the Lookout was intact.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“So this is it, huh? Where the magic happens?” Gohan asked, and Bulma shrugged.

“It's where the science that might as well be magic happens, sure. But we're not looking to pull any rabbits out of our hats, just alien monkeys.” Bulma said with a smile.

The Time Control Room, or at least the portion of Capsule Corp. HQ that Bulma and her staff monitored the time machines through was often filled with smoke and discarded Styrofoam cups whenever one or more of the time machines was out on a retrieval mission.

But today was different. There was less stress, they were all getting used to these trips and with Dragon Balls now just waiting to be used once they finished recharging everyone seemed a lot less on edge when the machines saw use.

There was also the added fact that the three Appullatiens that staffed the room now didn't drink coffee or smoke cigarettes, so most of the smoke came from Bulma and she wasn't smoking at the moment.

Basil and Thyme had been all too happy to let Genora and her two revived sisters take control of a lot of Bulma's errand-work and get back to 'actual science' as they put it, but really Bulma suspected her two lackeys were just letting the spare hands make them lazy, so she'd been sure to make sure that 'actual science' she assigned them was fiendishly difficult stuff.

But the Appullatiens were perfectly suitable once she got used to them. Bulma was careful to ensure that none of them got any access to anything that might help the PTO replicate her time-travel technology, the only problem was that they were so irritatingly taciturn.

“So where's the machine?” Gohan asked, “I mean . . . obviously it isn't here, but what time did it go back to?”

“Captain Turles departed for what you would call Age 736, or roughly fifty three years in the past earlier this morning, before the day's training. He took Lamson as backup.” Genora answered, “We've been waiting here for their return ever since. His objective is actually to retrieve a team that went missing on a hazard-world a few months before the destruction of Planet Vegeta.”

“Turles went back?” Gohan asked and Bulma nodded to him.

“He's pretty enthusiastic about this mission, he's practically made it his own.” Bulma explained.

“Is that a good thing?” Gohan whispered and Bulma just shrugged again. She didn't really have a good answer for him, and truth be told she wasn't entirely sure herself.

Turles had taken to being a time traveler with great zeal, the restoration and replenishment of his race seemed to please him and picking right candidates to sneak out from under history's nose seemed to please him even more. In the month since their return Turles had lined up a half-dozen planned rescues and was finally able to embark on his first now that the time machine's batteries were fully charged.

His target goal was to bring back a pair of Saiyan warriors, upper-class veterans like Beeta and Quash, whom Trunks had retrieved earlier in the month. If these others were like Beeta, Bulma probably wouldn't mind them too much, but Quash had turned out to be a different story.

The stout Saiyan was aggressive and belligerent, even towards stronger fighters. He'd tried to fight most of the others since he got back, finding himself only running out of luck when he tried that behavior with Pastel who laid him out flat and by all reports nearly killed him.

Most of the Saiyans thought this was hilarious, but Bulma was not amused. She understood of course that Saiyans were going to be different than humans, but Turles had been told to rescue Saiyans who would go unnoticed in history and who would be able to coexist with humans peacefully. Quash might have been an exception because he'd been with so many of the others they'd meant to rescue, most of whom _had_ worked out fine, but Bulma hoped she wouldn't have further trouble impressing upon Turles the importance of choosing Saiyans who would acclimate well to living with humans and sharing the planet.

She supposed she'd get her answer soon when there came the flashing of lights and electricity in the landing pad that usually accompanied the returning machine.

One of Genora's sisters—after a month Bulma still wasn't really sure which was which—said, “My scouter is picking up two new power levels in the time machine in addition to Turles and Lamson. Thirty-three, and thirty-seven hundred.”

Bulma looked at Gohan and asked, “Well, want to help me greet them?”

“Of course.” Gohan shrugged. “They seem . . . strong. For ancient Saiyans anyway.”

Bulma smiled, “It's not their strength we're rescuing them for, it's so they can have a second chance at life.”

“And the restoration of the Saiyan race, right.” Gohan nodded. Bulma knew that like Master Roshi, Gohan wasn't entirely sold on the necessity for the Saiyans to return as a species. She'd hoped interacting with some of them over the past month would help but it seemed like the person Gohan got along best with was really just Videl.

Which was surprising because she could be just as aggressive and belligerent as Quash.

But like Master Roshi Gohan had yet to outright disagree with her when it came to saving lives and that was a start.

The two of them went through the door into the bay where the two time machines were parked. Turles emerged from his machine snapping off a roguish salute, a trait he'd picked up from the Royal Guard still stationed in Capsule Corp.

“All present and correct, Queen Mother ma'am!” He reported, “The mission was a total success.”

“That's good. Did you run into any trouble?” Bulma asked, noticing some blast marks on Turles' new armor.

Turles, like the rest of the Saiyans apart from Beeta and Quash wore black battle armor with the tassets and pauldrons colored in his personal lavender. Since the humans still wore white it sort of made them look . . . well, pretty different and to show that they were a united force Bulma had started emblazoning the CC of the Capsule Corp. logo on the right breast of every suit of armor.

Of course while most of the humans didn't question the Capsule Corp. logo Bulma had heard from Thyme that the Saiyans were joking that it stood for Crusher Corps. instead and had some of them seemed to have decided that that name suited them better than Earth's Defense Fore.

Turles had taken a blast that nearly scorched his Capsule Corp. patch right off, and another that had scorched his left shoulder as well, though Bulma was glad to see her new armor was holding up well, even if it looked like the classic archaic Saiyan pattern.

“We ran into some trouble, but it was nothing we couldn't handle.” Turles answered. “But don't worry, I made sure not to kill anything, just like you told me to.”

Bulma nodded, “Good job, Captain.” She said and Turles smiled.

She knew a lot of the others mistrusted Turles, but she'd never had a problem with him, and he'd never been disrespectful to her, he'd even been helpful in getting Quash under control—though Pastel knocking him out had helped too—Turles was, in many ways, exactly the sort of Saiyan she'd hoped to rescue with her program.

And now she'd see about the others as well . . .

The doors to the time machine opened up and Lamson hopped out, her black and yellow armor was unmarked, implying that whatever fighting there had been Turles had done the bulk of it which made sense since Turles was by far the stronger of the two.

Actually Turles was one of the strongest fighters on Earth, his growth was incredible. In less than a year he'd gone from a power level in the tens of thousands to one in the millions, placing him easily in the top five or so fighters they had and by himself enough to pose a threat to anyone in the past.

Of course he lacked the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan, something that he was eagerly trying to learn now that Brassica had shown that it wasn't some exclusive ability that only Trunks possessed.

Lamson nodded to Bulma and said, “Queen Mother, our mission was successful. I'd like to present your three newest subjects, Brock, and Okran.”

The two Saiyans emerged after Lamson, Bulma assumed in order of their introduction. Both of them had the same somewhat ashen brown skin tone as Turles, though they didn't bear enough of a resemblance for Bulma to think they were too closely related to him. Brock was another tall one, not quite as massive as Routz or Sixteen but still very tall, his hair was messy and black but he had one of the squarest jaws Bulma had ever seen.

She'd heard of chiseled features, but in Brock's case it seemed the sculptor had gotten to his mouth then just abandoned the rest of the stone block. His armor was blue and yellow just like old Nappa's had been, and he was covered in a lot of the same scorch marks as Turles, his armor's left pauldron actually melted away.

Okran actually looked vaguely familiar, but Bulma wasn't quite sure where she'd seen her before. She had spiky black hair swept to one side and a lithe build. Her eyes were a light brown, almost orange color. She actually wore boots and gloves of cloth rather than the armored variety the same way that Lamson did, a trait Bulma had learned was pretty typical for Saiyans who relied on blasts more than brute force, but something had been pretty brutish with her because her armor's stomach had been hit by something so hard it had cracked into a spiderweb pattern.

“Looks like you saved them from the brink of death.” Gohan said.

“Actually I probably saved them from death itself,” Turles corrected, “But it's all in a day's work for a Captain of the Saiyan army, eh?”

“Why?” Gohan asked abruptly, then seemed to decide to clarify, “Did you choose them, that is.”

Turles seemed as confused as Bulma felt, and it was she who asked Gohan, “Is there any reason he shouldn't have?”

“No,” Gohan said, raising a hand to show he wasn't trying to be aggressive, “I don't mean to sound like I'm questioning the act I just wanted to understand the . . . reasons for this decision. I mean how do you decide who to go back for, and how do you decide how much risk is acceptable to yourself and to the time line?”

Bulma sighed but Turles smiled. “I think back to what it was like growing up on Planet Vegeta and I think of which Saiyans would be the most useful here on Earth. If it were up to me I'd go back to Planet Vegeta and defeat Frieza before he could destroy my world but I know we're afraid of what that would do, so instead I think 'who could we use, and what happened to them' then I check the computer records.”

Gohan nodded slowly, then held his hand out to shake with the two newcomers. Okran took his hand but Bulma didn't miss Brock raise a confused eyebrow before doing the same.

The taller newcomer asked, “Are you Prince Trunks?”

“No, my name is Gohan.” Gohan said with a polite smile.

“You're a Saiyan.” Brock said, “I can tell . . . but you're dressed strangely.”

Gohan smiled, “Well I'm a half-saiyan . . . but this is the way warriors dressed on Earth in my day.”

“You aren't going to dress us like that, are you?” Brock asked Turles and the smaller Saiyan smirked.

“Maybe.” He said, “They prefer we not wear our armor all the time.”

“Why?” Both of the newcomers asked, as if this were some hidden clause to survival that they wouldn't have agreed to. It actually made Bulma smile thinking of how difficult it was at times to get Vegeta to dress like a civilized soul.

Bulma decided to reassure them a bit instead, saying, “Actually we'll only ask you to dress in casual clothing some of the time, you're free to wear armor whenever you like, we'll even make you each a few new suits, my design is a lot more durable than the stuff you're used to.”

That seemed to please them and Turles took his leave to show the newcomers around. Bulma dismissed him so that she could give the time machine a good looking-over to check for any damage asking Gohan after the four Saiyans had gone, “Feel any better about things?”

“No.” Gohan answered simply.

_Well at least he's honest._ Bulma thought. She asked him, “Why not?”

Gohan folded his arms and said, “Just . . . something I'm feeling. Don't get me wrong, I really do understand what you're trying to do, I understand the idea of it . . . but I just don't understand why you're doing it this way. We have Dragon Balls, if you want to wish the Saiyans back wish them back. But it sounds like you're intentionally tampering with time.”

“Of course I am.” Bulma said, “That's always been the goal, remember?”

“But you're not sending someone back to save my father and save the world, you're kidnapping dangerous alien warriors from their own time line and bringing them to this one. Who knows what that can result in?”

“I do: a safer Earth for all of us.” Bulma said. “Anyway we should be using the Dragon Balls to restore Earth a bit first, we can wish back a lot of the people the Androids killed, wish back a lot of the other fighters we lost.”

“Like Vegeta?” Gohan guessed and Bulma smiled slightly.

“Like Vegeta.” She confirmed.

“You know . . . I know this will sound horrible,” Gohan said, “but . . . maybe you should think really hard about Vegeta and remember that in all the time he lived on Earth with us he never used the Dragon Balls to bring back his own people.”

Bulma sighed and massaged her temples. “You didn't know him like I did.” She told Gohan.

“I know.” He said, and then after a long silence he offered, “I guess I'm just uneasy, I mean we're basically introducing an invasive species on purpose.”

“You don't know that they're invasive.” Bulma said, “At least not any more-so than humans.”

“No, but humans are _pretty_ invasive.” Gohan told her and Bulma rolled her eyes, conceding that point. “I'm just staying on guard, that's all. I'm sure once we wish back Vegeta and the others I'll feel a lot better.”

Bulma nodded and said, “I will too.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _We check in and see how some of the other Defenders are adjusting to the peace and how they're getting along with their Saiyan comrades while Trunks visits Dende on the lookout and has a chance to talk to him about a tool that might just help Earth if there ever is a time of crisis._

 


	82. Conflict Breeds Excellence

**Episode Two**

**'Conflict Breeds Excellence'**

 

To anyone who didn't know them or who they were—which was almost no one because they were pretty big celebrities—the six Defenders walking down the street would have seemed like six normal teens walking home after a day at what counted as West City's mall. They could have flown, but they weren't in any particular hurry. It was still a couple of hours before curfew and the city was nice at twilight.

Though she hadn't been to many of them in her time—many of them having been destroyed—Rhyce thought the mall wasn't an overly impressive place, there apparently hadn't been any real focus on making it grand when West City was being rebuilt. She hoped the prospect of interstellar trade once the star port in Central City was completed would get the builders in West City to up their game and make the place really grand.

Such as it was when it came to shopping for clothes or capsules it was just fine but as far as entertainment went there was the ice skating rink that she and Schip were still banned from, a movie theater that showed old classics that had survived the Androids, and an adult novelty shop that at first she'd been pretty reluctant to go into.

After all, what did she need with any kind of novelties, adult or otherwise? However, as—surprisingly—Anavill pointed out there were some stores you went into to buy something specific and there were some stores you went into just out of curiosity and the curiosity they had that night was just what the heck “adult novelties” were supposed to be.

Turned out they were things like edible underwear and coin banks shaped like genitals and coffee mugs with dirty expressions on them. Maybe because she was still lacking any kind of a boyfriend Rhyce wasn't sure she really got the humor of most of the stuff in the store, but Sharrot had enjoyed the place immensely, she'd been pretty disappointed when Anavill told her that it was really doubtful that the spiked bra she was admiring would actually hold up in battle.

Of course the place probably wasn't supposed to be there for entertainment but for a gaggle of teenagers who—probably—weren't sexually active it'd been interesting to see all the ways older people spiced things up. Like a museum that it was embarrassing to be caught walking out of, at least by the small mob of paparazzi that had started following them by that point.

“All those cameras . . . Master Trunks is going to be very upset when he sees that headline.” Rhyce mentioned as they walked back to Capsule Corp.

“I can see it now: EDF exposed! Capsule Corporation Headquarters of debauchery!?” Schip said with a laugh.

“What? Why should he be upset?” Korrard asked. “I thought we had permission to go into the mall.”

“It's not so much the mall as it is of all the stores we could have been caught walking out of that one was . . . probably not the best. It's kind of a place of ill-repute.” Anavill said.

“I would hope so if they sell combat clothes that don't even function in combat.” Sharrot scoffed.

“Really? I thought it was great! I never knew Earth had anything like . . . well any of that!” Korrard said cheerfully. Of all of them the scrawny Saiyan had been the only one to make a purchase in the place, though admittedly with money he'd had to borrow from Schip.

During the trip back to earth from Fake Namek the Royal Guard trooper Cardamom, or just Card as everyone called her, had shown off her wide array of card tricks and Korrard, utterly mesmerized by something most of the humans found mundane had become her student. Rhyce could count on one hand the days that'd gone by since their return to Earth that Korrard hadn't come up to her or someone else trying to show them some trick he wasn't quite the master of yet.

So naturally when he'd found that there were cards with pictures on them instead of little diamonds and hearts and such he'd been ecstatic. It'd been kind of funny really seeing his innocent excitement over something not so innocent. He'd said he planned to give them to Card as a gift for teaching him her techniques, and Rhyce couldn't wait to see the response it got.

Rhyce smiled as they walked, and realized that she liked having a group of friends close to her own age. She'd been close with Schip because they were on the same team, but now that the teams were more or less defunct she was spending more time with Ana too, and she liked her too.

And as for the Saiyans, well . . . Rhyce still felt a certain sort of kinship with the girls she'd trained, her relationship with Lamson being possibly the most strained, but the teacher-student thing made just hanging out kind of awkward, and apparently that wasn't an issue for Schip and the group he'd trained, so she'd gotten to know Lamson's subordinates.

When Schip had suggested they go see a movie at the mall the trio had all jumped at the idea, they wanted to know what a movie was, they wanted to know what a _mall_ was. They'd spent over a month as residents of Earth and seen very little of it.

But they were open to the experience, unlike the rest of the Saiyans, or at least the ones who considered themselves part of the Crusher Corps.

Rhyce wasn't sure what to make of the division starting to rise in the ranks, she'd tried talking to her former students about it, but Lamson always found a way to change the subject, Kayle said it was just a fun name, and Beeta wasn't part of it.

But Rhyce hoped the others would be willing to start exploring the mall and other human locations once the trio started spreading the word, then maybe they'd really start to embrace Earth life.

Outside of a strong affection for any kind of food though they seemed largely disinterested in Earth itself, mostly just interested in training. Bulma had said that that was just sort of their thing, but it wasn't something Rhyce had observed in Trunks or in his mentor Gohan.

And at times like this, just walking home from the mall like ordinary teenagers it wasn't something she was observing from the Saiyan trio either, it wasn't something she saw from Korrard when he got excited about card tricks.

So it made her wonder, were Saiyans just a really serious species or did they not know how to have fun?

Schip said, “You know what that place could really use?”

“What's that?” Anavill asked.

“An arcade. I mean I know they were going the way of the Tuffles before the Androids showed up but now they're just totally gone. But that'd be a great way to spend an afternoon.”

It was weird to Rhyce to hear Schip use a Saiyan expression like that, especially one that had such a dire dark meaning, but she guessed it was just the amount of time he spent with the Trio, and she wondered if maybe that was the problem with the others.

Maybe she needed to spend more time with Kayle and Lamson herself? Maybe she needed to see if she couldn't get into this Crusher Corps. club of theirs? Maybe then she wouldn't have such an uneasy feeling about it, maybe she'd even be using expressions like 'going the way of the Tuffles' but she doubted it.

But she said, “I didn't have a lot of experience with arcades, were they really that good?”

“Well I thought so.” Schip shrugged. “For a few coins you can escape reality for a while, it's the same as the batting cages you can just focus on a thing and not worry so much about the rest of the world.”

“Like training.” Telluce nodded as if he understood, and Rhyce supposed that maybe in a weird way he did.

After all if Saiyans found fighting fun then training might well be sort of the same as playing video games or batting practice to them.

“I guess, but you're less restrained by your actual physical limitations.” Schip said. Then he laughed and admitted, “Of course we can already do most of the things video game characters can do so maybe it wouldn't be much fun for us now.”

“Well not necessarily,” Anavill said, “I think it'd still be a lot of fun, and don't forget not everyone's physical limitations are the same. Besides there's lots of different games, I never went for the arcade sort but I really like those computer strategy games, I can't very well control an army in real life now can I?”

“Of course you can!” Sharrot said, “You just find one and kill its leader and you tell them they're following _you_ now! Then you rampage! Pillage, burn, destroy everything in your path until someone stronger than you comes along!”

“That's not how humans do things, Sharro.” Telluce said with a laugh.

“Actually for a lot of our history it kind of was.” Schip admitted.

“Are you kidding? In some places, at least before the Androids it _still_ was.” Rhyce added.

“Of course,” Sharrot said, elbowing Telluce lightly, “Conflict breeds excellence, I haven't seen a sapient species yet that got where it was without knowing how to get rough. Just take that movie we saw, humans blowing each other up, shooting each other with projectile weapons, just because most of them are weak doesn't mean they won't still enjoy a good scrap!”

Rhyce frowned, maybe they shouldn't take the Saiyans to see any more action films.

But she could also understand at least a little where Sharrot was coming from and she said, “Well if you're into conflict you'll want to catch the Tournament we're going to be holding, isn't that right Anavill?”

Anavill smiled, “Well most of the preparations are complete, but I can't guarantee the caliber of fighters that turn up will impress a Saiyan.”

“Whoa, whoa, a tournament? I know what those are!” Sharrot cried excitedly, “You're having a _tournament_? When? Can I enter? I promise I won't hurt them too badly!”

“You won't hurt _them_ too badly? What if someone beats _you_?” Korrard asked.

“Never!” Sharrot gasped, clearly shocked at the very idea.

“Well if you can enter I don't see why I can't, then sooner or later you'd have to fight me.” Telluce teased.

But Sharrot didn't back down, instead she grinned and said, “That'd be the best! Then you'd have to call me _Champion_ after I kick your tail!”

Schip laughed and said, “You know everyone's gotten really strong, what do you guys think? Maybe we should have our own tournament.”

“Our own _what_?” Rhyce gawked, “You kidding? Master Trunks would just win outright, or even if we tell him not to enter Turles or Gohan would beat us all!”

“So none of them enter,” Schip shrugged, “We already know they're the strongest so instead they judge it and if they think the champion is good enough maybe they get a chance to take on one of the Masters.”

“I like the idea, I know most of us Saiyans will be behind it,” Telluce told Schip, then he whispered, “But please . . . don't let my brother ever hear you call him a Master. I don't know what you Earthlings did to him before he rescued us, but his ego's never been bigger and it's bad enough calling him Captain.”

Rhyce instantly liked Telluce more than before.

Korrard asked, “I think I heard people talking about this tournament before. Isn't it to choose new fighters to join your ranks?”

“ _Our_ ranks, and yeah, that's what I heard at least.” Ana said.

“I don't think you should do that.” Korrard said. “There's so many people at Capsule Corp. already. Even counting the ones who left to join the Royal Guard. It's hard to keep track of everyone.”

“You don't need to keep track of everyone,” Rhyce told him, “Just think of the movie we saw, you didn't have to know everyone's name or story, some of them were just what we call background characters.”

He blushed and said, “Well I bet those background characters had to keep track of the main characters. You have to keep track of everyone who's stronger than you, and everyone's stronger than me.”

“Well the rookies won't be.” Schip pointed out.

“How can you be sure?” Korrard asked, “Quash just got here and he's already stronger than me!”

“Yeah but that's Pastel's fault.” Schip told him.

“What do you mean?” Rhyce asked, “Pastel didn't do anything to him . . . apart from that time she nearly knocked his block off.”

“Exactly! You've just got to make Pastel angry at you!” Sharrot laughed, but Rhyce didn't get it.

“I wouldn't worry about it,” Rhyce said, putting a reassuring hand on Korrard's shoulder, “It'll still be a while before the tournament starts and the new students are selected, maybe before then we can get you to feel a little less like a background character.”

She meant to be reassuring, but Korrard just looked downcast so she tried something else.

She told him, “What if we do have our own tournament, but we make it a doubles tournament? I mean two of us would have a better chance at beating Turles or Gohan or even Master Trunks at the end than just one of us right? If we do it that way you can be my partner, Korrard.”

“Me?” Korrard blinked, “But I'd drag you down!”

“No, I'll pull you up!” Rhyce declared.

“All right!” Sharrot said with a grin, “Doubles tournament! Now you guys can call me _and_ Tell Champions!”

“Who said I was going to be your partner?” Telluce asked with a smirk, “If it's doubles maybe I want to pair up with Routz!”

“No way, it's gotta be you and me!” Sharrot gawked, “It's _always_ you and me! Routz is gonna be on Lams' team anyway, they work better that way!”

“In the field. But in a tournament things would be different, we'll want teammates who can cover our weaknesses, right?”

“That's true,” Schip pointed out, “Routz is like a tank, you two are like fighter jets. You're faster and you can deal damage a lot quicker, but neither of you is going to take a hit as well as he can.”

“I don't know what those are,” Sharrot said a little huffily, “But I know no one can beat me and Tell when we work together.”

“Schip can.” Tell said flatly.

Sharrot folded her arms and said, “He _could_ , but not anymore, we're too even now.”

“Okay then let me ask you this,” Telluce said, “Do you think you and I can take the Evil Twins?”

Sharrot glared at him and said, “Well neither can you and Routz, but you'll have more fun losing with me.”

Rhyce smiled and said, “Well we don't even know that Master Trunks will like this idea, let's not go getting too carried away with it.”

Everyone sort of agreed and the conversation settled down a bit until they got back to Capsule Corp. but Rhyce had to admit the idea of a doubles tournament . . . well it wasn't exactly something she'd taken seriously, she'd just wanted to make Korrard feel better.

Otherwise she'd probably want to partner up with Schip, they worked best together.

Though if anything _he'd_ probably want to partner up with Anavill for, Rhyce suspected, about the same reason Sharrot was so determined to partner up with Telluce. There was still her brother, or maybe Soda . . . someone, _anyone_ a little tougher than Korrard . . .

But that was when the thought occurred to her that if they were fighting in doubles then it wasn't just Gohan and Turles who'd be an obstacle, and it wasn't just the Evil Twins who'd be a frightening combination.

So she asked, “What about Cauli and Rhuby?”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Cauli sneezed so hard she almost lost her balance and slid off of the domed Capsule Corp headquarters building, but she felt Rhuby's hand on her shoulder steady her.

“Thanks.” She said quietly.

“Nice catch,” The human Kodva commented, “You need a tissue?”

“I'm fine,” Cauli said, feeling embarrassed. To cover it up she reached out and grabbed a handful of the crunchy triangle things from the bag Rhuby was holding with her other hand. It was a testament to their friendship that Rhuby allowed it instead of breaking her wrist. Generally speaking Saiyans weren't wild about sharing food.

But humans were, it seemed. Or at least drinks, so when Gurein floated up to the rooftop with a cooler he happily tossed a bottle to each of the three fighters sitting on the rooftop as he'd done most every night since his revival.

The rooftop had become a hangout for the girls during the month they'd trained on Earth after being brought from the War World by Karuto. It reminded Cauli of the time she used to spend with Rhubara high above the ruins of the Tuffle city perched atop their tower “club house” and even if the Capsule Corp HQ was actually quite a bit shorter it was still nice.

But it had turned out that it was also a favorite hangout for the two human fighters Kodva and Gurein, who liked to sit atop of it drinking and discussing the universe or something. Cauli often couldn't quite follow their conversation, but luckily neither pair felt overly territorial so there was no conflict. Instead all four just shared the space and enjoyed the night air together.

And Gurein usually brought drinks. Tonight's beverage was something called strawberry cordial.

“More of this sweet stuff?” Kodva laughed, “You're getting addicted to this, aren't you?”

“I'm just thinking of the kids.” Gurein said it like it was a joke, but it was probably true. He really enjoyed trying to find a drink that'd really impress them. So far Rhuby tended to like sweeter drinks, and Cauli did too she just wouldn't admit it. A True Saiyan Warrior never admitted a preference for anything other than battle.

It was Gurein's habit to try to surprise them with new drink experiences and it was Kodva's to playfully tease them by saying, and not for the first time, “You two need to hurry up and turn twenty one so we can drink better stuff.”

“I mean technically aren't we like . . . sixty or something?” Cauli asked.

“We're almost seventy.” Rhuby said, and Cauli let out an impressed whistle.

She didn't fully understand it, but by the way humans measured time the days they'd actually been born were in a year called 720, but the current one was called 789.

But Cauli and Rhuby themselves had only lived for nineteen Earth years, then Karuto had taken them on a trip that had resulted in them arriving at the current time without all the tedious living through the other fifty. As a result they were a little older than most of the rest of their Saiyan peers, but still younger than many of the Earthlings, and Masters Trunks and Gohan.

“We could always try going to a club,” Gurein pointed out, “then we can drink some stronger stuff and they can drag us back here.”

“Either I get to drink this “stronger stuff” too or you can drag _yourself_ back, old man!” Cauli declared.

Kodva laughed but Gurein raised a silver eyebrow, “Old man? I'm _twenty three_. You're old enough to be my grandmother, you brat!”

Cauli decided to accentuate her brat status by sticking out her tongue, and the four of them laughed.

She had to admit being on Earth was not so bad, it was similar to War World but freer. For one thing she wasn't a slave, and there were stronger people that she could fight whenever they were willing.

Kodva laughed and said, “I don't know about clubs, harder to have a good conversation in a place like that.”

“Harder to have a good conversation five shots in.” Gurein pointed out.

“Lightweight.” Kodva said with mock disdain, “I don't lose track of my senses until ten shots in. Like a _man_.”

Shots even _sounded_ better than cordial. If cordial was a children's beverage Cauli didn't want to seem like a child by drinking it, if a real Earthling Warrior like Kodva drank ten shots then a True Saiyan Warrior like her should probably drink twenty or thirty or something.

Her older sister Brassica had warned her that she was _never_ allowed to drink that sort of stuff, that she wouldn't like who she became if she did, but what did Brassica know about who _she_ would become if _she_ did anything? She hadn't even known she had a sister until Karuto went and got her off the War World, so how could her sister know her any better than she knew herself?

And besides to hear Kodva or Gurein talk about it the stuff sounded a lot more fun to drink than strawberry cordial, or at least Cauli would have thought so if Rhuby's reaction to the drink hadn't seemed just a step short of . Her purple eyes lit up as she took her first sip and that sip very quickly turned into a gulp.

“Come up for air, kid!” Kodva laughed but Rhuby finished the entire bottle before she complied.

“Wow.” Gurein said. “Another?”

“Please and thank you . . . thank you so much.” Rhuby said with a gravity that Cauli thought might actually be sincere.

Gurein smiled as he tossed her a second bottle, “Try not to hurt yourself, alright?”

“No promises.” Rhuby said, her expression bordering on blissful.

Cauli shook her head in amazement before almost cautiously opening the lid of her own bottle of cordial. To judge from her partner's expression the stuff was positively overpowering. Rhuby seemed to come down enough to notice Cauli watching her, their eyes met and Rhuby blushed a little. She swept some of her long bangs away from her eye and, smiling almost shyly she asked, “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Cauli said with a grin, “you just . . . seem really happy. Happier than you ever were on War World.”

“I am.” Rhuby told her. “We're free, we have good loyal friends, good food and drinks. We've got tough people to fight and each other to fight alongside, and this is the finest thing I've drank in my entire life. I think I'm even happier on Earth than I was on Planet Vegeta!”

Cauli smiled, “I can believe it,” she said, before taking a sip of the cordial herself. It was really nice, very sweet. She smiled at Rhuby who looked like she was having one of the best moments of her life.

Until Turles arrived with news that'd turn it into one of the worst.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The Lookout was beautiful in the twilight, Trunks could tell that Mr. Popo was going the extra mile now that Earth had a Guardian again.

And as if they'd been expecting him Dende, Mr. Popo and Cargo were all waiting for him when he arrived. He supposed that since Dende was supposed to be Kami now it made sense that he had some foresight.

Dende smiled and greeted him, “Hello Trunks, welcome. Is there anything you needed help with? We're at your disposal.”

“Hello, thank you.” Trunks said, bowing low, “You all seem like you knew I was coming.”

“Mr. Popo said you'd come to ask him about something sooner or later, and when we sensed you coming we decided we wanted to know what that something was ourselves.” Dende admitted.

Trunks smiled and asked Mr. Popo, “Do you already know what I came to ask you about?”

Mr. Popo just smiled and said, “Come with me, I'll show you the Room.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _As the King's Guard train we learn a little more about the upcoming Tournament, and Trunks finds the thing that will help put his mind at ease. But how will he react to the idea of another Tournament, and what terrible news did Turles bring?_

 


	83. Competing Together

**Episode Three**

**'Competing Together'**

 

The tour of the Capsule Corp. grounds didn't take long, but Turles didn't waste a moment of it. He spoke in low tones so that no one would overhear him, luckily the Namekians had all gone to be with their own kind or he'd have to worry a lot more.

“So that's how it is, just as I explained before I brought you here this place is full of powerful Earthlings and Half-Saiyans.”

“There's nothing wrong with a Half-Saiyan as long as they're strong.” Brock said quietly.

“I agree,” Turles told him, “and Prince Trunks is the strongest being in the universe, I didn't have any reservations until he started sparing our enemies.”

“So he's weak, but not physically.” Okran muttered. “But what do you need us for?”

Turles smirked, “Actually I only needed you, Okran. Brock just so happened to be with you.”

“Lucky me.” Brock grumbled.

“Lucky you indeed, you don't know me but when I first got here I was half as strong as you are now. Look at me now, if you transform you still wouldn't stand a chance.” Lamson said. “We're making our people stronger than they ever could have been.”

Turles nodded slightly, “She's right. Actually you both died on that assignment of yours, the PTO records confirm it. Your bodies were found but not recovered, I had to lie to get you here.”

“Why?” Okran asked.

“We're not allowed to tamper with the time line that severely, it's all rather stupid. We have power we're not allowing ourselves to use, but the Earthlings think if we change too much we'll splinter the time line.”

“So the Queen Mother's an idiot?” Okran scoffed.

“No.” Turles said firmly, “No, she's brilliant and she isn't afraid to stand up to a Saiyan. There's a reason Prince Vegeta chose her, and don't forget her son is the Legendary Super Saiyan.”

“Okay, so I'm not understanding what you need me for.” Okran said. “What am I supposed to do about the Legendary Super Saiyan?”

“Leave him to me, if it comes to it.” Turles said, “Now that I know that being a Super Saiyan isn't a sole right of one person at a time I intend to unlock its secrets, then it's only a matter of time until I'm as strong as Prince Trunks with the way I'm growing.”

“Your humility moves me,” Brock said dryly, “but I don't have any reason to believe you can become a Super Saiyan. You said Zorn's girl pulled it off, but isn't she from the same clan as Prince Vegeta? For all we know it's a clan trait.”

“That thought had occurred to me, I assure you. But I dismissed those doubts once I saw that Son Gohan can do it too.”

“Gohan? That one we just met?” Brock gawked, “Are you serious?”

“He felt powerful, but I always assumed a Super Saiyan would be more . . . more . . .”

“Whatever you imagined believe me, when they transform into Super Saiyans they _are_.” Turles assured her. “But that's why I need you.”

“Me?” Okran sighed, “Okay, but why? What am I doing?”

Turles folded his arms and leaned against a wall. He let Lamson take things from here.

“We more or less know where we can expect each Saiyan Warrior to stand when the line in the sand is drawn, the problem comes from the two strongest Saiyans after Turles.”

“What about them?” Okran asked.

“One of them is your daughter.” Lamson shrugged. “We have no idea what she'll do, but we know that Cauliflora will side with her over Turles in a heartbeat.”

“Oh I'm not _that_ sure of that,” Turles commented, “She and I have worked together before, I think I can count on Cauli as long as I'm not, strictly speaking, against Rhuby.”

“Zorn's girl? The Super Saiyan?” Brock asked.

“No, that's Brassica . . . it's a long story.” Lamson said.

But Turles wasn't interested in how much Brock understood, he already knew he'd be loyal.

He wouldn't have brought him back otherwise.

But Okran was the one he watched, she was the one whose understanding he was hoping for.

Okran folded her arms and said, “Rhubara and I are— _were_ never close. I birthed her and then I could have cared less, and she knows it. I'm not one of those weird attached types like Gine, or--”

“That's fine,” Turles said, raising a hand, “I don't need you to actually care, it'll probably be easier if you don't. I just need you to make sure she's on the right side of things, that she'll stand with her people when the time comes. So just pretend you care.”

“She knows I don't.” Okran shrugged.

“She knows you _didn't_.” Turles explained, annoyed at the straightforward brutish thinking that his race was usually so guilty of. Okran was no exception. “Now you've survived the apocalypse, you're one of the last of our kind in a time when our kind are functionally extinct. You've survived . . . and your daughter just so happens to have survived as well. Just _pretend_ to be moved. Pretend you care now when you didn't before.”

Okran laughed, “You want me to act like a Tuffle? Full of trickery and deception?”

“Yes.” Turles said flatly.

“What are you, half Tuffle?” Okran taunted.

Turles just smirked, “Maybe. But if I am it's in the best way: intelligence. Just like King Vegeta was a Saiyan as smart as a Tuffle. I like to think I'm him . . . multiplied by a few hundred.”

“Maybe in power level.” Okran grumbled, she scratched her head and muttered, “I don't know how to get through to that girl, I never had any interest in her until she finally started showing . . . you know, some panachein battle. By then she was old enough not to need me anyway, so I figured my job as a parent was done. It'd be weird if I came back into her life now, especially if she's really that strong.”

“Why?” Lamson asked, “I know if my parents could see how strong I'd become they'd want me in their lives, and I wouldn't be suspicious about why. You're new, you want to get stronger, she's your blood.”

“Most importantly of all are you in or out?” Turles asked her.

Okran shrugged, “I'm in, I just hope you know you might have been better off talking to her yourself about this.”

“I'm going to have my hands full talking to Cauliflora.” Turles shrugged. Through Cauli he could get to her older self, Brassica since the latter was trying to take her under her wing. One way or another he might be able to get her to teach him the secret she'd uncovered and help him become a Super Saiyan.

“All right, so where's my daughter?” Okran asked.

“She's probably outside, let me see . . .” Turles said, sensing for Rhubara's energy.

Because she was so close it was difficult to tell where exactly she was, but he was getting pretty good at not needing to use a scouter. He smiled and said, “Ah, I was right. She's right outside, follow me.”

He led the two newcomers outside but he was surprised when he saw the giant Earthling they called Sixteen standing near the glass doors looking out.

_Was he close enough to hear our conversation?_ Turles wondered, then smiled, realizing what a silly thought that was.

Sixteen was obscenely strong for an Earthling, Turles wasn't even sure how strong yet because it was impossible to sense his energy. All the same he was still, as far as Turles could tell, just an Earthling so his hearing couldn't be that good.

Turles played casual, “Good evening Sixteen. Enjoying the nightlife?”

“Yes.” The giant said flatly.

“Good talk, as always. If you'll excuse me though, gotta go let Rhuby know her mother's here safe and sound.”

“Acknowledged.” Sixteen said without emotion. Turles shuddered slightly as they went out through the doors.

“Gives me the creeps sometimes.” Turles admitted.

“Well I guess that answers my question,” Brock grunted, “I was going to ask if you get used to that one.”

“I'll let you know if it happens.” Lamson said with a grin. She tilted her head upwards, “Rooftop?”

“Probably.” Turles said.

“Figures.” Okran muttered. “She always liked being up high, especially if she can see for miles. She was that way even before the cave-in.”

Turles shuddered at the memory of that day, but shook it off. “Well ready then?” He asked and they floated up to the rooftop.

Sure enough there was Rhuby and Cauli and two of the Earthlings, Gurein and Kodva.

Turles greeted them all in as jovial a manner as he could manage without seeming obvious and said, “Good evening everyone. Now I wouldn't normally intrude, but I've got a little surprise for you, Rhuby. Take a look at who I found.”

Rhubara straightened up and became a little tense when her mother floated up into view. Okran didn't look any more relaxed than her daughter.

There was an awkward silence until finally Okran said, “So . . . you grew into those ears did you? Well at least there's that.”

“Hello.” Rhuby said quietly but much to Turles' surprise there was something else in her voice. Something that bordered on contempt “I'm surprised to see you.”

“Alive? Yeah, Turles here mentioned that you all thought we were dead.”

“I kept it a surprise, but I found in the PTO logs that your mother and Brock here didn't die the way we were told, the PTO actually had no idea what happened to them. So I went and . . . you know, had a look.”

Rhuby didn't say anything, she just stared at her mother, her muscles tensed up until Turles realized it looked like she might actually spring. Even Okran seemed to sort of prepare herself, but little did she know that she'd be less than a fly to her daughter as she was.

The mood was interrupted when Gurein gawked, “That's your mother?”

“You Saiyans sure don't age quickly at all.” Kodva said with a slight chuckle. He asked, “What's the matter kid? Do you need a moment alone with her or something?”

“No!” Cauli said urgently, then in a more relaxed tone she forced a laugh and put a firm hand on Rhuby's shoulder, looking back at Kodva she said, “Nah, Rhuby's fine, she's fine! It's just a shock. Really Turles, you _shouldn't_ have. But there's no need to leave these two alone.”

Turles had to admit he would have been curious to see where things would have gone without Cauli. He sort of suspected he could guess what _would_ happen, but he couldn't for the life of him imagine why. Rhuby and her mother had always had a strained relationship but it had never been hostile.

_This is curious._ He thought. _It could be a misstep, but I'm sure I can make it work._

At least he hoped so. Rhuby and Cauli had both eaten the fruit of the tree, their growth was comparable to his own, if somewhat slower, their strength was impressive and he'd much rather have them with him than against him if it came to it.

Luckily the mood was helped enormously when Telluce and Sharro flew up to meet them.

“Hey bro,” Tell said, “Not to interrupt or anything, but we need you to use your pull with the Prince to get him to agree to something!”

“Agree to what?” Turles demanded.

“We want to have a tournament!” Sharro cried.

“There is one already.” Lamson pointed out. “Anyway we're in the middle of something.”

“Never mind that,” Cauli said with a relieved laugh, “Hey what's this about a tournament? I like tournaments!”

The topic of conversation became the idea of a doubles tournament, Turles grinned wickedly at the mere thought.

_A chance to show Saiyan supremacy over these Earthlings? Perfect!_ He thought to himself, even knowing that Rhyce, an Earthling, was already apparently really determined to team up with Korrard, the weakest of their number.

Apart from Brock and Okran that was.

But Rhyce was the most tolerable of the Earthlings, she had a Saiyan's fiery temperament and it made sense that she, like Lady Bulma was smart enough to throw her lot in with the Saiyans early, almost instinctively it seemed. Turles nodded his approval of the whole idea, “I think that sounds like a great idea. A tournament for the _real_ fighters to prove themselves!”

“It sounds like a good way to liven things up.” Kodva agreed. “What do you think Gurein?”

“I spent months dead on a tiny planet, I'm all for a chance to stretch my legs in an arena.” Gurein answered.

“Well obviously Rhuby and I--” Cauli began but Okran cut her off.

“Won't be competing together.” Okran said sharply. “No, it's obvious the sort of trouble that would cause. My daughter will just have to compete with me, it'll give us a chance to . . . bond.”

Turles raised an eyebrow but Lamson was quick on the uptake and said, “That's a good point Cauli, together you two would mismatch the rest of us, I mean you spent two years doing exactly this! It'll be more fun to split you up, you two don't need to spend _all_ your time together anyway. I can be your teammate, no trouble!”

“R-really? I mean I kind of assumed you'd pair up with Routz, boss.” Sharro said, sounding a little deflated.

Lamson shook her head, “What? No way. I fight with Routz all the time, it'd be the same as Cauli and Rhuby; no fun and no fair. Heck the same should go for you and Tell.”

“B-but--” Sharro began what would no doubt have been an embarrassingly feeble argument, but Turles interrupted her.

“No buts!” He warned, “Lams is right, if this is going to happen we should be endeavoring to learn new things and work with new people. If that's not good enough for you maybe I won't even talk to Prince Trunks about letting us have our own tournament.”

Sharro didn't say anything, but if she'd been standing on the ground she looked like she might have kicked the dirt.

“Not picking your preferential partner could be good, it'll be a great way to bring our group closer together and help us adapt to new situations.” Kodva said. “It makes perfect sense.”

“You won't always get to pick who has your back on the field.” Gurein agreed.

Turles nodded, “It's settled then. I'll let Prince Trunks know as soon as he gets back.”

“Gets back? Where's he gone?” Tell asked in surprise.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

For such a long time his rank had been a major part of his identity, but now Chillax was no longer a Commander.

He was technically a trainee but he was told he'd be a Lieutenant, second in command of the King's Elite forces under Soda.

Not that he wasn't stronger than Soda, which made the whole thing feel counterintuitive. But the young Arcosian understood that he didn't have a lot of options; he'd signed on with Earth's Royal Guard in exchange for his amnesty and sanctuary. A pardon for killing one of the Clan, even one who was subsequently wished back to life, was hardly something anyone had seen fit to negotiate when the ceasefire was struck.

But the young warrior didn't object terribly. Life on Earth wasn't so bad outside of his cell, it was better than life with the PTO had been. Now that he knew the benefits training could have he was all too eager to train with his squad and the others, after all he'd like to be as strong as Lord Frieza had been someday, if not stronger, and unlike the Saiyans he couldn't use a multiplier to reach those heights.

He cast a jaundiced eye around the group of his fellow Elites. There was Captain Soda of course, then his old team, Ayappa, Avaug, Prage, Ganmo, and Damson whom he'd taken a little while to get used to calling Ribuai.

Then, to everyone's initial surprise there was Tathy, the Iwatian Konpeito who had ever been the defending sort, and finally the Saiyan Beeta. It was a strange and unusual team, and the Human—or rather Earthling since Chillax had been told he was _not_ human, but actually a dog—King had told them that their diversity was exactly what was needed to show everyone that anyone could be a Royal Elite.

It wasn't true, but Chillax understood why the King would want to give that impression so he didn't contradict it.

Still he'd never expected his new brothers and sisters in arms to be such low life, no good, dirty rotten scoundrels.

“Beeta!” He challenged, “Do you have any eights?”

“Go fish.” The monotone response from his foe struck him like a thousand knives thrust into his dome to pierce his brain.

“You can't lose to her, Chill!” Tathy told him, “If you do I'll never let you live it down! Plus I'd tell _everyone_!”

“Don't listen to her, you can lose a game of cards without the world ending.” Captain Soda chuckled.

“But will your pride remain intact?” Beeta of all people taunted. Chillax clenched his teeth and with a hand heavy with the weight of his possible defeat he reached for the pile of cards that made up the 'pond' and drew forth . . . an eight!

“Hah!” He declared, holding the card out for all to see, “I am triumphant!”

Chillax didn't quite know what it was about children's card games, but he found overreacting to everything great fun. Soda told him he was less over the top than some she'd seen.

“Just imagine if the King walked in and saw his new Elites playing cards.” Ganmo sighed.

“As opposed to what?” Konpeito asked, “It isn't as if we haven't spent most of the day training.”

“It just . . . still feels weird.” Ganmo shrugged. “We'd have gotten into trouble for this in the PTO.”

“That's why it's lucky we're not with them anymore!” Chillax told him. “Relax, here take over my hand.”

“You're just trying to get out of losing this game!” Ganmo cried.

“Don't be silly!” Chillax laughed but he handed his cards to the orange humanoid and vacated the table.

He cracked his knuckles and said, “I think I'm about ready to go to sleep, honestly. Good luck Ganmo, you're playing in my honor. Believe in your ability.”

“In _my_ ability?” Ganmo gawked.

“Going to sleep?” Soda questioned him, “What's going on?”

Chillax grinned and said, “Actually I'm just worn out from all the overreacting. But if you've got a moment I _would_ like to talk to you about the squad.”

“Of course.” Soda shrugged and the two of them took a few steps away. “What's on your mind?”

“We're just the first batch, but we're a lot stronger than pretty much anyone else who could possibly join.” Chillax told her.

“That's an odd thing to think over a game of Go Fish.” Soda pointed out.

“It is.” Chillax agreed. “Actually I was thinking about our number . . . honestly it doesn't seem like enough, but even if we doubled our numbers compared to us the new recruits would just be flies. This tournament that the King wants to hold, isn't it a waste of time?”

Soda shook her head slowly, “No, not a waste of time. Training to be as strong as you are will take them years, and maybe they'll never reach it. But it's important . . . it helps our world stay safer, and it helps the people rest easier. Really if they're on par with the typical PTO grunts they'll be a huge help if there's ever another fight.”

“But isn't that what you all have the EDF for? Why have both a large Royal Elite Corps. and the Earth Defense Force? Why not let Trunks and his followers handle those kinds of specialized threats and have us serve as more of an emergency force?”

“It's just what the King's advisors want.” Soda shrugged. “Is there any particular reason you're feeling concerned about this?”

“Actually there is.” Chillax admitted. “The King now is a good one by all accounts but what about his successor? What happens when there's a bad king? Isn't it better for heroes to be more independent and free instead of being a direct arm of the military?”

“You raise a good point, but I could return that with the leader of the EDF now is good but what about _his_ successor? In the end any organization is only as good as . . . well, as it happens to be. Laws should be kept in place to keep them from getting out of control but it's important to be able to enforce those laws. Now I'm not saying we should be police, and I'm definitely not saying we should expect to ever face our friends, but sometimes maybe it'll be better for the military to handle matters and let the EDF just . . . have a personal day?”

Chillax considered that for a bit, but shrugged. “I suppose so, if you say so. Really I don't care.”

It was a lie, he did care. He was starting to like Earth and he wanted it to do well, but he'd served the PTO for a long time, his whole life really, and he didn't want Earth with its growing power to become another Arcoss.

The Royal Elites were a good indicator of why too, they were full of former enemies of Earth, a Saiyan and a bounty hunter and all of them had been accepted. The Earthlings were trusting and eager to take help from anyone offering it, and Chillax felt a little bit like he needed to protect them from themselves being one of the King's officers and all.

So he'd thought about it and really it made more sense to fold the EDF into the Earth military, or else to dissolve the Elites into the EDF, but it didn't make sense to have both organizations.

But maybe he was wrong. He'd just have to see.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ Trunks has his mind set at ease just a bit by Mr. Popo, and returns to Capsule Corp. to learn about the proposed tournament. But could the Prince of all Saiyans have inadvertently discovered the perfect prize for the winners? And will we get a glimpse of how things are going for young Karuto? _

 


	84. Front Page News!

**Episode Four**

**'Front Page News!'**

 

The sky seemed bluer that morning waking up on the Lookout. Trunks wasn't certain if it was the location, or the fact that he felt reassured after Mr. Popo had shown him that what he'd hoped for was indeed possible.

It had been late by the time his visit was finished, so he'd accepted Dende's invitation to stay the night, sleeping in one of the most comfortable beds he'd ever rested in.

The young warrior wasn't sure if it was the surroundings or the revelation that really things could be all right after all. Maybe it was just the elevation making it easier to clear his head, but whatever it was he was in good spirits when he woke.

He declined breakfast on the Lookout, though he promised he'd stop by for lunch some time. Today however he needed to get back to his students and his mother, this had been an impromptu trip after all, and he wouldn't want to worry anyone with his absence.

The flight back to Capsule Corp. HQ left him feeling excited for a change. Whatever the PTO might be planning—if they were planning anything—he had an answer now, a better answer than just keeping their fingers crossed until the Dragon Balls were ready again, and wishing for the Dragon to hide Earth, or make the entire PTO forget about it or anything so taxing.

Truthfully they weren't entirely certain of the dragon's capabilities, the fact that it could grant them three wishes instead of the two that the alternate Earth's Dragon could grant them had been a good show of that. The subject hadn't come up with Dende, but Trunks knew they'd have to find out just how powerful the Dragon was and what his limitations were.

They needed to be prepared and able to rely on themselves, not on the Dragon, and now he knew a way that they could better accomplish that. He couldn't wait to let his students know, Turles especially would be excited, he suspected.

He arrived back at Capsule Corp. during breakfast, he could smell the aroma of oatmeal, an unusual breakfast but not an unpleasant one. The Saiyans had probably exhausted Asiago's supply of rice and fish for a while. Despite being less than half their number the Saiyans ate more than Captain Videl's whole platoon, and those troopers weren't finicky eaters themselves.

But the truth was that he actually sort of enjoyed having the place so crowded, it was such a change from the time that it'd been just him and his mother hoping the Androids wouldn't find them, if the cost of that was the occasional shortage of food he'd welcome it.

_Maybe we should wish for a replenished ecosystem,_ Trunks thought, wondering if the Eternal Dragon could create animals out of thin air, or if they'd need to wish animals back to life or something.

_A bit cruel to wish them back so we can eat them though . . ._ Trunks thought as he landed at the front doors and strolled casually in.

He headed for the cafeteria but he overheard raised voices. One of them was Mai's, which was unusual so he made a detour to see what the fuss was about.

“I can't believe this,” Mai was saying loudly, though not necessarily shouting, “it's outrageous, it's absolutely shameful!”

“Will you settle down?” Captain Videl's voice answered her, “It's _nothing!_ ”

“To you, maybe! This is so unseemly, so shameful, so scandalous! So this is what counts for front page news these days?”

“Well I happen to like it. It's a cute picture.” Videl offered and Trunks cut in.

“What's a cute picture?” He asked.

“Nothing!” Mai almost shrieked, quickly hiding a news paper behind her back, turning to face him with a face red with anger and embarrassment. She quickly calmed down and said in a much softer tone, “Uh, sorry, I mean it's nothing you need to worry about. You don't need to see this . . . this . . . affront to news.”

Unfortunately for her Captain Videl snatched the paper from her and tossed it to Trunks saying, “He has a right to weigh in on it, Mai darling.”

“No, no, you're under too much stress as it is!” Mai implored but Trunks smiled.

“It's okay, I actually feel great today. So . . . what's got you so riled up?”

“I-I'm not riled, I'm—” Mai began but Captain Videl interrupted her.

“It's the story on page one.” Videl told him.

Trunks smiled and said, “I'm sure it's not all that bad, Mai. Don't worry, let's just . . . oh . . .”

The headline read “Candid Capsule Corp., Golden Warrior in love?”

The picture was of him and Mai from just the other day speaking on the balcony, he only skimmed the article but it made mention of the fact that they sat together and spoke for a while and the writer theorized that a secret romance might be brewing between the Golden Warrior and one of the King's Royal Guard.

_Not so secret if you're snapping pictures of us . . . where was this taken from?_ Trunks wondered, then smiled apologetically to Mai, “Uh . . . well I'm sure mom will help you sue them for slander.”

“Slander?” Mai gasped, “You think it's as bad as that?”

“Well you were just barely saying—“ Trunks was telling her but it was his turn to be interrupted by Videl.

“Oh come off it,” The Captain laughed, “no one will take it seriously, it's not like they've got anything other than 'Golden Warrior pictured here with woman' it's just a bit of harmless tabloid fun when they've got nothing better to try to sell papers with. You might not remember much from the world before the Androids, but it was never that unusual for big celebrities to have paparazzi, and some of them are pretty clever.”

Trunks wondered if that was why Goku and the others had kept their heroics largely secret. Still he had to shrug, he felt bad for Mai whose strong sense of propriety was clearly wronged in this situation and told them, “Well for what it's worth I didn't expect anything like this. I mean when Soda and I went on a _date_ and no one bothered us, I had no idea just talking out in the open could result in next day news.”

Videl smiled, “Relax, I doubt this is the only time this is going to happen. Your identity is public knowledge now and people probably want to know what makes the Golden Warrior tick, what's with his growing school for Super Heroes, and more than anything I'm sure readers are wondering just what it takes to win the heart of the richest and most influential young man in the world. Running a piece like this might just be a tactic to get you to make a public statement confirming or denying it.”

Mai shook her head, “I feel like I'm going to faint.” She sighed, “This is--”

“Inappropriate, yes, I've gathered as much.” Videl said soothingly, patting the younger-looking woman on the shoulder and saying, “Look, I'm your commanding officer and I know you're not acting inappropriately, if necessary I'll send word to His Majesty as well. And as for the dangers posed by unknown photographers taking pictures of our crew without their consent I'll have Anise and Cardamom see if they can figure out where these pictures were taken from and see if they can't catch the culprit.”

“I'll have some of the EDF get on it too,” Trunks assured her, hoping the offer would make her feel a little better but Videl laughed again.

“Good luck with that! Have they not told you yet?”

“Told me what?” Trunks asked, “I just got back.”

“Your warriors are in a real tizzy today, last night someone had the bright idea to have you super hero types hold a tournament of your own.”

“They did?” Trunks asked in surprise.

“Oh yeah,” Videl said with a smirk, “A doubles tournament in fact. With the proviso that people shouldn't team up with their usual partners, you know to make it really exciting and interesting. People spent most of last night and all of this morning talking and arguing about it, who should enter and who should be barred, how it should be fought, whether or not you'll even let them hold it.”

“Let them hold it?” Trunks laughed, “Are you kidding? I've even got a first place prize in mind.”

“Do you now?” Videl asked, “Do tell.”

“I couldn't, it'd ruin the surprise.” Trunks said with a smirk, then he asked her, “Why don't you head in, I'll be right there to talk to them I just want to have a moment with Lieutenant Mai.”

“Oh my . . . how scandalous.” Videl joked but it probably wasn't the right time for it because Mai's face turned bright red with embarrassment.

Trunks knew how old fashioned she was so he said, “Sorry you had to feel embarrassed like this. You were trying to help me out and these people used it to sell papers, you're right it really is shameful.”

Mai shifted uncomfortably and said, “I'm not embarrassed about being seen with you, I just . . . it doesn't send a good message. If people thought we were fraternizing I could be reassigned, and besides I didn't know you were dating Captain Soda, that sends an even _worse_ message to her, never mind what the paper's readers will think!”

“I'm not . . . uh, well that is I don't _think_ I'm actually dating Soda.” Trunks said.

“How can you not be certain? That's an awfully awful thing to be uncertain about.” Mai told him, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Trunks raised his hands, “That's . . . a good point. But we went on _a_ date before the battle of the bunker, it was pretty unexpected and then she got hurt and had to fake her own death and we haven't really had any opportunity to really so much as talk since then . . . honestly I spend a lot more time around _you_ these days, I can see why the press might think we're--” Trunks cut himself off, not wanting to make Mai feel any worse.

He recovered by telling her, “Well anyway I just wanted to apologize, and I'll ask my Mother to set up a press conference or something to clear things up.”

“That's not necessary,” Mai said, still blushing, “besides denying it might just convince them it's true. Maybe it's better just to sure his Majesty knows there's nothing going on between us so I don't get reprimanded or reassigned, like Captain Videl says. Of course if Card and Anise do find the photographer I wouldn't mind a private word with them, but I'd be even _more_ embarrassed if a whole press conference got called over this!”

Trunks shrugged, “If you're sure. I'd hate to see you reassigned just because of some newspaper headline.”

“Me too.” Mai nodded. “I guess I was just caught off guard, but if you're not that embarrassed maybe I shouldn't be either . . . it's still very poor behavior by the newspaper.”

“Very.” Trunks said. Then he joked as they went into the cafeteria, “Maybe we aught to cancel our subscription and give their competitors exclusive interviews leading up to this new tournament.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhyce was feeling pretty relaxed herself that morning, breakfast was plain but nice and best of all despite the various arguments being held by most of the other fighters and even the odds already starting to be called by the likes of Tarragon and Anise she was pretty sure Master Trunks wouldn't have time to worry about their ill-thought-out tournament idea.

After all the Golden Warrior had bigger things to concern himself with on the front page of the paper. She nudged Gurein and said, “You see the first page?”

“I've seen the _fourth_ page.” Gurein told her, glancing sideways at her, “Care to explain _that_ story, little sister?”

“What?” Rhyce raised an eyebrow, then took a look and nearly choked on her oatmeal. “What?” She said again, then shouted down the table over the roar of the room, “Oy Schip! You seen page four?”

The boy made an exaggerated shrugging gesture so she tossed the paper down the table to him. Gurein however wasn't about to be deflected.

“I hope you're all remembering that you represent not just yourselves, but the EDF as a whole when you're out and about browsing for . . . whatever you were looking for in a place like that.”

“I swear only Korrard bought anything, and it was a gift for Card!” Rhyce assured her older brother, then her mood shifted and she shouted down the table to Schip, “Wait, how are we not on the first page?”

Schip, clearly not interested in shouting back to her got up and came over to sit opposite her and Gurein, Telluce and Sharrot following him though they weren't reading the paper. Rhyce wasn't sure if they were able to yet.

“What's the problem?” Telluce asked.

“We're in the paper!”

“What, from last night? That's fast.” Sharrot said, “They wrote all these words that quickly?”

Rhyce was too annoyed to find the naiveté refreshing, instead she snapped, “Yeah, well they've got like a thousand little elves who work nonstop on it!”

Sharrot's eyes lit up with excitement though and she said, “I want elves!”

“I don't follow,” Schip said, “doesn't this kind of mean we're less likely to be in trouble?”

“Rhyce!” Gurein insisted, “Are you listening to me?”

“Yeah, stay in school and don't do drugs, whatever,” Rhyce waved a dismissive hand.

She was happy to have her brother back, but that didn't mean she'd stop being who she was or treat him any different. She'd been weepy and sentimental for the first few days, but eventually it just felt right to act like Gurein had just been away on some kind of trip for five months.

Still some part of her knew she should be nicer and she bowed her head low and said, “We were just having fun, we didn't mean to embarrass the EDF, or Master Trunks in any way, I'm sorry, Gurein . . . also I'd just like to say that _if_ we _had_ done such a thing it should have rated higher than page four!”

“Why do the pages matter?” Telluce asked.

“Nobody reads page four!” Rhyce declared, “Nobody but old fuddy-duddies!”

“Thanks.” Gurein rolled his eyes, “At least you're actually younger than me.”

Rhyce shook her head, “Don't you get it?”

“I feel like I've made it really clear that I don't.” Schip admitted.

“I'm a little confused.” Tell said with a shrug.

“They'll run a fake story about Master Trunks and Lieutenant Mai over a real story about us!” Rhyce explained, “This paper's just . . . I dunno, some kind of hack rag or something!”

Gurein sighed, but he was smiling. He shook his head at her but that was when Master Trunks came into the cafeteria and the whole room fell silent with eager anticipation.

Mai and Videl were with him too leaving Rhyce to wonder if maybe there was more truth to the front page story than she'd originally believed, but that hardly mattered to her compared to seeing Master Trunks holding the paper in one hand and clearly not flustered by it.

So when Turles approached him she held her breath in fear that he'd ask Trunks about the tournament and that Trunks would say yes, and that she would, therefore, be honor bound to take the weakest teammate in a competition where fighters like Bocan or even Gurein might be able to knock her out of the rankings.

Trunks smiled and said to Turles, “I hear you all have something you want to run by me?”

Turles nodded, “Actually yes. With all the . . . less experienced fighters fighting to earn a spot on our roster some of us thought it might be a good exercise to have a little competition of our own. A doubles tournament, one to bring our warriors together with new partners to learn new things and win glory!”

Rhyce sighed, at least Turles knew how to put on a dramatic show. She noted that Sharrot wasn't looking exactly thrilled either, leaning on the table and resting her scarred cheek on a fist and muttering, “I don't want to learn new things, I want to have fun!”

Rhyce was with her on that, she wanted to have fun in the tournament but she also wanted to perform well, a feat that would be harder with a dead weight teammate.

Still despite their varied levels of interest everyone kept fairly quiet while Master Trunks rubbed his chin and thought. Finally the young hero smiled and said, “That sounds like a pretty good idea.”

Rhyce and Sharrot both sighed at the same time, but most everyone else cheered.

Master Trunks waited for it to die down before he added, “And to the two winners, I've already got a prize in mind.”

“You have?” Turles asked in surprise, “What's that?”

Trunks folded his arms and said, “First shot at a brand new form of training. An intense and honestly pretty dangerous form of training, but one that I'm confident will be vital Earth's defense in the future.”

The room erupted into people asking questions about this mysterious new form of training but Rhyce shook her head and sighed again, she'd need to track down her teammate and make sure they got on with the normal sort of training first if they were going to have any chance of even emerging from the tournament without embarrassing themselves.

Never mind thinking of winning.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The planet of Frago was more beautiful than Karuto would have ever expected it to be. It was weird knowing that almost fifty years ago his cousin Frieza, or someone under him, had ordered several teams of Saiyans to this world so that the undetectable dangerous lifeforms that lived there could massacre them.

But from what Karuto had read in the ship's logs even though nothing concrete had ever been discovered about the fate of these Saiyans the survival of the planet's sapient lifeforms hadn't spelled a happy fate for them and Karuto would have thought that even the full force of the Twins themselves would be hard pressed to settle a world like Frago.

Until he saw it from orbit for the firs time and saw the weapon that had ravaged the planet like no Arcosian—short of Frieza if the legends were true—could have.

The Great Tree was enormous, its branches and leaves reached above the white clouds of the planet. Frago was ten times the size of Earth and even it seemed too small for the tree. It made Karuto wonder what such a tree would do to a planet like Earth, and that made him worry.

And if that tree produced enough fruit for everyone in the clan to have just one piece . . . or if they could have more than one . . .

The half of Karuto's genes that came from his conqueror father knew that their Clan would finally be a force to be feared again, worse their kind would be more powerful than they'd ever been before. The Galactic Patrol would tremble and they'd be forced to start fleeing before them again, forced to look the other way when the PTO attacked a planet, it'd be just like the legends but now because they had the strength to make it so rather than the reputation.

The half of Karuto's genes that came from his scientist papa were excited and eager to see this fruit, to try it, to record its effects, maybe even taste some for himself. What was it like? What would it feel like? Rhubara had just felt a rejuvenating effect, but it had proven to have a pronounced affect on her strength as well, would he notice the same? His scientist genes wanted to know all while also being well aware of the fact that that wasn't really how genes worked.

He frowned as the _Frieza's Fist_ came in for a landing near the tree's base. It was just the way Karuto had described it in his stories, roots that snaked out for miles surrounded by dying and upturned land from where the tree had forced its competition out of the soil or starved it. The massive green world of Frago was slowly dying as the tree ate its life energy.

And yet even then it was such a beautiful planet.

His Papa came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “I'm sure you can't wait to start experimenting on this planet's plants and wildlife before they're gone, but first your father will want to see you safe and sound. This is Kiwano, the Iwatian that helped us discover a place for the Great Tree, I've assigned him as your bodyguard because he can sense energy, and we're not really certain that the natives are all taken care of.”

“You're not?” Karuto asked.

“No, we're not, in fact I'm _certain_ they aren't.” Glacien said, a bit of admiration gleaming in his eyes as the scientist said, “They're impossible to detect on scouter and their beasts keep testing our defenses. It's not just random animal attacks though, no, there's a method to the madness.”

“So how do we deal with them?” Karuto wondered.

“Well we've learned some of our warriors can sense energy and we started using that to our advantage, but then those sensors started becoming the primary targets in skirmishes. Again, sometimes it seems like the forest itself is the enemy, which is why you're not to set foot past the Tree's roots, the forest doesn't seem to be able to survive too close to it which gives us an adequate kill zone with the monsters when they try to attack.”

Karuto shook his head, he felt sorry for those monsters. They were probably just normal animals emerging from forest paths they'd walked a thousand times before only to find a giant alien tree and deadly enemies waiting to ambush them.

But his Papa smiled at him and said, “Don't worry, you'll be safe. That's why you've got Kiwano, isn't that right, Kiwano?”

The big Iwatian nodded, “I won't let any harm befall you, Little Lord.” He assured him. Karuto frowned though, Kiwano was not Konpeito, even if they looked similar.

Their personalities felt totally different, even when Konpeito had first started talking to Karuto and he'd still been sort of guarded Karuto could tell he was wise and interesting. He had a passion, even if it had turned out to be to overthrow Arcosian rule and avenge his people.

But Kiwano had a different vibe, more of a warrior jaded and empty ordered to do a job and intending to do it simply because there was nothing else.

Even though he was an Iwatian he was no different from the average Appullatien.

_Guess I won't be getting any stories from him._ Karuto thought.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Chronicles of Earth's Defenders . . .** _Karuto is reunited with his father and uncle and answers a few questions, and they answer some of his. Meanwhile some of the other members of the Clan discuss the tree and its fruit, and their plans for galactic conquest and whether or not Earth still matters._

 


	85. The Organization Strikes Back

**Episode Five**

**'The Organization Strikes Back'**

 

The royal chambers in Fort Frago had been built in a somewhat hasty and ramshackle way just as the rest of the 'fort' had been. It was the way that it was no doubt because it had been built by soldiers still worried about attack from the forest, but even so Karuto was surprised the Twins had deemed it acceptable.

But he was even more surprised when he laid eyes on the Frost Twins. He had known his father Frostbite his whole life and his uncle Frostburn for most of it and their faces and forms were as familiar to him as his own.

But when he entered the room where the two of them sat those faces and forms had changed.

Not completely, and Karuto could still tell who was who once he realized what he was seeing, but it still surprised the little Arcosian to see the two of them looking so . . . different.

Father was still tall, he was just about two feet _taller_ and his horns had grown thicker, heavier looking, his limbs were longer and thicker, his face was more angular, and his carapace had come to cover much of his tail, making it look rather like it was armored in bone with spikes running down the top of it.

Uncle Frostburn on the other hand had grown thinner. His figure was almost feminine, which Karuto recalled had more or less always been the case and had caused him to wonder if their currently genderless species had some form of gender binary locked away in their DNA by ancient ancestors that sometimes manifested itself in subtle ways.

Frostburn's horns were unchanged but his face had developed a combat mask just like Frostburn and Karuto's own. Though his horns hadn't changed his carapace had sprouted more spikes and Karuto guessed his uncle probably wouldn't be able to wear battle armor in this new form.

Nevertheless the young Arcosian realized that the rumors that the twins had unlocked secondary forms had become fact, and one they were not attempting to keep hidden. Whether these forms were new, or whether they had had them before and simply felt more comfortable in them now that they'd eaten fruit from the tree Karuto couldn't be sure.

The one thing he could be sure of was that while their power wasn't the same as Master Trunks' the feeling he got from them was similar, at least to his inexperienced power sensory capabilities. They had gone from power levels in the hundreds of thousands to levels in the millions.

And the tree looked like it could and would still produce more fruit. How many pieces until they rivaled or even surpassed the Great Super Saiyan?

These things scared Karuto and even made him hesitate but when his father turned to see him and his eyes smiled the little Arcosian just didn't care anymore.

At least not in that moment. In that moment he was finally home, back with his family and safe from the horrors of the big black universe. He rushed forward and his giant of a father scooped him up in his large strong arms and held him close and in that moment there was no need for fear or concern.

It was a wonderful moment, but it was only a moment. Then Karuto remembered that universe and the fact that he had friends in it who might be in danger and only he might be able to help them.

“Karuto,” his father said, smiling, “I didn't expect you so soon. I knew the _Fist_ had landed, but I thought—oh never mind that! It's so good to see you safe and sound!”

“I missed you,” Karuto said honestly, “but I wasn't really in danger, they were very kind to me.”

“Pity your uncle Kalt can't say the same.” Frostburn said, his eyes smiling sinisterly.

“Not now!” Father scowled and Frostburn rolled his eyes and stalked off to another corner of the room.

Father sighed and said, “So they treated you well did they? Is that true? You're not just saying that because you're afraid I'll go and punish them and get hurt by that Super Saiyan are you?”

“No!” Karuto insisted, “I really was treated well. They didn't even keep me in a cell once I . . . um . . .”

“Once you _what_ , exactly? You didn't _tell_ them any of our _secrets_ did you, little one?” Uncle Frostburn demanded from the other side of the room.

But father rebuked him, “What secrets could he know that would damage us worse than the Super Saiyan already did? Anyway between the two was it my son or yours who murdered another member of the Clan over a Galactic Patrolwoman?”

“Hiemal is fine now thanks to those altruistic magical balls.” Frostburn said simply, “And when he comes down here he'll need to be wary that I don't murder him myself. Never mind the Galactic Patrol, Cooly tells me it was Hiemal who singlehandedly ruined the negotiations, resulting in General Boreal's near fatal injury! Chillax did nothing I wouldn't have done myself!”

“Without any of the authority to do it.” Father jeered.

“If Chillax isn't in trouble why didn't he get to come back with Papa and me?” Karuto asked.

“Who said he wasn't in trouble?” Frostburn shouted, “I'll kill him too! Just because he did what I would have done doesn't mean he didn't bring shame on me and still technically side with our enemies in the end! Now I hear he's a guard for their blasted king? Disgusting! I didn't invite him back because I knew if I saw him again I'd end him!”

Karuto wondered for a moment just how Uncle Frostburn was hearing _anything_ from Earth, but rolling his eyes father turned back to Karuto and said, “Ignore your uncle. So they treated you well? That's good. You weren't scared at all?”

“I was at first.” Karuto admitted, his curiosity at Uncle Frostburn's intelligence sources forgotten as he told his father his story, “But soon they showed me I didn't have to be, they didn't want to hurt me, they just wanted to live in peace on their world, they wouldn't have fought us if Uncle Kalt hadn't attacked. And all I told them was about um . . . well, some Saiyans who didn't die on Goulder.”

“That bounty hunter?” Father asked, then nodded, “Yes, we traced her back to Goulder, we weren't sure what happened to her after that but we assumed she was killed. Pity, we could have learned about this fabulous tree so much sooner if the Goulder team had successfully returned and Cousin Frieza hadn't blown up the planet.”

“Well if Cousin Frieza hadn't intended to blow up the planet he probably wouldn't have assigned so many of the Saiyans to suicide missions.” Frostburn said, “Then we'd never have discovered the Tree's significance.”

“That's true,” Father said, “it's you we have to thank for that, your records helped guide us to Goulder and helped us find seeds for the tree.”

Karuto frowned, “My records?” He asked.

“They were incomplete, but still enough to go on. In a very real way, Karuto, you are the reason our Clan will rise back up to power.” Father said, and Karuto had to admit that a part of him was actually kind of proud of that.

Even if he didn't want the people of Earth or the Saiyans to be hurt he was still an Arcosian, knowing that he'd done something—even accidentally—that had helped his people as whole was still an achievement that made him feel pride.

Still he asked, “What are you going to do with that power?”

“We're going to rule the galaxy!” Uncle Frostburn declared, “It's time for the Planet Trade Organization to become a name feared in the galactic community, it's time for the fame of the Frost Twins to eclipse that of Lord Frieza! It's time the Organization strikes back against its mortal foes, starting with the Galactic Patrol.”

“But they're such a big organization, they're even bigger than ours now!” Karuto said.

“And Earth's defenders were such a small organization, so much smaller than ours. And yet look at the damage they did.” Father told him, “You should know by now, Karuto, the Saiyans taught us a powerful lesson, one that Frieza never learned: quality wins over quantity.”

“But,” Karuto said, “Surely there aren't enough of our people to beat the Galactic patrol even with the fruit.”

“Who ever said only our people would get to eat the fruit?” Father asked, his eyes beaming with excitement, “We will eat more of it, but every soldier in the Planet Trade organization will get a piece, that's why we've called everyone to Frago after all. The average power level of our fighters is what, five hundred? Multiply it by fifteen and every soldier will be stronger than our lieutenants, multiply the lieutenants by fifteen and they'll be stronger than some of our own kind, and as for our own kind? Well as I said, we'll be the ones eating the most of the fruit.”

“One piece multiplies the eater by fifteen, but a second? Once the body has processed the first enough to handle it would multiple _that_ by fifteen, effectively eating two pieces of fruit will multiply our strength by a factor of _two hundred twenty five_.” Uncle Frostburn added, “With just one piece our power levels soared into the millions, with a second we'll be more than a hundred million.”

Father's eyes shone with ambition as he told Karuto, “And with a third piece we'll finally be strong enough to defeat the Super Saiyan.”

“But don't worry,” Uncle Frostburn added with a snide smirk, “since he was so nice to you, we won't make him suffer . . . much.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

There was once a time when Boreal entering the officer's mess would have reduced the room to a silence in awe of his skills, but now when the damaged General entered a room it went silent from pity.

Or something worse. Perhaps the reason conversation always went silent when he entered a room now was because the inhabitants just didn't want him to know that the topic of conversation was always him and his failure.

The General limped into the officer's mess and took a seat in a booth tucked away in a corner away from most prying eyes. He'd been told repeatedly that his limp was psychosomatic and he juts needed to overcome it but truthfully he didn't think that would be possible.

It _felt_ real, and he'd had dozens of tests run to try to figure out what it was. But the answer was always the same, and the whispers got worse. Old Boreal is losing his marbles, Old Boreal is getting weak.

The Generals hard red eyes stared at the tabletop, his hatred and anger for everything and everyone around him coming to a boil as the conversation in the room slowly resumed. He tried his best not to listen to them.

“You can't keep secluding yourself like this,” Aurora told him, coming over with a pair of drinks. One his own, the other the sort that Boreal usually ordered. “You're starting to scare them.”

“Good.” Boreal grunted, accepting the drink Aurora offered, “Let them be scared, I'm still the great General Boreal.”

“No one doubts that, General.” Aurora told him, taking the seat opposite him in the booth. “But it wouldn't do you any damage to act a little more casual around the others, at least the others of the Clan.”

Boreal scoffed and shook his head. Aurora frowned and leaned forward a bit, whispering, “Why haven't you had any of the fruit yet? It's . . . well it tastes awful, but it makes you feel so much stronger. It might cure your limp.”

“I will cure my limp once I can get the medics to find out what's causing it.” The General scoffed, “I don't need fruit to become whole again.”

“I didn't mean to imply that you did.” Commander Aurora said cautiously, but his caution only made Boreal angrier.

“I was the third strongest of our kind!” The General snarled, slamming a fist down on the table, which only survived because he hadn't wanted to break it and make a scene. “I was the third strongest of our kind and I got that way through hard work! I _earned_ everything I had, I never took shortcuts, never _cheated_ with some sort of fruit, never multiplied my power with golden light! I was a real warrior, not whatever the rest of you have become!”

Aurora's eyes hardened, “But the key word is 'was' isn't it? Don't forget who you're talking to, Boreal. I'm your friend, don't insult me.”

“Then don't insult me with talk of that fruit!” Boreal scoffed.

Aurora sighed and shrugged, “Fine, fine, I won't mention it again. But I wish you'd do _something_. If you want to get stronger training then I'll train with you!”

“With my limp?” Boreal scoffed.

“Your limp or your excuse?” Aurora challenged and Boreal's fierce gaze wavered for a moment.

The General shook his head. He knew he wouldn't be able to maintain his position if he didn't pull himself together and get back up to form . . . but how many of them could say they'd fought a Super Saiyan and survived? How many of them understood what it was to face the destroyer of their race?

How could he ever train enough to oppose that?

“Let's talk about something else,” Aurora suggested, “how did your patrol of the perimeter go?”

“Uneventful.” The General said quietly. “Not a single native or monster, it seems like they've figured out not to leave the trees.”

“That's fascinating. Do you suppose it supports Glacien's suspicion that the monsters are controlled by the natives?”

“And that the natives are still alive? Absolutely.” Boreal said. “I want to get out there and find them, I want to fight them!” He told Aurora.

“Get stronger first. The Twins could barely clear room for the tree before the fruit, as you are you'd just be annihilated.” Aurora warned him.

Boreal smirked, “Ah but I'd have you with me, wouldn't I?”

“Am I just supposed to carry you?” Aurora laughed.

“The way I carried the rest of you for years? Why not?” Boreal laughed.

“Well I suppose fair is fair. It's nice to be the powerful one for a change.” Aurora said with a smirk. “It makes me feel almost drunk with power.”

Boreal smiled, then shook his head, “Enjoy it while you can. I only jest. I won't let anyone carry me anywhere, I will grow stronger, I will rebuild my strength and return to Earth as a true warrior.”

Aurora tilted his head, “Return to Earth? Haven't you heard we've agreed to a ceasefire?”

“A ceasefire isn't peace. We're going to return to Earth someday, and when we do I want to destroy the Super Saiyan that damaged me.”

Aurora nodded, “Then eat the fruit. It's really that simple.”

“How can you tell me that a second time?” Boreal laughed, deciding to treat it as a joke. “Don't doubt my own ability, Aurora.”

“I won't, but I feel like you're looking down on the rest of us for no reason. The Twins planted that tree so our clan could be strong again, refusing to eat it is like refusing to use star ships; it's just a tool to help us rule. Your pride is all that's stoping your recovery, both in strength and with that limp General.”

Boreal smiled slightly and nodded, “I agree. However my pride is one thing I can't stand to let go of, at least not now.”

“Then allow me to take it from you,” A new voice said with a sinister sneer.

Boreal glowered up at the speaker. “Kalt. Welcome, have a seat. Hungry?”

“Oh I've just had a delicious piece of fruit . . . and I _had_ to come straight here to see you. Seems you _haven't_ changed much, have you?”

Boreal smiled tolerantly but Aurora stood up and glared at Kalt.

“Respectfully Captain, I'd have to ask that you back off. Challenging the General in his injured state proves nothing but that you're a cowardly opportunist . . . sir.”

Kalt smiled, “Noted, Commander. But this is between the General and myself. What do you say, Boreal? Up for a bit of exercise with your wimpy rival?”

“Your strength was never what made you my rival, but by all means.” Boreal said with a shrug. “I'm not afraid of the likes of you.”

“G-General.” Aurora said, “I don't think you fully comprehend the power of the fruit of the tree! Eating it just the first time will have propelled Kalt to exceeding your own power level by—“

Boreal smiled and interrupted him, “I know, but you see Aurora I learned something on Earth, something Kalt failed to learn even after it cost him his life. Power levels are just numbers, it's a warrior's fighting spirit and expertise that matter most.”

“You don't have to accept this challenge.” Aurora said firmly.

“Haven't I already?” Boreal smirked.

“You have indeed,” Kalt grinned. His eyes shone with greed but he did sound as if he had just a bit of doubt as he asked, “Shall we step outside?”

“Nothing would please me more.” General Boreal assured him and the two got up. The rest of the officer's mess did the same, everyone wanted to see this.

One of the weakest officers now challenging one who was once their strongest? Would it reaffirm what they all already thought about the fruit or would it prove Boreal right that personal strength mattered more than shortcuts?

In truth the General couldn't be certain which it would be in the end, but as he'd told Aurora he had his pride and he wouldn't give it up.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Boreal and Kalt clash and the Clan looks on, Karuto learns a few things from Kiwano about the tree's fruit as the two super-powers battle it out, but will the outcome see the Captain's arrogance put in check, or the General's pride?_

 


	86. The Rank of General

**Episode Six**

**'The Rank of General'**

 

The commotion started suddenly and at first Karuto assumed they must be under attack. His father and Uncle were both on their guard the moment the noise started and when one of their minions shouting, “Sires, there's a disturbance in the camp,” Karuto thought for sure that 'disturbance' had to be a full blown monster attack.

“What's going on?” Uncle Frostburn demanded.

“Um, I'm not sure, sire.” The guard said a little nervously, but Uncle Frostburn didn't punish him for it. Perhaps the fiery half of the Frost Twins had told the guards to inform them of any disturbance since the camp could be attacked, or maybe he was bored. Whatever the reason he told Karuto and his Father, “I'll see what's going on.”

“Not without me,” Frostbite said, turning to Karuto he said, “Stay here, I'll have Kiwano come and get you and take you to your quarters. Don't worry, you're perfectly safe, we'll deal with whatever this is.”

Karuto nodded. He believed that, not just because he had no reason to doubt his father but also because with how much stronger Father and Uncle Frostburn had gotten the little Arcosian doubted there was much they _couldn't_ handle.

Short of a Super Saiyan of course. But if they kept eating the fruit that would change . . .

Karuto nodded and watched them go, taking one of the two humanoid door guards with them.

He had only a few moments to wait nervously in the room before Kiwano rushed in seeming to be in a hurry at first then quickly adapting an air of casualness no doubt meant to reassure him.

“Little Lord, ready to go to your room?”

“No, I want to know what's happening!” Karuto said. “Is it an attack by the monsters?”

“I don't know,” Kiwano told him, “but it's not important. Come with me, your quarters are waiting.”

“Why can't I keep my quarters aboard the _Frieza's Fist_?” Karuto asked.

“There's no need to be afraid, this planet is under Arcosian rule.” Kiwano assured him.

“But why does everyone seem so concerned? Wouldn't I be safer on a ship?”

“Like I said, I don't know what the commotion is. But it's not important.”

“How do you know it's not important if you don't know what it is?” Karuto demanded.

But this Iwatian was not Konpeito, as he chose to remind him again by daring to reach out and simply pick him up by the back collar of his armor with one massive hand. “I know because my Lords told me so when they sent me to get you.” He told Karuto.

“Oh, I see,” Karuto growled, his breathing unrestricted as he was carried along. “Well this Lord is telling you to put him down!”

“Noted. Will you walk on your own?” Kiwano asked.

“Of course.” Karuto insisted.

“You will not attempt to investigate the source of the commotion on your own?” Kiwano pressed.

“I won't.” Karuto promised. “I don't want to get into a fight with scary aliens!”

“There is no fight, I'm sure.” Kiwano told him, but the large stony skinned alien did set him down and gesture that they should continue down the hallway.

Karuto went, but he saw several others rushing in the opposite direction to investigate. “Where are _they_ going if nothing's happening?” The young Arcosian asked.

“You should ask them. Not now though, they're clearly busy.” Kiwano said gruffly.

Karuto rolled his eyes. “Clearly,” he said.

They walked in silence through the building that was serving as the PTO's base of operations, Karuto had had a while aboard the _Frieza's Fist_ to get re-accustomed to Arcosian design patterns but still something in him felt confused after the stability that had been his daily existence at Capsule Corp, so he actually felt a little bit lost as they traveled through the base.

So he asked Kiwano, “How do you keep all these doors straight?”

“I don't, the walls do.” Kiwano said.

Karuto laughed, “I mean how do you tell which one is the one you're looking for? You were with us on the _Frieza's Fist_ so I know you can't have had the time to get used to the layout, and none of the doors have writing.”

“That's true. But I have exceptional memory.” Kiwano said.

“Is that a typical trait of your kind? Konpeito had a good memory too, he was able to tell me all about his adventures with your people's Great Tree.” Karuto said, hoping mentioning Konpeito now that the two of them were alone walking the hallways would elicit some kind of response.

But the Iwatian just shuddered and said, “Perhaps it is a racial trait. It's not my place to question such things, but I understand you have a scientific mind, my Lord, so please forgive my inability to answer your question scientifically.”

“Um . . . that's fine.” Karuto sighed. “Listen, I don't mean to sound . . . bored? But if we're walking all this way can't you at least make conversation?”

“I feel as if I'm telling you everything I need to, my Lord, but if you have further questions I will do my best.”

Karuto frowned, finding the conversation difficult and frustrating. “I know you don't know much about what's going on right now, and it's probably nothing, but never mind that. How many of the Clan are here?”

“All of them are either here or on their way, the Frost Twins intend to gather all the force they can to this world sparing only what needs to be spared to protect the home-world.”

“Okay, that's good, progress.” Karuto said, “you're answering my questions.”

“As opposed to not doing so?” Kiwano asked dryly.

“Then would you answer my questions about something else?” Karuto asked.

“If I can.” Kiwano shuddered.

“Okay. The tree's fruit, what have we learned about it? Does it ware off?”

“I am not certain what we've learned about it, but I can tell you that its effects will wane over time. That is why the Twin Lords want to gather everyone by the tree.”

“But why not just transport the fruit off-world?” Karuto asked.

“They wish to strictly control distribution of it.” Kiwano told him. “We're here. This is your room, please enter and wait for your father's arrival. I will stand guard at the door until then.”

Karuto nodded but he asked, “Just one more question before I go in?”

“Yes, Lord?” Kiwano sighed.

“What was your name? Before we gave you a new one?”

“I had no name, I was born Kiwano when the Lords named me.” Kiwano said flatly.

“You're an Iwatian born in PTO service and already grown?” Karuto asked in surprise.

The Iwatian looked irritated but he hid it quickly and said, “No. The life I had before this one ended and that person died. The person I am now lives only to serve the Planet Trade Organization. While I acknowledge that one of my kind became a traitor you have no need to fear. My loyalty to the Organization is absolute, I exist only to serve and nothing before the day of my rebirth matters. Please go inside your room now, Lord.”

Karuto sighed and did as he was told, and Kiwano closed the door behind him.

A little quickly, he felt.

He examined his room though, shaking his head. It was spacious enough and filled with books and various articles for studying.

He wished he'd had the foresight to bring Yabby with him so at least he'd have something to play with, but unfortunately the stuffed Robusuta was still in his quarters aboard the _Frieza's Fist._

That was when Karuto realized he could take advantage of his toy's absence. He opened his door again unsurprised to see Kiwano standing at parade rest on the left side of the door staring straight ahead. Karuto asked him, “Excuse me, I left a personal item in my quarters aboard the _Frieza's Fist,_ I'd like to retrieve it.”

“It and the rest of your possessions will be sent for.” Kiwano said, staring straight ahead still.

“It's an item of tremendous personal comfort, I won't feel at ease without it.”

“Then I will order one of the crew to bring it right away.” Kiwano sighed, his irritation starting to show.

“Well what am I supposed to do while I wait?” Karuto demanded, “I'm scared in this big empty room and no one's telling me what's going on! I might start to cry!”

“You don't seem that frightened.” Kiwano said gruffly, giving him a doubtful look.

“I don't have to _actually_ cry for my daddy to punish you for making me cry.” Karuto said, laying his cards flat on the table so to speak. “Now either get me my toy or entertain me.”

Kiwano's eyes narrowed and he said, “You're very young.”

“I am.” Karuto confirmed.

“I'm very old,” The Iwatian told him. “I've dealt with very young children before. You can make threats, but I will not leave my post and I will not divert my attention amusing you.”

“You could just divert your memory towards telling me a story.” Karuto suggested.

“I have no stories.” Kiwano said firmly.

“It doesn't have to be a story about the past, I know you say that part of you died. Just tell me about this planet and the tree, isn't that acceptable?”

“No, it isn't.” Kiwano said sternly, “Now return to your room.”

Karuto scoffed and was about to say more when Kiwano roughly lifted him up off of his feet by the front collar of his armor and took several steps into the room before placing him down in the center of it and turning around and marching back out saying, “I am going to lock your door now. Please find a less disruptive way to amuse yourself.”

“I'll cry!” Karuto threatened.

“That is healthy, I'm told.” Kiwano said simply and made good on his promise to close and lock the door.

Karuto however did not make good on his threat to cry. Instead he sat on the bed and thought about his predicament. How was he going to learn anything that might help him unravel the mystery and keep his people from going back to fight the Saiyans on Earth?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Kiwano stood outside the door irritated. He'd thought by now the Arcosians had stopped doubting his loyalty, but to have a child try to get him to disobey orders was really low.

It made the old Iwatian angry that the kid had even brought up Konpeito, but that was to be expected if they thought he'd betray them too. Still did one Iwatian's mistakes really have to be held against the other four of them forever?

_If I ever get the chance_ honored elder _I'll rip your head off myself._ Kiwano thought angrily, hating Konpeito at that moment.

But he did wonder what the commotion was and why he'd been assigned to guard an annoying child.

_Not my place to question the Gods._ He thought to himself.

And what were the Arcosians if not frightening vengeful gods?

He was shaken from his musings when a blast so powerful it shook the whole facility went off outside, the Iwatian tapped his scouter and saw that many high power levels had converged in one spot, and the Frost Twins were definitely there.

But he didn't sense the native lifeforms . . . what was going on?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

When they'd first set foot outside General Boreal had been confident, or at least as confident as it was possible to be in his situation. He'd lived at his level for a long time, Kalt had only just arrived, would have only just eaten the fruit and would therefore be unfamiliar with his new level of power.

However as they approached the edge of the tree's roots and the wide ring of wasteland around them, the place where he and others patrolled to keep the forest's wildlife from attacking the base or the tree he began to rethink the situation.

The entire Clan was there it seemed, Aurora was there, Icebreaker and Cooly had shown up and all three were trying to dissuade him as he limped towards the patrol zone where their battle would take place.

“Please General, think about what you're doing!” Cooly insisted.

“You're not at your best, even if Kalt hadn't eaten the fruit!” Icebreaker added.

“Don't you think I know that?” Boreal snarled, “I'm still a General you know, I won't just be beaten!”

“You are saying conflicting things General,” Cooly told him, “You say you know you can't win but you say you won't be beaten!”

“I never said I can't win, I said I know I'm not at my best.” Boreal clarified, “and even that is enough to deal with Kalt.”

“General, I really think you should reconsider.” Icebreaker told him, “Or else let me fight in your stead, after all in this sort of situation can't you name a champion or something? I am your second in command!”

“That's a good idea general,” Cooly said, “only let me fight him instead, I'll make it quick and since I'm so much stronger than he is it'll spare his pride.”

“This isn't some kind of duel, it's a personal challenge.” General Boreal said, nose in the air.

“What's the difference?” Icebreaker asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Aurora finally spoke up telling them, “There's no point keeping this up, the General's made his decision you can't question him like this now, not with everyone watching.”

“But I can't stand to watch this!” Icebreaker cried.

Boreal scoffed but really their doubts were starting to affect him.

When they finally reached the dead-zone around the tree's roots Kalt's confidence was bothering him too. This was going to be a tough fight, he would be fighting someone who was at the moment even stronger than the Twins had been back in Boreal's prime, back when he'd been the third strongest of their kind.

And what was he now?

He was on the lower tier of power . . . even Glacien, a scientist could rival him for strength . . .

Was pride really worth this?

“Well Boreal, ready to be put in your place?” Kalt taunted.

Somehow the taunt actually strengthened Boreal's resolve. He turned to face Kalt and smirked, “If you think you've got what it takes.”

Pride was worth everything.

Their impending fight was causing a commotion, everyone was running or flying out of the base to see it and sooner or later the Twins would want to see what was going on as well.

Boreal had only until they arrived to win the fight . . . or to last against his stronger opponent.

He and Kalt glared at each other, the rest of those who'd come to watch the fight formed a wide circle around them.

No one tried to officiate though, so instead Boreal asked, “Are you ready, Kalt?”

“I've waited for this moment for years.” Kalt told him with a sinister sneer.

Boreal smirked, “Well enjoy it, because it'll never come again. Once this is over this feeling you have that you can _dare_ stand up to me will be replaced by _shame_.”

“If I lose I would be right to feel ashamed . . . but since my power level is nearly double yours, good General . . . I suspect I'll be the one putting you in your place in a moment. So by all means, when you're ready to be shamed I welcome you to take the first shot.”

Boreal scoffed. _Cocky fool,_ he thought, _I'll end this with one punch!_

He focused his ki and gathered his energy to his right hand, then sprang forward with every ounce of speed he could muster.

He brought his fist back and prepared to swing only to have Kalt's tail strike him hard in the face, knocking him to the ground.

“Oh! I'm _so_ sorry!” Kalt gasped sarcastically, “That attack was so _slow_ I didn't realize it hadn't landed before I struck back. My mistake, try again.”

Boreal spat blood onto the alien soil and got back to his feet. His injured side—or at least the side his brain still thought was injured—pained him but he stood up to his full height, which was still taller than Kalt's and scoffed.

“What's the matter?” Kalt teased, “Afraid to try again? I promise you can have a free hit, I'll stop my sharply honed reflexes from batting you away like he fly you are.”

Boreal spat and then he smirked. “Like the fly I am? Humph. At least I'm standing after that blow . . . so I guess our power difference isn't as wide as the one between you and the Saiyan.”

Kalt's eyes narrowed and Boreal pressed on, “Tell me Kalt, how was it to die? Did you see an afterlife? Was it nice?”

“It's not really something I can put into words,” Kalt said a little irritably, “but I'd be happy to send you to form your own opinion.”

“Taking it a bit far for a friendly competition of strength, aren't you?” Boreal teased.

Kalt laughed, “Even when I'm able to smash you like a bug you try to be the bully . . . and yet I can't help noticing that you're not brave enough to take another swing.”

Boreal scoffed but he knew he had to attack. _Not so obvious this time,_ he thought, and he sprang again.

This time he made as if to punch but when Kalt's tail predictably came in to bash him away he dodged it and kicked up hard, striking Kalt at the base of his tail hoping striking at such a vulnerable spot would elicit a pained reaction.

And he was rewarded with a shout from the Captain, but it was more of surprise than of pain. Boreal still pressed his attack, sending the punch he'd meant to throw at Kalt's face into his back instead.

The blow knocked the Captain stumbling forward but his long tail swung around like a bull-whip, knocking Boreal down again and then slamming into him a second time before he even knew what was happening.

Kalt regained his footing and turned to Boreal laughing, “How disappointing. Was that the best attack you had?”

Boreal snarled and rolled out of the small crater that Kalt's blow had created around him, then sprang forward again.

This time Kalt made no effort to block or launch a cheap shot, instead he just stood like a statue surrounded by fiery yellow aura as Boreal swung his fist, his own red energy flowing around him as he struck. The red energy gathered around his body concentrated around the punch and then with all the force he could muster he turned it into a blast, delivered at point blank range right to Kalt's face.

The Captain was finally thrown off his feet and sailed over a meter through the air before recovering himself midair.

Boreal had already launched himself after Kalt but he hadn't expected the other Arcosian to recover so soon, he wasn't quite prepared for the next strike when the distance was finally closed.

He struck out again with less power than he'd hoped to gather and this time Kalt caught his punch and squeezed his right hand hard.

Boreal was surprised to feel bones breaking in his hand, he felt alarm like never before when Kalt tossed him up into the air then buffeted him with blows from his tail for a moment, Boreal trying to bring his own tail into play to defend himself only to feel the superior force of Kalt's blows strike him like meteorites making it feel impossible to move any part of his body, much less deflect anything with his tail.

The proud general knew it was over before Kalt finally let him fall to the ground. He struggled to get to his feet, but he knew the fight was finished.

All of his experience had meant nothing against a foe that much stronger than him.

It made him think of fighting the Super Saiyan . . . he'd been absolutely unable to defend himself against such a foe, and here now against someone so much weaker than that he was still useless.

He could sense Kalt standing behind him, he knew his opponent was about to finish him off, he'd seen Kalt use his claws to punch through his enemies or underlings before, but all Boreal could think was, _don't I deserve a better ending than that?_

He felt Kalt's strike begin but he didn't feel it penetrate, instead it was just an agonizing pain in his chest and he fell to his knees.

Someone rushed over and caught him before he could fully fall over, and with a bit of focus he was able to recognize that it was Aurora.

But who had stopped Kalt?

Boreal managed to turn his head in time to see the slender dark blue and black form holding Kalt's wrist, red eyes blazing with rage.

“Did I give you permission to murder my General, Kalt?” Frostburn demanded, throwing the other Arcosian into the crowd of their kin without waiting for a response. The Frost Twin shouted loudly, “No I do not believe I did! Just what do you think you're doing here?”

Kalt tried to answer but Boreal struggled through the pain in his chest and said, “M-my Lord, please, we were just having a friendly competition!”

“Shut up.” Frostburn said icily, somehow even more intimidating when he spoke quietly than when he shouted.

“I-I'm sorry my Lord,” Kalt stammered, being helped up by some of the crowd, “I-I didn't mean to--”

“Didn't mean to? It looks like you meant to, Kalt!” Frostburn snarled, holding out his hand as if to blast, “Should _I_ see what _I_ don't mean to do? Would _you_ like that?”

“Calm down,” Lord Frostbite said, appearing next walking through the mob. “There's no need to go killing Kalt after he's been so good as to come back from the dead.”

“N-no Lord, please!” Kalt insisted, “I--”

“Shut up.” Lord Frostbite told him in a tone as dangerous as Lord Frostburn's had been. The giant Arcosian laughed, but it wasn't a friendly laugh, he looked around at the mob and said, “So you're bored, is that it? Want to fight, want to kill?”

No one dared to answer him.

Frostbite laughed again, “Well then . . . I know the natives, if there are any left, make it hard to really test out these new powers of ours . . . I know a lot of you want to find out if there's some new pecking order . . . well . . . I'm not a merciless being.”

“No, we're nice guys.” Frostburn said in what almost sounded like a primal growl, “So nice we'll give you just what you want.”

“M-my Lords?” Kalt stammered.

Boreal clutched his chest but tried to stand up straight as his Lords explained.

Frostbite said, “We've been kicking it around in our heads for a while now . . . why not let the Clan hold a tournament? Why not see whose grown accustomed to their new powers the best? Why not see who _really_ deserves the rank of General.”

Boreal's mouth fell open. Who _really_ deserves the rank? Was he no longer a General?

Was he no longer _the_ General?

“If you all want to fight so badly come back tomorrow,” Frostburn shouted, “We'll have a list. Those of you with the _courage_ to fight can sign your names, and those of you who know better than to risk your necks can keep your heads down.”

Lord Frostburn glared at Boreal when he said the last part, but the former General was in too much pain to focus on anything and soon everything went black.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Chronicles of Earth's Defenders . . .** _Training for the EDF Tournament begins, Rhuby and her mother train as Okran strives to follow Turles' orders but will this quality time bring them closer together or will it just cause more conflict? And speaking of people coming together Gohan has a few questions for Trunks about the fairer sex, but how can the student possibly become the master if he's so uncertain himself? Find out next time on Dragon Ball COED . . ._

 


	87. Professor Gohan

**Episode Seven**

**'Professor Gohan'**

 

The upbeat commotion in the Capsule Corporation Cafeteria was almost overwhelming. Of course people were more excited about the tournament now that Prince Trunks had agreed to hold it than they had been when it was just a possibility, and even those too weak to have a hope of competing were excitedly placing their bets in advance not just on who would do well but in some cases on who would pair off with who.

For a lot of interested parties the pairings were still being decided, but for Rhubara there was no question, the decision had been made for her, and she was not pleased with it. She poked at her breakfast but didn't actually feel any appetite.

It really wasn't a suitable match-up, Rhubara knew that, she and her mother were on two entirely different levels of power. No matter how hard she trained in the time leading up to the tournament there was just no way that Okran would be able to catch up to her and it had been weighing heavily on her mind for the past couple of days.

It was worse than just having to train with Okran though. At first her roommate had been Tathy, but since Tathy had run off to join the Royal Guard and since Prince Trunks hadn't known any better he'd thought nothing of agreeing with Okran's insistence that _she_ become Rhubara's new roommate, after all it wasn't fair to everyone else that she have the room all to herself much longer and he clearly didn't understand that the bond between a Saiyan mother and child was . . . well, just not the same as the bond between an Earthling mother and her Half-Saiyan child perhaps?

Not that her mother spent a lot of time in their room, she was very active around the compound meeting others and trying to come to grips with her new existence it seemed, Rhuby wasn't even sure if she'd slept that night because she hadn't been there when she went to sleep or when she woke up and Rhubara herself had only slept for a short while.

It was one thing she actually found herself missing about War World, at least in the cells of Lord Stobler she'd had her own quarters once she'd become a champion, and until then she'd only had to share with Cauli since they were bought at the same time and that was fine, in fact if she had to have a roommate at all she'd have preferred Cauli. She wasn't actually certain why they hadn't been paired off from the start since they arrived together, but she didn't dare talk to the Prince about it.

She eyed the clock, their time in the gravity room was coming up. Because it was in such high demand now Lady Bulma had decided to institute a one-hour sign-up roster for the use of the room and because Okran needed whatever advantages she could get she had signed herself and Rhubara up for the first slot that morning so that, if necessary, they could go in a bit early without intruding on anyone else's time, but really Rhuby didn't like spending any longer in there than absolutely necessary.

Rhuby sighed and the giant Namekian sitting across from her sipping a tall glass of water asked, “If you're finished eating would you like to begin training now?”

Rhuby forced a smile and said, “If you like, Sensei. I know you came all the way here from East City, I don't want to take up all your time. I'm grateful to you for coming.”

“You couldn't have kept me away. Spending time with my people is . . . illuminating, but there are some . . . fundamental differences between myself and Kazoo and the rest of our kindred. Perhaps it's our divergent lineage.”

“Perhaps,” Rhuby acknowledged, “but even close kindred aren't always . . . um, never mind.”

The large Namekian smiled kindly at her and said, “Indeed. Well in any case it's a nice excuse and a short flight to spend time with a friend. I would have helped Cauli train with her partner as well, but Brassica said she'd handle that.”

“Yes . . .” Rhuby said. Cauli was already out with Lamson training, they'd gotten an early start and hadn't even bothered with breakfast, or so Rhuby had heard from Kayle when she'd come down.

Sometimes it startled her just how similar Brassica and Cauli were and she wasn't sure how much Cauli would learn with her sister as her Sensei given how willful they could both be. Still she was relieved Bass had agreed to train with her, she didn't like messing up in front of Brassica, it felt too much like messing up in front of Cauli. It didn't help that they both somehow inherited the same blue eyes despite having different mothers or that they stared at her the exact same way sometimes . . .

Bass stood up from the table, pulling the Saiyan warrior out of her thoughts and Rhuby stood up to abandon her plate but luckily it didn't have to go to waste.

“You going to eat that?” Kayle asked her.

“Yes, all of it, so it had better be here when I get back!” Rhubara warned the now-younger female. They were from the same clan and it was strange being older than Kayle now . . . but sort of fun too.

Kayle smirked, and in a playfully menacing voice she hissed, “It won't be.”

Rhuby actually smiled, “Then I'll look forward to getting my revenge in the tournament.”

Though they'd be separating, and no one was really sure who they'd pair up with yet the Evil Twins were already favorites since their berserk transformation wasn't off-limits the way Super Saiyan transformations would be, and with all their training they could actually stand up to Turles—or for that matter her or Cauli—when they raged.

It'd be a good fight and Rhuby looked forward to testing herself against them, she hoped she'd get the chance.

But with Okran on her team . . . Okran's power level was only in the thousands, that made her a pretty big liability.

Rhuby followed Bass out, as they went he asked her, “Why did you choose Okran as your teammate?”

“I didn't,” Rhubara said flatly. “The decision was made for me.”

“Why are you abiding by it?” Bass asked.

“Are you saying I shouldn't?” Rhuby asked a little hopefulness slipping into her voice.

“No. I'm genuinely curious as to why you two would make a good team. It will help me to train you.”

“I don't know that she cares about being an effective team really,” Rhuby admitted, “she says she just wants to train with me.”

“She is your mother, is that unusual?” Bass asked, “I don't know what it's like to have a mother, but in my experience with the other fighters I've trained many of them often spoke fondly of mothers.”

There was a sigh, but Rhubara was a little too distracted to realize its significance, instead she answered, “It's not usual for Saiyan parents . . . definitely not usual for _my_ mother. Usually once we're strong enough to get by on our own we do, until then we're sort of seen as a nuisance more than anything and some parents will abandon their kids as soon as they can walk.”

“How do you evolve a society like that?” Bass wondered.

“We really didn't.” Rhuby admitted. “At least not the way the Robusuta and Earthlings did . . . I guess for us it was sort of lucky we had the Tuffles around, you know monkey see monkey do.”

“Ah.” Bass nodded. “So Saiyans are loners? But that's odd, you seem to have a goodly amount of camaraderie with others of your . . . generation?”

“Well when we're younger it's a bit easier to survive in groups, especially if we have siblings, Kayle was actually older than me before so she was like a big sister until I met Cauli. But we like to fight so much it's normal to be friends with people close to our own age because they're usually close to our own level of power, even then sometimes we need our space from each other or the playful fighting could turn real real quick.”

“Odd, you and Cauli never had a serious quarrel.” Bass said, “Was your bond with Cauli not a typical one?”

“It feels normal enough,” Rhuby said, knowing she sounded evasive but not really sure how else to answer the question. “Why does that matter?”

“I suppose it doesn't if you don't think it does, I just can't help but feel a little confused,” he said as they stepped out of the elevator, and Rhubara blinked in surprise realizing that he'd kept her too distracted as they'd walked for her to even notice that they'd gotten into the sighing elevators and then out again.

“What do you mean, Sensei?” Rhubara asked, still impressed by the what talking about her problems had gotten her mind off of a different problem, but nevertheless curious about what her Sensei was referring to.

“You're going to fight in a tournament for fun but you aren't going to have fun? Why then are you going to fight at all?”

Rhuby frowned and said, “Well I'm a Saiyan, aren't I? It's enough just to fight strong opponents like Kayle or her brother Oni, and I think I'll even get to fight Cauli if I can keep from being eliminated early.”

“Interesting.” Bass said. “So as long as you get to fight at all you're happy to fight with someone you don't really want to fight alongside?”

“Well I wouldn't say I'm happy to do it, but I'll do it.” Rhuby shrugged. “Besides, I don't want to . . . you know, make a big deal out of it.”

“Interesting,” Bass said again as they reached the room, “I can see why your race became mercenaries.”

Rhuby smiled at that, “I guess it's a natural fit.”

The gravity control room was already in use, apparently Okran had beaten them there. Rhuby hadn't seen her at breakfast, but then she really hadn't looked. She wondered if her mother had even eaten or if she'd skipped the meal like she had.

A small part of her felt a sort of empathy, what if her mother was dreading this as much as she was? What if she'd only suggest they compete together to sort of be polite and because she hadn't thought the tournament would really happen? Now that it _was_ going to happen what if she was just as uneasy about it as Rhuby?

Bass keyed in the sequence to open the gravity control room and sure enough they found Okran was already in there training.

She greeted them a little uncertainly, “Rhubara . . . and . . . green man.”

“My name is Bass, I'm going to help you in your training. I trained Rhubara on War World.”

“Sounds like a heck of a place. Well in any case this room is nice, Turles showed me how to set it up with gravity just like home. He's a smart fellow you know, an awfully smart fellow.”

Rhuby didn't say anything, she just shrugged.

Okran put her hands on her hips and said, “But I guess you probably train on a higher setting, right?”

“I train at twenty times this.” Rhuby confirmed, then added, “When I train in here at all that is.”

“Well then crank it up, I'm not scared!” Okran laughed, then she said, “I'm not going to hold you back, I'll do whatever it takes to carry my weight!”

“That's good enthusiasm, but I don't think we'll make it that far so quickly.” Bass said. “The date of the tournament hasn't been decided on yet, but it took the others of your kind months to train up to using two hundred times Earth's gravity, and Rhubara lived on War World for years where the gravity was even more intense than your Planet Vegeta.” Bass told Okran, “There's nothing wrong with pushing your limits, but it's important to know what they are.”

Okran nodded, “All right,” she said, “then what do you think we should start on?”

“Well you're comfortable enough in your own world's gravity, and Rhubara and Cauliflora didn't take long to adapt to War World's so let's try fifty times Earth's gravity, or five times Planet Vegeta's gravity and see if it's suitable.”

Bass closed the door and activated the increase. Rhubara barely felt the difference but for Okran it was clearly a significant one because she fell to her knees and struggled just to rise to her feet.

“Should we decrease it?” Rhuby asked. She could hear the condescension in her own voice even though she hadn't intended for it to sound that way, it wasn't fair to expect instant progression after all.

Bass even gave her a surprised look, and Okran didn't fail to notice her tone either. For an instant her own eyes flashed with anger and she managed to stand up straight only for the moment to pass and for her to be brought back down to her knees.

“I'll get used to this, just give me a bit more than a heartbeat, huh?” Okran said.

Rhuby nodded, feeling her face flushed with shame, “You're right, I'm sorry.”

“ _Sorry_? Bah, stop that kind of talk before you make me _really_ angry!” Her mother scolded her, “I'm just as much a Saiyan as you are, I'll get this, then I'll smack some better manners into you!”

“Fair enough.” Bass told her. “But first try to focus on standing, then we'll start having you focus on taking steps. By the end of the hour hopefully you'll be able to run a full circle around this room.”

It was slow going, Rhubara went through some drills while she waited for Okran to get used to the heavier gravity. She felt like fifty might have been too much, especially since her mother didn't have the benefit, whatever it was, of having eaten the fruit from the Great Tree.

Still Okran was going to be her partner in the tournament so she felt invested in the outcome of their training for that hour. As the time limit approached Okran was able to walk and that was impressive enough but running a lap around the training room would have been out of the question.

They left and the older Saiyan made a relieved noise something between a sigh and a shout when they got out of the room and into Earth's light gravity.

“Oh that's so much nicer!” She cried, “I feel like I've thrown a planet off of my shoulders!”

“Don't think you're finished,” Bass warned her, “we're going back up now, we'll train in the yard.”

“What are we going to do there?” Okran asked.

“You're going to attack Rhubara with all your might.” Bass said simply, “and she's going to master her own strength by not inflicting too much damage on you in return.”

Rhuby smiled, “Didn't I do that for years in the Arena?”

“The degree to which you've changed since then is impressive, I'm not so certain you fully realize how powerful you've become and controlling that strength against a weaker opponent is good training.”

“Temporarily weaker.” Okran said, moving out of the way so that the next pair could enter the room. Rhuby was surprised that it was Rhyce and Korrard, she wouldn't have thought Korrard would compete at all just because he . . . well, he really wasn't a typical Saiyan who enjoyed fighting.

Still she smiled at them as they entered and thought, _If Rhyce and Korrard are going to enter together despite the difference in their skills I can't very well keep pouting about my mother's strength. Of course everything else just can't be helped._

So she said, “Permanently weaker, you're never going to outdo me old woman. Prove me wrong if you can.”

Okran scoffed, “Just you see if I don't young lady, I'm not to be taken lightly you know.”

Rhuby shrugged, “If you say so old lady.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Capsule Corp. HQ's commotion was luckily contained in the cafeteria and in the yards where some pairs were training, still even in the quiet of the executive lounge Trunks could feel some excitement boiling over. His students were eager to test themselves and he was eager to see what they could do.

“Isn't this great, Gohan?” He asked, “The whole team's excited.”

“I am too. I hope you won't mind if I compete,” Gohan said, “After all I'm quite a bit weaker than you are, and without Super Saiyan I'd probably lose to Turles.”

“I didn't know you were interested in competing.” Trunks admitted.

“Well I wasn't exactly, but I feel like I owe it to you to try and get myself in fighting shape, and this seems like a good excuse.” Gohan said with a smile.

Trunks was surprised by that, but not as surprised when Gohan asked him, “So what's up with you and that Lieutenant?”

“What?” Trunks asked, his voice cracking in a way it hadn't done since he was a teenager.

“Well I'm just curious. I saw the news paper.” Gohan explained, scratching his scarred cheek, a feat that would have been far more difficult has his arm not been restored along with the rest of him when he was revived. “If it's too embarrassing you don't have to tell me.”

“No, it's nothing, there's nothing really,” Trunks told him, “If you and I went and stood out on the balcony they'd probably take pictures and run the same story.”

“You'd seem like quite the playboy,” Gohan laughed, “never mind the scandal.”

Trunks laughed too, “Well I am the Golden Warrior and the heir of Capsule Corp. I guess I really can't afford scandals, we'd better avoid the balcony. At least until Videl's troops can figure out who it is taking those pictures.”

“Right. Actually Captain Videl is who I'd really like to talk about.” Gohan said.

“Oh, really?” Trunks asked, “Then why did you bring up Mai?”

“Well with the way the newspaper made it out to be some kind of big deal I wasn't sure if EDF fighters associating with the Royal Guard was inappropriate for some reason.”

“I don't think there's any hard rule about it, I mean we're not a military organization after all so it's not fraternization or whatever they call that. Anyway you don't even have to be part of the EDF if you don't want to be.”

“I know, but I do want to be. The world might benefit from Professor Gohan but I feel like I've fallen a bit too far behind my studies for that, don't you?” Gohan laughed, but Trunks wouldn't be surprised to learn that Gohan had been hitting the books just as fervently as he'd been hitting the gravity room since his revival.

Still Trunks smiled and said, “You know with the amount of time you spent . . . well, _away,_ let's say,”

“We could just say dead.” Gohan shrugged.

Trunks smiled sheepishly, “Right . . . well anyway since your body didn't really age you actually look a lot younger than Videl. You two could be your own kind of scandalous, the King's Captain with a tall and tough boy toy?”

“I wasn't dead _that_ long!” Gohan gawked, “Anyway what's that kind of talk for? I just said I wanted to talk about Videl, I didn't say what for.”

“Sorry, Master, it's just you talked about relationships with the Royal Guard and I assumed . . .” Trunks said with a shrug.

“I mean I was sort of thinking of asking her to train with me.” Gohan explained.

“Oh really?” Trunks asked in surprise. Gohan was just full of surprises this morning.

“She's behind most of the others and she's busy with her work so it's hard for her to catch up, but isn't she still technically one of your students? She could benefit from an instructor like me as her teammate, don't you think?”

Trunks nodded, “That's a good point. I didn't think about that, but it's a good idea.”

“I thought so too.” Gohan said with a nod, “But I mean . . . you know, if there were a husband or a boyfriend or something it might seem inappropriate for me to ask her such a thing. I don't suppose you'd—”

“Just how much do you think I know about the Captain?” Trunks asked, gawking a bit.

“Well I don't know, I just thought maybe Mai had told you something.” Gohan said with a shrug.

“We don't discuss that sort of thing . . . I mean I guess I could ask her for you, but aren't we a little bit old to be playing that sort of game?” Trunks asked.

“Think of it as catch-up for the fact that we never got the chance in our youth.” Gohan suggested, “Or at least I didn't. You're still young, you shouldn't be so serious all the time.”

Gohan chuckled and folded his arms. “Everyone tells me to take it easy but that's easier said than done you know.”

“Who said anything about taking it easy? This is a very difficult subject we're discussing.” Gohan told him.

Trunks shrugged, “That's a good point I guess. So . . . you want to 'compete' with Captain Videl?”

“I think we'd make a good team,” Gohan said, “and our power difference would balance out to make it fairer for other teams, sort of like Rhuby and that newcomer Okran.”

Trunks nodded, “It seems fair. Actually I was wondering how the pairs for the tournament would end up, whether they'd be balanced at all or not.”

“Well it's all a means to an end, right? Entertainment and then deciding who gets to go into the room of time and space first, right?”

“Exactly.” Trunks nodded, then he smirked, “Though maybe we should make some kind of rule about going into the room with a member of the opposite gender, after all the point is to train.”

“You say that like I wouldn't.” Gohan said with an honest-looking smile.

“I don't trust that everyone would.” Trunks admitted, “At least not to the best of their abilities. Even though we've asked them to choose partners they don't normally fight with that doesn't mean they can't still choose partners they don't have an interest in, just take Schip and Anavill for example.”

“I see,” Gohan nodded. “But what will you do if a coed pairing wins?”

“I don't know,” Trunks admitted, “it's a bit late to tell everyone they need to pick a partner of the same gender, and a bit too obvious to tell them they can't pick someone they're even remotely attracted to.”

“Not to mention the fact that you can still be attracted to someone of the same gender.” Gohan nodded.

“Well if it's a prize,” Mai said, “shouldn't they be able to use or waste it as they see fit?”

Trunks blinked in surprise. He'd gotten so used to Mai that sometimes he didn't even sense her approaching, and this had been one of those times. He turned around to see her in the doorway and asked, “Uh . . . how long have you been standing there?”

“Not long. Did you need me to come back later?” Mai asked.

“No, not at all!” Gohan said, waving for her to come in, “Actually any help you could give him in planning this would be appreciated. I've decided to become a contestant myself, and it's not appropriate for me to keep on in this conversation.”

Mai frowned, “Well I don't think anyone would doubt your integrity, besides I don't know if it's appropriate to leave the two of us unchaperoned, especially with strange photographers on the loose. It would just be too unseemly if we ended up in the news again.”

“Mother said she called the paper about that, they're printing a retraction tomorrow.” Trunks said to reassure her.

“They can run the story the next day but it takes them two days to print a retraction?” Mai asked a little archly, “I don't trust it. Luckily Captain Videl's sharpshooters are still on the lookout.”

“Sharpshooters?” Gohan yelped.

“Oh!” Mai blushed, “Not for that reason! The Captain just thought that they'd be the best at judging the most likely places where stealth photography might come from, and figuring out where the original picture was taken from.”

“Good thinking.” Gohan said, sounding relieved.

“The Captain's a pretty smart woman.” Trunks agreed, nudging Gohan in the side, “Maybe Professor Gohan can help her out, find the sharp shooter and get a bit off her plate.”

“Maybe Professor Gohan can indeed.” Gohan nodded and headed for the door, “Excuse me, sorry, got to go, stay away from the balcony you two.”

Mai blushed at that, “I-I had no intention of going out there again,” she said.

Trunks smiled and said, “Don't worry, Anise and Card will figure things out, right? Did you put Rose and Tarra on it too, or just Videl's snipers?”

“I didn't know you knew both our sharpshooter teams.” Mai said in surprise.

“I spent months on a PTO command vessel with you all, I know most things your troopers were willing to share . . . and maybe one or two things they weren't. I picked up that Anise and Card were the Videl's sniper team, weren't Tarragon and Rosemary yours?”

“Well yes,” Mai said, smiling, “I'm honored you didn't find us too insignificant to . . .”

Trunks smiled, “To associate with?”

“It sounds like I'm insulting you.” Mai said, looking embarrassed, “but I only meant with everything you have to do and keep track of I'm glad you had the time to meet people. I just remember you didn't like having me watching over your shoulder all the time.”

“Again, I didn't have a lot of options on that ship, it was make friends with the troops or spend all my time listening to Basil and Thyme argue about things I don't understand,” Trunks chuckled. But he quickly added, “not that it wasn't my pleasure, I mean I did have you as my babysitter but it wasn't all that bad. I got used to it and then it just felt natural having you around.”

Mai smiled, “I guess it's the same for me. Oh, by the way I forgot the reason I came here! Captain Soda contacted us earlier this morning, her squad is coming here to train. I thought you'd want to know.”

“Thanks.” Trunks said, looking off into the distance as he considered what that could mean for the tournament. He told Mai, “I forgot they were going to be coming by, they'll probably want to get in on this tournament too, at least Chillax would.”

“Is that a problem?” Mai asked, “You can just tell them not to.”

“It's not a problem,” Trunks said, “more that it'll be interesting to see which group's got the better fighters.”

“Ah. The competition takes on a new layer.” Mai nodded sagely. “Now it's not just seeing which students are doing well it's seeing _whose_ students are doing well. Of course technically they're all still your students. So which branch of schooling is doing the best.”

“Well I won't be offended when you root for Captain Soda.” Trunks said with a smile.

“Don't be silly, I'll be rooting for your fighters.” Mai said to his surprise. “After all,” she clarified with a grin, “if Captain Soda's team gets too much notoriety I could be out of a job.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Cauli and Lams train, but Lamson just can't stop singing Turles' praises until Cauli starts to get a bit suspicious. Meanwhile will Rhyce be able to make a respectable fighter out of Korrard? And can Gohan break the ice with Videl?_

 


	88. You're Not Special

**Episode Eight**

**'You're Not Special'**

 

The deserts south of West City and past the ruins of a city she would probably never know the name of seemed to be a popular place for training if the craters and damage to the countryside was anything to go by, though by looks alone she couldn't tell what was so special about it.

Cauli cracked her knuckles when they arrived and asked, “Okay why'd we have to come all the way out here?”

Her sister said, “I actually chose this place because of . . . I don't know, cultural significance I suppose.”

“What kind of cultural significance could a desert have?” Lamson asked.

“Not much, but I figure if we're going to live here we need some kind of culture, don't you think?” Brassica asked with a shrug, “This site here is actually the place where Prince Vegeta battled with Kakarot when he first arrived.”

That got Cauli's attention, “I remember Prince Trunks mentioning that. So this is where it happened?” She asked.

“So what if it did?” Lamson asked, “That fight happened decades ago, the span of time between then and now is literally longer than we've been alive.”

“So you think history only matters if you were there to see it?” Brassica asked.

Lamson shrugged, “I don't think history matters at all, at least not unless it's relevant to your life. I've heard the humans say that if you don't learn history you're doomed to repeat it, but I don't see a problem with that. After all the Saiyans haven't got much history that wouldn't be worth repeating.”

“The destruction of both our original and our replacement home worlds and the functional extinction of our race for a span of nearly fifty years strikes you as the sort of history worth repeating?” Brassica asked, “Even now there's still too few of us for a viable breeding population, so we're still as good as extinct.”

Cauli shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like thinking about things like that. The fact that even though they were alive their race wasn't going to last much longer actually made her sort of sad if she thought about it too much, even the idea of having children of her own sent a chill up her spine. What kind of lonely existence would she be dooming them to?

Lamson folded her arms and said, “Well isn't that all the more reason not to pretend these sorts of things matter?”

“You don't have to care if you don't care.” Brassica shrugged. “But I for one wanted to see the site where our people's history took such a turn. Just think about it, our Prince fought a low-class warrior here and lost. Even though Kakarot was a low-class Saiyan raised on this world with weak gravity and soft peaceful indigenous lifeforms it was Kakarot and not Vegeta who came out on top in that battle.”

“Let's not think about it and say that we did,” Cauli said, “what's that got to do with training?”

Her older sister glowered at her, “I'm getting to that. I hope that while we're training you two will remember that an opponent who seems weaker can still come out on top. That even if you think you've got the pedigree a mongrel can still take best in show.”

“In other words don't look down on our opponents.” Lamson said with a nod, “You could have just told us that back at Capsule Corp. surely.”

“I could have.” Brassica nodded, then she held out her hand, “But I thought this might help make the point. Stop looking at it as it is and imagine what it was. Imagine the battle that took place here, the history that took place here. Every crater tells a story, the piles of rubble where mountains stood. Look at this place, _really_ look at it and try to understand.”

Cauli did. It was actually a hobby of hers back when she'd lived on Planet Vegeta to sit atop the ruined Tuffle home she used as a clubhouse and look out at the desert letting the sands cover and uncover long forgotten fights.

She wondered if her sister used to do the same thing. They were so similar in so many ways it wouldn't have surprised her. Brassica stood on a plateau while they flew around slowly, inspecting the battleground.

She hovered around the area looking at the craters and letting the image form in her mind of how the fight might have gone, Lamson flew along after her clearly trying but not really gaining much.

“When I heard Brassica was going to train us I thought she might teach us to use the Super Saiyan form.” Lams commented as they flew by.

It took Cauli out of her concentration but she didn't mind. She agreed even. “I know. But maybe this is part of it? Maybe a deeper connection with your surroundings is important.”

“Maybe. I didn't think of that.” Lamson said. Cauli was about to go back to her observations when Lamson added, “I bet Turles would understand the significance of this place.”

“Maybe.” Cauli said, “He _is_ sharper than most.”

“He is.” Lamson agreed firmly. “He's a born leader, I'd say.”

“I wouldn't go that far.” Cauli laughed. “But if you fancy him I won't say anything against him.”

“What?” Lamson asked, “Who said I fancied him?”

“You tend to sing his praises a lot. Either you fancy him or you're trying to play matchmaker and I can tell you right now that's not going to work.” Cauli said, glancing over her shoulder at the other female Saiyan.

Lamson had the look on her face of someone caught doing something they didn't want to be caught doing, and it made Cauli smile. She wasn't sure which of her predictions was accurate, but it made her feel a little smug to know that one of them had been.

But Lamson asked her, “Okay, so if you think Turles wouldn't be a good leader who do you think would?”

“I never said he's not a _good_ leader. He functions fine as a captain,” Cauli said, “but so far as a _born_ leader goes? I don't know, I just don't see it. In almost every aspect important to real leadership there's someone who outdoes him.”

“Okay, elaborate.” Lamson challenged.

Cauli sighed, “You sure you want me to?”

“Go on.”

Cauli shrugged as they flew, no longer focusing on the scenery and hoping Brassica wouldn't notice from where she was as she said, “Well let's take how well he interacts with others. Turles can be abrasive and a bit of a braggart, a normal Saiyan quality of course but one that pushes potential followers away, as I'm sure you notice. When it comes to people skills I'd say that Oni has him beat, Oni is easygoing and despite being very strong doesn't boast about his power, he lets his achievements speak for him. He's comfortable with his strength where Turles still seems like he's trying to prove his.”

“Okay, what else?” Lamson asked, “Surely Turles is smarter than the average Saiyan.”

“Sure, but would you compare him to someone like King Vegeta, or my father? I wouldn't. Lady Bulma is a lot smarter obviously, but even if we only wanted to count us Saiyans then I think you might have him beat as far as tactical thinking. You know better how to use people's abilities without them _feeling_ like they've been used.”

Lams frowned, “Okay, but what about strength?”

“Seriously? Prince Trunks is like some kind of a god!” Cauli laughed.

“Well I'm only talking about . . . um . . . you know.” Lams said hesitantly.

“I don't know. What?” Cauli asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You know . . . true Saiyans?” Lamson said, sounding a little embarrassed.

Cauli considered it. _Well everyone's got their preferences,_ she thought. “Okay, well if we're going with pure Saiyans then Brassica, obviously.”

“Not if Turles finds out how to turn Super Saiyan.” Lamson pointed out.

“Until then, then.” Cauli shrugged. “Look I'm not saying you're wrong. I just don't see him the same way you do. Forget I said anything.”

“Well it's important.” Lamson said, “I think we should see him the same way.”

Cauli smirked, “Why? Surely three's a crowd.”

Lamson shook her head, “I think you're confused, let's just keep training.”

Cauli nodded, “If you like.”

They flew on in silence for a moment before Lamson asked, “Well hold on . . . not that I want to encourage your wild imagination or anything but . . . assuming I _were_ talking about what you _think_ I am, which I'm _not . . ._ ”

“Yeah?”

“So then who _do_ you prefer for that?” Lamson asked her.

“Haven't thought about it. Isn't relevant yet.” Cauli shrugged.

“You haven't thought about it? As in at all?”

“I try not to, it's not something I feel all that interested in.” Cauli said. “So nobody, I guess.”

“Isn't that a bit weird?” Lamson asked, “I mean at your age . . . shouldn't you at least have an interest?”

“I . . . no?” Cauli offered. “If I'm weird how would I know it? Maybe _you're_ weird.”

“Hmm. Maybe I am.” Lamson said thoughtfully, “I wonder. Maybe the reason Turles doesn't impress you is _because_ you try not to think about him then. Maybe if you pay more attention you'll see him how I do.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Cauli said, mostly just getting irritated with the topic. “Why don't we talk about something _other_ than Turles?”

“What else matters?” Lamson teased.

“The tournament?” Cauli offered, “Our training?”

“Oh . . . yeah, sure.” Lamson chuckled.

“I think we have very different ideas of what matters.” Cauli muttered.

“Maybe. But at least we're learning something.” Lamson said, and Cauli had to admit she had a point there.

“Will you two stop gossiping like a couple of old hags and focus on your training?” Brassica shouted from behind them. Cauli hadn't realized the older Saiyan had started to follow them at some point but she was closing the distance fast.

Cauli and Lamson sped up to keep out of pummeling range, “Yes ma'am!” Cauli said, saluting as she flew.

But now she couldn't focus on the scenery or the battle that had once taken place here. Instead she thought to herself that the battles ahead could be rough with Lamson as her teammate, and maybe a little bit worse . . . was she weird? Or was Lamson?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Normally the gravity training room wasn't Rhyce's favorite place at the best of times mostly because it made just breathing difficult when her lungs were suddenly made of lead. However because Korrard was so much weaker than she was they didn't have to train at her usual level, and as a result she got to enjoy the benefits of training in only one hundred times Earth's gravity, which was a level Korrard had grown accustomed to during the trip to Fake Namek, but he apparently hadn't joined his cohorts in going any further than that.

But she felt light as a feather by comparison, really it just felt like wearing wet clothes; heavier than normal but not overwhelming.

“So how much did Schip teach you?” Rhyce asked.

“Um . . . I don't know. A lot though.” Korrard said unconvincingly.

“Okay then, how much did you actually _learn_?” Rhyce asked.

“Not that much.” Korrard admitted. He looked down and said, “The truth is I'm really not much of a fighter and . . . I don't know, I guess I never felt the need to be.”

“That's a load of nonsense, you wouldn't be here if that were true.” Rhyce scoffed, folding her arms. “Don't lie to yourself, and don't lie to me. We're here because you _do_ want to be a better fighter, or am I wasting my time?”

Korrard hesitated, then he admitted, “I'm sorry. I _do_ want to be a better fighter like the rest of them . . . it's just gotten easier to say I don't care. But I do, I just don't have the knack for it.”

Rhyce nodded and allowed a smile to creep over her lips, “Fair enough. But let's not focus on what you don't have, let's focus on what you _do_. What you _do_ have is a desire to be better, and that counts for something, and what you do have now is a reason to get better.”

“Didn't I have one before?” Korrard asked.

“No.” Rhyce said, then she reconsidered and said, “Well probably. But before you also had an _excuse_ not to get any better. Your buddies were happy to carry you before, but I'm not so you're going to have to carry yourself. And you'll see when this is all over they're all going to be a lot happier to get you back able to stand on your own two feet.”

“That's what I'm hoping!” Korrard said, bowing slightly, “Thank you so much!”

Rhyce blushed, “W-well hold on, I haven't done anything yet! Don't thank me for the thought!”

“Sorry!” Korrard said, snapping to attention. “Proceed general!”

“Don't try to give me a nickname,” Rhyce told him, shaking her head. “This won't be fun and games. Now since you're already accustomed to one hundred times Earth's gravity, but probably wouldn't do so well in two hundred, let's have you start by showing me your attack routine.”

“Like . . . what, just try to hit you?” Korrard asked.

“No, actually hit me.” Rhyce explained, then added, “If you can.”

“Right. Hit you . . .” Korrard said, taking up a fighting stance.

He was a gangly guy; tall and thin limbed but he was also a Saiyan and Rhyce wasn't exactly musclebound herself so she knew looks could be deceiving.

But in Korrard's case they really weren't. He tried a few attack routines but she was able to catch his blows easily and each one was weak and unimpressive.

_This is a nightmare! I don't think he'll do me any good unless I get him to transform into a giant monkey thing!_ Rhyce thought, but she did her best to hide it. “Yeah . . . okay, you . . . um . . .” She frowned, folding her arms and thinking for a moment while Korrard stopped his attacks and stood waiting for further instruction.

Though he could have kept attacking and she was fairly certain it wouldn't have fazed her.

Finally Rhyce had an idea and said, “Okay, come with me.”

“Come with you? You mean we're leaving the gravity room?”

“Yeah, this place isn't going to help you much so there's no point.” Rhyce explained.

“But don't I need every edge I can get?” He asked her, and she didn't answer.

There really was no good answer to his question, if she said 'yes, yes you do, by every deity that does or doesn't exist you do!' it might demoralize him, or justify in his own mind a lack of effort but if she told him 'nah no way you got this slugger!' it could be even worse.

So instead she said nothing, they left the room and she started to lead him outside intending to leave the compound when, much to her surprise Turles stopped them.

“What's this? I thought you two had this hour in the gravity room . . . it's been ten minutes.”

“That short?” Rhyce said without thinking, but she shook her head and said, “I—that is we don't need it. I've got a different kind of training in mind.”

“Like what?” Turles asked.

“I don't know.” Korrard sighed.

“Obviously, that's why I didn't ask you.” Turles said a little irately, but as if she could see him visibly remind himself not to be a jerk and very insincerely added a, “friend,” to the sentence.

_Yeah, that'll fool him._ Rhyce thought, but really she wasn't much better.

But she resolved to be, she certainly didn't want to be as much of a jerk as Turles. “He needs to learn to hit harder, so I'm taking him to learn how to punch the way I did back when I was . . . younger.”

Turles smiled, “All right. Well why don't I go along with you? Most of the duos have someone helping out with their training, so why don't I help you two out?”

“I don't know, why would you?” Rhyce asked raising a skeptical eyebrow.

“Mostly for the sake of poor Kor here. If there's a chance of salvaging this Saiyan into something suitable I intend to see it happens.” Turles explained.

“Fair enough . . .” Rhyce sighed, she glanced at Korrard who gave her a look that clearly said 'please don't' but what could she do? It wasn't like she wanted Turles around any more than he did . . .

She folded her arms and said, “Next time though. For his remedial lesson he's going to need some privacy.”

“If you like.” Turles shrugged. “In that case since no one's using that room I think I will.”

“If you like.” Rhyce repeated his own words back to him.

As soon as he'd gone and they were outside Korrard whispered, “Thanks, I really didn't want him along.”

“You're not special when it comes to that,” Rhyce sighed, “but he could have been helpful.”

“Yeah, I guess . . .” Korrard said. “What is your plan though?”

“We're going to find a forest . . . then you're going to punch trees.”

“I'm . . . o—kay . . .” Korrard frowned. She could tell he wanted to ask 'why' but he very politely abstained.

Rhyce smiled in spite of herself and said, “It's how my brother and I used to collect firewood. I mean it wasn't how we were _supposed_ to, but it was what we did anyway. It was part of how I learned to punch so hard . . . but just the first part.”

“So . . . you punched trees to get wood?” Korrard asked.

Rhyce shrugged. “When you say it like that it sounds stupid.” She muttered. “But it works.”

“Then I'll do it!” Korrard assured her, “Whatever it takes!”

“That's the spirit. Let's see how long it lasts!” Rhyce said, hoping that they could cover the basics quickly and not need any help from Turles.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Gohan wasn't really sure what it was about the Captain that he liked. Maybe it was the fact that for her harsh exterior she was clearly a very kind person towards the people she knew, maybe it was just the fact that she was so short he felt like a giant around her.

Having been in the Otherworld for . . . a while, he hadn't really had a lot of opportunity to interact with members of the opposite sex, or anyone really. He'd been allowed to keep his body and train but that had been a fairly lonely existence. He didn't live for training and fighting the way his father had and at the end of the day he'd found himself spending more and more time on King Kai's planet just because the old Kai had some books, which it turned out were fairly rare in the otherworld.

After all you couldn't take anything with you and it wasn't like books died and went to heaven.

But that might have been one of King Kai's jokes.

_Focus!_ Gohan thought to himself as he approached the Captain.

She was leaning against a wall sipping a cup of coffee and reading the news paper, but she did glance over her paper at him as he approached.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

“Well actually,” Gohan said, “I was wondering if _I_ could help _you_!”

She blinked owlishly at him, clearly waiting for him to elaborate.

“Uh . . . that is with your stalker problem.”

“My what?” Videl asked in alarm.

“I mean the photographer! I was thinking I could, you know, since I can sense energy and all--”

Videl chuckled, “My troopers have scouters, don't worry about it. Thanks for the offer though.”

She went back to her newspaper but Gohan scratched his head and summoned up the courage to say, “Um . . . well,”

“Oh, was that not all?” Videl asked, sounding apologetic but still having a tone that implied she sort of hoped that it was after all.

But Son Gohan would not relent! He shook his head and said, “Well, I mean if you've got the situation so well in hand you must have some free time, right?”

“I'm a Captain in the Royal Guard . . . so no, not really. _Except_ the time I get to drink a cup of coffee, and read a newspaper.” She said, and Gohan got the hint, though clearly wanting to cover her bases she added, “In peace.”

“Right . . . sorry about that.” He said, waving apologetically and backing off.

He hoped no one had seen that, but when he spotted some of Videl's troops sitting at a nearby table one of them waved him over, the rest were clearly giggling, and he had a guess as to why.

Still he went over and tried to seem casual, “What's up?” He asked.

“Just wondering if I should call an ambulance after that crash and burn.” The trooper who had waved him over said. She was tall with hair a burnt umber color. She was wearing the Royal Guard uniform as the rest of them were, and playing with a deck of lewd cards so she didn't even look up at Gohan as she teased him. Still when the others laughed she waved a hand at them, “Hey, hey, don't laugh, I've seen some of you do _a lot_ worse.”

“I _married_ a lot worse.” Another woman of a similar build but with much darker raven hair sitting next to her commented dryly.

The card-playing trooper grinned wolfishly and said, “Yeah you did. Anyway I'm Card, take a seat son and never mind what the Captain says. I'm all for having one of you life-force-sensor types help us out on this wild goose chase.”

“Hardly a wild goose chase, people photographing our people without permission actually is a pretty big security breach.” Gohan pointed out. “Besides, that time they had a camera, next time they could have who knows what.”

“What, like a super death ray or something? It's not much of a threat is it? I mean this is a safer assignment than guarding an old folk's home . . . if there were any of those left. Who's going to be suicidal enough to mess with this place? Catching a cameraman just because the LT has a bee in her bonnet isn't exactly how I want to spend my summer vacation.”

“It's not summer.” Gohan pointed out.

“It's just an expression.” Card rolled her eyes. “Anyway don't worry about that, you help me out and I'll help you out.”

“Help me out concerning . . .” Gohan trailed off. He was pretty sure he knew what she was referring to, but he wanted to be _absolutely_ sure.

The woman's eyes darted pointedly in Videl's direction and she smirked, “What do you _think_?”

Gohan might have blushed but his conscious mind wouldn't own up to it, he just nodded regally and said, “All right then, happy to be of service! Let's catch ourselves a photographer!”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time On Chronicles of Earth's Defenders . . .** _An unexpected partnership forms for the tournament, Gohan learns a bit about the various betting pools running in Capsule Corp. while Trunks, not for the first time, talks to his mother about her Saiyan project and just what she plans to achieve with it._

 


	89. Helping Civilians

**Episode Nine**

**'Helping Civilians'**

 

Once breakfast was over most everyone went about their daily duties or found a place to train with their new partners. Anavill and Schip were waiting for their turn in the gravity room so they were lingering in the cafeteria with Telluce and discussing the upcoming tournament.

Not everyone was upset or lukewarm about their team-ups. For Anavill she actually felt pretty excited to fight alongside Schip, it was just lucky they'd been on different teams before the Battle of the Bunker. Nevertheless she felt a little bad for some of the fighters having to pair off with people they didn't usually fight with, especially Telluce and Sharrot. Telluce had teased Sharrot the night they'd walked home from the mall, but the truth was they were fairly inseparable to the point that now that they had to rely on others they both seemed totally helpless.

Even their other teammates had found partners. Anavill had never been especially outgoing, though she wouldn't think of herself as overly shy either. She preferred to have a small number of close friends rather than a large group she couldn't be certain about. Assuming that the same was true of these two it made a lot of sense that in their current predicament it might not be so much that they didn't know anyone else they could fight with but more that they didn't feel comfortable enough to fight with anyone else.

She and Schip had tossed around the idea of splitting up themselves to help the pair out, but ultimately they'd decided to let the two figure things out themselves.

“Routz told me last night he was going to team up with Oni. I told him that didn't make sense since they were both trained by Kodva, but he said they'd already gotten approval since even though they've trained together they don't usually fight together.” Telluce, who was roommates with Routz was telling them.

“So what are the teams looking like now?” Anavill asked Schip. Who shrugged apologetically at Telluce.

“He's running out of options,” Schip said, “Routz and Oni makes the sixth confirmed team, after them there's Rhyce and Kor, Rhuby and Okran, Cauli and Lams, me and Ana, and Gurein and Kodva.”

“How many teams are there going to be?” Tell asked.

Anavill shrugged, “It depends on how large the tournament ends up being. I think eight pairs sounds like a good number. It would keep the tournament from getting too bogged down.”

“That would only be be four initial rounds though, the Golden Warrior's tournament had thirty two initial contestants and sixteen initial rounds.” Schip pointed out.

“Yes, but I don't think this one's going to be televised, so we don't need to worry about spectacle and it's just us so it's bound to be smaller.” Anavill said. “Master Trunks will more likely want to let the toughest fight it out for this prize of his, and let's face it some of us won't stand a chance against some of the others. I'm surprised Okran is entering, I doubt Quash or that other new Saiyan would be that bold.”

She had to admit it was a sobering thought now that she said it out loud. But truthfully the big fighters like the Evil Twins and Cauli and Rhuby were skewing the difficulty scale. To a degree Gurein and Kodva weren't totally out of luck because of the training Gurein had received in the afterlife—it still shocked her there was one, let alone that a person could train there—and that made a lot of people curious about whose team Bocan and Pastel would be on.

Even though she and Pastel were roommates Anavill had no idea who Pastel might team up with since the other woman hadn't had any ideas last night. All the same it seemed power multipliers were going to be all the rage unless someone established a hard rule about them, and Anavill doubted Master Trunks would.

After all the point was for them to see who was doing well, and that meant having access to one's full repertoire of skills. But far from a chance to prove themselves a lot of fighters would have to compete with people who were, for lack of a better term, the top of the class.

Not that she wasn't still interested in giving it a shot.

“What about Sharro?” Schip asked, “I haven't seen her today. Do you think she has a teammate?”

“I saw her talking to Kayle at breakfast,” Telluce said, “I didn't interrupt but I assumed that they were probably discussing the tournament. They'll be a potent combination and I really look forward to having the chance to fight them!”

_That makes one of us,_ Anavill thought. “Those two could be a nightmare together.”

“Yeah.” Tell said with a bit of a dreamy look, “That'd be a _real_ fight!”

“They'd slaughter you without the right teammate.” Schip warned him.

“What? Don't think too little of me, Master!” Telluce cried in surprise, “I'm not useless!”

“No you're not, but you and Sharro are perfectly even,” Schip explained, “So you need a teammate that can match up to Kayle, and the person who can do that just teamed up with Routz.”

Tell nodded slowly, “That's a good point. But if there are only going to be eight pairs then Sharro and Kayle makes seven. I'm not just running out of options, I've got to hurry or I won't get a chance to compete at all.”

She folded her arms and said, “Well we don't know for sure there will only be eight. But you know one person who hasn't picked a teammate yet is Bocan. He'll be a strong competitor once he does choose a teammate though.”

Telluce frowned, “Yeah . . . but I've never even spoken to him before. Do you think he'd be willing to work with me?”

“I'd be pretty surprised if he wasn't.” Schip said, “He's a friendly guy, and you're a tough fighter. He'd be lucky to have you as his teammate, you should ask him.”

Telluce nodded slowly and said, “I suppose I'd better. All right I'll get on that, I won't disappoint you!”

Schip laughed, “You'll be fine. I hope we get the chance to take you on in the tournament!”

As if the universe had some kind of cruel sense of humor it was then that Pastel and Bocan came into the cafeteria arguing.

“I can't believe you agreed to team up with him!” Pastel was saying angrily, “I mean are you insane?”

“What? He asked, most everyone else is already taken and having a weaker teammate is better than having no teammate.” Bocan shrugged. “A fight is a fight is a fight, babe.”

“Yeah and he tried to pick a fight with _me_ , he insulted me, remember?” Pastel demanded.

“And you nearly knocked his block off. Isn't it water under the bridge yet?” Bocan asked.

“Oh . . .” Anavill whispered, “Sounds like Bocan's got a teammate.”

“Sounds like it's Quash.” Schip whispered back.

“Never mind bridges, you've got a _lot_ to learn about being in a relationship.” Pastel told Bocan.

“I just missed the memo where I was supposed to eternally hate everyone who ever gets on your nerves.” Bocan said, smirking at Pastel before saying, “Besides, how can I truly hate myself?”

“Well you certainly do get on my nerves,” Pastel acknowledged, then she turned her gaze on their group and shouted, “Schip! If someone insulted Ana would you still agree to be his teammate?”

“I . . . um . . . no?” Schip offered helplessly. He was blushing furiously, and Anavill felt herself doing the same.

She and Schip weren't exactly an official couple the way Bocan and Pastel were, even though a lot of people saw them that way. The truth was they hadn't really worked their way towards actually talking about it . . .

“And you, would you team up with someone who insulted Sharrot?” Pastel was presumably asking Tell but he was slow to answer.

“Me?” He asked in confusion.

“Don't try to make this their problem, they're minding their own business.” Bocan sighed.

Anavill frowned, she didn't like the idea of interfering with others but . . . well since Bocan's choice of teammate was clearly upsetting Pastel she cleared her throat loudly and said, “Uh, hey Bocan why not just pick a better teammate?”

“Better?” Bocan asked, folding his arms, “No such thing, Ana. The list of unpaired fighters is running short, it's a bit of a gamble taking Quash since he's so new but beggars can't be choosers.”

“You didn't even ask anyone stronger!” Pastel insisted.

“Name me one person stronger than Quash that hasn't got a teammate, and Soda-pop and the others don't count because we don't even know if they're going to have the time to participate.” Bocan said with a shrug. He folded his arms and said, “Come on, you've got your teammate, don't worry about mine.”

Telluce slouched a bit and sighed, mouthing names for a moment and counting up to nine on his fingers, shaking his head.

“So even if I could find a teammate at this rate,” He mumbled.

But Anavill told him again, “Remember I could be wrong about eight pairs, it could be sixteen pairs and eight matches to start.”

“I don't think there's that many fighters unless we _do_ get Soda and her team in.” Schip whispered. He folded his arms and said, “Tell, you team up with Ana.”

“What?” Telluce gawked, “Don't you want to fight in the tournament?”

“Fighting is more important to a Saiyan than it is to a Human,” Schip explained, “I don't need to be in the tournament, I can help you two train instead.”

Telluce smiled and shook his head. “Now I'm afraid that is where you're wrong. You've got it backwards, obviously it'd be better for me to help the two of you train.”

“Why? Don't you want to fight?” Schip asked.

“Of course. But like you say fighting is more important to a Saiyan and that's exactly why you can't back away from one. If you just stand down and ask me to take your place Turles will just keep talking about how much better Saiyans are, how you just need us to fight your fights.” Telluce shrugged.

“Does he say that?” Anavill asked, “Does he talk a lot about Saiyans being better?”

Telluce got a look as if he'd said something he shouldn't have, but surprisingly it was Bocan who saved him.

“Yeah, ask him if his brother trash talks Earthlings when he's the only Saiyan in a room full of us Earthlings. He's not his brother and it doesn't matter what anyone says if they're not brave enough to say it to your face.”

“Like 'you're a moron.'” Pastel said, nudging Bocan with her elbow. Anavill could tell, despite how vitriolic the pair could be at times, that Pastel hadn't been serious.

Bocan too didn't take her seriously. He said, “Wasn't looking at her, didn't count, see? Anyway of course there's a rivalry, but that's why it's important for us to come together in this tournament. And why not have a Saiyan teammate to show just one Saiyan at a time that Earthlings are strong?” Bocan said, nodding.

Anavill nodded, “Maybe. But Bocan, if you want a Saiyan teammate I know one Saiyan a lot stronger than Quash.”

“I already thought of Brassica, but she's not participating apparently.” Bocan shrugged.

“Right, but I mean someone else.” Anavill said, tilting her head towards Telluce a few times to try to send the message to Bocan.

Bocan however ran a gloved hand through his long blond hair and asked, “You don't mean Turles do you? I mean I thought he wasn't entering?”

“Tell, she means Tell!” Schip said in exasperation, “He's at least a hundred times stronger than Quash!”

Bocan laughed and said, “He's already got a teammate hasn't he?”

“No, why would you just assume that?” Tell blinked, “I mean since I'm not with Sharro,”

“It was Sharrot that told us.” Pastel shrugged. “When she teamed up with me she told me you already had a teammate.”

“I do?” Telluce asked with a frown.

He looked at Schip then at Anavill as if either of them could help. Anavill just shrugged, “It's news to me too.”

But Schip got a look of realization on his face and he said, “Wait a second, you said Kayle and Sharro were talking, but if Sharro's teamed with Pastel could that mean . . . she set you up with Kayle?”

Tell glowered, “What, you mean to say _she_ chose a teammate for _me_? Before she even had one for herself?”

“What's wrong with that?” Pastel laughed, “A girl's gotta look out for her guy, right? Maybe I should have picked Bocan's teammate, then he wouldn't be getting on my nerves.”

Despite having been worried about not having a teammate at all just moments ago Tell stood up, clearly upset. His eyes were hard and his fists were clenched. He said, “We're _not_ Earthlings, we're _Saiyans_.”

Without another word he stormed out of the cafeteria. Pastel tilted her head and asked, “What was that? Did I say something wrong?”

Anavill shrugged helplessly, looking for a way to explain any of it. “I . . . think . . .”'

“They don't form pair bonds, or couples,” Bocan said, “Sharrot doesn't _have_ a guy, at least not as far as Telluce is concerned and _if_ she did he probably doesn't think it'd be him. So her meddling in his affairs is probably a pretty big insult, even if her heart was in the right place because it's not her business.”

Pastel stared at Bocan for a moment, Bocan shrugged and smiled at her, “Or he has to use the bathroom?”

“You're _such_ a moron.” Pastel sighed.

“Damn, I was looking at her that time.” Bocan sighed too. “But hey, how many teams does that make? This could be a big tournament, eh?”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

It had been _years_ since anyone had talked to Gohan quite so much in quite so short a span of time as Card did. In fact it was possible, he supposed, that _no one_ had ever talked so much about so little. At least not when they were supposed to be quietly observing anything, not that he'd gone on many stakeouts before.

“It's not a stakeout,” Anise explained, scanning the area of trees and shrubs around the building's perimeter with binoculars, “It's more like . . . hunting.”

The three of them were perched on the rooftop of a building nearby and across the street from Capsule Corp, but in a prime position to spy out the grounds. Gohan wasn't sure what had caused the sharpshooters to choose that building, especially since they'd concluded the photographer had been in the bushes outside of Capsule Corp. It was a good place to watch the bushes, but not great for apprehending the perpetrator.

“But aren't hunters supposed to be quiet?” Gohan asked dryly.

“Only if they're afraid their prey will come into earshot.” Card laughed.

“Well anyway I don't know if any of this is really . . . appropriate?” Gohan suggested.

Card glanced over her shoulder at him, “Appropriate? Us? Are you insane?”

“Watch the 'us' there, I'm _very_ appropriate.” Anise said, still scanning the area.

Card on the other hand was watching through a sniper's scope. It wasn't currently attached to a rifle, instead she used it like a telescope. Gohan, for his part, was sensing energy.

“Fine, fine,” Cardamom sighed, “well mister Son, if you don't like hearing about the polls what do you want to discuss? Maybe you'd like to know the Captain's list of hobbies and hangouts? Or maybe you want to know if she's got any . . . sensitive areas?”

Gohan felt his cheeks flush, he quickly shook his head, “N-no, no, never mind that! Let's just uh . . . you know, figure out this photographer issue.”

“And impress the Cap.” Card teased.

Gohan sighed, “So, you're saying that people are betting on who's going to team up with who for the tournament?”

“No, no, no.” Card explained, “We're betting on who is going to do well, who is going to go the distance regardless of their teammates. Once the teams are announced we'll bet on that too, you know establish a spread based on who was likely to do well and who they ended up teamed with.”

Gohan nodded, “Okay, so who's the favorite?”

“Right now? Turles. He hasn't said he's entering, but everyone whose spent any time with him knows he's too competitive not to. No one knows about you yet, but I'll bet you get good odds.”

Gohan smiled, “Really? I mean . . . thanks, but I am a bit out of practice. Wait, how do you know I'm entering?”

“Well I didn't before.” Card teased. “Is that why you were trying to chat up the Captain? To get her permission or . . . Oh! You want her as your teammate huh?”

“What? Of course!” Gohan said trying to be the picture of innocence even though neither soldier was looking at him.

“That's a shame.” Anise said.

“It is?” Gohan asked, “Why?”

“She's in with the group betting that the Captain gets a date before the Lieutenant,” Card explained.

“Don't tell him that! You're going to skew the results!” Anise scolded.

“Oh who cares? I'm not running that one.” Card scoffed, “That one's Tara's, she does all the mushy ones. Anyway he's pretty obviously going to go for it eventually, and what are we doing if not helping him be more successful at that?”

“Finding a photographer.” Gohan answered. Then he asked, “I mean . . . assuming I _did_ want to ask the Captain out . . . in which way were you two helping me?”

“I'm not.” Anise said, “I'm doing my job . . . like a good soldier.”

“And I'm doing my job and helping civilians, like a _great_ soldier.” Card said, and stuck her tongue out even though Anise, still scanning the shrubs and trees around the perimeter wouldn't see it.

She did make an obscene hand gesture in response to it though.

Gohan said, “So it's obvious you two are really close friends. Is anyone . . . really close friends with the Captain?”

“Looking for a better 'in' than us?” Card asked.

“No one, her heart is a fortress of solitude, she keeps everyone at arm's length. She's a motherly figure watching over us, not a peer.” Anise said.

“Every mother gets lucky at least once, that's how they become mothers.” Card said sagely.

“Or they _adopt_.” Anise shot back.

Gohan could sense they were about to wind off on another tangent so he subtly steered the conversation back in the direction he wanted. He asked them, “So if I wanted to . . . get on the Captain's good side, get to know her better . . . is what I'm doing now going to help with that?”

“If we say 'no' are you going to ditch us?” Card asked.

“No.” Gohan said honestly, “I offered to help, didn't I? It wasn't just talk because I was out to get something.”

“You're getting a foot in the door,” Anise said, “but to be honest you're in a position now where you've just got to be like us . . . and wait . . . and watch.”

“Well I'm sensing,” Gohan explained.

“No, I mean the Captain!” Anise told him, “You've got to wait and watch _her_. You would have been on her radar already because you work with Trunks, right? But now she knows you've taken an interest in _her_. So you've got to let her process that, decide how she wants to respond to it. Then she'll come to you when the time is right.”

“Baloney!” Card said, “Be aggressive! Once we find the guy track her down and tell her yourself! Heck if we don't find him today give her a status report and ask her out for coffee right then and there, she likes coffee and she likes people who take charge!”

“Like _you'd_ know her kind of guy!” Anise scoffed.

“Does anyone?” Gohan interrupted, “I mean do you guys know what she likes? Come on, be direct with me, I could use all the help I can get!”

“We can see that, but you've got to understand the position we're in,” Card explained, “that's our commanding officer. Also some of us have placed bets on whether or not she or the lieutenant will get a date first, right? So obviously if we help you hook up with Captain Videl that'd make _us_ dirty rotten stinking cheaters.”

“Well . . .” Gohan trailed off, not really sure of how to argue with that but still feeling like he should.

“ _But,_ ” Anise said, “If we were the sort who knew her well we might tell you that her first instinct will be to shut you down and push you away.”

“Like an ugly puppy.” Card said.

“No such thing, all puppies are adorable.” Anise said.

“Well you know me,” Card said, “I prefer—”

“Shut it!” Anise snapped, interrupting her, “Now is not the time!”

“I'm just playing aro—“ Card began but then she fell silent on her own.

Gohan realized they must have spotted something. He focused and tried to sense the energy, but whoever it was they were so weak that it was actually difficult to pinpoint their location.

Instead he cast his sharp eyes in the direction the two women were looking, and saw some movement in the bushes across the street.

“I'm on it!” Gohan declared.

“No, wait!” Anise cried but Gohan was already leaping into action.

He sprang from the rooftop and flew at top speed for the bushes, “No prowler photographer is going to escape me!” Gohan declared as he flew through the air towards the rustling bushes and his certain success.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Maybe it was just proper respect but Trunks felt like a child around his mother sometimes.

Not in the sense that he thought she'd kiss his boo-boos and make them better—though she probably would, much to his embarrassment he realized—but because just questioning her felt out of line.

Still as he saw her pouring over mission files for the time machine he had to ask her, “Planning another jump?”

“Of course I am.” Bulma answered, looking up from her desk and smiling at him. “Would you like to go on this one?”

“No.” Trunks admitted. “I think . . . I think we have enough Saiyans for now.”

“But we can save more.” She said simply.

“Yes . . . but maybe we should save the time machines for emergencies.”

“We have Dragon Balls for those.” His mother pointed out.

Trunks frowned, “I know,” he said, “but they're still charging at the moment, right?”

“So are the time machines.” His mother said lightly.

Trunks took a deep breath and then said, “Mother . . . even though I feel like . . . like I have better _control_ over my darker side--”

“You mean your _Saiyan_ side.” She interrupted him and he closed his eyes for a moment, seeking patience.

Finally after a slow, steadying breath he nodded, “Right. My Saiyan side. Even though I can control it a little better . . . I can only imagine what it's like not having my human side to balance it.”

“What are you saying?” His mother asked him.

“I'm saying . . . well just look at how they are about this tournament, mother. The Saiyans want to fight because they want to fight, the earthlings want to compete to see who's better and for camaraderie but the Saiyans want to fight just because it's an excuse to fight.”

His mother steepled her fingers and asked, “So because of that you want me to stop bringing them back?”

“At least slow down until these ones properly assimilate.” Trunks suggested. “Once they do they can be better role models to any others we bring back.”

Surely she couldn't argue with that, he'd thought.

His aging mother massaged her temples and then asked, “Trunks . . . what are you asking me?”

“I'm . . . I guess I'm asking you to stop this, before it gets any more dangerous.” Trunks told her.

“You can't let them think you're scared of them.” She told him.

He blinked, “I'm not scared of them, I'm stronger than all of them combined!” Trunks said, “But the war is over and they're going to want to fight some more, what can we do?”

His mother shook her head and said, “The war isn't over. I thought that was why you were so stressed out, Trunks. I thought you knew.”

“Then maybe I just don't want to have to fight another one so close to home.” Trunks suggested.

Then his mother smiled and nodded. “I agree, that would be awful.” She told him and his heart relaxed just a bit until she said what she said next.

“So maybe it's time for you to stop acting like a kennel owner whose been bitten and start acting like the Prince of All Saiyans. These are your subjects and you don't even trust them, you think the worst of them. If they're excited about tournaments maybe we just need to have frequent tournaments, if they want to fight just for the sake of fighting why not _let_ them? Instead of fearing them, or asking them to assimilate why not try to meet them halfway? After all aren't you and Gohan uniquely suited to doing exactly that?”

Trunks sighed. Sometimes parents just didn't understand.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The outcome of Gohan's perilous attack, will it help him with Videl or not? And Soda and her team arrive to hear of the tournament and start throwing their hats in, but this might only encourage a certain Saiyan to get involved as well. This and more in the next episode of Dragon Ball COED . . ._

 


	90. Punishable by Death

**Episode Ten**

**'Punishable by Death'**

 

The afternoon at Capsule Corp. was surprisingly quiet. Mai had gotten used to the fighters training most of the day, and while they were no doubt still about their training wherever they'd gone most of them had decided to take to the wildernesses and wastelands to practice in private.

It made some sense, but when most of them could sense each other's power she wasn't sure how effective it would be, and she mentioned as much to the Captain as they sat together in the officer's lounge. Or rather the executive lounge, she had to remember that Capsule Corp. HQ was not a military base, despite the strong military presence.

“Well come on Mai, you of all people should remember that fighting isn't all about who's stronger. A weaker opponent can win with the right techniques, after all.” Captain Videl told her as she shared her quandary.

“In a real battle, certainly,” Mai agreed. “But in a tournament wouldn't it be harder to employ the sort of strategies that make up for the kinds of differences in strength we're discussing?”

“Perhaps. But I'm not saying they need to bluff anyone with a flashlight, it doesn't matter whether you're on a battle field or in a tournament whenever you fight you should always fight smart.” Captain Videl told her.

Mai nodded slowly, considering that. Then she asked, “So training in private is a way of fighting smart? Wouldn't it be smarter to train together so you can see what the others are capable of?”

“Well that's exactly why you don't. Training separately keeps your opponent from knowing what you can do, and it keeps you from getting demoralized by someone who seems much stronger than you.” Videl explained. “As for getting a better idea of what your opposition is capable of, well it's a good idea with your enemies but in a tournament for friends it'd be a bit underhanded.”

Mai nodded again, faster this time and said, “I understand, Captain. I had it backwards, I assumed that since this was a tournament between friends they'd want one another to know what they could do, of course it makes more sense to keep the details hidden until the competition.”

Videl smiled, “Exactly. And like you said, they can sense one another so most of them have a pretty good idea of what they'll be up against anyway, right?”

“I suppose they must.” Mai agreed.

It was about that time that the doors burst open and Trunks' mentor and friend Son Gohan came in, followed by Cardamom and Anise who led and followed behind someone Mai hadn't seen before.

He was well built, very athletic and muscular but he didn't really seem like a fighter. He had long straight blond hair and wore a camera strapped around his neck.

“Captain Videl, you'll be happy to know madam that our mission was a success! We have apprehended the culprit.”

“Did you?” Videl asked, and Gohan failed to notice the underlying danger in her tone.

“Yes ma'am!” Gohan said, “Step forward, you!”

The blond man did, though he certainly didn't seem repentant or even intimidated despite being flanked by two Royal Guardswomen and staring down a world renowned Captain of the Royal Guard.

Mai had never seen him before, but it seemed he knew the Captain because he greeted her warmly and with the air of someone familiar to her. “Videl! I'd heard you were stationed here now. How have you been?”

The Captain raised a single eyebrow at him and for a moment it seemed like she wasn't going to answer before finally she said, “I've been well. But it looks like you can't say the same, Sharpner. That's an awfully nice camera you've got there, been taking pictures around this protected facility?”

“What? Oh this old thing? Forgot I had it,” Sharpner said with a smile that Mai instantly mistrusted. “Oh come on, Videl. I was bird watching and this karate guy here flies out of the sky and grabs me, I would have called the cops but he said he was going to bring me to you so I thought hey, at least we could have a little bit of a reunion, right?”

“You two . . . know each other?” Gohan asked, sounding a little bit deflated, and Mai could understand why.

Instead of catching the culprit it was entirely possible he'd just captured one of the Captain's old friends.

But Mai doubted it. The camera was too obvious to ignore.

“We're acquainted.” Captain Videl answered Gohan simply before turning her glare on Sharpner, “So bird watching? Never figured you for much of an animal lover, Sharpner.”

“Well it's a habit I picked up.” Sharpner explained.

“Forget to pick up some binoculars too?” Videl asked.

“Oh well . . . uh . . . the camera has a zoom function that works much better than binoculars, and when I see a bird I like I can . . . take a picture?”

“So you were bird watching using the camera, but forgot you had the camera on you. A likely story.” Gohan scoffed.

“I'll handle this, thank you.” Captain Videl told him, and he raised his hands in surrender. Then _she_ said, “So you were bird watching using a camera, but forgot you had it on you?”

Sharpner smiled again, “Uh . . . come on Videl, you know you can trust me!”

“I trust you about as far as I can throw you, do you want to see how far that is?” Videl asked him, she tilted her head towards the balcony just outside of the lounge, “There's a nice spot to find out.”

“Oh I'm good. You're even feistier than I remember!” Sharpner said but Mai could see his cool was starting to crack.

The Lieutenant decided to step forward, she folded her arms and asked, “And what kind of birds were you watching on that balcony two days ago?”

Sharpner smiled what he no doubt thought to be a disarming smile and answered, “Uh . . . love birds?”

“I thought so.” Captain Videl nodded. “It's a pleasure to see you again Sharpner, but I'm afraid you're prying into military secrets. That's a threat to the King, and that's a crime punishable by death.”

“Wh-what?” Sharpner gulped, “I—I no way!”

“D-death?” Even Gohan seemed surprised by this.

“That's right, death.” Captain Videl nodded gravely.

Mai played along, “Sentence to be carried out immediately, ma'am?”

“Right away, Lieutenant. I'll let you do the honors.”

Mai pulled her firearm from its holster and before she could even cock it Sharpner fell to his knees pleading.

“Please Videl, you know me, I'm no threat to the King! I'm a loyal subject, haven't you ever heard of freedom of the press?”

“Oh, so you admit to being with the press now?” Captain Videl asked with a bit of a sneer, “But what about journalistic integrity, and printing lies about Royal Officers?”

“I'll never take another picture again!” Sharpner cried, “I never wrote any articles, I just gave them the pictures!”

“A likely story, but even if it's true that just means that once we get rid of you we get rid of our security breach.” Mai said, now cocking her gun.

Sharpner didn't wet himself at least, but he did turn very pale and faint.

The Captain turned her glare on the two troopers and Son Gohan, “Well looks like he's out . . . and might I ask just what possessed you to apprehend him? I only ordered you to observe the photographer so we could build a case against him and have this handled legally!”

“Uh . . . well . . . that . . . _would_ make more sense . . .” Gohan was saying, scratching his cheek and slouching in shame. Slouching he was _almost_ able to meet the Captain on eye level.

“Uh, apologies Captain, it was our fault.” Cardamom said.

“ _Our_ fault?” Anise demanded.

“We didn't tell him this mission wasn't to apprehend, ma'am.” Card explained, “When he spotted this vermin he couldn't stop himself, his sense of justice was just too strong, ma'am! It was like something out of a super hero comic book!”

“So then this was _your_ fault?” Videl demanded, and both the troopers and Gohan snapped to attention at the bark in her voice. “Who told you to take him with you anyway?”

“Well he seemed a useful sort, ma'am!” Card cried.

“Very helpful, ma'am!” Anise agreed.

Videl nodded slowly and said, “Well what's done is done, and we've caught a lucky break that it's someone I know well enough to maybe salvage this situation, but I don't think he was lying when he said he didn't write the actual article.”

“The person who did was credited as anonymous,” Mai said, having read the article herself so many times she'd almost memorized it, “it _could_ have been him.”

“Like I said, I don't think so, but we'll find out when he wakes up. For now let's throw him into one of those cells and keep him under guard.” The Captain said, then as an afterthought she added, “Make sure it's normal gravity, we don't want to kill him.”

“We don't?” Anise joked, then instantly and visibly regretted it when she fell under Videl's glare.

“Get to it, you two!” Captain Videl ordered. Gohan was about to help them, but the Captain stopped him, “Hold it you! I didn't say you three, _they're_ going to take him away, _you're_ going to stay here and answer some questions.”

“Gohan looked beaten but he nodded and stood as if at attention ready to be berated by Videl.

However once the two soldiers and the captured photographer were gone Videl's expression actually softened a bit.

Not enough that Gohan would notice, but enough that Mai, who knew her well, did.

“Awfully over eager, aren't you?” She asked him.

“I uh . . . I was just trying to get the job done.” Gohan said. “Uh, don't be too mad at them, I think they did _try_ to tell me . . . uh but I was already flying after the guy and . . . uh . . .”

“Uh-huh.” Videl nodded, folding her arms. “Well I can't fault your eagerness to please . . . I mean I could, but I won't. So . . . you asked me before about free time?”

Free time? Mai was shocked, was this man trying to ask the Captain out on a _date_?

“I did,” Gohan admitted, blushing slightly and strengthening Mai's suspicion that indeed his intentions towards her Captain were romantic, “I uh . . . well I mean if you _did_ have the time I uh . . . well the tournament is coming up you know and you're a fighter, and I'm a fighter, and well . . .”

“Oh, you wanted to ask me to fight in the tournament with you?” Captain Videl sounded surprised.

Mai was certainly surprised too, that wasn't at all what she'd thought Gohan intended to do. But she nodded slightly to herself all the same. That made a lot more sense and it was far more appropriate. _That Sharpner guy and that article must have thrown off my perception,_ Mai thought to herself.

“W-well yes.” Gohan said. “I uh . . . I haven't been able to really train that much in years, you know, being uh . . . deceased and all, and I know you haven't um . . . trained much with Trunks yet . . . so I thought since _I trained_ Trunks I could help _you_ out, and since you're uh . . . on the lower end of the power spectrum right now? Not that there's anything wrong with that! But uh, it'd balance out in the tournament if we both competed.”

Captain Videl smiled and nodded slowly, “Well . . . all right. I guess that wouldn't be so bad. Here I was thinking you were going to ask me out or something.”

“Oh-ho-ho, I uh . . . I would never do that!” Gohan cried. Mai nodded her approval at his propriety, but then to her shock he added, “But I mean, out of curiosity if I _had_ , what uh . . . what do you think you would have--”

“Said? Well we'll never know now.” Captain Videl told him with a slight smile, “But in any case why don't you and I talk about it over dinner tonight?”

“Oh uh . . . dinner? Um . . .”

“I know a place, meet me here at six.” Videl told him, Mai's jaw was on the floor.

Metaphorically speaking.

Gohan nodded, clearly dumbfounded, “Uh ye-yeah, six it is! I'll meet you at six! Right at six-o-clock . . . uh yeah . . .”

He backed towards the door, still clearly as astounded as Mai was but likely for very different reasons.

When he was finally gone, Videl said, “A bit awkward, but at least he's cute.”

“Uh . . . ma'am . . .” Mai stammered, not really sure what to say to that.

Videl raised an eyebrow at her now, “What?”

“I can't believe you . . . you just . . . asked him out!” Mai cried.

“He seems harmless enough.” Videl shrugged. “Anyway I'm going to be fighting in this tournament thing with him, I might as well at least see what he's like.”

“So you asked him out on a _date_?” Mai gawked.

“What, I date.” Videl scoffed, “Or did you think I was like Card and Tara?”

“What? N-no, I just . . . it's just . . . you're an officer of the Royal Guard, and—wait, what about Card and Tara?”

Videl didn't answer, instead she asked, “Mai, are you under some illusion that people stop dating when they become officers?” Videl tapped her chin in exaggerated deep thought, then she adopted a look of mock shock, “Is . . . is that _your_ reason?”

“I-I just . . . propriety . . .” Mai stammered.

“Oh my . . . you poor thing.” Videl smiled. “It's just a date, people go on them all the time. Heck, given the Earth's reduced population people could probably stand to go on them a bit more _frequently_.”

That just made Mai blush, she looked away and said, “B-but isn't it a bit unseemly? I mean he trained Trunks but since he died and came back he hasn't aged so he's barely any older than Trunks now so--”

“So I'll seem like an older woman dating a younger man?” Videl laughed, “Is _that_ all? Well it happens, anyway we're the same age technically and he's part Saiyan too, you've seen how slowly they age so who's to say not being dead would have changed things at all?”

Mai shrugged helplessly, and acknowledged, “I . . . suppose it's a moot point.”

“Hmm. I wonder though who you're really asking for.” Videl smirked, “Quite the reversal isn't it? In my case we're the same age but he looks younger, in your case you look the same age, but _you're_ older.”

Mai's cheeks burned, “I-I don't know what you mean, Captain!”

“Oh I think you do.” Videl said with a smile. She patted Mai on the shoulder and said, “Well you know Mai . . . you're only young once. _Twice_ in your case, but for most of us it's just once. In the end it'd be the same for you no matter who you took an interest in, either you find someone close to your physical age and feel like a cradle robber, or you find someone close to whatever your actual age is and seem to the world like a grave robber.”

“There is a third option, I could just choose neither.” Mai pointed out.

“Yes, and if that makes you _happy_ then that's fine. But I think you're a bit _happier_ since I assigned you to keeping an eye on our local billionaire philanthropist. There's not a lot of reason to let the world's perception slow you down, after all what does the world know when it comes to your heart? As long as nobody's getting hurt and everyone's on board there's no reason not to follow your heart . . . you know, within the law.”

“Uh . . . um . . .” Mai managed but she wasn't really able to put out real words at the moment.

Videl patted her shoulder gently, “Just think about it, huh? After all thanks to Sharpner there you've already seen how the world would react, and there was no national emergency declared.”

Mai frowned, she had to admit that that was true . . . but could she really ever be as direct as Captain Videl had just been?

“Anyway think on it.” The Captain told her, “Soda and her team will be here soon and Trunks is still meeting with his mother so we'll have to greet them and tell them about this new tournament.”

“Oh . . . right . . .” Mai nodded.

But she thought about what Captain Videl had said. 'As long as nobody's getting hurt,' she'd said . . . but what about Soda?

_Should I talk to her about it?_ Mai wondered, then felt a chill run up her spine. She couldn't even effectively talk to Captain Videl about it, and Videl was the one broaching the subject. How would she _ever_ bring it up, let alone discuss matters with Captain Soda?

Captain Videl was right about one thing, she'd have to think on it.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Turles hadn't spent a lot of time around Son Gohan, he hadn't known Kakarot and he hadn't liked Raditz much so he felt no real connection to their son and nephew respectively. All the same he recognized Gohan as a strong fighter, perhaps someone who could be a threat to him without relying on transformation and obviously a danger _with_ it.

Still seeing the orange-garbed fighter coming down the stairs looking as pleased as the Oozaru that ate the Arcturian Megacanary he had to comment, “You're in a good mood. What's got your spirits so high?”

“Huh? Oh . . . hello Turles. Uh, nothing I just uh . . . I managed to catch that photographer and in the process find a partner for the tournament.”

“A what?” Turles blinked, “You're fighting with the photographer?”

“What? No, it was just catching him that let me fight with Captain Videl.” Gohan explained.

_Videl? Why her? She's a gnat as far as power levels go,_ Turles thought, but he wouldn't say it just in case there was some big secret he didn't know about.

Instead he did ask Gohan, “But you're too strong to enter, aren't you?”

“Well I've taken one of the weakest fighters as my partner so it should balance out. Same as Rhubara and Okran, right?” Gohan asked.

Turles folded his arms, “I guess . . . so wait . . . does that mean if I take a weak partner I can enter too?”

Gohan looked a little uncertain, “Uh . . . well . . . I mean . . . probably? I would ask Trunks first . . . and remember I am a lot more out of practice than you, I'm probably more in Rhubara and Cauliflora's ball park than yours.”

_They're close enough to me for me to take notice,_ Turles thought, _and you are too._

He smirked and said, “I'd better go make sure the last weakling isn't snatched up, though I doubt anyone will have asked him.”

“You mean Brock, right?” Gohan asked, correctly guessing who the next weakest fighter after Videl would be.

At least since Okran was already in the tournament and doing the very important job of convincing Rhuby to side with him beyond it.

He'd known that Okran would be useful, but he hadn't expected Brock to be as well. Now he was glad he'd brought them both back.

After all what better chance to establish his dominance over the other Saiyans than by defeating each and every one of them in a tournament? And best of all even though Gohan would be participating he wouldn't be allowed to transform into a Super Saiyan, that gave _Turles_ the advantage because of the power he'd gotten from the fruit of the tree.

He smirked and said, “Just like with Videl it'll be a great way to accelerate his training, and anyway you wouldn't deny me a bit of fun too, would you?”

“I . . . guess not.” Gohan said, sounding a little uncertain. “You'll sure be a tough one to beat, I look forward to getting the chance though.”

He said the words, but his uncertainty was too plain. Just like with Trunks he was strong but he wasn't a real Saiyan.

A _real_ Saiyan would have relished the chance to fight a strong opponent, Gohan acted like it was some sort of . . . unsavory task he'd have to perform.

But Turles smiled a false smile and said, “I can barely wait now. The fighter who trained Prince Trunks and made him a Super Saiyan? It'd be a honor to fight you in the tournament. You and I would be a real stand-shaking match, one for the history books of this world. A real fight for _everyone_ to take note of.”

Gohan smiled, “Yeah, I hope I don't disappoint you.”

“Oh don't be silly,” Turles said, turning and walking away to find Brock and thinking to himself, _you already have._

But all the same, if he could learn the secrets of becoming a Super Saiyan from battling with one, even one restrained from becoming what they were . . .

If _he_ could become a Super Saiyan . . . if _he_ could gain the kind of power that Trunks had . . .

The young warrior's heart skipped a beat at even the thought, the almost heretical thought that perhaps _he_ could become the Prince—no, the _King_ of all Saiyans.

After all, what was he doing if not exactly what King Vegeta had done? He was uniting his people under one authority, his own. He'd recognized the weakness of the enemy, despite their hospitality, and he would find the time and the opportunity to strike and exploit it. He'd make his people strong, he'd make the Saiyans strong and destroy their enemies.

All of their enemies. He was the strongest _pure_ Saiyan, and if he could prove himself over the half-breeds . . . well surely his people would rather follow him, royal blood or no. Lamson understood, the others would too.

The only reason his Crusher Corps. wasn't openly dedicated to him and him alone was because for all his might he still wasn't the strongest Saiyan, at least not in their eyes. But if he could prove it . . . if he could show them that he was strong without the risk of actually going to war with Prince Trunks . . .

Of course failure could ruin everything . . . if he _lost_ they might not follow him at all, his rebellion might end before it really began. Okran and Lamson could talk him up as much as they liked to Rhubara and Cauliflora, but if either of them beat him in the tournament . . . well what if the others chose to follow them instead?

The two of them were still a threat to him, their growth was comparable if slightly slower and their strength rivaled his. Cauliflora's older self had even unlocked the secrets of becoming a Super Saiyan, a secret that she might well share with her younger self. _I can't afford to lose against anyone, but against those two in particular,_ Turles thought.

But what to do about them?

In a tournament accidents could happen . . . but two of them would be suspicious, and besides he'd rather have them on his side.

Turles was forced to do some serious thinking as he roamed the halls of Capsule Corp looking for Brock, sensing his energy by itself past the back exit of the headquarters, where he finally found the older Saiyan practicing combat routines alone near the garden, most other fighters having gone off with their teammates to train.

Watching the elite Saiyan who at one time would have been far too powerful for Turles to ever look down upon practice helped the younger warrior to see just how far he himself had come. Brock seemed so sluggish and low-tier compared to what Turles had become accustomed to seeing that he almost didn't want to ask him to compete in the tournament. In fact he almost wanted to smother him with a pillow so he wouldn't embarrass their race.

After all if they entered and they _lost . . ._ if _he_ lost because Brock was too old and slow and useless . . .

Still he'd made up his mind, and there was no one else. He told the weakest Saiyan, “Brock, you and I are going to enter the tournament as a team.”

“Are you certain?” Brock asked.

“My strength will make up for your weakness.” Turles told him. “Once Lamson and Okran succeed in bringing Cauliflora and Rhubara over to our side we'll have all the strength we need to move forward, but taking the chance to show everyone my strength won't hurt, and you might be just weak enough to allow me to do that.”

“I'm not weak.” Brock snarled.

“You are compared to me, old man. Me and every other Saiyan here, but don't worry, I wouldn't want you embarrassing me in the tournament, I'll get you in fighting shape.”

“I'm so honored.” Brock said without a hint of sincerity, but he did get up and follow Turles.

He would do as he was told because he knew Turles was the strongest, and that gave Turles a bit of encouragement moving forward. If Brock would obey him surely the others would too . . . he just needed to win in the tournament. He needed to defeat Son Gohan.

However because he had been so lost in his own ambitious thoughts, and because he could not sense him Turles didn't notice, nor would he have cared about the red headed giant sitting peacefully beneath a tree in the garden nearby. After all, what threat could one dozy Earthling present?

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Mai has a decision to make, can a discussion with Soda help sort things out? It won't be the only discussion taking place, can Okran really convince Rhuby to side with Turles or is she doomed to failure? And will Sixteen maintain his silence? Find out next time!_

 


	91. Proper Monsters

**Episode Eleven**

**'Proper Monsters'**

 

It wasn't particularly nostalgic for Soda to be back in Capsule Corp, she'd been away for the most part for months after all, and she'd only trained there for a few months before going into hiding on Master Roshi's island. Still there was a certain familiarity and she was always glad to be there.

She smiled at Captain Videl and Lieutenant Mai and saluted her senior Captain, who returned the salute and offered a greeting.

“Welcome,” Videl said, “It's a pleasure to have you back, Captain. Bulma and Trunks are having an important discussion at the moment, so they couldn't be here to greet you in person I'm afraid.”

_Well that's too bad._ Soda thought, but she said, “That's fine. King's Elite reporting, ready to train as scheduled, Captain.”

“Understood. Though it could get harder to requisition time for it in the future.” Videl informed her.

“Why's that?” Soda wondered, “Is there some problem with the machine?”

“No, but it's in far greater demand now that there's a tournament going.” Videl explained.

“They're letting the people entering into the King's tournament use the gravity control room?” Soda asked in surprise.

“No, the tournament is for trained fighters.” An unexpected voice answered her and Soda turned slightly to see Sixteen coming down the hallway.

Android Sixteen that was, and she might never get used to that.

Of course she'd been with Bulma when she'd found and activated the giant, she'd seen her reprogram him though it had all been over her head, she didn't understand computers anywhere near the way Bulma did.

But she had grown up in a world half-destroyed by Androids Seventeen and Eighteen and the idea of activating one on purpose had sent chills up, down and all around her spine. It wasn't that she mistrusted Bulma's ability so much as she just didn't feel comfortable with the idea of such a powerful machine running around with nothing short of even more powerful fighters to keep it in check.

_Him. To keep him in check,_ she thought. After all Sixteen wasn't a thing . . . she'd even said so to the King himself.

The public story was that Sixteen was just a humanoid alien, sort of like Ganmo but not lacking a nose. The _classified_ story was that Android Sixteen was a robot built by Capsule Corp. or more specifically Bulma to try to monopolize on Doctor Gero's designs and use them for good. Obviously when Sixteen's activation had served to help stop General Boreal's attack no one had even questioned who he was or why he'd come or where he'd come from.

But afterwards people were curious and a story had to be fabricated. They couldn't very well say that he was another of Gero's androids.

But Soda knew and it made the already intimidating giant even more intimidating even though he seemed friendly enough, if a little detached.

“Hey big guy, how's it going?” Soda greeted with a bit of uncertainty.

“I am well.” Sixteen said flatly.

“Great. So . . . what do you mean?” Soda asked him, though she looked to Videl and Mai as well to indicate that they were free to explain too.

“He means there's a second tournament.” Mai said, taking her up on that.

“There will be a second tournament for the fighters who are properly trained.” Sixteen clarified.

Videl folded her arms and said, “And naturally Trunks says you and your squad are welcome to compete as well. Though it might be trickier for you.”

“Why's that? Because we don't have access to the gravity room as often as the others?” Soda asked, feeling a bit of defensive pride for her team, “We're still just as tough, Captain, you'll see!”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Videl said. “Actually it'll be tricky because the tournament is going to be a doubles tournament, but the rule that's been running so far is that everyone should pick a partner they're not used to fighting with. It's led to some interesting pairs, but since your whole squad trains together frequently . . .”

“Not as frequently as you'd think,” Soda said, scratching her chin and examining her Elites.

Chillax, Ribuai, Beeta and Konpeito were the toughest, but Tathy had that indestructibility going for her. The other four, Chillax's old elite team were solid enough but probably hadn't trained enough to be on par with a lot of the people Trunks would be entering into this tournament.

But still she had a feeling they'd be able to cobble together something respectable.

“Please bear in mind that Turles will be entering the competition.” Sixteen informed her. “He is much more powerful than you are, you will need to train quite extensively to be able to compete with him.”

Soda laughed and expertly kept her nervousness out of it. “Turles? Well I'd be lying if I said I was confident but I still think it'd be worth it to enter just for the chance to see how I measure up.”

“You will need a powerful teammate.” Sixteen informed her.

“I didn't even know that Turles was going to compete.” Videl said, “Where did you hear that?”

“In the garden. Turles asked Brock to be his teammate, Brock agreed.” Sixteen informed her.

“You just overheard them?” Mai asked.

“I overhear a great deal, especially from Turles.” Sixteen said.

Soda would probably regret later not asking him to elaborate on that, but she was still a little thrown off and she tried to hide it by asking, “Who is Brock? Is he strong?”

“A new Saiyan they retrieved.” Videl told her.

“Oh . . . bully for them.” Soda said, folding her arms and saying, “But if he's brand new he won't have had the chance to get very strong, is that why Turles is teaming up with him?”

“Yes.” Sixteen answered her. “The strongest fighters are pairing with weaker teammates so that they do not make things too one-sided against the more moderate fighters.”

“That is what Gohan eluded to when he asked me,” Videl nodded.

Soda blinked in surprise, “You're entering too, Captain?”

“Of course. I _am_ a fighter too, after all.” Videl told her.

Soda nodded. Now there was no way she wouldn't enter. She smiled and said, “Well I'll look forward to it. What about you big guy? Who are you paired up with?”

“I do not believe my entry would be advisable.” Sixteen said simply. There was no hint of disappointment, he was just stating a fact.

“Don't be like that, of course you can enter if you want to.” Videl told him, “Mai can talk to Trunks about it for you, she's got a way with him.”

“I—uh . . . yes, ma'am . . .” Mai said, looking down in embarrassment.

Soda smirked and wondered what that was about. She wouldn't put it past Mai to have developed a crush on Trunks, after all she'd done so herself, hadn't she?

“If that is the case I will extend my offer of teamwork towards Captain Soda.” Sixteen declared.

“Yeah.” Soda said, still distracted wondering about Mai's potential feelings for Trunks.

But once her brain caught up she asked, “Wait, what? Me? Hey, are you calling me weak?”

“No.” Sixteen said flatly, “I believe that you have great potential, however you are behind several of your own fighters and have been since the day I first joined the EDF. Your progress has been stunted by your earlier injury, and your return to the Royal Guard and you will require a powerful teammate if you are to take on Turles.”

“Well you two certainly haven't worked together before.” Videl commented, and Soda had to admit that that much was definitely true.

“I . . . uh . . . I couldn't let you carry me like that, you know?” Soda struggled a bit just to say so. She didn't want to be rude and refuse but . . . Android Sixteen? _Android_ Sixteen? What if he went haywire or something?

She had to admit she wasn't blind to how unfair her concerns were, but she couldn't help them. _Maybe this would be the best thing for me after all,_ she thought to herself, clasping her hands behind her back she bowed her head slightly and said, “I mean, if you're certain I wouldn't be a burden it would be an honor.”

Sixteen nodded slightly, and then simply left without another word.

“That was odd.” Chillax said.

“He's just like that. You get used to it.” Videl said with a shrug. “Anyway the rest of you might as well make use of the room while you have the option, you can think on what sort of teams you'd like to form later.”

“I'll see about making a list of entries.” Mai added.

“Sounds good . . . all right then everyone, let's get to it.” Soda said, feeling strange about this prospective tournament.

She'd be fighting alongside one of Doctor Gero's androids . . . she'd joined the Royal Guard to fight those metal monstrosities and now she was going to fight alongside a reformed one.

_No, not reformed, reprogrammed. That's what makes me so uncomfortable about him, he's not the way he is because of any choice he made, he is the way he is because Bulma programmed him to be._ Soda thought. _What was I even thinking?_

Soda was lost in thought so she almost didn't hear Mai when the Lieutenant asked her, “Uh, before you train ma'am, could I have a word?”

“You can have several as long as they don't take too long.” Soda told her with a smile. She waved her team on to the elevator, she'd catch up to them. “What's up?” She asked.

“Uh . . .” Mai hesitated until Videl spoke up.

“Don't speak so informally, you'll break her brain.” Videl warned, then added, “I think I know what this is about. I'll make myself scarce.”

“You will? Why?” Soda asked, but Videl was already heading up the stairs.

The younger woman sighed and put her hands behind her head in confusion for a moment before remembering what Videl had just said and straightening up and trying to look more formal speaking to Mai. “Never mind that. Go ahead, Lieutenant.”

“Um . . . I assume you've seen the papers?” Mai asked.

“Hmm? Not today, why?” Soda asked her.

Mai blushed and said, “Well it was a day ago but . . . uh . . . it's not important . . .”

“It was important enough that you brought it up. We're alone now, which only makes this feel more ominous. Just say what's on your mind.” Soda said, then added a, “Lieutenant,” just to keep things a bit formal she supposed.

Mai frowned and said, “Well . . . uh the papers accused me to fraternizing with Trunks and he mentioned that they didn't do that sort of thing when you two had dated . . . uh . . . well I just wanted to discuss it with you so that there wouldn't be any . . . misunderstanding?”

Soda smiled. _So I was right,_ she thought, _I wonder how Trunks feels about it . . . he and I haven't spent much time together since that date, we've both just been too busy and that's not likely to change soon . . . does he see a lot of Mai?_

The blond woman folded her arms and said, “I get the impression that even if the paper was printing falsehoods they might not have been that far off the mark, am I right?”

“No ma'am, Trunks and I are most definitely not fraternizing . . . at least not to the degree they accused us of.”

“Okay, well what degree are you hoping for?” Soda asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well . . .” Mai hesitated and Soda nodded.

“Right. Look . . . you don't need my permission, but I'm honored that you asked for it. If you want to ask Trunks out you should do it, the way that man worries he could probably use a night out, which was the whole reason I asked him out before,” Soda said, and it was partially true.

Honestly she'd wanted to ask him out anyway, but his stress over the upcoming battle at the time had offered her a good avenue of attack. Something she lacked these days. As much as she might regret it she had to accept that _if_ she and Trunks were meant to happen they were meant to happen later, when their lives weren't quite this busy.

She unfolded her arms and said, “So . . . you know, do what you like.”

“I . . . uh . . . yes ma'am.” Mai said, sounding surprised.

Probably not as surprised as Soda was herself though. She thought to herself, _I tell another woman to ask out the guy I like, I agree to be teammates with someone who scares me and on that same note I am not wholly comfortable with how_ uncomfortable _being around the Android makes me. This just isn't my day._

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Bass had led them to a rocky hilly area to the south to train. It was largely abandoned but Rhubara could sense that Cauli and Lams were training not all that far away. She wondered if that had affected Bass's decision to train in the place, maybe the thought was whatever landscape would survive Cauli's training would survive Rhubara's own.

Not that she was really going all out with it at the moment, for now her mother was still far too weak for that.

Instead Rhubara was easily avoiding her in their sparring match. She'd done it before in the Arena, just dodge the opponent until they tire themselves out then maybe give them a gentle shove if they wouldn't yield on their own.

Of course the arena fights hadn't always been such a miss-match, it wouldn't have been any fun for the audience if they were. They'd never been that close either, it _would_ have been fun for Rhuby and Cauli if they were. Even then they were ten times as strong as they had been on the war world. All the same training with Okran didn't require a tremendous amount of her focus, and Bass could probably notice.

But he didn't reprimand her. Maybe he understood, the difference between their strength was so extreme that there was just no way for Rhubara to keep focus.

_This is such a waste, I'm going to fall behind Cauli at this rate,_ Rhuby thought to herself in frustration.

Or maybe this was Bass's own way of training her, she realized. After all the Namekian warrior could sense energy better than she could, had he brought her to a place near where Cauli was training to distract her?

Whether that had been the plan or not it was the effect, and it became especially apparent when Okran managed to land a roundhouse kick right into her face.

Rhuby wasn't made of stone, she _felt_ it, but it didn't _hurt_. Not really, anyway.

Okran had a look of triumph for an instant but it was quickly replaced by a look of disbelief.

“Are you all right, Rhuby? Keeping focused?” Bass asked with a slight smirk and Rhuby shrugged.

“I'm fine. Sorry I got distracted, Sensei.” Rhuby said.

“You won't get to the next battle if you don't focus on the current fight, remember that.” Bass told her. “There are a lot of people in this tournament who can knock you out if all you're thinking about is taking someone else on, there might not be such a power difference if you get distracted in the tournament.”

Rhuby nodded and turned back to Okran but the older female wasn't attacking her anymore, instead she was staring, pale as if she'd seen a ghost.

“Y-you just took it?” Okran demanded, “I hit you with everything I had and you act like it was nothing?”

Rhuby shrugged, “Sorry.”

“Don't be sorry,” Her mother cried, “warriors are never sorry!”

“Maybe not, but fighters can be.” Rhuby shot back, “Anyway I wasn't paying attention, so--”

Okran ran her fingers through her spiky black hair and shook her head. She let out a shout, but to Rhubara's confusion it wasn't one of anger or frustration.

It sounded like elation.

“Are you kidding me? This is insane! You're like Frieza! You're a nightmare!” Okran said, and even though the words were insulting Rhubara got the impression that her mother meant them as a compliment.

And it was weird.

“Well I've been at this a while longer than you.”

“Don't be ridiculous, I could never be as powerful as you are!” Okran told her, “I have to admit it, I'm _proud_ of you! You're more than I could ever hope to be!”

Rhuby folded her arms, “Don't get discouraged! You're giving up after one day?”

“Don't be an idiot, I'm not giving up!” Okran told her, “I'm excited to see just how powerful I can become, but that doesn't mean I'm going to deny reality and pretend I can ever surpass you. It's no wonder Turles is so impressed by you!”

“What? Turles is?” Rhuby raised an eyebrow.

She turned to Bass who shrugged as if to say 'like I'd know' and then looked back at her mother, “What do you mean? He's never impressed with anyone but himself, even Prince Trunks' strength he just accepts as a matter of fact and not anything special.”

Okran shook her head, “He thinks you're something special, that's why I'm here you know. I had to see for myself. Turles is so strong that he destroyed my scouter when I tried to scan him, he's so strong that I can _feel_ his strength without being able to sense energy the way you and your friend here can so when _he_ told _me_ that he thought of _you_ as one of the strongest? Well I thought 'there's no way that big-eared brat of mine is _that_ impressive.'”

Rhuby folded her arms, “I'm so . . . honored?” She decided was the word that would best suit the situation without being too much of a lie. Really she felt insulted.

So it took some third party's opinion, someone she'd been just as strong as in the past for her mother to even believe that she might be strong in her own right now? And then it took her tanking a full powered shot from her mother before Okran would even believe she really was that powerful?

But Okran didn't seem to see the insult in her behavior, or how infuriating it was for her daughter to only now be treated like a peer. _Now that I'm strong enough to kill you with a sneeze you're going to suddenly be_ proud _of me?_ Rhuby thought bitterly. _At least Turles recognizes that I'm strong,_ Rhuby thought. But then she had an uncomfortable feeling.

Had Turles brought back her mother . . . to get on her good side? There was just no way, they were from the same clan he had to remember that she was never close to her mother and like Cauli said he was sharper than most.

So what had he been playing at?

Okran folded her arms too and nodded slowly, “Turles is easily the strongest pure Saiyan, I didn't understand why he'd care about you before but now I get it, and I have to admit I approve.”

“Approve? Approve of what?” Rhubara demanded.

“Approve of you two as a pair!” Okran laughed, “Your offspring would be a proper _monster_!”

Rhuby scoffed, “Turles? Interested in me for _that_? I think you've misread him, I don't think any of us is looking to reproduce at the moment.”

Now it was Okran's turn to seem confused. “What? Are you joking? You're at peace and our race is almost gone! Of course you should be having children now, _I_ should, we _all_ should whether we want them or not! It's a biological imperative at this point!”

“Bass,” Rhuby tried, hoping her Sensei would say something to help her out.

But the giant Namekian shrugged, “The fate of your species is none of my business, but I can see Okran's argument quite easily. Of course my father was able to produce Kazoo and myself as well as our other brothers without any need for a mate but for a species that reproduce in pairs it would make sense that with so few options left reproduction would become more or less essential if you didn't want to see your race extinguished.”

“Exactly, thank you!” Okran nodded. “The whole point of reproducing is to pick the strongest partner available to you at the time, that's how you get strong offspring. It's obvious Turles thinks you're the strongest, that's why he wanted me to bring you over to his side.”

“Bring me over to his side?” Rhuby demanded, “His _side_? You mean he wants me to be one of the Crusher Corps. like everyone else? Is _that_ what all this is about?”

“I don't know about any Crusher Corps. but it makes sense,” Okran told her, “the strongest male and the strongest females. That's why he's so interested in you and Cauliflora.”

“Me _and_ Cauli?” Rhuby asked, clenching her fists. Her lip curled into a snarl unconsciously and suddenly all she wanted to do was fight. The funny thing was at that moment Rhubara could see the manipulation going on, she could see what her mother was trying to do by throwing Cauli's name into things.

Suddenly it had gone from Turles being interested in her, which she could handle, to Turles being interested in her or Cauli, maybe the both of them, both of which she couldn't handle. In an instant she'd gone from confused and annoyed to outright angry, her aura sparking and her eyes narrowing. She clenched her fist and growled, “I'll show Turles which of us is stronger!”

“That's right, defeat Cauliflora and take your place at Turles' side!” Okran said with approval, but she was wrong.

It wasn't Cauli that Rhuby was talking about, it was Turles. She'd show him who was stronger between the two of them, she'd _break_ him, and if he was very lucky she'd stop at that.

“Rhuby, calm down!”Bass warned her, “You're going to lose control!”

“I'm in _complete_ control!” Rhuby said angrily, but she knew it wasn't true, there just didn't seem to be a lot she could do about it in her current state. The very thought that she'd compete for Turles, that that was even the reason she and Cauli wanted to fight each other was insulting. Okran knew she wanted to fight Cauli but now she'd increased the stakes. Now which of them was stronger mattered in a whole different way now, and again even though Rhubara could see the manipulation going on she couldn't deny that the truth of the matter was that her impending battle with Cauli was no longer the fight that mattered most to her.

She needed to defeat _Turles_. She didn't even know if he was competing, but if he was then it was no longer just Cauli that she needed to fight, it was him too. Not for the joy of competing with someone close to her own level, she needed to put him in his place and show him who the strongest pure Saiyan _really_ was if pure blood really was all that important to him.

She would knock him down a peg and dispel these delusions of his, abolish his silly Crusher Corps. and get everyone to stop following him like a flock of brain dead dolts. She'd get everyone to see that he wasn't as great as he thought he was, didn't need to be listened to as much as they all listened to him.

She'd show everyone she was better than Turles, she'd put a stop to him. This wasn't a game any longer, it was a battle between two of the strongest Saiyans left, and Rhubara couldn't afford to lose.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

It was approaching six in the Capsule Corp. executive lounge, Gohan was dressed about as sharply as Trunks had ever seen him and pacing back and forth while Trunks sat comfortably in a recliner that was just comfortable enough to fall asleep in if he wasn't careful.

He kept himself awake listening to Gohan explain how things had gone that day, laughing at how Gohan had swooped down from the rooftops like a hawk descending on a rabbit to capture Sharpner, their photographer spy, and smiling with approval when Gohan explained just why he was dressed so nicely and waiting for six.

“So you caught the guy and it all worked out. That's great, Gohan!” Trunks said. He leaned back and relaxed, smiling to himself, “I'm glad things are going so well for you. It makes me feel like . . . I don't know, like maybe things aren't so bad.”

“How do you mean?” Gohan asked.

“Well knowing that Dende is preparing things, knowing that we'll get a real sense of the power of our Defenders in this tournament, heck even knowing that things seem to be going well between you and Videl helps me to realize that, well . . . this is what I wanted. It's not all on my shoulders anymore, I have a team and a team I can trust.”

“Did your talk with your mother go well then?” Gohan asked.

“Hah! No, not at all!” Trunks said, “But I'm not worried about that right now. The Saiyans are . . . well they're dangerous, but they're not a threat. And anyway it's not like they've been disloyal, maybe I'm wrong to feel concerned about them.”

Sometimes Trunks suspected the universe had a twisted sense of humor, because it was at that moment that the doors to the lounge opened and it wasn't Videl who walked through them, it was Android Sixteen.

“Master Trunks, I have a matter to discuss.” Sixteen told him.

“About entering the tournament with Soda? I already told Mai and Videl I was fine with it,” Trunks said with a smile, “Try not to be too brutal though.”

“It is not that,” Sixteen told him, “I wish to discuss Turles, and some of the things I've heard him saying to his fellow Saiyans.”

Sometimes Trunks suspected the universe had a twisted sense of humor.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The preparations for the tournament continue even as the possibility of betrayal looms. Conspiracies are hatched and alliances made in the next thrilling episode!_

 


	92. Execute Him

**Episode Twelve**

**'Execute Him'**

 

“Can you come inside and tell me what you mean?” Trunks asked Sixteen as the large android stood in the doorway.

The large redheaded Sixteen complied, entering the lounge and shutting the door behind him. He said, “Your mother, Bulma, programmed me to preserve human life on Earth, I have determined that the Saiyans present a threat to the continued survival of humanity.”

“Is that all?” Trunks asked, about to breathe a sigh of relief, but Sixteen shook his head.

“No. I have observed them and listened to them at ranges that surpass typical human hearing.”

“Are you listening to everyone like that?” Gohan asked.

“Yes. It is simply my sensory range.” Sixteen said flatly. Then he added, “I have also been recording relevant information.”

“Wait, what? You're recording us without our knowledge?” Gohan demanded, “You realize that's a major violation of everyone's right to privacy, right?”

“My mother asked you to do _that_?” Trunks asked in shock.

“No. She is unaware, but I did not think it would be a violation of any sort, I would detect these things anyway and I am incapable of passing character judgment.” Sixteen said, but Trunks really wasn't convinced. Still the Android added, “If you would prefer I can cease future recordings, I have only recorded audio logs for conversations of concern, all else is already purged to save memory.”

“Well cease future recordings that violate anything confidential or private _except_ for anything that sounds like it might be a threat. But don't purge the things you have, I'd need to hear them before I would even consider condemning Turles.” Trunks told him, and the Android nodded.

“Understood.”

Trunks folded his arms and asked, “So what is going on that makes you think the Saiyans can't be trusted?”

“Turles does not consider you a proper Saiyan, and he has been working with Lamson to convince his fellow Saiyans to follow him instead of you.” Sixteen said, “He intends to use this tournament to prove his superiority over those who remain outside of his control.”

“Probably anyone who doesn't say they're in the Crusher Corps. I'd wager.” Gohan said and Trunks nodded. Gohan then asked, “But how can he think he can take you?”

“I don't know, maybe he's all talk?” Trunks suggested. But he asked Sixteen, “Do you know what he means by telling them I'm not a proper Saiyan? My being half-human never bothered them before, what changed?”

“It is not your genetics, it is your demeanor.” Sixteen explained, “You spare enemies and make deals with them, it was not eradicating the Arcosians on False Namek in particular that diminished you. At least that is what Turles is saying.”

“This is bad,” Gohan said, “I've spent time with the Saiyans and I think every one of them is in the Crusher Corps. we'd basically have to turn on half our people before they can turn on us.”

“Is that true? Do you know if all of them following Turles now?” Trunks asked Sixteen, who shook his head.

“No. Beeta joined the Royal Guard and does not appear to be interested in Turles' faction,”

“At least not that you've heard.” Gohan suggested and the Android nodded.

“Correct. Also Brassica, Cauliflora and Rhubara have not joined Turles. His retrieval of Okran was part of a maneuver to bring Rhubara over to his side, as he hopes that she will be able to convince her daughter to serve him due to his strength.”

“And get Cauliflora along with her since those two are as thick as thieves,” Gohan nodded, “He probably figures Brassica will follow along too.”

“He probably figures right. Convincing Cauliflora is as good as convincing Brassica,” Trunks admitted. In order to respect Cauli's privacy he'd not mentioned to Gohan that Brassica and Cauliflora were the same woman from two separate points in time.

His reasoning was that they should keep it a secret, they didn't want anyone else grabbing a doppelganger from the past, they had no idea what that might do to Goku's time line, or their own. Karuto had broken their rule about time travel, but he'd done it mostly unknowingly, and anyway there wasn't anything to be done about it now. All the same Trunks was honoring Brassica's request for a new identity even if he didn't quite understand it.

The Saiyans generally seemed pretty sanguine about death, their own as well as others. They'd been initially shocked by the destruction of their race but quick to move on from it, so he didn't imagine Rhubara would react all that poorly to the knowledge that a different version of her had died somehow. However the younger Cauliflora and Rhubara were two of the growing number of Saiyans that Trunks hadn't been able to spend much time with, so maybe he was wrong.

And anyway on some level he could understand Brassica not wanting to tell her best friend that she'd died.

“So we can trust Brassica for now, and maybe Rhubara and Cauliflora.” Trunks reasoned.

“It makes sense that Turles is after them, those two girls feel close to him in strength, and even though he's a lot stronger than Brassica she can turn Super Saiyan and that gives her the edge if they fight.” Gohan commented.

“Since Sixteen hasn't been able to observe and record Beeta on a regular enough basis to know if she's still trustworthy let's try to be cautious with her,” Trunks said, glancing at Sixteen he added, “Assuming, that is, that you can provide us some of these recordings. Turles hasn't ever struck me as disloyal, I don't want to just assume he's guilty without proof.”

“Understood.” Sixteen nodded, “I will play the recording from the previous evening,” he was saying when the door behind him opened.

Videl walked in wearing a rather nice looking red dress with black leggings, and although Trunks had seen the Captain in civilian clothes before it was an odd sight seeing her prepared for a date.

Mai was with her, still wearing her uniform and coat, Trunks half wondered if the poor girl was going to go along with Videl and Gohan.

Thinking of which, Trunks said, “Gohan! I'm sorry, I forgot you were--”

“No, this is important.” Gohan said, “Sorry Videl, we're going to have to postpone things a while, we're dealing with a . . . sort of a crisis.”

“How big of a crisis?” Videl asked with a surprised look.

But Trunks shook his head and said, “No, it's not a crisis, just a concern and one we'll handle. You two don't let it affect your evening.”

“Whatever it is I can help sort it out if you'd like,” Mai offered and Trunks smiled but he wasn't sure what the King's Guard could actually do if the Saiyans went rogue.

Until he realized he did have an idea after all, but it might be risky. He asked Mai, “Actually could you go and get Soda for me? Discreetly if you can, she should still be training with her team in the gravity control room. If you can also bring Brassica if she's back from training I'd appreciate it.”

“Right away.” Mai nodded, turning to do just that.

But Videl seemed intrigued. She said, “Dinner can wait a few minutes, what's the problem?”

“Insurrection.” Sixteen answered bluntly, Trunks groaned and shook his head.

“ _Alleged_ insurrection.” Trunks said.

“Turles?” Videl asked and Trunks raised his eyebrows in surprise. The Captain smiled and said, “What? Don't be so surprised, he's the sort. Cozying up to a cult of followers, whispered conversations with them, the sort that either stop or get inaudibly quiet when I or my troopers enter the room, I've figured he was up to something.”

“You don't seem very concerned.” Trunks pointed out.

“Well unless you're on his side I don't really feel like I have to be.” Videl shrugged. She then asked Sixteen, “What makes you think he's going to mount an insurrection, big guy?”

“Audio recordings I have made of his conversations.” Sixteen told her. “I have been informed that they are a breach of people's right to privacy.”

“Wow . . . what was the old joke, that this place is a Super Villain's lair?” Videl laughed.

“Now with a traitorous henchman.” Gohan said with a smile but Trunks didn't find the situation all that amusing.

Besides, he was still hoping he could salvage this somehow. But he needed to hear the recordings.

Luckily it wasn't too long before Mai returned with Soda and Brassica, the two were informed of the situation and Sixteen played what he had for them.

Brassica folded her arms after a while and shook her head. “Unbelievable.”

“Oh, I don't know,” Videl said, “I think it's almost predictable.”

“Not his betrayal,” Brassica said, “the fact that I didn't realize it. I should have seen it but I've been too distracted. I failed you my Prince.”

Trunks frowned, “Uh, no, you didn't, there was no reason you should have been able to see this coming.”

“I should have. Once I knew you'd spared the Admiral's forces, I should have realized. It's been so long since I've had to care about what is or is not a True Saiyan Warrior that I didn't notice that you were not behaving like one.”

“He behaves like a true hero,” Gohan said in his defense but Brassica shook her head.

“I am not saying I agree with Turles, I'm only saying that I should have guessed Turles would think this. Besides I worked with him in the past, making deals to overcome stronger allies is sort of a thing he does. He and I had an arrangement of sorts to work together against our squad leader when we were attacking Goulder. Nothing came of it of course.”

Trunks saw a bit of hope, “So . . . he makes these deals but doesn't act on them?”

“Oh no, we would have acted on it if Kumber had made it necessary.” Brassica told him. She folded her arms and said, “Learning about this though, I think we can do something to manage the damage. We'll just have to execute Turles and that's that.”

“A bit extreme.” Videl said, but Trunks noticed she didn't sound like she was outright disagreeing.

So Trunks decided to do it for her, telling Brassica, “We'd never do that.”

“That would be the Saiyan thing to do, it would remove the threat he poses while showing everyone who followed him that they were wrong about you.” Brassica explained.

“It might be the Saiyan way, but I'm only Half-Saiyan. If that's a problem for them let them say so openly, but I'm not going to just execute one of my people.”

“You do have just cause,” Soda pointed out.

“Well . . .” Mai began but she hesitated.

Trunks looked at her and asked, “What is it?”

Mai blushed a little but she took a step forward towards the center of the room to address everyone and said, “Well it's just that the tournament is a perfect opportunity to knock Turles down a peg. With Gohan and Android Sixteen entering that's two opponents who are stronger than him, isn't it?”

“I am confident that I can defeat Turles.” Sixteen confirmed.

“Well at least there's that.” Soda said with a smile.

Mai continued, “And Captain Soda, surely some of your elites can present a challenge to him.”

“I really wouldn't mind seeing him and Chillax in the ring,” Soda admitted, “That kid grows like a weed, his people seem naturally gifted. He's behind Turles now but in a week that could change.”

“That's three.” Mai said with a smile, “Three chances for him to lose and be discredited in front of everyone.”

“Five,” Brassica said, “even though Lamson is his supporter I can intensify training Cauli with the goal of getting her ready to take out Turles, and I can tell Bass to train Rhuby the same way. Arena take-downs were a thing, I survived more than a few of them.”'

Trunks nodded slowly, “So we beat him in the tournament and that'll weaken him in the eyes of the other Saiyans?”

“It should.” Brassica said.

Trunks sighed, “Then . . . that's what we have to do. Thanks Mai.”

But he didn't like it, it felt wrong hoping for such a promising fighter to lose, it felt even worse actively conspiring with others to take him out of the tournament meant to measure everyone's progress. It felt unfair, like they were rigging things.

_But he'll be training too,_ Trunks thought, _they'll still have to actually be better to beat him._

He just didn't know how he felt about it, and he certainly couldn't just enter himself.

Or could he?

“What if he beats all of you?” Trunks asked, “What then?”

“Then you may need to execute him.” Brassica said.

“I think there's another option.” Trunks said. “What if I declare that the winners need to fight me?”

“No good,” Gohan said, “it'll just seem like you want to steal their thunder. Just think they just won and then they have to take you on? Most won't think it's fair, it might even _earn_ Turles some supporters.”

Trunks frowned, but Brassica said, “You're a Prince, my Lord. You'll have to trust in your warriors to wage your war. Privately if that's what you want.”

“It is, and please don't call me Prince.” Trunks confirmed. He looked at his watch and said, “That's enough of this for tonight. You two have someplace better to be, and the rest of us know what we're going to be doing..”

“Yes, we do.” Brassica said in a strange tone.

Gohan smiled slightly and slapped Trunks' shoulder, “Don't worry, we'll stop this before it starts. You'll see, it'll all be back to normal before long.”

Trunks nodded and Gohan and Videl left. Soda folded her arms and said, “I feel like I'd better get back to the gym if I'm supposed to take on Turles. Sixteen is my teammate after all.”

“I will help you to train.” Sixteen offered and the two headed off leaving just Trunks, Mai and Brassica.

“I'm sure it's all going to be all right.” Mai told him and Trunks smiled but he wasn't sure he knew what 'all right' was anymore.

Brassica however shook her head and said, “My prince . . . I feel that it would be a mistake to let you continue on your current path.”

“You mean the tournament plan?” Trunks asked but she shook her head.

“Trying to rule Saiyans without understanding us.” Brassica explained. “Prince Trunks, your mother has compared us to a species on your planet called wolves and the common understanding of their hierarchy but it's a gross oversimplification.”

“She doesn't mean anything by it.” Trunks offered half-heartedly, but Brassica shook her head.

“I'm not offended. An apex predator that has survived attempts by the planet's dominant species to eradicate it, that flourishes when its reintroduced and around whom entire ecosystems thrive? It's a flattering comparison and one that I hope our people can live up to someday.”

Trunks asked, “Then what do you mean?”

Brassica said, “I should have told you a lot sooner, but there didn't seem to be the time. The truth is that conflict between Earthlings and Saiyans was always probable, especially if Earthlings had only revived the Saiyans in order to use our strength the same way the Tuffles did.”

“What happened between the Saiyans and the Tuffles?” Trunks asked, “I thought you went to war because you wanted their cities. When did they ever use you for your strength?”

“When we built their cities.” Brassica said simply. “We were wild things living in the deserts, we weren't organized we weren't even a civilization really. They were those things, we were just barbarians.”

“So what happened?” Mai asked.

“They used us a workers, we built their cities we built whatever they wanted us to build for them. If there was a dangerous animal we might kill it for them, they used us but they never gave us anything in return. Apart from friendship and some table scraps.” Brassica folded her arms and said, “I've come far enough in life and the universe to realize that they probably thought of it as a lot, but to us Saiyans what would be a year's worth of food to a Tuffle would only have lasted us a few days, maybe a couple of weeks at best.”

_And here is me offering them food and friendship for their services._ Trunks realized. “So I'm acting like a Tuffle to them.”

“Well you're acting like what they perceive Tuffles to be. But it's a lot deeper than that, the hatred that rose between our people and the Tuffles. But that's not what I mean to tell you about, at least not by itself.”

“Then what is it?” Trunks asked.

“You need to know the story of your grandfather.” Brassica told him. “I was part of his clan when we still had clans, before he united us all. My father Zorn was one of his advisors just as I like to think I'm one of yours.”

“You are,” Trunks said, and Brassica smiled slightly.

She said, “I think the best way for you to understand your Saiyan side and what it means to rule us is to learn about the first person to do it successfully . . . to date really the only person. I think I need to tell you the story of your grandfather and how he united us against the Tuffles. To tell you the story of the war for Planet Vegeta, Prince Trunks.”

“Well I mean I know most of it,” Trunks offered, then added, “And you don't call me Prince.”

“I doubt you know it from the Saiyan perspective, Prince Trunks. Otherwise you wouldn't tell us not to call you Prince.” Brassica told him.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The evening was cold, especially on the rooftop of Capsule Corp. HQ, but Cauli barely noticed.

Instead she was wondering what had Rhuby so irritated. It wasn't always easy to tell when Rhuby was bothered, but tonight it was obvious. Gurein and Kodva had noticed the darker mood possessing the girl, and both seemed to think that Cauli was the one to do something about it, but Cauli wasn't used to Rhuby being moody.

She sat beside her, watching her from the corner of her eye but keeping a bit of distance between themselves so as to keep her friend from feeling crowded. She needed some way of initiating conversation so even though Rhuby's bottle was unopened she offered her the rest of her own bottle of whatever sugary beverage Gurein had brought. She wasn't sure what it was called, she had to admit she wasn't paying attention at the time. “You want the rest of this? It's too sweet for me,” Cauli offered.

Rhuby shook her head and sort of seemed to just glare off into space. Cauli bumped her shoulder against Rhuby's and asked, “Hey, what's up? You're not drinking, you didn't eat dinner. Have you eaten anything all day?”

“I think so.” Rhuby said, but her tone was evasive.

“You _think_ so?” Cauli raised an eyebrow. “Was training with your mother _that_ bad?”

“It was fine.” Rhuby said, then she clenched her fists and muttered, “Very enlightening.”

Cauli frowned now and asked, “Are you okay?”

She asked it very quietly so the Earthlings wouldn't hear and Rhuby wouldn't have to worry about losing face, but Rhuby's answer was almost a shout.

“I don't know!” Rhuby said sharply, but she calmed down right away and offered a half-hearted, “Yes? I should be, but . . .”

“But you're not?” Cauli asked, starting to feel annoyed.

Not at Rhuby, but at Okran. What the blazes had that old bat _done_? “Do I need to smack your mom around?” Cauli asked, then smirked and added, “Again.”

“No, it's not her . . . not really.” Rhuby muttered. She clenched her fists again and whispered, “It's Turles.”

“What? What did he do?”

“Nothing! Everything!” Rhuby said angrily.

“You want me to go smack Turles around?” Cauli offered with a grin.

“I don't need you to fight for me all the time!” Rhuby insisted angrily, “I'm strong enough on my own!”

“Okay, okay,” Cauli said in what she hoped was a soothing tone, “I never said you weren't, Rhuby. I just . . .” She trailed off, trying to think of a way to describe it, finally settling on, “I like having your back and knowing you've got mine.”

Rhuby shook her head slowly and muttered, “I just . . . I don't know why I feel like this, I shouldn't even care but--”

“But you obviously do.” Gurein told her. “Try to calm yourself, you're with your friends, Rhuby. Deep breaths . . . and just try to unpack your feelings so that if no one else at least _you'll_ know what's wrong.”

Rhuby shook her head and said, “It's nothing, I'm sorry, it's nothing.”

“You're not much of a liar,” Kodva told her, “don't worry. I think I know what you need.”

“What's that?” Cauli asked.

“A bite. You said it yourself, she hasn't eaten much of anything all day.” Kodva said, but Cauli suspected he had more in mind than that.

So she decided to trust him. “Come on,” she told Rhuby, “that's probably what it is.”

Rhuby nodded slowly and seemed at first like she was going to go along with it, but then suddenly she shook her head and said, “No, no I should train. Once the gravity room is open I should train some more.”

“That won't be at least for another hour,” Gurein told her, “We'll get you something to eat then you can train.”

Cauli reached out and took Rhubara's hand. She looked into her eyes and said, “Come on, I'll even train with you afterwards, even though we're on different teams.”

Rhuby frowned but she nodded slowly.

“It's almost seven, there should still be some dinner in the cafeteria.” Gurein commented.

“There should be, but that's not what I've got in mind.” Kodva said. “Don't worry, it'll be quick, we'll be back in time for you to train if that's what you want to do, Rhuby.”

“Be back? Where are we going?” Cauli asked.

“It's not a bar is it?” Gurein asked, probably joking but Kodva scoffed.

“You wound me, Gurein. You think I'm going to feed this poor young lady  _bar_ food?”

“What's wrong with bar food?” Gurein sounded genuinely curious, and this only began a long debate between the two of them about the virtues or sins of this so-called 'bar food.'

Still Cauli's attention was mostly on Rhubara, she'd seen Rhuby hungry before and this wasn't hunger. Cauli didn't know what it was, there usually wasn't a lot that Rhuby didn't tell her.

So what was it? What had Turles done when he hadn't even been out there where Rhuby had been training?

Whatever it was she'd make him regret it.

For now she just had to hope Kodva knew what he was doing.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Soda's elites discuss the tournament, who will Chillax team up with? Who will the others pair off with, and can any of them stand up to Turles? Perhaps most importantly of all . . . how will Gohan and Videl's date go?_

 


	93. The Hero who Saved the World

**Episode Thirteen**

**'The Hero who Saved the World'**

 

The gravity training room was fairly large, but with all of the King's Elites training there it felt crowded.

Chillax was a bit distracted by it all though, the idea of competing in a tournament with the other Earth fighters . . . he knew what tournaments were but he'd never really had time for them before.

But now? He was nervous but he was excited as well. He wanted to take part in the tournament, he wanted to show them all what he could do.

Freed from his cell he'd trained hard seeing the kinds of improvements it had brought to everyone else and knowing that maybe Frieza had been born lucky but if he wanted to be like Frieza—at least in terms of power—he'd have to work hard.

There were no shortcuts.

Still he wondered as he sparred with Prage and Ganmo, “Who will you two try to team up with?”

“No one!” Ganmo told him, dodging his jabs, “I'd rather not be part of it!”

“Why not?” Chillax wondered, switching to kicks instead and using his tail to fend off Prage.

“I don't fight in tournaments and stuff like that,” Ganmo explained as he ducked under a kick, then sprang up to avoid another, “I don't want to treat battle like a game. My body is a finely tuned killing machine, it has only one purpose.”

“Is that so?” Chillax smirked. Ganmo shrugged in response, easily dodging

Prage had a different opinion. He said, “I don't think it'd be the worst thing, but who could I enter with? I train with you and Damson—er Ribuai often so that couldn't work and I don't think I'd stand a chance of winning with anyone else so why enter?”

“Why not? It's not all about winning it's about seeing how you measure up,” Chillax told them. “I think you two should enter, it's important to show the others the sort of strength you've built up over the course of this training.”

“Wouldn't it be better to leave everyone guessing? After all if there's ever a need for us to stand up and defend the Kingdom of Earth won't it be better if the enemy doesn't know what we can do?” Prage asked, narrowly missing a swipe from the Arcosian's tail.

“Unless the enemy has scouters or can sense energy in some other way.” Chillax pointed out. “Anyway you can't just expect stronger fighters to do all the hard work, I thought I trained you better than that.”

“You did, but there's a difference between pulling your weight in a fight and fighting for entertainment.” Ganmo said.

“Anyway who are you going to enter with?” Prage asked him.

“I don't know. I suppose I haven't had much training history with the Iwatian or the Saiyan.” Chillax said. “I haven't trained much with Tathy either.”

He wasn't sure which of them would be the better partner for the tournament though. In a real fight Tathy's seeming-immortality would be useful but in a tournament where life wasn't really on the line the fact that she didn't seem to grow very quickly in power could actually be a liability. Besides he and Tathy didn't train or spar that frequently but they spent a lot of time together outside of that and he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't take the tournament seriously, she didn't take _anything_ seriously. To Tathy everything was either a joke or something that could become a joke.

The Saiyan woman Beeta was more of an anomaly to Chillax, on the contrary to Tathy she seemed to take everything seriously, or else she was too generally morose to understand humor. He wasn't sure why she'd joined the Royal Guard except, perhaps, like him it was a thing to do with her lifetime of combat experience. Chillax wasn't sure what the word for it was but Beeta almost never seemed to show any emotion for anything, it meant she had an infuriating poker face but it also made her difficult to know, and one needed to know their partner in a tournament like this.

Tathy probably wouldn't work, and Beeta would be his last choice, really. Chillax thought that if he were going to win this tournament he might need to turn to his third option. Konpeito had trained in the afterlife mastering the power multiplication technique, or so Chillax assumed. He hadn't seen Konpeito or any of the others use it yet, but and with his ability to absorb energy and throw it back amplified if he multiplied his own power while doing it they could have a combination attack that would defeat far stronger enemies.

_Of course it might be too much,_ Chillax realized, _we might get disqualified for vaporizing our opposition._

It was a big decision to make, and it demanded a lot of serious thought. So much so that Chillax managed to forget that he was sparring against two opponents and his tail certainly didn't have a mind of its own so even though he was able to deflect one of Ganmo's kicks Prage was able to sweep his legs out from under him nearly sending him to the ground like a ton of bricks.

Or more, the lightweight Arcosian wasn't sure how much he weighed in two-hundred times Earth's gravity.

But he managed to catch himself with his tail and recover quickly enough, though it was a personally embarrassing moment for him. Still he nodded to Prage, “Good job on that one. And here's you two thinking you shouldn't be in the tournament.”

Prage laughed, clearly embarrassed at being praised he said, “Well like I said, who would I even team up with?”

“It's a good question. Maybe the Captain will just assign us partners?” Ganmo suggested.

“I doubt it. She's competing so it might seem like a conflict of interest, especially if people aren't happy with their team assignments or they do too poorly.” Chillax said.

It was at that time that the door opened and Captain Soda came in, followed by the titanic Earthling known as Sixteen.

Sixteen seemed as stoic as ever, but the Captain seemed a little bit troubled. Was she frightened, or nervous? Chillax couldn't tell for sure, he wasn't great at reading human facial expressions yet but he knew there was something off about hers.

But only for a moment before the mask of a trained military officer covered her face and she barked an order at them.

“Fall in team!” Captain Soda hollered and everyone lined up and stood at attention. “At ease,” she told them and the complied. Soda clasped her hands behind her back and explained, “I'm sure you've all had a chance to talk about it so let's discuss this tournament. For starters it's my duty to inform you that participation won't be mandatory and there are already several very powerful fighters entering, so if you don't fancy your chances against them there won't be any shame in staying out of it.”

Ganmo and Prage adopted some slightly relaxed looking expressions until Captain Soda followed that up with, “Anyone who doesn't participate however will be running security detail, making sure no civilians get near enough to be in any danger so it's not like you'll have the day off.”

Nobody wanted to do that kind of busywork of course, so now everyone had to ask themselves if they were more interested in getting roughed up in a tournament or flying around making sure fragile Earthlings didn't get blasted away by the titanic forces battling.

So at least Chillax knew this wasn't going to be a public tournament to entertain the masses, there'd be no real shame in losing since he already knew some of the opposition were stronger than he was.

But he hoped he could improve enough to present them with a challenge, and with the right teammate maybe he could even win.

“Moreover,” Soda told them, “I think just about all of the fighters here have teammates so we'll have to look to our own ranks for that.”

Chillax had already suspected that, after all they'd known that for as long as they'd known the tournament existed. Still given the number of fighters he tried to imagine the scope of the tournament.

While he was doing that he was distracted for the second time when he should have been paying attention because Captain Soda said, “All that said I do have an idea for how to carry this out, and it is only a request, you needn't agree to it if you don't want to. I'd like Ribuai and Konpeito to form one pair and Chillax and Beeta to form another with Tathy and Prage to form the final pair of the tournament. The rest of you I'd like to ask to work as security even though I know you don't want to. If you agree I'll elaborate on my reasons but if you don't that's fine, you can have different partners and it won't be a problem.”

She sighed slightly, but loud enough for Chillax to register it before she said, “You may speak freely.”

“I'm willing to work with Tathy but why me?” Prage asked.

“Wait, are you asking some of us to just stay out of it?” Ayappa asked, “I was hoping to compete and show off my skills!”

Chillax smiled approvingly, though since he'd been distracted he didn't quite catch all of what Soda had said, just the sigh at the end and Prage and Ayappa's responses.

He had no idea that Soda had resolved his partner problem for him, albeit not exactly in the way he'd have liked, with her suggestion. Soda smiled, “I'm sorry, I don't mean for it to sound that way, but there's a complication with this tournament, one that poses a danger to the King and to Earth itself, for that reason I'd like to have the rest of the team available to lend support if the situation gets dangerous. Not that I think it will, but I'd prefer to have a backup plan.”

“Well we can hardly refuse now that you've said that.” Konpeito pointed out.

“You certainly can because I'm not sure the danger will present itself, Trunks and the others have already taken steps to contain it, we would only be providing extra insurance.”

“Extra is one of my favorite words, but usually when it applies to something I'm being given.” Tathy sighed. “Still I guess I can fight with Prage, he's a nice shade of purple.”

Prage actually blushed at that, and stammered, “W-well I'm a good fighter too!”

“Oh sure.” Tathy waved a dismissive hand.

Chillax laughed and said, “Okay so it sounds like we're all in agreement, now what's this threat?”

Soda folded her arms in front of her and said, “Actually . . . this is a little difficult for me to say . . . but there could be a civil war brewing in the EDF.”

“A what?” Konpeito scoffed, “A war in such a small group?”

“A small group full of individuals each with more powerful than pretty much our entire military minus ourselves, yes.” Soda nodded. “So maybe civil war is over-selling it, but it's still a pretty big danger.”

Chillax felt like he could immediately tell what was going on, he knew Trunks had been trained by Gohan, maybe with Gohan returned to life after his death they were starting to butt heads over how best to train their students. After all the student had become the master in Trunks' case, Gohan must be annoyed at the very least.

Could that be why Master Roshi had gone? Too many masters trying to teach too different styles?

He didn't voice his suspicions and it would turn out to be for the best because they were wrong. It was Beeta who said, “It's the Saiyans, isn't it?”

Soda raised an eyebrow at her, “Were you aware?”

“No.” Beeta said flatly.

“Well . . . you're right.” Soda told her, “Turles is beating the drum of revolution and a lot of your people are listening.”

“We would, revolutions are more fun than peace.” Beeta shrugged. Everyone was staring at her so she added, “Not that I'd participate in this one. There's no reason for it.”

“I didn't think you were, I wouldn't have brought it up in front of you if I did.” Soda said.

“And of course we couldn't let you leave here alive if she were wrong.” Tathy said ominously.

Chillax laughed because he knew it was a joke but Beeta just shrugged, “That would be the proper course of action to keep me from informing my fellow Saiyans that you're aware of their machinations, but bear in mind that my death also might cause them to become aware.”

Ribuai clacked his beak and asked Soda, “Is that why you've assembled the pairings this way? To make sure we are strong enough to defeat Turles?”

Soda nodded. “We've got to beat him and decrease his value in the eyes of the other Saiyans. He's popular because he's strong, we need to show them all that we're stronger.”

Chillax was surprised, that was a bold statement and a bolder plan.

But he nodded, “Understood Captain. We'll carry this mission out without—”

“Hold on a second,” Ayappa interrupted, “I don't understand one thing. You want myself, Avaug and Ganmo to be security but against Turles what can we do? His power level is in the millions.”

“The pairs fighting him should be a threat, your job will be to prevent any other Saiyans from going to his aid if it comes to it, but again I don't think it will. Trunks is aware and he'll be there.”

“Turles would have to challenge him directly before the Saiyans would follow him.” Beeta pointed out. “Most of them could be sympathetic to his cause, or even support it but until he can stand up to Prince Trunks they won't actually follow him.”

“Let's hope that's right,” Ganmo muttered, “There's some of those Saiyans I don't want to have to face in a real fight or any kind of fight!”

“Speaking of which,” Konpeito asked, “do you know about my—uh about the Saiyan Rhubara? Is she supporting Turles?”

“Going to talk some sense into the kid?” Tathy asked, then chuckled, “I might have to have some words with little Cauli too in that case.”

Konpeito shrugged and said, “I simply think I could persuade her to see reason if it's necessary.”

Soda smiled and said, “They're both still firmly outside of Turles' camp. It's his attempts to win them over that got him caught by Sixteen here.”

Konpeito nodded and seemed satisfied with that. Chillax nodded too, those two were about as strong as he was so it'd be good to know that in the private little conflict that could be raging beneath the surface of this tournament they would be allies.

“All right then troopers,” Soda said, “We'll continue our training until eight, then you've got the rest of the night to yourselves, just be back to base before curfew. Also I've taken the liberty of writing down your pairs for time in the gravity control room tomorrow, so you'll have the day off from your regular drills to train here.”

“Wait, the pairs you suggested?” Ribuai asked, “How did you know for sure we'd agree?”

“Call it a gesture of faith, I trusted you to trust me,” Soda said with a smile. “Besides like Konpeito said you could hardly say no once you knew what was at stake.”

Chillax laughed, but at least he'd be able to double check and see who the pair-ups were. Since he'd been distracted the only one he knew of was Tathy and Prage. Who had Captain Soda thought would be a good pair-up with him to beat Turles he wondered?

He would keep wondering that for the rest of the training session, silently eying and sizing up his options. It wasn't Tathy so would it be Konpeito, like he'd planned on himself? Or would it be Beeta? Even though he had a history of fighting alongside him when his name was Damson could it be Ribuai?

The young Arcosian really had no idea so when the eleven of them emerged from the training room he rushed over to the sign-up sheet by the elevator door and looked it over.

It was a good way to see who else was signed up as well, there were some names he didn't recognize but when he got to the bottom he could see his own name.

His and Beeta's.

He frowned. _Well that's just my luck,_ he thought.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“So what do you think of the place?” Videl asked, and Gohan had to force his gaze up from his empty plate to her face, smiling slightly with her food barely touched.

Not that she'd been a finicky eater, but Gohan had practically inhaled his meal as soon as it arrived.

He'd been hungry and two baskets of bread hadn't been enough. All the same now that his moment of ravenousness had passed he was be pretty embarrassed, and he might even have felt outright humiliated if Videl weren't smiling a pleasantly amused looking smile.

He smiled too and said, “Sorry, uh yeah it's a nice place. I really like the decorations.”

The restaurant Videl had chosen was nearby to Capsule Corp. HQ, and surprisingly nice. The decorations he'd mentioned were a lot of caricatures of celebrities he could remember from before the Androids . . . but most of them were gone now.

It might have been a melancholy experience but it was difficult to feel sad looking at a caricature.

“Are the pictures all of people who've eaten here?” Gohan asked.

“Well not here specifically, this place was rebuilt,” Videl explained, “but at its previous location, yeah.” She smiled and pointed to a caricature of a man with a puff of curly black hair, and a truly prodigious chin wearing a champion's belt and a cape. The picture had the words 'Our Lord and Savior' written on it, but Gohan didn't recognize the man.

Videl explained, “My dad used to bring me to the old place whenever he won a tournament.”

“Your father's a martial artist?” Gohan asked in surprise, then added, “a champion martial artist?”

“Well yeah,” Videl said, “Of course. You mean you didn't know that?”

“No, not really. But I was dead for nearly a decade.” Gohan pointed out and Videl laughed.

“Well, yeah my father was a martial artist. Nowhere near the level of you or Trunks, he never flew or shot laser beams or anything.”

“Ki blasts,” Gohan corrected, then quickly apologized, “sorry, I mean those are pretty rare skills to find in general so it's not surprising.”

Videl nodded, “True. Still he tried to take on the Androids, I think in the end he believed his own hype, really thought he could be the hero who saved the world.”

There was a hint of sadness in her voice. Gohan nodded, “That was my dad too,” he told her, leaving out the fact that Goku truly _had_ been the savior of the world on multiple occasions, “He was a full Saiyan, but not like the others. At least not really, I guess on a fundamental level they were the same because he was always looking for the next challenge but still he was happy enough to settle down with my mom and start a family. All the same whenever danger rose he was there to fight it.”

Videl's smile grew wider, “When you're a kid it feels like your father can do anything. It's sobering when you find out that he can't . . . If you don't mind my asking, did your dad fight the Androids too?”

Gohan shook his head, “No, he didn't get the chance. He caught that heart virus before the cure was finished and . . . well it fell to his friends to try to stop the Androids . . . but I remember thinking if we'd had him with us . . . I don't know, I guess I felt like we'd have found a way to win with my dad by our side.”

Gohan smiled and thought to himself, _and I guess Trunks proved that with his time machine._

“You sound like you were there at the start, but you would have been a kid like I was,” Videl said, “you were fighting them that early?”

“Of course.” Gohan said with a shrug, “I felt like I had the power to act so I had to act, especially without my dad around. Mom didn't like it, but the Earth needed someone.” He smiled, “And Trunks was only a toddler at the time.”

Videl laughed and then she asked, “What about your mother? If you don't mind me asking, that is.”

Gohan frowned, “I . . . I'm not sure.” He admitted.

“Did you lose track of her? I'm sorry.” Videl told him, “My parents were separated, but I was able to live with my mother after my father . . . took his shot at the twins, lets say. If you like I might be able to take a look in the database of surviving humans, maybe she's in there . . .”

Gohan frowned and said, “I'm . . . a little too worried about the answer to seek it out, honestly. I don't think I'm ready for the full reality if the worst happened.”

Videl nodded slowly, “I wouldn't be either . . . sorry I brought it up.”

“Don't be,” Gohan said with a smile, “I . . . I'm glad we're discussing it. I haven't even talked about this sort of thing with Trunks, but it's good to discuss it.”

“And you never know,” Videl pointed out, “I mean you've assumed the worst happened . . . but it might not have.”

“Sure . . . but I've been alive again for a while now, I sort of feel like if she were out there she'd have found out by now, right? Would have found some way of contacting me or something . . . I mean I like to think she's just sitting in our old forest home in front of our old TV watching the news and seeing I'm alive and well . . . but if that were the case she'd have come to West City by now.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Videl pointed out, “You're not really much of a media presence, all the attention is on Trunks after all, and the peace with the PTO. I mean since no one knows who you were before no one knows who you are now, you haven't exactly been all over the TV . . . it could be she doesn't even know.”

Gohan nodded slowly, wondering . . . could his mother still be alive? Could she just be waiting for him in their old home?

As long as he didn't see the place empty with his own eyes a part of him could assume that she was and everything was fine . . . but if he had to confront the truth, if he had to actually go there and see . . .

To his surprise though Videl called their waiter over and asked for a to-go box, she then told Gohan, “I may be over-stepping by quite a lot for a first date, but I think we should go to your old house.”

“We should?” Gohan asked.

Videl nodded. She said, “You want to be my partner in the tournament, well then let's be partners. Part of that means helping each other confront problems right? So . . . let's confront this one. Besides,” She added quietly, “I think you need this.”

Gohan frowned, and considered . . .

Finally he just nodded.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _What will Gohan and Videl find, and how did Rhyce and Korrard's training go? And will Mai finally get a chance to approach Trunks about something other than paperwork?_

 


	94. Civilization

**Episode Fourteen**

**'Civilization'**

 

It was already evening before Rhyce even began to consider going back. She'd decided that Korrard would need every second of time they could get, but he was learning pretty fast at least. It only took him a few hours to figure out how to punch the trees down without getting splinters or splitting the trunk, it had taken her months.

Of course she'd been younger at the time, if she'd had to relearn it all today she was still pretty sure she'd have managed it just fine so she couldn't let herself get lulled into a false sense of security just because a born warrior—or at least someone born to a warrior race—had mastered the basics of hitting things.

Naturally they didn't just knock a tree down and move on to the next, Korrard had to learn just as Rhyce and Gurein did how to turn those trees into usable firewood, chopping the fallen trees into smaller usable pieces with his own bare hands. Anyway they'd had to be certain not to deforest the whole area of course, and Rhyce had made it clear that Korrard would have to master this level of training without needing to use any more than thirty trees. He'd needed twenty seven, but at least the local farmers were pleased with the amount of firewood those strange looking teenagers had brought them.

“So what have we learned today?” Rhyce asked as they flew back to Capsule Corp.

“That you want my fists to bleed?” Korrard suggested and Rhyce nodded sagely.

“Yes, but that was a given,” She joked, “What _else_ did you learn?”

“That it's not enough to just be strong like Tell or Sharro?”

“Are you answering me or asking me?” Rhyce demanded, and the young Saiyan gulped audibly.

“A-answering you! I mean I could knock all those trees down without using my full force but getting it just right so that the trunk broke the right way instead of just splitting or uprooting the thing entirely took . . . uh . . . technique?”

“That's right, technique comes first. Once you've got that you can start learning to apply more strength and find the right balance for your attack. Strength comes tomorrow.” Rhyce explained.

“What are we doing tomorrow?” Korrard asked.

“We're going to pull up all the stumps we left back there.” Rhyce answered with a smirk.

“Why was it important that I learn to hit the tree and leave a stump then?” Korrard sounded positively perplexed.

“So there'd be stumps to pull up of course.” Rhyce told him simply. “Don't worry, I'll be helping too. But you'd better not let me pull up more than you. It'll be a race, so it'll improve your speed and endurance too. You've got to think a step ahead at all times, kid.”

“Kid? I'm not that much younger than you, anyway technically I'm _older_ than you!” Korrard told her.

“I guess. Does it matter?” Rhyce wondered.

“I dunno, just don't call me kid.” Korrard said as they flew.

Rhyce considered it, then finally said, “All right, if you feel that way I won't do it. Now tell me, how long do you think it'll be before you've got some more confidence in yourself as a fighter, Junior?”

“Junior? What does that word mean?” Korrard asked her.

“Focus.” Rhyce scolded.

“Is that another word for 'kid?'” Korrard guessed.

“Not technically,” Rhyce said, “just answer the question.”

“I don't know, old krone,” Korrard said cautiously, but Rhyce accepted it as him giving as good as he got rather than feeling insulted. He continued, “I guess when I feel like I'm a fighter and not a . . . whatever I am?”

“Well there's your problem. Stop thinking of yourself as something lacking definition, think of yourself as a fighter!”

“It's not easy though,” Korrard told her, “I'm supposed to be a fighter, I'm born to a whole race of fighters and everyone I grew up with was a fighter. So when I think about who and what they are and compare myself to them I'm just . . . not that.”

“Well can I ask you something?” Rhyce asked as they arrived at the large glass doors of Capsule Corp.

“What?” Kor asked her.

“What's wrong with being who you are?” Rhyce asked, “Why try to be a fighter if you don't feel like you are one? Is it something you want to be, or is it just that you feel like you have to be one because you're from a race full of them?”

Korrard stood there quietly, thinking for a moment before finally answering her, “I suppose . . . it's something I want, but it's not something that drives me. It's something that'd be nice, but . . . I don't know, I guess I'd be happier being good at what I am good at. The problem is what I'm good at . . . well it's not something Saiyans do really.”

“Well what are you good at?” Rhyce asked.

“It's embarrassing.” Korrard mumbled.

“I won't tell anyone.” Rhyce assured him, then she had a sudden realization and warned, “Wait, it better not be something gross though, like nobody cares how far you can spit!”

Korrard laughed and said, “It's nothing like that! But I _can_ spit pretty far.”

“Well what is it then?” Rhyce asked.

Korrard sighed and looked around, apparently wanting to make sure no one would see. Then he motioned for her to come closer and showed her his bruised and damaged right hand.

Then he held his left hand over it and in a flash of yellow light his hand was completely healed. He repeated the process to his left hand as well and shrugged. “There you have it.”

Rhyce stared in shock, “Wait, _that's_ what you . . . and you're embarrassed by that? That's amazing!”

“Saiyans aren't . . . healers.” Korrard explained.

“You're fighters and fighters get hurt. I'm amazed people with abilities like yours aren't celebrated!” Rhyce told him.

Korrard shook his head, “Look . . . nobody wants to die, but we don't like getting help from each other when we're hurt. We're a race of predators, and when we're injured we get more dangerous so someone coming along even with the best intentions is going to be mistrusted.”

“Your team seems to trust you.” Rhyce pointed out.

“They've realized that I can help them survive situations they normally wouldn't,” Korrard admitted, “before that though they thought I was just weak. Lamson's a good leader though, she understood that I wasn't just cannon fodder and she had Sharro and Tell watch out for me. Eventually they got hurt badly enough that I used my little ability and ever since then it's been sort of . . . I guess a parasitic relationship?”

“You mean symbiotic.” Rhyce sighed.

“What's the difference?” Kor asked.

“A parasitic relationship means one party benefits and the other doesn't, but a symbiotic relationship means that both parties benefit in different ways. You benefit from having a strong team to watch your back, they benefit by having you to heal their injuries.” Rhyce explained. “So it's obvious to me that even if you think you're a parasite they don't, why would Telluce and Sharrot agree to spend time with you outside of training and fighting if that were the case? And didn't you say it seemed like Turles has been trying to be nicer to you ever since he started spending more time with Lamson? She probably told him to lay off bullying you so much.”

“Maybe.” Korrard said thoughtfully, “I just assumed it was because he had Quash to bully around and I wasn't the weakest anymore.”

Rhyce had to admit it might have been that, but she thought it was a lot more likely that Turles was behaving because Lamson had told him to. She'd trained Lamson during their journey to False Namek after all, she knew what Lamson was like.

Though the revelation of Korrard's ability made her see the Saiyans in a different light, they seemed less one-dimensional now.

Rhyce smiled and said, “Well we probably shouldn't just stand outside all night.”

“Right.” Korrard said, opening the doors to Capsule Corp. The two entered and he told her, “Thanks for training with me today, I'll do my best to win the race tomorrow so don't hold back.”

“Well all right, just be prepared for the consequences if you lose.” Rhyce told him, “But for now let's get something to eat, I'm starving!”

“ _You're_ starving? You're not the one who was doing all the physical exertion today, besides Saiyans eat a lot more than Earthlings!” Korrard laughed.

The two went to the cafeteria to see if there was anything to eat, and sure enough even though it was getting late there were several people—mostly Saiyans—still eating dinner. Rhyce was surprised to see Soda and most of her team there too.

She greeted her former team leader, “Soda! How's it going?”

“Pretty good Rhyce. Where were you all day?”

“Training with my teammate here,” Rhyce explained, “we devastated what was left of mother nature, every tree for a thousand miles simply gone.”

“Seriously?” Soda asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, we were very conservative.” Rhyce said with a smirk.

“Well given that most of the people in this room can destroy entire planets by now I'm not putting anything past you two.” Soda said with a grin.

Korrard frowned though and said, “Well that's unusual.”

“What is?” Rhyce asked, noticing that Korrard was watching his old team sitting together. It looked normal enough to her.

“There's some kind of a problem between Tell and Sharro, I'd better see what it is.” Korrard said.

Rhyce was intrigued, the two were sitting together just like always, they weren't talking but that wasn't unusual when they were eating.

Then Rhyce noticed the full bowls of food. _Ah, they're not eating. They're not talking and they're not eating._ She folded her arms and wondered, was it some sort of lovers quarrel? If it was it wasn't any of her business. Even Routz and Lamson sat quietly with the two, seemingly looking the other way and waiting for the mood to change.

Which it did when Kor approached the group and casually, easily engaged them all in conversation, and Rhyce could swear she saw a look of relief pass over Lamson's face when he sat at the table with them. Rhyce could tell from his movements that he was explaining his training to them and all of them paid attention.

She couldn't hear the conversation over the room's general noise level but she could tell that from there the others talked about their day's training and when he got to Telluce and Sharrot the two sort of looked awkward then finally it seemed like they started to talk, Lamson and Routz joined in, soon the five of them were laughing together, they seemed more relaxed.

Rhyce folded her arms and said, “Maybe I'm crazy, but did I just see what I thought I saw?”

Soda smiled and asked, “What's that?”

“That kid's a healer.” Rhyce said, and thought to herself, _in more ways than one._ “He walked in when their group was on edge, but once he got there in just a quick conversation he got them all to relax and talk to each other again.”

“Yeah? I guess so.” Soda smiled. “I guess there had to be at least one emotionally grounded sensitive Saiyan. Well aren't you a lucky girl? Everyone wants a sensitive guy, right?”

“Yeah. Wait, what?” Rhyce blinked in confusion. “You're not thinking we're paired up because—no way!”

But Soda just winked at her to imply that she'd been kidding—maybe—and said, “Come on, you look hungry.”

Rhyce nodded but she considered Korrard. Like he said Saiyans ate a lot more than Earthlings and since he was busy patching up whatever rift had temporarily formed in his old team he was too busy to get himself anything to eat. So Rhyce shrugged and decided to get something for him.

After all, he wouldn't be able to rip stumps out of the ground if he were dying of hunger tomorrow.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks felt strange at the end of Brassica's story. He'd always known that the Saiyans exterminated the Tuffles, but to hear the tale from someone who'd been there, who'd known his grandfather and what sort of man he was, what sort of leader he was.

Trunks wasn't sure if he could ever be like that, he wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to be like that.

But he understood what Brassica was trying to tell him, to the Saiyans _that_ was leadership.

She'd left him to ponder on her story, but mostly he'd just sat in shock. This was the race his mother was trying to bring back? These were the people she wanted to save? Hadn't father ever told her the stories of their world? Of the war?

How could she or anyone else possibly wonder why he tried to keep his Saiyan side suppressed? When he'd lost control for a moment he'd brutally killed an opponent in cold blood, when his people had lost control for an evening they'd exterminated an advanced civilization that had just as much—no _more_ right to a peaceful life on their world than the Saiyans did.

And it was happening again. The Saiyans, strangers in a strange land, would rise up and overthrow their hosts, the Earthlings would go the way of the Tuffle if Turles had anything to say about it.

Mai had sat with him through the story and now she put a cautious hand on his shoulder and asked, “Well . . . what are you thinking?”

“That my grandfather was a genocidal madman?” Trunks offered.

“Is that what you got from the story?” Mai asked.

Trunks was surprised that she could even hint that she'd heard anything else. So he asked her, “What do you mean? Did I miss something?”

“It just seems like you focused on the outcome and not the character.” Mai said. “Your grandfather did exterminate the Tuffles, and that was . . . well, it was horrifying.”

“You realize that's what Turles wants to do to humanity, don't you?” Trunks asked but Mai shook her head.

“Trunks, your grandfather's _reasons_ are what's important. I don't think the Tuffles were wiped out on purpose, the Saiyans couldn't control themselves in their great ape form.”

“So you think he wanted them to be kept around as pets or something? He didn't even see them as sapient beings.” Trunks said with a weary sigh.

Mai nodded, “I know, but what I mean is he wanted to unite his people in a cause, without a cause they'd splinter, without a foe they'd turn on each other again. Your grandfather was trying to make his people . . . well, more than just roving bands of barbarians. He really was smart, he was brutal but he was smart.”

Trunks frowned, “And he did terrible things.”

“He did, and it doesn't sound like he regretted them either. But he knew the Saiyans need a foe, they can't just exist peacefully. But that didn't mean they didn't have a right to exist, or that they couldn't find a way to evolve and form a proper society. He saw that and he tried to use his people's own nature to guide them and make them more civilized and relatively speaking he succeeded, or at the very least was making progress. I think he thought the war with the Tuffles would never end, I think he thought that since there had always been Tuffles that there would always be Tuffles. I don't think he realized that in a war like that someone might actually win.”

“So what are you saying?” Trunks asked, “That I should give up on trying to live peacefully? Give up on asking my people to live peacefully?”

“Yes.” Mai said simply. “Trunks, there's always going to be a next fight. Turles got upset when he saw you showing mercy, so maybe you should explain to him why you did it; that by doing that you won the war.”

“But I didn't, they'll be back someday.” Trunks said.

“And they'll be just as outmatched then as they are now, power like yours doesn't exactly grow on trees.” Mai told him with a smile.

Trunks smiled back, “I guess not . . . but . . . well what do you think I should do?”

“I think your grandfather thought he could throw the Saiyans' unstoppable force against the Tuffles unmovable object, only once the Oozaru go involved that object moved. You need an object that won't move, you need a way for the Saiyans to stand together with each other and with us Earthlings before we splinter just the same way your grandfather knew the Saiyan tribes would.”

“But what is that?” Trunks asked.

“I don't know.” Mai admitted, “But I'd be happy to help you to think of it. It's late, why don't we discuss it over dinner?”

Trunks smiled, “Sure. I wonder what Asiago's put together.”

“Actually,” Mai said, blushing just a little bit, “I think the cafeteria would be too crowded . . . maybe we should go someplace more secluded?”

Trunks folded his arms and asked, “Is this because you want to do paperwork while you eat?”

“No, no paperwork.” Mai said, “My paperwork is done for the day so now I can focus on what matters. Right now this is what matters.”

“You're not afraid of some tabloid journalists?” Trunks asked her, “I mean the two of us alone like that . . .”

Mai shrugged to his surprise and said, “I'm not worried about that now.”

Trunks nodded slowly, “All right. In that case let's find a quiet corner to eat and find some way for our people to coexist.”

Mai smiled and they headed for the door, but in his mind Trunks thought, _I hope we think of something. Because otherwise I'll have to make a choice, and even if mother won't like it the choice seems really obvious to me. Anyway it's not like I'd be the first in the family to doom a whole species._

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The old house in the woods was pretty much just as Gohan had remembered it. The grass had overgrown, the yard didn't seem like much anymore but it was intact . . .

It was still there.

“This is a good sign, right?” Gohan asked. “I mean that it's still standing. There's no light though . . . maybe she just went to bed early?”

_Or maybe there's no one there._ Gohan thought.

Videl just held his hand for a moment, squeezing it slightly. He understood it for the gesture of support it was and it helped steel his resolve. She was right, he needed this even if it was frightening, even if it made him nervous. He nodded to her and said, “Well . . . let's do this.”

“I'm right here with you.” Videl said quietly.

Gohan smiled slightly, hiding the uncertainty that he felt.

They approached the house, it was still just early evening but the lights were out. Still with a flick of the switch they came on and the place looked . . . clean.

A bit dusty, dustier than his mother would ever have let it get, but there were no cobwebs or wild animals.

Someone was living here . . .

Someone who didn't lock their door at night.

“We should go,” Gohan said, “I think someone must have moved in here.”

“Or someone never moved out.” Videl suggested.

“No, no, we should come back in the morning.” Gohan said.

“Probably, but we're already here.” Videl told him. “Anyway if you want we can step outside and try knocking first.”

_Knocking!_ Gohan thought with so much shame he almost fell to his knees. “Knocking!” He whispered aloud, “The most obvious thing to do in the world and I didn't even try!”

“You assumed the place was abandoned, you only know it isn't now because you've been inside, it's not that big a deal.”

“You're awfully casual about this.” Gohan pointed out.

“Because I'm confident in the outcome of this endeavor.” Videl told him.

“Why?” Gohan asked.

“Because you haven't said that the furniture is wrong.” Videl answered simply.

Gohan blinked and looked around.

She was right . . . and so was the furniture. This was his old home, these were the old chairs and shelves and tables, even the old TV . . . this was where he'd grown up and it looked just how it had looked.

It made him all the more nervous then when he heard a door open and heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

Gohan tensed, not knowing what to expect when a familiar voice gasped, “Gohan?”

“Grandpa?” Gohan was amazed to see his grandfather the Ox-King standing at the middle of the stairs.

“Gohan?” Ox-King shouted in surprise, “Hah! I thought you were--”

He didn't get to finish before Gohan rushed forward and threw his arms around—or at least as far as he could around his grandfather's immense bulk. He hugged him tight and lifted him off the ground, lowering him with a crashing sound that almost drowned out the sound of another door opening and another familiar voice shouting.

“Dad why are you _shouting_ at this hour?” His mother roared until their eyes met.

“Gohan . . .” She whispered, and for a moment Gohan thought that one of them was going to cry and he wasn't sure which.

Then her expression hardened and she said, “Where have you been for almost a decade!? You had me worried half to death!”

She was shouting at him, but that didn't stop her from running down the now crowded stairs and throwing her arms around him, hugging him tightly and in a softer, less boisterous tone she said, “I thought . . . I thought the worst had happened! I _knew_ it had!”

“It did,” Gohan told her, “but . . . well Trunks made a wish on the Dragonballs.”

“But you were gone so long,” His mother said, “they had the power to revive you even after that?”

“They're new and improved,” Gohan said with a smile.

He looked down the stairs at Videl and said, “Mom, Grandpa, I'd like you to meet the person who talked me into coming here tonight,”

Videl waved but before Gohan could properly finish introducing her his mother gasped in shock, and maybe a little bit in horror.

“Talked you into it? What do you mean talked you into it, why wasn't this the _first_ place you came after you were revived?” His mother demanded.

Gohan smiled what he hoped was a disarming smile, “You're right, I should have come here, I guess I was too afraid of what I'd find. I didn't know what had happened while I was gone, you know? But Videl here convinced me to confront it whatever it was, so here I am and . . . I can't believe you're both still safe.”

His mother gave him a look that clearly said 'this conversation isn't over' but she did nod to Videl and say, “Thank you.”

“It was nothing, ma'am.” Videl nodded back.

“You two aren't married are you?” Gohan's mother demanded, “You haven't been back _that_ long have you?”

“This is something of a first date.” Videl explained.

“And you brought her here?! What kind of a first date is that?” Chichi demanded. Gohan sighed, his disarming smile wasn't going to help him now.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _When Konpeito meets Okran the two might quickly come into conflict, but can Rhuby properly explain her own conflict to Cauli? As Turles trains with Brock and plans his next move will the old veteran have any words that could dissuade the rebel from his perilous course?_

 


	95. Something in the Water

**Episode Fifteen**

**'Something in the Water'**

 

Normally Konpeito enjoyed spending time in Capsule Corp. HQ, it gave him a chance to catch up with his old ward and see the young adult the strange little juvi had grown into relative to the other members of her species.

He'd been pleased to see that she'd regrown her tail, and even more pleased to see that she'd found her dear friend. He had always wondered about that. Spending time with, as far as he saw it, one of his adopted children was always pleasant, especially in his old age.

Though he'd lost so much he still had some things.

So he'd been surprised to meet with Rhuby's mother, and while his initial reaction was to be pleased that she'd been rescued he quickly realized that they would never be very good friends.

“So you're one of the aliens my girl was supposed to wipe out, huh? Guess she didn't do the greatest job.”

“She and her team were sent to my world to die, not to conquer.” Konpeito informed Okran.

Okran scoffed, “She's a Saiyan, she should have overcome it. Thank the powers she grew up to be strong at least.”

Konpeito shuddered, his version of a shrug and told the Saiyan woman, “She was already very strong when I met her. She was one of the strongest beings I'd ever seen, and she was only a child.”

“Well I guess your sort would think so, since you hadn't seen Saiyans before.” Okran nodded knowingly, “But trust me, she wasn't strong when she left home. The last thing I remember of her before I left for my mission was that she was beaten by Korrard in a testing, and I promised to discipline her harshly when I got home if she didn't improve. I mean with no offense to him now, of the children her age at the time the only one weaker than Korrard would have been Bardock's brat! I don't think I'd have been able to live with the same if she'd lost to Raditz!”

Korrard shook his head, “A pity.”

“A shame is what it was, as I said.” Okran scoffed.

“No, I mean it's a pity that your thought when she failed was to beat her instead of teach her how to succeed.” Korrard explained.

“She's a Saiyan, we're tough. Tough treatment makes tough warriors, and anyway it worked out for her. She's a right monstrosity now!” Okran said with what sounded like pride, but Konpeito wasn't so certain it was pride in her daughter.

Konpeito remembered Rhuby's behavior when first he'd found her. He remembered how quick she'd been to lie or obfuscate and how long it had taken him and Korizato to finally get the little Saiyan to become more comfortable and open with them. He'd always assumed it was because she saw them as enemies until their kindness won her over but now seeing that she'd been raised by such a harsh dam he wondered if she even realized there was any other way to be until she started living it.

_Perhaps it was both,_ he thought. He wondered how much of the Saiyan behavior was nature and how much of it was upbringing, after all he'd been working with the Saiyan called Beeta for quite a while now and she was nothing like the rest of her kind, at least not always.

The old Iwatian shuddered again and said, “She came under my care when she was on my world and she helped rescue my people. She had lost her tail so she relied on us for protection to an extent, but without her help we would never have defeated your Oozaru forms.”

Okran had wrinkled her nose in disgust when Konpeito had mentioned 'protection' but her face became one of shock when he mentioned Rhuby defeating the Oozaru.

In fact Beeta and the other Saiyans at the cafeteria table all seemed to take notice of that as well. “You mean without her tail . . . she could stand up to an Oozaru? You mean that without transforming into an Oozaru herself . . . she could _beat_ an Oozaru?”

_Well . . ._ Konpeito thought, but he didn't feel like getting into it so he just nodded. “I hope that will help you to think better of her.”

“Think _better_ of her? Hah! I'm not convinced that's my daughter anymore! I don't think that demon came from _my_ blood, and I've got a pretty high esteem for my blood!” Okran laughed. She shook her head and asked, “What did you teach her? Come on, it can't have been anything from me, I barely acknowledged her then and more's the pity for me now. What did you teach my girl?”

“I'd like to know that too,” Beeta spoke up, “I had no idea Rhubara had gotten that strong on Goulder, her power level was only two thousand when I gave her her scouter, not close to how high it would have to be for her to stand up to any of the others transformed. Come to think of it though it makes sense, I thought she and Cauliflora got stronger on that gladiatorial world but that wouldn't have explained Turles too, whatever happened to them happened on Goulder.”

Konpeito shrugged, “I couldn't say. Maybe it was a combination of things.”

“Or maybe we need to go to Goulder, could be something in the water.” The Saiyan called Lamson laughed. “Let's steal the _Humanity's Hope_ and--”

“And miss the tournament? Are you crazy?” Okran cried, “Don't try to back out just because you know my girl will wipe the floors with you!”

“Hah, I'm not easy to beat,” Lamson said, “and anyway I've got Cauli on my team so she and Rhuby cancel each other out, it'll be you and me and I know I can take you down old lady!”

Okran got an annoyed look on her face and she grumbled, “Oh I won't go down easily . . . say, big fellow,” She said to Konpeito but Konpeito shook his head.

“Konpeito.” He corrected her.

“Right, Konpeito. What say you help me and Rhuby train? You know, for old time's sake, and just maybe whatever you did with her will happen for me too!”

Kon shook his head, “I doubt it. In any event you have someone to help you train and I have my own partner to train with, I'll be seeing you in the tournament.”

Okran smirked, “Well then . . . I hope I'll get the chance to take you on. I'd be interested to see just how strong one of your kind can be.”

“You will tell _me_ what you did to train Rhubara, right?” Ribuai asked him from down the table, “After all I'm your partner for this tournament and I've never heard of an untransformed Saiyan defeating one who had transformed.”

Konpeito just shuddered, “I'll do my best, but I make no promises.”

But the old warrior knew he had only one job in the tournament, and that was to make sure his ward stayed on the right side of the conflict that was brewing. Everything else, including Captain's Soda's orders to defeat the Saiyan Turles was secondary.

He had lost all of his other children when the PTO took his world, he would die a second time before he let his last little one be taken, especially in some mad fool's insurrection.

Though he might never be friends with her he still knew that on some level Okran must feel the same way, it was difficult to imagine a parent that wouldn't. So he told her without any desire to give anything away, “Just you be sure and look after your daughter, I expect great things from her in the tournament, I hope she'll defeat even the greatest of her rivals.”

But Okran chuckled, “We're Saiyans, it's always been conquer or be conquered with us.”

_That's the problem though, isn't it?_ Konpeito thought sadly.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The restaurant that Kodva had taken them to was nice, it had bizarre looking pictures on the wall as if someone had tried to draw Earthlings but failed phenomenally giving them enormous heads and tiny bodies.

It was enough that Rhuby noticed it, but not quite enough to get her mind off of things.

To add to that she was uncomfortable in the place, there were far too many other people there and it felt like too many were watching her. She felt a sort of nervous tightness in her chest, and even though the room was large it felt very small.

This wasn't something the young Saiyan was used to feeling, she ate in the crowded cafeteria all the time and she'd eaten surrounded by other fighters in Lord Stobler's service for years.

She had to wonder if the problem was that these people were strangers, or if it was that she felt like the center of attention not just from them but from her friends as well. She could feel their eyes on her and she pretended to be very interested in the menu but really she didn't know hat any of these foods were or what she was going to eat. She didn't even know if she felt like eating at all.

She'd probably just order whatever Cauli did.

Kodva said, “Order anything you want, kids. It's my treat.”

Gurein laughed, “You probably shouldn't order from the Senior menu though, I don't think they'll believe you're over fifty-five.”

“What, you feed special food to your elderly?” Cauli gawked, “Is it to kill them off or something?”

“What? No, that'd be horrible!” Kodva gasped, “We just don't charge them as much money for things.”

“What? That's horrible too, I don't want to pay more for things just because I'm young!” Cauli cried.

“You're not paying tonight anyway. Besides, you've never had to pay for anything since you came to this world,” Kodva pointed out with a laugh.

“Besides, survive to be old and you won't have to.” Gurein added.

Cauli nodded slowly, “Ah, so it's a reward for surviving so many battles . . . or whatever perils Earthlings face. Well I suppose that's all right then. Say Rhuby, what are you getting?”

“What?” Rhuby blinked. She'd let herself focus on her friends' conversation to keep her mind off the crowded restaurant and lost track of staring at the menu.

“You're a decent enough judge, I'll just get whatever you get because this stuff all sounds weird to me.” Cauli said. “Like what even _is_ tofu, and is it better or worse in soup form?”

“I wouldn't dare tell you, except that it's not as bad as its reputation might lead you to believe. You should try it before anyone colors your perception of it with their own.” Kodva said.

“That means it's really gross, but _he_ likes it.” Gurein translated.

“She might too.” Kodva laughed.

Rhuby frowned and mumbled . . . well, actually she just made a mumbling noise she hoped Cauli would mistake for words.

But Cauli didn't fall for it. They were sitting at a circular table with Cauli to her right and Gurein to her left and Kodva across from her so it was easy enough for Cauli to reach out and lightly smack her back with her tail, “Didn't catch that,” she said.

Normally Rhuby might have said something playful but tonight she just mumbled, “Sorry.”

Unfortunately that just made Cauli pay more attention. She leaned closer and asked, “What's going on?”

Rhuby met the other girl's gaze but she could only mumble, “I thought we were here to eat, not talk.”

Cauli's blue eyes became stern and she said, “Well I won't eat until you tell me, and I'm really hungry. So you're either going to have to fess up or you'll starve me to death!”

“Starve to you to death? That gives me plenty of time.” Rhuby said with a shrug.

“You callin' me fat?” Cauli demanded and Rhuby shook her head violently before she realized Cauli was playing with her.

She forced a smile and said, “I . . . it's stupid, okay?”

“Great, so are most problems.” Gurein said.

Rhuby frowned and said, “It's just . . . it's the tournament.”

“What, is that all?” Cauli asked, “You'll do fine! Even with Okran dragging you down you're good enough to win on your own against two people, so don't worry about it!”

“It's not that . . .” Rhuby said, “I'm not worried about her . . . it's just that she said something today and it made me think that . . . there's someone I need to beat, okay?”

Cauli's expression softened dramatically and she smiled, “And you're afraid I'll be upset that you want to beat me?”

“What? No, it's not you!” Rhuby said and Cauli seemed surprised. Before she could become offended Rhuby found herself explaining, “I want to fight you, I was looking forward to fighting you because . . . well because it's you! I wanted to see how we measure up and I didn't care which of us would win or lose, I just wanted to have the match.”

“That sounds perfectly reasonable, at least from what I understand of Saiyans.” Kodva said. “Why were you upset then?”

Rhuby sighed and said, “I want to fight Cauli . . . but I _need_ to fight Turles. I need to fight him and I need to win . . . and that bothers me. Against Cauli the outcome didn't matter, I wouldn't be ashamed to lose to her and I know she wouldn't hate me if I won.”

“Don't be too sure,” Cauli said, but then she shook her head and said, “Sorry, that was a joke. We're being serious, I'm sorry. You're right, I'd be proud of you if you won.”

Rhuby smiled, thinking to herself that she recalled a time when 'sorry' was a forbidden word to Cauli because a True Saiyan Warrior was never sorry.

They'd changed a lot over the years . . . could she really admit to her what she was feeling?

Rhuby looked down and she whispered, “I'd be proud of you if you won too . . . and that's how it is between us but Turles . . . if he beats me, or if he beats you and he thinks . . .” Rhuby clenched her fists and growled, “if he thinks that somehow makes us . . . makes us--”

“So we'll beat him.” Cauli interrupted, “It's just that simple.”

“What?” Rhuby blinked.

“We'll beat him. One of us will, if not you then me.” Cauli said with a shrug.

“But I don't need you fighting my fights for me!” Rhuby insisted.

“Sounds like it's her fight too, whatever the reason.” Gurein said gently.

“It is, even if Turles doesn't matter to me,” Cauli said, “if beating him matters to you then I'll help you beat him and if you don't then I will beat him on your behalf.”

“I can fight my own fights, I'm not the weak low-class fighter I used to be, you don't have to protect me all the time!” Rhuby told her but Cauli shook her head.

“So you say, but the thing is all your fights _are_ my fights.” Cauli told her simply. “Whether you like it or not that's just how it is. It's not just about protecting you, it's about protecting myself too. We're two halves of a whole, so your enemies are my enemies, your battles are my battles and I will be by your side for every one of them until I'm dead.”

Rhuby shook her head now, “But . . . you said yourself Turles doesn't matter to you.”

“No, but _you_ do.” Cauli said.

Rhuby lowered her gaze again and whispered, “Thanks.”

“Don't thank me, just order something good.” Cauli told her.

“Oh don't worry, even if you don't like it I can just eat yours, after all if we're two halves of a whole doesn't that mean when I'm full you're full?”

“No, it doesn't work like that!” Cauli said, then she blushed, “Wait, did I say we're . .. I said _that_?”

“You don't remember?” Kodva gawked, “You _just_ said it!”

“I didn't mean to say that.” Cauli muttered.

“It was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard from you and you didn't _mean_ it?” Gurein sounded shocked.

“I _meant_ it, I just didn't mean to say it out loud!” Cauli protested, blushing furiously, “Ugh, a True Saiyan Warrior doesn't admit to things like that!”

“But that's really how you feel?” Rhuby asked.

Cauli shrugged, “Of course it is. I'm miserable without you, I learned that on Goulder.”

Rhuby smiled and brushed her hair behind her ear. She . . . actually felt better. She smiled and whispered, “I was pretty miserable without you too.”

Kodva and Gurein exchanged knowing smiles as their waiter came to take their orders. Rhuby smirked and said, “Well . . . since we are Saiyans I guess we'd better make Kodva regret offering to treat us.”

“That goes without saying.” Kodva told her, returning the smirk, “Good luck though, I'm not really one to get hung up on material possessions, and Miss Bulma is paying us EDF pretty handsomely.”

“Great.” Rhuby indicated a page of the menu and said, “All of this.”

“Everything?” The waiter asked, glancing at Kodva for confirmation.

The former monk just kept smirking, “You heard the lady.”

Rhuby laughed, and quickly amended her order to something a bit less . . . extreme. Kodva had called her bluff, she didn't want to be a bad friend after all.

So she had the tofu soup, and it really was pretty good.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The woods a few miles away from Capsule Corp. HQ and West City were not the best place to train if one on Turles' level wasn't trying to eradicate the local wildlife, but since he was forced to restrain himself so greatly they sufficed, though a great deal of care was still needed.

It was frustrating, and even more frustrating was the fact that so far Turles didn't like training with Brock. Bringing himself down to Brock's level was so tedious it was almost painful and it left the proud Saiyan feeling as if he weren't going to make any advancement in power himself, as if the entire time leading up to the tournament would be spent making his companion presentable.

But it would all be worth it once he won the tournament and turned the last stragglers of his kind to his cause.

Though Brock didn't see it that way, it seemed. As the two took a break in their training Brock mentioned, “You know there aren't enough of us to go fighting a war against our own kind.”

“I would argue that there are too few of us to risk not defending ourselves against someone who hasn't got our best interest at heart whether they're Saiyan or not.” Turles replied.

“But what makes you think Prince Trunks doesn't have our best interest at heart even if he isn't seeing to our interests the way a Saiyan would?” Brock asked.

Turles folded his arms. He hadn't expected the break in training to become an exercise in defending his reasoning, especially not against a weaker Saiyan, not to mention a veteran from the past. Brock should have known better than to question his betters.

Still if his argument couldn't survive scrutiny then it was wrong, so he'd explain it again. He asked Brock, “How many races did you exterminate for Frieza?”

“Three before the mission that apparently killed me.” Brock answered.

“And do you regret it?” Turles asked.

“No. I had a job to do and I was stronger than them, they were welcome to save their kind and kill me if they could, but I was always stronger and that was all that mattered.”

“So you didn't even consider your own life important?” Turles scoffed.

“No. There was a planet with thousands more of my kind I was insignificant in the grand scheme of things so why not just enjoy life and fight to my heart's content?” Brock shrugged, “I didn't mind fighting for Frieza, and while a part of me is obviously angry that my race is gone now it's no different than what I was doing to others. Frieza was stronger, but our people were free to save themselves and kill him.”

“Ah but why would we have done that? He was our friend after all, this stronger being who would help us get stronger, who would use our strength just like the Tuffles did but this being was so powerful himself that opposing him seemed like madness.” Turles explained. “See now where that got us? Our kind was used and then discarded when we should have been the ones ruling the Planet Trade Organization. We should have destroyed Frieza and been the rulers, instead we let one powerful Arcosian rule our entire species.”

“This doesn't seem to be the same.” Brock pointed out.

“No, it's a lot worse.” Turles said with a nod, “Trunks is one of our own, the grandson of King Vegeta no less. He should want to see us ruling the stars, instead he wants to see us serving on Earth, just as we had to serve on Planet Vegeta.”

“We never served on Planet Vegeta. You forget our ancestors were strangers in a strange land, but we were left to our own devices for the most part. Yes the Tuffles used us, but never without us first giving them our permission. When the war began they killed many of us, they were a good enemy and there was honor in fighting them.”

“And I feel the same way about the Earthlings, they have potential, some of them are quite strong,” Turles explained, “there will be honor in fighting them as well, and in fighting alongside them. But they're not Saiyans, the best they can aspire to is having some Saiyan blood in their offspring, something the Tuffles couldn't have dreamed of.”

“So if you think there's honor in fighting alongside the Earthlings why pursue this vendetta?” Brock asked.

Turles folded his arms and paced back and forth for a moment before finally answering, “Because it's only natural for a species to put its own kind first. I'm a Saiyan, I must put my own kind first, don't you agree?” He asked and Brock nodded, so he continued, “So tell me then when it comes to the half-breed Prince and his mentor which people do they seem to put first? The Earthlings of course.”

“The Earthlings outnumber us and they are weaker, they need more attention,” Brock was saying but Turles cut him off.

“Or they need to be left to their own devices to get stronger, they have the potential, his students prove it. So you see Trunks might have Saiyan blood but in the end he's an Earthling because he puts them first. That means he uses our blood, our legend of the Super Saiyan and he rules us but he's not one of us. He's one of them and that means that just like Frieza he'll use us but unlike Frieza most of us aren't even aware that we're under the control of an alien.”

Brock was quiet for a moment, but gradually he started to nod. “I can see your point, Turles, I really can.”

“So you understand.” Turles nodded back, “Good.”

“But I still wonder if you're seeing things clearly.” Brock added. “Even with as strong as you are unless you can learn to become a Super Saiyan you will not be strong enough to defeat Trunks. Just like Frieza he's more than any of us can handle.”

“But unlike Frieza I want us to be prepared when the betrayal comes and if we should be finally fully exterminated I want us to leave scars on our enemies that will never heal, scars that will remind them who we were and what it cost to get rid of us.” Turles said.

It sounded good but really it wasn't true. He didn't want to lose, no matter how glorious a defeat it might be. He wanted to win.

He needed to become a Super Saiyan, and for that he needed one of the Super Saiyans to teach him.

He preferred Brassica for that, she was weaker than he was apart from her ability to become a Super Saiyan and once he mastered that he'd be stronger than her in every regard. A weaker Saiyan, especially an aging one would be no threat to him as the leader of his kind.

Of course first he needed to win Brassica over to his side, he needed to win Cauliflora, he needed to win Rhubara. Once he had them and the ability to transform he knew the time would be right . . . it would be his time to rule.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ As the night draw to a close Trunks and Mai enjoy their date as best they can with so many eager watching eyes, and this time it looks like the news papers won't be making anything up. Can Sharpner help provide an unexpected solution? _

 


	96. A True Hero

**Episode Sixteen**

**'A True Hero'**

 

The evening was still fairly young but Mai had no intentions of going anywhere too far or extravagant. She wasn't even certain that this qualified as an actual date, and if it did she wasn't actually sure how that should go, she supposed she was old fashioned enough to just expect that whoever she dated would have some kind of plan in mind.

But she was the dater and Trunks the dated . . . or . . . whatever the actual words for— _ Focus! _ She told herself, interrupting her own hectic thoughts.

“Where are we going?” Trunks asked, no doubt thinking that the silence between them since they'd left Capsule Corp. was deafening, and Mai supposed that it was but she hadn't had time to notice since she was so caught up in screaming at herself in her own head that she was being too hasty.

_ What are you even doing,  _ her mind screamed,  _ are you insane? _ But out loud she just said, “There's this restaurant that Captain Videl likes to go to, it's really the only one I know of in West City, I thought that might be good?”

“You don't think that's where she'll have gone with Gohan, do you?” Trunks asked. Why would he wonder that? Did he not want them to see them together? Mai knew this was a bad idea!

“I wouldn't want to intrude on them,” He explained, “I already took up enough of their time tonight.”

Was that all? Mai told herself she needed to calm down but her brain was doing its best to make the worst of things. She had to wonder to herself,  _ do you want to be here or not,  _ and the answer was yes . . . so nothing else needed to matter, right?

She took a steadying breath and then told Trunks, “It's true we delayed them, but Brassica's story took a long time. To be honest their date may be over already, or it may have escalated and gone elsewhere.”

“Right . . . well I hope they're enjoying themselves whatever the case may be. Speaking of dates is this—” Trunks was saying but Mai interrupted him.

“Here we are!” She said, intentionally cutting him off before he could ask her anything that might throw off her temporarily achieved sense of mental balance and purpose.

Like she'd told Trunks, she wasn't afraid of tabloid journalists tonight. But she hadn't expected to be afraid of her own self, afraid of screwing things up before she even fully understood what things were.

What she knew was that she enjoyed being around Trunks, he gave her butterflies even when she didn't know he was there, like when he'd disguised himself in Brassica's space suit when they'd left Earth for what they thought at the time was New Namek.

Though she'd more or less gotten used to the sensation things like that made her feel like, well, maybe if there were something to explore she should be exploring it.

But she wasn't the most experienced person when it came to dating, Having to grow up a second time hadn't actually given her any extra insight or wisdom on the subject of romance.

Nevertheless they had arrived and Mai led Trunks into the place, explaining, “Captain Videl comes here sometimes if we have the time, she never lets me do any paperwork here though, which is why I think I like it so much.”

“You don't like doing paperwork?” Trunks asked.

“It's not that, it's just that I'm perfectly happy to do the work while everyone else eats, even while I eat if I'm very careful but often when I go to a restaurant I'm still working and then the food comes out and I'm still working and then the food is cold when I finally eat it. Here that was never the case so it's made more of an impression on me.”

Trunks smiled, “Sounds like Videl is looking out for you a bit.”

“I'm lucky, I have a good captain.” Mai agreed.

They weren't led to a table immediately, instead having to sit in a waiting area for a few minutes and they spent that time sitting on a bench with several other people who were also waiting for tables and Mai felt quite keenly their eyes on the pair of them.

At first no one had noticed them but after five minutes the distinctive features of the Golden Warrior and hero of Earth were noticed by someone, and then someone else, and so on. Some people were whispering others trying to discreetly point them out to friends or family who hadn't spotted them yet.

One middle-aged man and a woman, likely his wife approached them somewhat nervously and asked, “Uh, you're Trunks, aren't you? The Defender of Earth?”

“I'm Trunks,” Trunks confirmed in a friendly voice, though Mai knew him well enough to notice that he was feeling nervous. Still he was smiling, as he said, “But I'm only one of Earth's defenders.”

To Mai's surprise the man fell to his knees and his wife followed suit, Trunks sprang to his feet in alarm but the man said, “Golden warrior, I just want to thank you so much for saving our world and for protecting us! Please sir, i-if you're waiting for a table my wife and I were next but I insist that you take ours!”

Mai felt a little paralyzed, she wouldn't have known what to say or do in such a situation but apparently Trunks did.

He smiled, though he was clearly uncomfortable and he reached down to help the man to his feet, Mai quickly got up and did the same for the woman. Trunks said, “Thank you sir, but I couldn't possibly do that. You've waited and I can too. Besides as grateful as I am for your offer if I accepted it I would cut short my enjoyment of all this.”

“All this?” The man asked. “You mean waiting?”

Trunks indicated the waiting area and said, “Being able to see people living normal lives and enjoying a normal night like they would have before the Androids, before the aliens. This is what I and the rest of the EDF fought for and it's a great reward to be able to see with my own eyes something that would have been impossible when I was a child. Please forgive me but I selfishly want to enjoy more of this before I have to trouble myself wondering what to order.”

If that had been the end of it it would have been lovely, but now that this man and his wife had broken the ice many other people approached Trunks with questions and praise, some people even asked him to sign things and soon Mai realized that dating a celebrity was going to have its own unique set of challenges.

She had been uncertain enough about dating in general but this was like starting a game on the hardest difficulty.

But she realized that it was less severe for her. She was just the woman  _ with  _ the Golden Warrior, Trunks himself was the one getting all the attention.

Eventually the restaurant's manage came to them, Mai expected they'd be thrown out for making a commotion but of course they weren't. What restaurant wanted the bad press of throwing out the savior of humanity?

Their wait was mysteriously over before the wait of a few other people who'd been there longer and the manager himself led them to their table assuring them that his staff would try to ensure their privacy but that someone as important as Trunks should really call ahead so that similar situations didn't happen.

They'd had no idea, but really Mai realized she should have expected it. After all Trunks had people crawling through bushes to take pictures of him, it was unlikely that he could just sit in a waiting room without people recognizing him.

When they arrived at their table and their server went to get their drinks Trunks breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well that was an experience.” Mai said with a slight smile. “Sorry, I didn't expect that, but I should have.”

Trunks smiled at her, and it was a far less nervous smile than the one he wore with the crowd, which made her feel as if he were being honest when he said, “It's fine.”

Still she apologized again, but Trunks told her, “I wasn't lying. It was nice to actually see people living their lives normally.”

Mai smiled and said, “Yes, I suppose it must be. Especially knowing that they can do that because of you.”

“Well, not just me.” Trunks tried to say but she corrected him.

“More you than anyone else, really. Short of your mother who else comes close to your contributions to mankind at this point?”

Trunks raised an eyebrow, “And is still alive?” He asked, and Mai shrugged.

“I know you compare yourself to Goku and your father, and I'm not saying you shouldn't . . . but at this point you're really from two different worlds and you grew up fighting different fights. I think in your own way you're a lot more admirable than they were.”

“Me?” Trunks blinked, “I started the EDF because I hoped I could retire someday. But my father and Goku, they live to get stronger and better and to be better protectors of Earth.”

“I don't think so.” Mai said a little sheepishly, “At least that's not the impression I get when I hear about them, I think they enjoyed getting stronger yes, but I don't think the protecting Earth was the primary reason. I think they got stronger to get stronger and it just so happened they were able to protect Earth so they did.”

“You may be right,” Trunks acknowledged, “but even so . . .”

“Even so neither of them envisioned a world without them in it. You did.” Mai said with a shrug. “Neither of them tried to train students, you tried and succeeded. You're so young but you've done so much and you've got such a long life ahead of you to do even more and you plan to do more. Not only that but even when things are going well you're still trying to protect everyone, and even though I think you need to relax more and enjoy what you've won I can't help but admire the protector who always scans the horizon for danger and I feel safe knowing you're . . . well, around. That's why I think you're a true hero.”

Trunks actually blushed and said, “Well uh . . . even though it'd be pretty unheroic of me to argue, I still don't think I'm  _ that  _ special.”

“Humility, just another trait of a true blue hero.” Mai said.

Their server came to take their orders but they hadn't even looked at their menus yet.

For Mai it was easy enough, she ordered what she always ordered when Captain Videl brought her here, and Trunks just got the same thing.

“I'll trust your decision and just relax, and watch the peaceful people,” he told her.

Mai smiled and said, “I'm glad. If anyone deserves to sit back enjoy the fruits of their labors you certainly do.”

Trunks smiled back, their eyes met making her heart-rate increase a bit, but he said, “If only for a moment. That's the problem though, because of this thing with Turles I can't just relax and enjoy peace for very long. It's still at the back of my mind that I could have a civil war on my hands before long.”

“Hardly a war, even if both sides would be wielding more power than any other two forces in Earth's history,” Mai said. “Anyway we're handling it, you don't have to shoulder the whole burden on your own anymore. You have a support network in your friends and family, and the King would certainly do everything he could to help too if you let him. Pretty much the whole world is here for you if you need us.”

“I know,” Trunks sighed. “But I feel responsible, like I can't risk anyone else to this. I'm supposed to be their prince, right? But Turles was the one I thought I'd gotten to know best, and look where we are. Can I even truly trust Brassica?”

“Why wouldn't you?” Mai asked, “She told you that story to help, I think.”

“She did, but at the end of the day . . . I don't know, I guess I'm just shaken. Goku and the others in the alternate past can all rely on each other, they don't have these issues.”

“They knew each other longer. You're hardly even approaching a year with these students, right?” Mai offered.

Trunks sighed again and told her, “That's true. And doesn't help that I wasn't with them during the trip to False Namek. I missed the chance to get to know them early on before making that bad impression sparing the PTO forces. Now I'm an outsider trusting the opinions of others regarding a growing number of dangerous aliens that my own mother is importing into our world and time line to save them from going extinct!”

“They're not just aliens though,” Mai told him. “They're your people, right? So maybe don't just think of them as dangerous aliens. Maybe try thinking of them as _people_ you need to get to know. Sure you might be late, but you're probably not _too_ late yet.”

“I do think of them as people,” Trunks assured her, “I just haven't had the time to get to know all of them.”

“Because you've been worrying about things, but it's time to stop. Let your friends help carry at least some of the load now.” Mai said gently, reaching across the table and placing a hand on his without thinking about what she was doing, “Why not use the time leading up to the tournament? Remember what I said about paperwork, right? Think of this as paperwork, and maybe even the sort you'll like. Talk to your subjects, Prince Trunks, make a good second impression.”

Trunks was watching her observantly so she supposed she must not sound _that_ silly yet. She carried on, “Show them you care about their interests and want to see them become a part of society. Help them to know what that means too, I mean Beeta joined the Royal Guard, right? Who knows what else the others might want to do, and most of them are so young they still have a chance to choose almost anything. Imagine a Saiyan doctor maybe?”

Trunks smiled patiently, but Mai could tell he was about to disagree or make an excuse so she pressed on and said, “Maybe nothing that normal. Still you worry about fighting the next fight and I admire that. But sometimes you don't have to fight with your fists. You can win this war by winning them over, then even if Turles somehow defeats Gohan and Sixteen in the tournament he won't have the same kind of support. Without that he might fall in line too, maybe since his rebellion is based on misunderstanding you . . . well maybe you just need to understand him?”

“But are you sure I can trust any of them after this conspiracy? I mean apart from the ones who aren't a part of it obviously,” Trunks asked.

“I don't see why not, Turles notwithstanding. After all like Brassica said his reason is probably because he thinks you're just going to use them right? So showing them all that you're not could win him back too. Like I said try to understand him and maybe that can help him understand you. He can't think he's going to wipe out humanity even as weakened as it is with just a dozen Saiyans right?”

Trunks was nodding slowly as if he agreed and Mai added, “You have people skills you know. The way you talked to that crowd is a good example. You got to know my troopers well enough too, right? Now it's time to get to know your own, learn about them.”

Trunks smiled and said, “I'm glad we had this conversation, and you're right. I'll start tomorrow, and I'll ask Gohan to do the same as long as it doesn't interfere with his training with Videl, we'll both try harder to help them assimilate and learn what they hope for in the future. I think Gohan would be good at helping me to bridge the divide between Saiyan and Earthling.”

“You two are uniquely suited to the task.” Mai told him, smiling and heaving a sigh of relief.

Trunks grinned and said, “That's true. But tonight let's not worry too much about that. Let's talk about something else if you don't mind it.”

“No, of course I don't. What's on your mind?” Mai asked.

Trunks indicated the caricatures on the walls and asked, “Do you know what the deal is with these weird drawings? Uh I mean that in a nice way of course.”

Mai laughed and said, "Of course! But you mean you don't know about caricature? It's a silly sort of art-form, these people used to be famous and they came here so the restaurant had these drawings done to remember it. For some of them that's the best we have of them anymore."

“Really?” Trunks sounded impressed, “That's a lot of celebrities.”

“I think there used to be more than one restaurant back when we had more than one city,” Mai admitted but in order to keep the tone light she added, “They'll probably have one of you made now,” She told him honestly, and he blushed again.

“Well . . . I hope they'll get my good side.” Trunks said.

“They'd have a hard time missing it,” Mai said, then she silently scolded herself and quickly said, “I mean since you're a hero and all. You might even get the same spotlight as Captain Videl's father over there.” Mai explained, pointing out the almost enshrined caricature of Mr. Satan.

“Our Lord and Savior? Wow he was famous here too and I didn't even know it.” Trunks sounded impressed as he looked at the picture, then his gaze drifted and he said, “Oh! Hello, what's that?”

“What?” Mai asked, following his gaze to a table at the far side of the restaurant where a group of people sat. They were wearing the Capsule Corp. jackets that Bulma had assigned the fighters of the EDF, white for the Earthlings and black for the Saiyans along with personal colors on the sleeves and trim so they matched everyone's armor.

The pair of Earthling EDF had their backs to her and Trunks but wore orange and black sleeves making them Gurein and Kodva respectively, and the pair of Saiyans they were with were more easily identified by their faces, Rhubara and the younger less-scarred Cauliflora.

_That's unexpected._ Mai thought.

“In more ways than one,” Trunks admitted, “What do you think, a double date?”

Mai smiled, “Maybe? Well at least you know you can trust them.”

“For now,” Trunks said. “But I didn't expect to see the four of them together, maybe Kodva and Gurein are being a good influence on them?”

“It wouldn't surprise me. You see, even when they don't know you need it your friends are helping you. Should we say hello?” Mai asked.

“No, I'm sure they're here to eat and relax, right?” Trunks said.

“Probably. Just like us.” Mai nodded.

“So let's leave them to it, no need to intrude on their spare time.” Trunks said with a smile.

Mai smiled too, even though she'd just been telling him to spend more time with the other Saiyans she agreed that didn't have to start right away. Besides she was glad to still have Trunks all to herself, she was starting to warm up to this whole dinner for two . . . thing.

In fact she was starting to feel more relaxed the more relaxed Trunks felt so she was almost disappointed when a cloud passed over his face and he asked her, “What about Brassica's story?”

“What do you mean?” Mai asked.

“Well I know you think it paints a nicer picture of my grandfather than I do, and I guess maybe you're right. Maybe . . . maybe I'm a little eager to see the worst in my heritage.”

“Well it is _your_ heritage, so for better or worse you're kind of stuck with it, right? Might as well try not to be too hard on your ancestors, that's what I think at least,” Mai said, and added, “Besides I think I know better than most what it's like to sort of come from an older time when values were a bit different.”

Trunks nodded and asked, “Then . . . well . . . do you think I can make it work? With people like that on Earth . . . can I really make this work for both of them?”

Mai was quiet for a moment before she answered, “If anyone can it's you, and I'll do everything I can to help. But I don't know yet . . . I will say that I think your grandfather was right—at least if I was right about him thinking the unstoppable force needed an immovable object, something to keep its attention forever. I think maybe if there's some way to manage that without anyone getting hurt it might help and honestly tournaments might just do the trick. Let them compete and grow and fight to their hearts content in non-lethal settings. At least until we can think of something better.”

Trunks smiled, “Thank you, Mai.”

She'd heard him say that before, but this time it felt somehow . . . stronger. She smiled, and the rest of the evening went by like a dream. Mai managed to forget that the real world even existed until they were leaving the restaurant when she got a sudden and very powerful reminder in the form of the flash of dozens of cameras.

There were microphones in their faces, questions being asked and suddenly the dream was a nightmare.

_That's it, a nightmare, that's all this is!_ Mai thought, pinching her cheek hoping to wake up.

And that was before the panicked screaming started.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“Well I bet there's nothing phony about the headlines today!” Videl told Trunks the next morning.

“Or at least there won't be once they start rolling in.” Trunks agreed, shaking his head in embarrassment. “I just hope it doesn't upset Mai too much. I haven't even looked at the paper today.”

They were in the elevator heading for the prison cells. They'd left Sharpner to stew overnight, though not on purpose. It seemed that without Videl there to give the order no one had actually released the photographer.

Which meant that technically now they were in the wrong as well.

A little bit more so actually. Trunks suspected this could count as kidnapping.

“But you say little Cauli saved you?” Videl asked.

“Saved isn't the right word, more she caused a bigger distraction.” Trunks explained. “I guess her group was leaving at abut the same time Mai and I were, she and Rhubara saw me, their Prince in apparent danger and . . . intervened.”

“By . . .” Videl pressed.

Trunks sighed, he knew that she knew very well. Still he said, “By lifting up a pair of news vans and threatening to bring them crashing down on the crowd of reporters if they didn't step away from their Prince . . .”

“Adorable.” Videl said with a smirk as the elevator stopped and the doors opened with a contented sigh.

“Not to me.” Trunks sighed.

“At least you know you can trust them.”

“Funny, that's what Mai said.” Trunks said dryly. “But remember they weren't under much doubt.”

“I like certainty,” Videl said, then she shouted, “Like how certain I am that my  _ dear friend  _ will be cooperating, right Sharpner?”

“If it gets me out of here.” The blond man sighed. He looked like he'd had a rough night, his long straight hair was a mess and a trail of dried drool ran down one of his cheeks.

“No more taking pictures around here, got it?” Videl demanded.

“Yeah, of course not.” Sharpner muttered.

“Not that it'll matter much now.” Trunks sighed.

“Eh? Why's that?” Sharpner asked.

“Oh . . . he's front page news for another reason.” Videl said with a smile.

Trunks shook his head and said, “We go from one made up article—“

“Speculative.” Sharpner corrected.

“Fine,” Trunks scoffed, agreeing only because he was still hoping Sharpner didn't press charges or something, “we go from one  _ speculative  _ article about me and Mai to a whole slew of reports catching us leaving a restaurant together,  _ and  _ two of my people threatening a crowd.”

“What? What did I miss?” Sharpner gawked.

“A lot, but I'm sure you'll be able to read all about it.” Videl teased. “You're free to go, just don't bother us again.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Sharper said, “I can't just go! The stuff you're saying, that's news!”

“We know, it's going to be all over everything if it's not already.” Videl said.

Sharpner shook his head, “Right but I mean come on, it'll be their take on it. Don't you want to get your own out there?”

“What do you mean?” Trunks asked, intrigued.

Sharpner smirked, but he looked too goofy for Trunks to take him seriously. Still he said in the voice of an obvious conman, “Look, I was doing what I was doing because people are starved for information about this place, about you! People want to know everything about the Golden Warrior and the EDF and if they can't learn the facts they're happy with fiction.”

“Okay, so . . .” Trunks asked, but he felt like he could tell what Sharpner was about to say.

“So why don't you and I work together to enlighten the public?” Sharpner asked, “If the people can get the hard facts from one source they won't need to worry so much about the others. What do you say, Goldie?”

“I say don't ever call me Goldie.” Trunks said flatly.

“Fine,” Sharpner said, raising his hands, “If that's how you feel I'll just need a ride to the police station to file a report about your unlawful keeping of my person, and we'll call it even. I mean until the court date.”

Trunks groaned but Videl barked, “Are you trying to extort a review from the Golden Warrior in front of one of the King's Guard?”

“No, of course not! Videl, you know me better than that . . . I'm  _ offering  _ a trade, one that's mutually beneficial. A few light interviews, answer some questions and at least most of the speculation can stop . . . and I'll be rich but that's besides the point.”

Videl rolled her eyes but Trunks actually shrugged.

“Sure,” he said, “why not. Just a few questions?”

“Totally noninvasive, you, your mother and your friends won't even know we're here most of the time, we can be very discreet.”

“My mother and friends?” Trunks demanded, he was willing let this interview happen but he wasn't speaking for anyone else.

“Who's 'we?'” Videl demanded, but Sharpner just smiled.

“Come on Videl, it'll be like a school reunion,” he told her.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ The preparations for the tournament are underway and the Twins eagerly discuss their competitors as Karuto tries to find some way to help his friends back on Earth. _

 


	97. A Happy Family

**Episode Seventeen**

**'A Happy Family'**

 

“I don't think we should waste our time letting the Commanders fight,” Frostbite was saying as he threw a rock off the top of the tree.

They obviously weren't naturally there, he'd brought a few up with him when the twins had flown to the top to relax in their natural forms and discuss the tournament in private. Periodically he threw one out towards the forest beyond where it would strike the ground with the force of a small meteorite.

It was probably a lot of fun but to Frostburn it was just a distraction and his disagreement with his brother might have had more to do with that than actually believing what he was saying when he said, “You never know, rank doesn't mean much as far as strength goes. After all Chillax was weaker than Kalt.”

“Not in strength of character.” Frostbite chuckled.

“Strength of character wasn't something you could measure on a scouter last time I checked.” Frostburn grunted.

“Neither was loyalty, I guess that's how your son got as far in life as he did.” Frostbite teased.

“He's not my son anymore,” Frostburn said lightly and looked up from his data-pad, or rather down since Frostbite was on a lower branch, “Anyway will you focus? The future of our Empire depends on this.”

“No it doesn't,” Frostbite scoffed, “We don't need a general! Let Boreal keep the title, who cares?”

“I care!” Frostburn snapped, “You should too! We're on the verge of having the power to wipe the Galactic Patrol out completely, we're on the verge of reclaiming everything but you can't start celebrating _before_ we do it!”

Frostbite actually seemed chastised and he sat up, “You're right, brother. I wasn't trying to make light of our larger responsibilities . . . I just don't see the importance of a General if we're going to be fighting too.”

Frostburn sighed, _I can see that,_ he thought but he wouldn't admit it. Instead he said, “That's because I'm the brains and you're the . . . you.”

“Appullatien says what?” Frostbite muttered.

“What?” Frostburn demanded reflexively before the sentence properly registered in his brain, then he scowled and thew his data-pad at his brother since it was the only thing he'd brought to throw, “Idiot!”

“Says what?” Frostbite teased, catching the pad and looking it over.

“These are strong fighters, but are you sure you want to keep Kalt and Boreal in?” Frostbite asked.

“They started it.” Frostburn scoffed.

“Yes but they're both far too weak for their opposition now. Glacien was right, the tree multiplies your power level by fifteen, Boreal has gone from our strongest to one of our weakest, and Kalt was never strong to begin with. They're totally outmatched by their competition now.”

“Good.” Frostburn said simply. “Kalt deserves it for causing trouble, and maybe it will humble Boreal, get him to finally eat some of the fruit.”

“But didn't we give them their positions because of skill? Why now just give them to someone strong?” Frostbite asked. “Like I said wouldn't it be better to just get rid of the post of General all together? Why would I want some cowardly Hail in command, he was captured fighting the Saiyans how do I know he won't panic at the sight of them?”

“You don't,” Frostburn admitted, “He probably won't win against Gelato, and Gelato has fought on Earth. Anyway Sleet wasn't captured.”

“No, but his second in command was, if rumor holds true, scared off by a flashlight and _then_ captured.”

“His second in command isn't an Arcosian,” Frostburn shrugged.

“Which just shows he's a bad judge of character,” Frostbite said, and Frostburn couldn't help nodding in agreement, “But anyway Hiemal is bound to defeat Kalt, and Gelato is bound to defeat Boreal but still none of them are on our level, so I ask again why even have the position? Let's get rid of it and just run the army ourselves!”

Frostburn shook his head now, “No. They need something to aspire to so they don't aspire to be us.”

The light of realization struck Frostbite's face and he grinned wickedly, “Ah! It makes sense now! So that's why the General needs to be the strongest now . . . they'll all struggle to overcome their General before they can even imagine overcoming us.”

“And anyone who comes close will be on our radar by then.” Frostburn added.

“But what about the Admiral? Shouldn't we do the same thing?” Frostbite asked.

“No,” Frostburn answered without hesitation. He'd been expecting this question, “The coordination of the fleet requires a practiced mind, one like Frigus. But battle on the ground, the sort overseen by a General should be handled by someone strong, that was why we chose Boreal after all.”

“We chose Boreal because it made him happy to have a special title and it kept him from causing us trouble.” Frostbite scoffed. “We never needed a general, brother. We're strong enough now, and we were strong enough then. We can have this ceremonial position, we can even use the tournament to shame Kalt and Boreal if you like, but you've got to agree that once it's over we destroy the Galactic Patrol!”

“Of course we will.” Frostburn nodded slowly. He smiled and added, “And once we've done that we destroy Earth.”

“Won't the buyers have arrived by then?” Frostbite asked, “What does Earth matter anymore?”

“Stuff the buyers whether they've arrived or not, whether they're happy or not!” Frostburn snarled, “Earth has shamed us far more than the Galactic Patrol have, once we've dealt with the wider threat we handle the bigger but _contained_ threat, understand?”

“Or . . .” Frostbite smirked, “Why not do both?”

“What do you mean?” Frostburn asked, intrigued by the suggestion itself. Kill two enemies with one blow? How could it be done?

Frostbite smirked and asked, “What did Frigus do to get the Saiyan scum off of Earth? He waved something in front of his face, something he'd go for, something he'd leave the planet for.”

“Sure. But now there's more Saiyan scum.” Frostburn shrugged, “Even if we lure the one away there's the other Super Saiyan, and those are just the ones we know about. They could have . . . I don't know, bred or something by now.”

Frostbite shook his head, “Won't matter. We have the tree, and once our bodies have adjusted to the fruit we've eaten we can take in more, and more until we're stronger than they are.”

“Okay, but that's already the plan, to destroy the Galactic Patrol and use it to get stronger so we can destroy the Saiyans. What are you suggesting that would let us do both at once?” Frostburn asked.

“Like I said . . . what got him off the planet?” Frostbite cleared his throat and spoke in a theatrical tone, “He set forth to aid people in distress as a being of honor!”

Frostburn smirked in spite of himself, but he shook his head, “So what? We knew they were allied with the Namekians, Frigus was able to use those runts he caught to lure him out. But by now he's got a planet full of the slugs, and their Dragon Balls to boot I'd wager.”

“I wouldn't bet against that brother, in fact I'd hope for it.” Frostbite said, folding his large arms and saying, “Because how else would we become immortal?”

“Are you insane?” Frostburn asked, “You know we're not strong enough to battle the Super Saiyan now!”

“Keep up you simpleton!” Frostbite scoffed, “He won't be there! Because while we are making our way to Earth our General and Admiral will be waging a war the likes of which he cannot ignore.”

Frostburn scoffed but he let his brother continue. “We tried flooding the Earth with mercenaries and it didn't work, so lets flood it with something else. Refugees from a hundred worlds! Each ship attacks, each ship conquers, we're strong enough now, there's enough fruit now, we can even sell it to the Clan as letting each of them carve out their own corner of space, form their own little fief.”

“And while they're at it all they have to do is let people flee, and let it just so happen to slip that Earth is a safe place, Earth is a place we won't attack.” Frostburn nodded slowly.

“Now you're getting it, brother. And once his bleeding heart cries out for them he'll go and he'll try to help . . . and then we'll arrive and find the Dragon Balls.”

“Ah yes . . . so brilliant, so perfect we scatter the Clan's strength, then put its two leaders in a dangerous situation on the hopes that a _Saiyan_ of all beings feels like making the same mistake twice, this time just because some aliens cried about our mean nasty soldiers! It's brilliant!”

“Hah, yes, I—wait, you're being sarcastic?” Frostbite tilted his head, the wind fully gone from his sails now.

“No,” Frostburn offered the only proper response to such a question, “me? Sarcastic? What ever gave you that idea, brother? No, no, your plan is brilliant! It will certainly solve the Clan's problems.”

“R-right . . .” Frostbite said, sounding a little confused.

“After all the dead have no grief.” Frostburn sneered.

“Right,” Frostbite said a again, more irritation in his tone now. “Fine, it's all well and good to throw stones,”

“Not me, that's what _you_ were doing.” Frostburn told him with a smirk.

“Well enlighten me, what's so wrong with my plan?” Frostbite demanded, “You think the Saiyan won't leave his planet?”

“Not if he thinks we'll attack it!” Frostburn scoffed.

“Which is why we make it a point that we won't! We make sure everyone knows Earth made peace and is a safe haven, that's how we get them to go there!” Frostbite said with exasperation that Frostburn felt only _he_ had the right to feel.

And he expressed it with his next breath, a long drawn out sigh before he said, “But then you put him in the position of having to risk breaking that peace to help those worlds, do you not? So even if he thinks we won't attack Earth on the promise of peace, and I'm not saying he's not that stupid but I'd be surprised, he'd certainly know that the peace would end as soon as he took to the nearest field.

“And anyway you'd be unleashing him on some unsuspecting member of the Clan who'll last about as long as a snowball in a supernova, we won't know where he is, for all we know he could head straight to New Arcoss and even if we get to Earth, overcome its lesser defenders and wish on these Dragon Balls and get our immortality we could still end up hunted by this Saiyan, or apprehended and put into one of those weakening cells. You won't want immortality then, will you, brother?”

“Perhaps,” Frostbite admitted, scratching his chin. “I could ask little Karuto about it, find out about the Saiyan's character, see if he'd go for it, see if we could find any way to make a workable plan outside of just waiting until we've eaten enough fruit to overpower a Saiyan who probably has another surprise up his sleeve.”

“You'd use your child that way?” Frostburn raised an eyebrow, “And here I thought you were the sentimental one.”

“How is it using him? I'm only allowing him to be of assistance, he's an amazing fountain of knowledge about the place now. After all he lived there, was able to roam with relative freedom. He's been wanting to talk to me about it anyway, or so I've heard from Glacien.”

“Ah yes, you three must be such a happy family now.” Frostburn said, unable to keep just a hint of bitterness from seeping into his voice.

Frostbite seemed surprised, “What?” He asked, then snarled, “Don't be vulgar! There's no familial arrangement if that's what you're thinking! Anyway why shouldn't I keep an eye on Karuto? He's my son, maybe you should have kept a closer eye on yours!”

“What are you talking about? Cooly is doing just fine, see he's even in the tournament.” Frostburn sneered.

He knew Frostbite meant Chillax, but he'd gotten over that and he wouldn't accept responsibility for it. Chillax went and made his own decisions for his own reasons, that was what offspring did.

Sometimes they turned out okay like Cooly, a loyal and powerful, sometimes they turned out like Karuto, impressionable but intelligent.

And sometimes they turned out like Chillax, ungrateful and full of delusions and spite.

Frostburn wouldn't blame himself for his son's shortcomings, so Frostbite's little barb had no power.

Frostbite shook his head and muttered, “Well whatever you say, brother. But maybe I _am_ the sentimental one after all, it still means I can ask Karuto if this plan could hold water. Tell me I'm wrong that he's our best insight into the Saiyan mind now. Go on.”

“No,” Frostburn said with a shake of his head, “I can't say it. It's not true. Talking to Karuto could work, you should do it.”

Frostbite shook his head and said, “Sometimes I don't understand you, brother.”

Frostburn laughed, “Good. Just see what your brat can tell you about the Saiyan.”

“And if he agrees with my plan?” Frostbite asked.

Frostburn laughed harder, “Then we'll go through with it! Why not, let's ask a newborn what day would be a good one to begin operations while we're at it! So go ahead, stake our Empire on a child's evaluation of our enemy, I'll finish the preparations for the tournament you go play family with your spawn.”

“I . . . I am not sure--” Frostbite began and Frostburn interrupted him.

“Of _course_ I'm being sarcastic again!”

Though at that point Frostburn had to admit again that it was more from his own temper, a disagreement for the sake of disagreement.

At the end of the day Karuto really was their best chance of knowing how to fight the Saiyans.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“Well what do you think? Can we convince them to make real peace of not?” Karuto asked as he paced back and forth in his room, hands clasped behind his back and brow furrowed in deep thought.

He was asking Yabby, because there really wasn't anyone else. He didn't have anyone he could talk to about his problem, even if he tried they'd just think he was naive.

They wouldn't understand, but he had to make them. Seeing a Super Saiyan hadn't done it, seeing a second one hadn't done it, for some, like Uncle Kalt even being _killed_ by a Super Saiyan hadn't done it.

They couldn't win a war with a fruit tree, and even if they could they shouldn't be waging war at all, Karuto thought.

Not because he had some notion that no one should ever hurt anyone else, or that all races in the galaxy should live in peace. Even though that would be nice, even as young as he was Karuto didn't think it very likely.

Instead the reason the young Arcosian felt that his kind shouldn't be waging war was because they had nothing to gain from doing so, but so much to lose. He'd seen loss first hand, and he'd met people who'd lost too.

Yabby had no answers for him, but Karuto was using the doll as a target for verbally bouncing his ideas off of more than anything else. “If I understood why they want to wage war maybe I could think of a way to stop it? But someone must have thought of something long ago. It's not for an easy life, we had that under Cousin Frieza . . . is it because we fear reprisals from his former victims? He exterminated most of them and lots of people he sent the Saiyans to didn't even know Cousin Frieza wanted to go to war with them in the first place so they won't even know that they need revenge.”

_If anything they probably thought it began and ended with the Saiyans,_ Karuto thought, but that was mostly because he'd been on a ship assigned to hunting all the intentionally failed Saiyan missions.

Other ships and crews hadn't even had that reason for their attacks . . . so what was the reason?

Karuto gave this some serious thought and he wished he had a real friend on the base to talk things out with.

As it was he wasn't terribly popular among his people because of his age, and because he asked so many questions. They tolerated him because of who his father was, but they only tolerated him to a point.

Kiwano was of course as grumpy as ever and didn't like to interact with him, and Karuto had over the course of the past few days more or less given up on the old Iwatian. Maybe Konpeito was just a weird one.

In any event Karuto was still pacing in his room and wondering about what he could do when the automatic door slid open and his papa walked in.

“Karuto, are your studies done already?” Frostbite asked, sounding surprised.

“No,” Karuto admitted, “I had something on my mind and I couldn't focus on them.”

It was true, but his father gave him a skeptical look. Lord Frostbite folded his strong arms, he was in his first form, the one that Karuto was so used to seeing rather than the new one that made him look like a complete stranger. Lord Frostbite said, “Before you were captured on Earth you always got your studies done quickly. I think those Earthlings were a bad influence on you.”

“I don't think it's their fault,” Karuto said with a slight smile, “but I have to admit, Papa, I do still think about them a lot.”

“And right now?” Frostbite asked with a raised eyebrow, and Karuto nodded.

He didn't see a great deal to gain in lying to his father even if he might get in trouble for having made friends with the Earthlings. As long as it was just the two of them and not Unlace Kalt, or Uncle Frostburn Karuto felt like he could speak freely and frankly, the way he liked to.

Frostbite nodded and said, “I thought so. You've identified with your captors and that's not that uncommon. But you're back safe with your own kind again, and those misguided feelings will pass. I tease your uncle Frostburn, but I think it would have been the same with your cousin if Glacien had brought Chillax back as well. Had he not killed one of our own kind—even temporarily—I'd have had him brought back to be reconditioned.”

Karuto frowned and asked, “Papa . . . is it wrong of me to like the Earthlings after they were kind to me? Don't you always say to be nice to people who are nice to you?”

“I do,” Frostbite nodded, “but that's just it, Karuto. I say to be nice to _people_ who are nice to you. But the Earthlings and the Saiyans, and all the rest aren't _people_ , they're not like us. They're aliens, sentient yes, sapient yes, but alien all the same. They're not people and when _they're_ nice to you it's because they want something from you.”

Karuto thought about it for a moment and had to admit that that _was_ what had gotten Missus Bulma to take him out of the prison and be nice to him: his knowledge of the Saiyans. The same had held true for Genora, as long as the two of them were willing to work with the Earthlings people had been nice . . . but if they'd refused like Chillax they would have been locked up.

But even as young as he was Karuto understood that that had made sense, they were enemies they shouldn't have been trusted _unless_ they were going to be helpful.

He frowned and his father noticed Yabby.

“Who is this? I haven't seen this before. Did you get it on Earth?”

“That's Yabby. I got him on War World.”

“War World?” His papa asked, looking intrigued, “Sounds like a great place! Where is it?”

“Well I don't know exactly,” Karuto admitted, “It's between Goulder and one of our healing outposts, but I don't know which one. It's empty now though, the people were all killed by a Saiyan.”

“Ah.” His papa nodded. “Those nasty Saiyans do that a lot.”

“But we do it too.” Karuto pointed out, and then he realized that this might be as good an opportunity as any to find out just what his people got out of it . . . so he asked his father, “Why . . . do we do it?”

His father smiled with his eyes and said, “Ah . . . that's a clever question really. _Why_ do we do what we do? Space is so big why do we need an Empire . . . why do we need to wage war on the Earth when it's so far away and its people so willing to leave us alone, right?”

Karuto nodded vigorously in spite of himself. He knew he shouldn't be obvious about wanting his family to stop their war but since it seemed like his father already knew . . .

Lord Frostbite smiled and said, “Well . . . the truth is that it's complicated but you're getting old enough that I should explain it to you. It's just like I was saying about your friends on Earth . . . they're not like us. They're aliens. We can never fully trust them because they're different.”

“But we're all different. We look more different from each other than some of the aliens we find look from different kinds of aliens.” Karuto pointed out.

Frostbite smiled, “Yes, Glacien would say that the universe does seem to favor a certain body type. Well Karuto let me explain . . . we Arcosians are all the same in one way and that's that we are Arcosians. We can have servants of the lesser races, we can even be fond of some of them. Our kind can be reclusive, even a bit . . . antisocial really because we don't even need one another to reproduce, having two parents is new for us.

“So it's natural for us to be more independent, it's natural for us to rely on ourselves. We're strong, we're fast, we're smart, we're everything anyone would want to be . . . because we're the best.”

Karuto nodded, he could believe that in the general sense, but he had to ask, “What about Super Saiyans?”

“What about Lord Frieza?” Frostbite countered with a grin, “Every race has its scions, its paragons, its . . . its _special_ people, and sometimes they're _very_ special. I won't deny that at all, the Saiyans have some _very_ special people. We like to keep special people, that's why we allow survivors of the worlds we conquer to join our Empire.”

“But most of them will be the last of their kind forever because we kill too many.” Karuto said, thinking of Konpeito and the loss of his people.

“Their kind weren't special, they were. When they're yes their kind will be too, but that's the nature of the universe. Things are born and things die, you understand that.” Lord Frostbite nodded slowly and explained, “Any living being wants to keep itself alive as long as conditions are good of course. So we Arcosians will work to keep ourselves alive and to keep our conditions good.”

Karuto frowned, “But aren't our conditions good now? Why do we make trouble for everyone else?”

“Because they're not us.” Frostbite explained. “We're strong, we're smart, we're fast, we're everything they want to be . . . and if we leave them alone someday they _might_ be. Someday they might be strong enough to threaten us.”

“But we could be friends with them instead,” Karuto suggested, “Imagine if Cousin Frieza hadn't . . . changed his mind about keeping the Saiyans as his servants.”

Karuto had had to stop himself from saying 'imagine if Cousin Frieza hadn't betrayed the Saiyans' because he knew his father wouldn't have appreciated the idea that Cousin Frieza had been anything but in the right when he blew up Planet Vegeta.

His father smiled again and said, “We cannot have friends among the other races because they're different. If a calamity were to come they would see to their own kind first, if they had to make a choice between us and them they would choose themselves and their own kind . . . and they would not necessarily be wrong, it would be natural. But _we're_ the ones who should come first and that's why they must submit to us.

“When they submit they can live under us, they can serve us, and we won't interfere with their existence unless they give us cause . . . or it becomes inconvenient for us . . . but we also cannot let them become a threat to us. The Saiyans were becoming a threat, their strength was growing and in a few years, perhaps a few generations they might have been as strong as us, they might have threatened us so we had to destroy them.”

Karuto frowned. So his kind couldn't be partners with the Saiyans because the Saiyans might destroy them and they'd never trust them . . . his father had mentioned the inherent independence of the Arcosian but now Karuto felt like he really understood it wasn't just independence, it was selfishness.

His people saw themselves as the best, and they were in a lot of ways. But Karuto had met a Saiyan who had exterminated all life on a planet by herself in a fit of rage, he had met an Earthling who had created time travel, he had met so many aliens who were all so amazing and never once did he feel like he was less than them just because they were great too.

Instead their greatness had made him feel like he should try to be great as well, try to be _more_.

But . . . if he were being honest . . . well part of him did have to admit that it made him feel bad that he'd never do anything as amazing as coming up with time travel, and part of him was proud of the fact that by bringing younger Cauli back from the past he'd stopped her from destroying everything in that time line . . . he'd undone something amazing shed' done, but it was okay because it was a bad thing . . . even though that bad thing led to a good thing later when she joined Trunks . . .

He asked his father, “So . . . we have to be the best because if we're not someone might . . . take everything from us the way we do to others, right? But we can't trust anyone to be as good as us because they will always choose themselves over us if it's a question of survival.”

“Yes, exactly.”

Karuto frowned . . . what he'd admired about Rhuby had been that she'd done just the opposite. It had made him feel proud to know that he was a little bit like her when he helped the Earthlings. He didn't want to hurt his own kind, not really, but he understood the Earthlings deserved to exist too.

So he still had to ask, “But then what about people who just ant to ignore us? Or who want to be left alone? Papa . . . why do we need to fight Earth if they don't want to fight us? Why do we care if we lost to them when they didn't start the fight? Why do we have to destroy them just because Cousin Frieza lost?”

His father's tone was guarded as he answered, “Because if they're out there and they're better than us even if they're not being threatening . . . they're still a threat.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Frostbite and Karuto continue their discussion, can Karuto convince his father that Earth really doesn't want to threaten them? Meanwhile Frostburn conspires with Admiral Frigus behind his twin's back, but what is Frostburn planning? And what dirty scheme will Kalt come up with to win the tournament?_

 


	98. No Tricks

**Episode Eighteen**

**'No Tricks'**

 

Karuto had never felt so confused, “But if they don't want to fight us how can they be a threat?”

His father smiled and took a deep breath before answering, “It's complicated . . . they don't want to fight us right _now_ , but they might later. Later we might not be able to win, but we can win now . . . at least if you help us. And if you help us maybe we won't have to hurt everyone there.”

That got Karuto's attention obviously. “You mean you want me to tell you how to attack the Earth?”

He kept his tone careful to avoid revealing that he didn't want to help destroy people, but his father could tell and told him, “Try to understand Karuto, just because they were nice to you doesn't mean they'd be nice to all of us. But think of all the races that serve under us, we take care of them. We're strong and we have the strength to protect them as long as they serve us.”

“But the Super Saiyans are stronger, aren't they?” Karuto asked, “Why not let _them_ protect _us_?”

His father didn't get angry, though the small Arcosian had expected him to at least get irritated. Instead his father laughed and said, “Well because we can't trust them. Like I said, if there's a danger they'll see to their own first and us second at best. It's better to be the ones in charge because then you're not at anyone's mercy and you know you're always in control.”

“But then why not let everyone see to themselves? Why are we interfering with them if they're stronger than us?” Karuto asked.

“I used to wonder the same thing my boy,” Lord Frostbite chuckled, “the truth is I've seen the stars and they're not the bright beacons of hope in the dark they seem like to a young mind. They're beacons all right, beacons of danger and hatred. The aliens out there would hurt us if they could, they'd conquer us if they could. In fact I would be amazed if there is not a stronger race than ours out there that we are doomed to clash with one day.” his father's chuckle became a full laugh as he added, “Perhaps that _is_ the Saiyan race, though it would make me sad to see us defeated by a bunch of filthy monkeys!”

Karuto was surprised to hear his father say that, but his father smiled and said, “Don't tell your uncle I said so, in fact don't tell anyone. But the truth is this may be the end for us, Karuto. You could be one of the last of your kind ever to be born . . . the Saiyans are a threat to us, and perhaps the ones you met would treat us kindly, but what of their children, or their children's children? All it will take is one Super Saiyan who will want to destroy us, if we're not strong enough . . . that would be the end. No more Arcosians ever again. You see son, the risk of that outweighs any potential reward of friendship.”

Karuto nodded, “I understand that, but . . . well if we leave them alone then no one has to fight anyone else. All it took was one Arcosian who wanted to destroy them to destroy their world, send their warriors on suicide missions and bring their race to the brink of extinction. They have more reason to hate us than we have to hate them and they're willing to leave us alone, why can't we do the same?”

“That's a very good point, however,” His father told him, “it is better to be safe than sorry. I don't want to picture a universe without more of our kind, do you? I know you're still very young, but extinction is a very permanent arrangement.”

_Not with Missus Bulma's time machine, but I get your point,_ Karuto thought. He said, “I have traveled with Uncle Kalt and Cousin Chillax, I understand the permanency of extinction . . . and it didn't used to bother me. I used to understand that species go extinct all the time . . . but . . .”

“But then you let them pollute your mind with their nonsense,” his father nodded knowingly, “you fell for their tales and you made the mistake of seeing them as people.”

“How was that a mistake?” Karuto asked, “They _are_ people, and they're not going extinct because of some natural event they're going extinct because we're causing it . . . and I don't understand what we gain from it. Is it really just because we're afraid?”

“They're not people, they're aliens. So whether or not we need to be afraid we do need to be aware that they cannot be trusted or relied on. We don't need to fear them, just be wary of them because at the end of the day we can't treat them like our equals.” His father said patiently. “We're _people_. You, me, your uncle . . . well, maybe not your uncle.”

But Karuto wasn't going to be deflected by jokes. Instead he said, “But Konpeito's stories, the life the Iwatian people had before cousin Frieza sent the Saiyans to die at their feet . . . it was actually very nice.”

His father nodded and said, “And nothing will change what was. We aren't going back and taking that away from them. Nothing we do will ever change the history the Iwatian aliens had, we simply wrote the final page of that story and in so doing guaranteed they'd never write the final page of ours. But we don't erase the whole book even if no one remembers what was written in it it still happened. We _are_ ending it, but so could a virus, or even a decision on their own part, and the decision many of them make when we arrive is to serve us, or to enlist our services in finding them a new home, one that lies outside of our sphere of influence.”

“But our sphere of influence is always increasing, right?” Karuto asked, “How can they escape?”

“In the end they can't, but with luck they'll remember us and submit willingly. Some races will be too weak to join us, some too primitive, some too violent and none may ever serve us in great numbers except those who have proven their unshakable loyalty and devotion over successive generations such as the Appullatiens.”

“But the Saiyans _were_ loyal.” Karuto pointed out, “When I went to War World the two Saiyans I rescued there thought I was sent by Cousin Frieza to rescue them. Even if they thought Goulder was a suicide mission they were ready to keep serving us.”

His father frowned at that and shook his head, “Then it's a real shame you found that place with the Earthlings and not with your Uncle and I. Two loyal Saiyans uncorrupted by the treachery of their race would have been welcome additions to our Empire moving forward, assuming of course they weren't strong enough to be a threat.”

“Well . . . their power levels were in the hundreds of thousands at the time. Not as strong as General Boreal, but strong.”

His father nodded slowly, “That would have been a tricky sell then, because a hundred thousand in their humanoid form means a million in their Oozaru form. That would have been enough to threaten your Uncle and I . . . at least before we found the tree. Still had we found them after we knew about the tree or if perhaps they would have been loyal enough to consent to having their tails removed then I would have let you keep them as pets. Pets, because you seem so intrigued by the Saiyan race, but not friends.”

“Because they're not people, they're aliens, I understand.” Karuto lied.

“Exactly,” His father said, patting his head affectionately. “But that does bring up a significant question, Karuto. How did you and the Earthlings reach this War World and then get back without our probes noticing any ship leaving? Wasn't Goulder months away from Earth? And if War World was between there and even the closest of our hospital worlds it would have had to be a distance that exceeded the time you were on Earth.”

Karuto frowned and tried to find a way to explain things without having to give away the existence of the time machine. He just said, “The Super Saiyan is not just the son of Prince Vegeta, he's the son of the greatest scientist among the Earthlings, she made a . . . vessel. It's able to travel great distances in an instant.”

His father believed this, and more than that his father seemed troubled by it. “So . . . that means the Super Saiyan can go anywhere . . . he could even go to New Arcoss?”

“If he knew where it was,” Karuto admitted. “But I don't think he's going to be a threat to it, he doesn't know where it is and even if he did he'd leave it alone because he only wants to protect the Earth.”

His father folded his arms and said, “That's truly impressive. You see, already you're telling us things we didn't know about Earth. To think they have scientists of that caliber, why Glacien will be upset he didn't get a chance to talk to . . .”

Frostbite trailed off and then smiled. He nodded slowly and then said, “Of course . . . this can work in our favor. Good work Karuto.”

“Good work?” Karuto blinked, “What did I do?”

“You told us about the Earthling scientists, now I know a way for us to accomplish our goals without risk to the clan as a whole. You're a good boy, son, now I've got to go have some words with your Uncle and your father. You go ahead and forget about your studies tonight, you can enjoy the rest of the day as free time, consider it your reward.”

“Uh . . . thanks . . .” Karuto said with a frown as his father rushed off.

What had he just done? He wasn't entirely sure . . . but he didn't think he'd said anything that would cause his father to endanger Earth.

At least he hoped.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Data-pads and papers flew off of the Admiral's desk as Frostburn swept an angry hand across it, knocking everything away.

In truth the argument wasn't _that_ heated, but Frostburn liked throwing things around sometimes and he knew Frigus was devoted enough to let him get away with it.

Still he kept up the act of an outraged overlord, shouting at Frigus, “You can't be serious!”

“My Lord, I could say the same of you,” Frigus answered calmly, though the narrowing of his eyes betrayed annoyance at his work being scattered as Frostburn had predicted it didn't go any further than that, and the Admiral said, “You'd know him as well as I do.”

Frostburn shook his head and told him, “You met him, you spoke to him.”

“I did.” Frigus nodded. “That doesn't mean that I actually know him very well, I can't make anything more than a guess about how he'd respond to something like that.”

“All I'm asking for is your measure of his character.” Frostburn insisted.

“But I can't make any guarantees that I'm right, what I perceived could have been a front, or he could have been in a good mood.”

“That's fine, it's better than nothing.” Frostburn insisted.

The Admiral said, “Well . . . he seems honest, I'll give him that. And he kept to the bargain I made with him.”

“So if we make a peace treaty with him that insists he not leave the Earth or interfere with our war on the Galactic Patrol he would keep to it?”

“I don't know, I can't know.” Frigus shrugged.

Frostburn shook his head, “Okay fine, but you think it's a good chance?”

“I do.” Frigus admitted, “But I wouldn't bet my life on it, nor anyone else's.”

Frostburn nodded. “Fair enough. What about the other thing we discussed?”

Frigus frowned and said, “I think it's a bad idea . . . but I'm ready to make the attempt.”

“You saw how Boreal was, Kalt would have killed him.” Frostburn said, “He'll be behind all the rest of our kind, he could be behind _Karuto_ , the youngster! Is that something you want for him?”

“No, of course not. It just seems risky. What if he won't take the fruit?”

“He has to, he won't have a choice.” Frostburn said coldly. “You'll make that _very_ clear to him, am I understood?”

“Because my history of convincing him to do things is so full of success.” Frigus scoffed.

Frostburn laughed, “Well you didn't have my backing last time. He'll obey or he'll die, even he has to see that by now. There's simply no reason for him to refuse.”

“Except pride.” Frigus said.

Frostburn frowned and folded his slender arms. “Do you think his pride would be that overwhelming?”

“I think it's a chance, one that could make this a total waste and even alienate him even further.”

“I'd rather risk further alienation than his death, so see it done, Admiral.”

“If you say so, Lord.” Frigus sighed.

“What?” Frostburn demanded, “What's that tone?”

Frigus shrugged and said, “It's nothing. I just feel like as Admiral I should have . . . more important tasks than this.”

“You mean you feel slighted.” Frostburn scoffed.

To the Lord's surprise Frigus stood up from his desk and said, “Yes, actually! I have served you loyally for a lifetime, been devoted to you and yet you . . . you just _gravitate_ towards the disloyal, the defiant! So how long will I be Admiral? How long until you and your brother are announcing a tournament for the position of Admiral?”

“Not until after your death,” Frostburn said in a deceptively neutral tone, “Frostbite broached the subject this morning, I told him no. Especially with the position of General up in the air, it could end up going to one of Bite's followers. I need you where you are as _my_ Admiral.”

“So it's on your _whim_ that I serve as Admiral?” Frigus demanded.

“Watch your tone, Frigus, or on my whim you'll stop _breathing_.” Frostburn warned.

Still to keep the Admiral loyal Frostburn added, “If you _must_ know you're still Admiral because you're a good Admiral. You command well you plan well, the trap you set for the Saiyan was a damned masterstroke, it wasn't your fault it failed. You lacked the brute force necessary to destroy the Saiyans but your strategy was sound and when it failed you negotiated the survival of your people before it became a bigger disaster.

“But you were only able to do that because the Saiyan let you, once he stops _letting_ us negotiate things, once he's finally pushed to _attacking_ us we won't last unless we're strong enough to defeat him, don't you agree? And that means all of us need to be strong, not just my self and Frostbite, but all of us because if we go through with this scheme we won't know who he'll attack first.”

Frostburn set the small box on the Admiral's now empty desk and said, “You say you're loyal and I gravitate towards the defiant, well that's as may be but it's _because_ you're loyal that I know I can trust you with any task, and especially this one. Only you. Now tell me, was I wrong?”

Frigus shook his head, “No . . . I will ensure that he gets the fruit, and I will ensure that he eats it even if I have to force it down his damned throat. I'll make sure he's strong my Lord.”

Frostburn smiled, “Good,” then because he knew it would solidify Frigus' loyalty he added, “Thank you, Frigus. I knew I could rely on you more than anyone else. I don't know what I'd do without you.”

Maybe on some level it was true, but Frostburn had a feeling he'd get by. The Admiral was a master strategist, he knew how to array fleets and who to send to which world to conquer it but Frostburn knew how to handle people as well. He knew how to keep the loyal feeling loyal without difficulty and he knew how to make the defiant fall into line.

Usually.

Maybe that was why, if there were any truth to Frigus' accusation, he liked disloyal or defiant people. They were more of a challenge than the predictable loyal sort, they were more . . . exciting.

And speaking of excitement Frostburn got a bit of it when the Admiral's office door slid open and Frostbite barged in flanked by Glacien.

“I have it!” Frostbite said excitedly, “I have it! I know how we can get a proper measure of the Saiyan, how we can get people in position to make our wish come true without risking anything!”

“I wouldn't say 'without risking anything' sire.” Glacien said dryly, which told Frostburn that whatever it was it probably risked Glacien.

Frostburn could live with that.

So he smiled and said, “Well brother? Don't keep me in suspense . . . what do you have?”

Frostbite said, “Karuto told me the Earthlings have amazing scientists, one in particular who seems to have discovered . . . a sort of . . . instant transmission for lack of a better term.”

“Fancy, and what does that mean to us? How does it help . . .” Frostburn began then he realized, “You mean . . . traveling through space in an instant?”

“That's right, brother, going to any world instantly, being anywhere instantly! If a bunch of bumpkin apes on a backwater can come up with that just imagine what they could do for us, or what we could learn from them!”

“So you want to send Glacien to Earth to learn this technology?” Frostburn asked, glancing at Frigus, “I think it's a good plan, don't you, Admiral?”

Frigus frowned, “I . . . am in no position to say.”

“But since you know the Saiyan better than any of the rest of us short of Karuto himself . . .” Frostburn said, then tried to seem as if he were searching for a thought before saying, “Perhaps the little one should go back to Earth . . . or if not him, maybe you, Frigus.”

“I won't risk Karuto going back,” Frostbite said, “but Burn is right, Frigus, you should go along with Glacien! You already know the Saiyan, you can open negotiations!”

Frigus sighed and sat back in his chair, nodding slowly. “As you command, my Lords. I'll have our fastest ship prepared . . . is there anything else you'll require of me while I'm there?”

“Obviously you'll gather intelligence while you're their guest. Find out how strong they are and how they're getting that way, find out anything you can and bring it back. The two of you together should have no trouble.” Frostbite grinned, “While you're gone we'll find out who is going to be our General and begin plans for the war on the Galactic Patrol.”

Frostburn smiled and said to Frigus, “Thank you for undertaking this mission personally, Admiral. I know it's not what you'd prefer.”

Frigus just nodded and said, “I've gotten used to things not going the way I'd prefer, my Lord. As long as you're happy that's all that matters.”

“Well said.” Both twins said at the same time.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The officer's mess was noisy so Kalt didn't need to worry about conducting his conspiracy in whispers, instead he had had to struggle to hear his co-conspirators.

“Well you can count on Hail's support in the tournament and for what it's worth he's a good actor,” Verglas was telling him.

Kalt nodded patiently as his fellow Arcosians tried to reassure him of his chances. It all amounted to the same thing, none of them wanted to risk doing what really needed to be done, but they were willing to let him do it. They were willing to follow him as their General because he was a better choice than Boreal . . . not that all of them admitted it.

Kalt didn't mind, and he share their reservations either. He knew what he needed to win and he'd have it no matter what it took, no matter who he had to use to get it.

So he interrupted Verglas and said, “Not good enough Commander.”

“Not good enough?” Verglas asked incredulously. “In what regard?”

“I appreciate Hail's support but I can't just let him throw the fight. The twins wont accept it,” Kalt explained patiently.

“With all due respect, Captain are you saying you'd rather he fight you seriously?” Verglas asked. “I know the fruit is good but . . . come on, things between you and Hail will be the same as they were before because you both ate it. He's not like that fool Boreal.”

“No, I understand that. But I'd rather he not attempt to fight me at all.” Kalt explained.  
I'd rather he submit, no tricks. Stand down and forfeit the match to me, the twins might not be amused but they'll accept that.”

“No tricks?” Verglas asked, “You mean apart from _that_ one? Do you even think you can win this tournament without a heft bag of them? Not everyone will submit.”

“Will Hail?” Kalt asked simply, “That's all you need to worry about, Commander.”

Verglas shrugged his narrow shoulders, “I can't know until I ask. But as much as it might humiliate him I suppose if he was willing to throw the fight he'd be willing to stand down instead . . . no promises.”

“Noted.” Kalt said curtly.

“And what about everyone else?” Verglas asked.

“You worry about Hail, let me worry about the others.” Kalt answered, taking a sip from his drink and then looking over the rim of the glass as if he were surprised to see Verglas still sitting across from him. He waved his ring and pinkie finger at him and said, “Dismissed, Commander.”

Verglas scoffed, and he got up to leave. Hiemal leaned across the table and whispered to Kalt, “Be careful, you don't want to make an enemy of him or Hail.”

With him were Captains Hiemal, and Rime, both of whom were on his side, and Verglas had just promised him Hail giving him half the Captains who mattered. Kalt also expected to be able to turn Gelato and Frigus.

It gave him some confidence but it was hardly a mandate, if he tried anything too obviously underhanded the Twins might punish him which was why he couldn't just cheat, he needed to win the only legitimate way he could.

So he told them, “Don't worry about him. Just remember what you agreed to.”

“You don't need to remind me.” Hiemal told him, “I'm prepared to support your bid as General.”

Rime added, “But winning us over doesn't mean you've got folks like Gelato or Sleet, and you know Icebreaker and Cooly are dyed in the carapace Boreal supporters. So is Aurora if he enters, and all of them are stronger than you.”

“You need to find a way to deal with those who are stronger but don't recognize your superior leadership capabilities the way we do,” Hiemal insisted.

“Absolutely correct. That's where you two can be of use to me.” Kalt said with a sinister smile, “In order to secure victory against those who won't fall in line I'll need extra insurance.”

“What have you got in mind?” Rime asked.

Kalt answered, “It's obvious, is it not? We need to steal another piece of that fruit. The only way I can guarantee winning against the others is that I can't _be_ weaker than the others.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On The Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks meets the reporter who plans to turn his world inside out and expose his every secret, and training intensifies for Rhyce and Korrard._

 

 


	99. We Haven't Even Started!

**Episode Nineteen**

**'We Haven't Even Started'**

 

Trunks wasn't sure what he'd expected from Sharpner's reporter friend, but even so somehow he felt like he shouldn't have been surprised when the first thing she did was ask him, “Do you have a thing for women in uniform?”

“W-what? Do I have what?” Trunks stammered.

Erasa, because that was her name, explained, “Inquiring minds want to know! What does the Golden Warrior look for in a woman? Readers want to know what can help them land West City's most eligible bachelor, or,” she glanced knowingly at Mai, “if they're too late.”

“That uh . . . that isn't really why we invited you here.” Trunks said awkwardly.

“No? Then what am I here for? Sharpner promised me an interview with the Golden Warrior and his staff! I don't need everyone mind you, just you, the raven haired beauty there, maybe that genius mother of yours if she can find the time?” Erasa asked and Trunks couldn't do much more than look helplessly at Videl for an answer, and all she did was shrug.

The young Saiyan didn't know why this small blond woman was having such an easy time throwing him off, he felt like he should have been better able to handle these sort of questions.

After all what had he expected?

Erasa had barely arrived at Capsule Corp. before she started asking questions without so much as a greeting. If Sharpner hadn't told them her name before he left other than Videl they probably wouldn't even know it.

Trunks was with Videl and Mai to greet her so perhaps she'd thought they were as eager as she was to jump right into things but he certainly wasn't. He just wanted to . . . well, tell the papers that he was a normal guy and they didn't need to freak out about him all the time.

The four of them headed down the hallway towards the stairs that would lead them to the lounge. Trunks didn't want to risk the kinds of questions their sighing elevator might raise, that is of course if Erasa even noticed the thing over her own line of questioning, which seemed nonstop.

“How long have you two known each other? For that matter how long has he known you, Videl? Did you meet through the King himself? What is his Majesty like in person? Do you see him often, Trunks? May I call you Trunks? Oh but that would just be the bee's knees!”

“Yeah, Trunks is fine,” He told her.

“He certainly is!” Erasa said with a wink that made Trunks blush, and made Mai miss a step and stumble.

He caught her and now it as her turn to blush. It must have been exactly the sort of thing Erasa was hoping for, and it was lucky Sharpner wasn't there to take pictures.

“N-now there's no need for that!” Trunks gawked.

“Just a bit of harmless flattery, besides it's true!” Erasa said, but Trunks could tell from the pen scratchings and the note pad she'd suddenly materialized from thin air that she was writing about something, and it was likely his and Mai's reactions to her so-called 'flattery.'

He tried to take control, saying, “Look, Sharpner sort of implied you'd help us get our own . . . uh . . . side of things out there to head off any more rumors.”

Erasa nodded vigorously, “Of course! That's just what I'm doing, these are things people write into the paper asking every day! If you give me the answers they won't have to worry about it anymore! Set the record straight, feed the starving people so to speak!”

“But these are some strange questions, don't you think?” Mai asked. “Surely people want to know about more than just Trunks' l-love life.”

“Strange questions? Not at all! Love is the spice of life! Of course there's so much more we want to know but these are the questions people are asking the most!” Erasa insisted. “Who are you to deny them their curiosity?”

“S-sorry, I didn't mean to-” Mai began but she didn't finish.

Erasa interrupted with a new string of questions for Mai, “How old are you? Does the Golden Warrior prefer younger or older women? Does he prefer men? Are you secretly a-”

“Hold on, Erasa!” Videl said, “Let's not get crazy here.”

“Oh I'm sorry Videl, I wasn't trying to push my luck. But truth be told this is the chance of a lifetime!”

Trunks decided to try to seize a bit of the initiative by asking, “How do you know Captain Videl?”

“We used to go to school together, Sharpner too at least before the Androids turned us into a generation of dropouts! Thanks for taking care of them by the way. What was it like taking them on, and did the experience cause you to fear for your own life and legacy? Is that why you started training others?”

“Yes actually!” Trunks said, relieved to have a question he could easily answer.

But Erasa seemed to have a rather circular nature as she asked, “And of the others you've trained would you say you find a martial trained woman to be more appealing than say the homemaking sort? Does a lady need a black belt to get your attention? Is that why so many of your fighters are female or are you attempting to maintain some level of gender parity?”

“We keep coming back to this subject, but I don't want to talk about romance,” Trunks insisted.

Erasa powered on as if she hadn't heard, “One of those tailed girls from the other evening referred to you as Prince. Was that to say you're a sort of prince charming, or would you say it's more of a nickname?”

“What is-” Trunks began.

But Erasa interrupted him, “Are you romantically involved with her or was that some admission of delusions of grandeur? Have you been adopted by our King and if so who broached the idea, you or him? Could the Golden Warrior be a Golden Usurper?”

“Stop it Erasa,” Videl said firmly, “Or we're done here.”

Erasa humphed, and said, “Well if you won't answer my questions I see no reason to continue, Videl, sweetie. I'll just see myself out!”

Erasa said this and even took a step towards the door before spinning back around and saying, “Oh all right I'll forgive you just this once but don't be so mean, after all an interview is all about give and take, tit for tat, you know how it is!”

Trunks was getting the impression that this was all going to be a big mistake.

“Let's start by sitting down in the lounge, how's that, Erasa?” Videl asked.

“Sounds splendid,” Erasa cooed.

“Will you have any questions that aren't involving romance?” Trunks asked

“Absolutely! But you have to understand that romance is what most people care about!” Erasa answered, “Never mind the alien adventures, the saving the world, readers want to know when the sound of little feet will grace Capsule Corp!”

“Any time Kazoo is visiting,” Trunks said dryly, “Don't people realize it's a bit creepy to want to know every detail of my personal life?”

“Go on,” Erasa said, pen and pad in hand, “Tell me about it! The Golden Warrior feels . . . put off by public scrutiny? Would you even go as far as to say that you feel wronged?”

“Well--” Trunks began but Mai interrupted.

“No, no, he doesn't feel _wronged!_ ” Mai said, “It's just difficult for him to be in the spotlight all the time, right?”

Erasa laughed, “Oh don't worry dear, I won't take him out of context, or try to put the interview in a negative light! The public adores him too much, I'd be fired in an instant!”

_Well there's that at least,_ Trunks thought, but he nodded to Mai all the same, glad she'd been looking out for him because truth be told a part of him  _did_ feel a little bit wronged and he'd almost admitted to it.

Of course this only seemed to turn Erasa's full attention to her. She asked Mai, “And just who are you? How long have you been here? I don't recall seeing much of you before, have you been here long? Do you interact with Trunks often, or was the time on the balcony a first? I mean obviously the time outside the restaurant was a second, would you say the two of you are in a steady relationship?”

“Just . . . wait a second,” Mai was blushing, “that would be improper! I--”

“Improper? Why? Because you're an officer of the King's Guard? So is it a forbidden love then? Have you been meting in secret, and was your secret cruelly exposed? Could this be the end of your career?”

Mai got a panicked look on her face, she turned to Videl who scowled, “No, it won't be! Mai you're fine, Erasa settle down or I will throw you from the balcony into the bushes Sharpner was watching them from!”

“Oh Videl you haven't changed at all!” Erasa cried happily.

“ _You_ have, you weren't always this insufferable!” Videl warned.

“You're right, I'm getting carried away but you have no idea what a great opportunity this is! Oh we're going to have so much fun!” Erasa cried.

Trunks shook his head, “I feel like I need to take a break already.”

“Oh we haven't even started!” Erasa cried.

“I know!” Trunks responded in exasperation.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The cafeteria was abuzz with the usual chatter, more than a few people were excited about the presence of a reporter but the excitement was mostly lost on the Saiyans who seemed to have trouble understanding the point of having her around.

Rhyce, who was sitting with Korrard and Telluce was trying her best to explain even though she herself kind of agreed that it was a great big nothing.

“What does she _do_ though?” Korrard was asking and Rhyce shrugged in response.

“Well . . . basically she asks questions and gets answers, then she writes them down so everyone else can read them too.”

“But why?” Korrard asked, “Why don't those other people just go and ask for themselves if they care so much?”

“Because having a reporter to do it means they don't have to. Besides who wants to answer the same questions over and over?” Rhyce asked.

“Teachers?” Korrard guessed and Rhyce shook her head, smiling a bit.

“No, I wasn't actually asking for . . . oh never mind. Sure, teachers then, but for all the rest of us we get reporters to ask the question once and then write the answer so if people want to know what's going on in the world but don't have the time to go visit everywhere they can just read it.”

Korrard still seemed a bit confused. Telluce asked, “Okay, but why does everyone here _care_? We already know what's going on here, right? So we already know all the answers to her questions.”

“Well, it's a little more complicated than that,” Rhyce said, “No one knows the questions she'll ask or even if she'll ask them. She might only ask Master Trunks.”

“So people are envious of Prince Trunks?” Telluce asked, “Is it good to get asked questions on Earth?”

“Sort of,” Rhyce admitted, “I think part of it is being recognized as important enough to be asked a question. Besides that I think reporters imply a bit of fame, so people think talking to one can make them famous.”

“Ah, I understand fame.” Telluce nodded.

“Me too, but I don't understand how answering questions makes you famous.” Korrard said, and Telluce shrugged that he didn't know either.

“People get a chance to see how great you are as a person.” Rhyce explained, but it was really just a guess. Having grown up a somewhat secluded life in her village she'd had the fame of being their former greatest warrior's daughter and the sister of their then current greatest warrior, later she'd had the fame of being a great warrior herself.

But she didn't understand the appeal of popularity really. She'd wanted it when Gurein had it and she didn't, but once she got it she realized there wasn't much to it.

It was more stressful than anything, once people thought you were good at something it put more pressure on you not to mess up at it.

“Don't you Earthlings believe in showing their value with actions?” Korrard asked.

“Sure, but once you take those actions people will ask why you did it.” Rhyce said.

The two Saiyans shared a look and both just shrugged in defeat.

“Looking forward to today's training?” Rhyce asked both of them.

Korrard forced a smile and said, “I'll do my best!”

But Telluce just shrugged. “I probably won't bother.”

Rhyce raised an eyebrow, “You won't _what_? Are you feeling sick?”

“No,” Telluce said with a shrug, “just annoyed. Sharro goes picking my partner and everyone thinks that makes us . . . what's the word?”

“Married, that's what they call it here.” Korrard supplied.

“No, that's a bit extreme,” Rhyce said stifling a laugh, “They think you're a  _couple_ , that's all.”

“Well that's wrong.” Telluce said firmly, “Saiyans don't act that way, that's an Earthling thing.”

Rhyce raised an eyebrow at him and asked, “When did Sharro become an Earthling?”

“She's just influenced by them—I mean by you—well not you specifically but . . . bah.” Telluce sighed, waving a hand in defeat, “Turles said this would happen to us. Maybe he's right after all.”

“About what?” Rhyce asked.

“About Earth turning us soft.” Telluce shrugged.

Rhyce sighed and said, “Look . . . I don't want to tell you how to live your life, but aren't you happier around Sharro than without her?”

“He's just worried about getting teased.” Korrard commented. Rhyce expected Tell to lash out at the scrawnier Saiyan, but he didn't.

Instead Tell just shrugged, “Only crazies stick together forever. We had a term for it back on Planet Vegeta, coffin-mates, someone you can't live without, someone you'd want to die with.”

“That sounds . . . nice.” Rhyce offered a little insincerely.

It sounded too macabre for her, did  _everything_ on Planet Vegeta have to do with violence and death? How had the Royal family even come to be a thing if long-term partnerships were so frowned on?

“Well it isn't,” Tell said shaking his head, “it's a weakness and it's a shameful thing to fall into. Me and Sharro, maybe people would joke about us being that way but we knew better, or at least I thought we did. She's a good fighting partner, that doesn't mean I--”

“Hush,” Rhyce scolded, “Being in a relationship isn't a weakness, and nobody's asking you to die together or anything. If you were only hurting yourself with this stubbornness I wouldn't care, but you're hurting more than just you by acting this way.”

Tell frowned and said, “Yeah, Kor mentioned that too. But what can I do? I'm Turles' brother when people look at him they're going to look at me too. I can't embarrass him!”

“Forget him!” Rhyce scoffed, “Not even just because I think he's a jerk, forget him in general when it comes to things like this! It's not his business, if he's a good brother he'll accept you for who and what you are.”

“And what am I? Because last time I checked I was a Saiyan Warrior.” Telluce said as if that made his whole argument.

But it did not, at least not as far as Rhyce was concerned, and she told him, “Look, you've seen Schip and Anavill, they're pretty happy when they're together and nobody thinks any less of them for it. I know you don't, do you?”

Tell shook his head, “Master Schip is--”

“A lucky guy, I know,” Rhyce interrupted, she was pretty sure Tell was going to say 'an Earthling' but she wouldn't have any more of that. So she continued and said, “Heck, some people are envious of them, I know I am. I'd love to have someone I could trust that much and feel that way about, it's a great thing to have a partner you can give yourself to completely, even one you don't always get along with like Pastel and Bocan, or even if people think it makes you strange for being with them, like Card and Tarra.”

“That's all perfectly fine for them, but they're all Earthlings, Rhyce. I'm a Saiyan Warrior.” Telluce said, “It's not Saiyan nature to . . . rely on someone the way  _they_ rely on each other. Forming long term partnerships, putting their interests before your own, spending so much time with someone else for no reason, that's just not . . . Saiyan-like.”

“So maybe it's counter to Saiyan nature to form long-term partnerships,” Rhyce explained, “But it seems to me that whatever you choose to do is _your_ Saiyan nature at least. And so what if you are a little deviant? So what if she's putting your own interest ahead of her own? As I see it Kayle's only a stronger teammate than Pastel if Pastel's Kaioken isn't strong enough, if they train hard in the tournament they can actually be a lot stronger than you and Kayle,  _especially_ if you skip out on training today.”

“So you're saying she found me a weaker partner?” Telluce asked, and he sounded like that would actually have made him happier.

Rhyce shook her head and said, “It actually sounds to me more like she tried to keep it equal so you two would have a better chance at getting to fight each other in the tournament.”

Telluce nodded slowly, “Well that's what I started to think,”

“You mean that's what Lams told you.” Korrard quipped, now Telluce  _did_ smack him, but very lightly.

“That's what Lams said and I  _agreed_ with, smart-guy.” Tell said, “But still you've got to understand letting her pick my partner for me in this tournament, that's just . . . it'd just make everyone believe that we really are deviants, the only chance I have to get through this without any  _more_ ridicule is to be partnered with literally anyone else.”

Rhyce shook her head, “Then what about Kayle? If you back out who's she going to have as a partner? Everyone's taken. Besides don't you get it? No one cares if you and Sharro are 'deviants' as you put it, around here you'd just be normal. No one would ridicule you.”

“Turles would,” Telluce grumbled.

“Turles  _is_ .” Korrard explained.

_Of course,_ Rhyce thought,  _when there's someone causing trouble somehow it leads back to Turles._ “Look, teasing is just part of having a brother,” Rhyce told Tell, “You think Gurein doesn't tease me? I tease him all the time!”

Tell shook his head, “It's different for us, if I'm too much of an embarrassment he might decide to . . .”

“To what?” Rhyce asked, looking to Kor for some hint but Korrard had a look that almost seemed like he was trying not to picture what Turles would do.

“He's still stronger than me,” Tell grumbled, “if he decides I'm useless it would just take an instant and--”

“No.” Rhyce said firmly, guessing now what Telluce was trying to avoid, “He absolutely would not! He's your brother! Besides, Master Trunks would  _end_ him if he tried it!”

“That wouldn't do me much good after the fact, would it?” Tell shrugged, “I'd be pretty busy being dead.”

“So he'd kill you just for failing to live up to his expectations?” Rhyce gawked.

“He'd kill me for being an  _embarrassment_ .” Tell clarified.

“He'd see it as a mercy.” Kor commented, “My father was the same way. You've got to be strong, you can't be a disappointment or an embarrassment. I'm used to not being strong which means I'm also used to being a disappointment but at least as part of Lamson's team I wasn't an embarrassment. But this is new for Tell, he used to be the stronger brother.”

“Wait, you what?” Rhyce blinked, trying to imagine Turles ever being weaker than any of his own kind. His strength grew so much faster than all of theirs it was hard to imagine him ever being weaker, he'd even been stronger when Master Trunks first brought him back than they were when they were brought back.

“I'll be the stronger brother again, Turles can't keep ahead of me forever.” Tell said firmly. “Until then I won't embarrass him, reliable and dependable, that's me!”

But Rhyce shook her head, thoroughly disgusted not just by what she'd just heard but by the casual way they both discussed it. She actually felt sorry for Saiyans in general, she even felt a bit of sympathy for Turles for a fleeting moment, was  _that_ why he was such a braggart? Was he worried that people would think he was a weak embarrassment if he didn't constantly tell them how great he was?

Kor seemed to guess her mood and said, “Well that's how things were on Planet Vegeta. We're on Earth now. Prince Trunks has a different way of doing things, Tell.”

“Isn't that the problem?” Telluce asked, sounding a little sad.

Rhyce wasn't sure what he meant by that and before she could ask Kayle came over and shoved him.

“Stop  _complaining_ about having the best partner in the competition and look lively! You think I can't hear you talking about weaseling out on me? Well you try it and it won't be Turles you have to worry about putting you down, it'll be me!”

Kayle turned to Rhyce with a far far less intimidating tone and said, “Don't mind his talk, Master, he's just . . . sulky.”

They got up and left but Rhyce wasn't so sure.

She couldn't stop herself from asking Korrard, “What kind of life do Saiyans lead if everything is always about fighting and death? How do you look forward to the future if even things like long-term partners are frowned on? What's . . . what's in any of it for you?”

“Pride. I guess.” Korrard shrugged. “For me . . . I don't know, I guess . . . I asked myself that a lot too. The answer for a while was my friends.”

“What is it now?” Rhyce asked.

Kor shrugged and pulled out his deck of cards, “Want to see a magic trick?”

“I'm being serious!” Rhyce snapped.

“So am I. See . . . that's the thing about Earth . . . it's so much  _more_ than Planet Vegeta was. Here . . . I can learn magic tricks, here Sharro can see all the happy couples and realize that's something she wants with Tell, and maybe eventually Tell will realize he doesn't have to worry about his brother. Maybe eventually Turles will realize things have changed too. Here we don't have to worry about conforming and being the perfect Saiyan Warrior, survival's not as hard to come by on Earth. We can just be the perfect us instead.”

Rhyce stared at him and he smiled, “At least that's what I think. Doesn't mean I don't still want to get stronger, I won't embarrass you in the tournament.”

Still, she had to admit, “Don't take this the wrong way,” Rhyce said, “But I'm glad I'm not a Saiyan.”

Korrard shrugged, “For what it's worth you'd be a good one. You're . . . well, pretty Saiyan-like for an Earthling.”

“I am?” Rhyce blinked.

“You're aggressive, you like to pick fights and you're competitive too. You care about getting stronger and you push yourself even when you're training a weakling like me.” Kor shrugged, “If you had a tail I'd think you were one of us, even without it sometimes I forget.”

Rhyce frowned, she knew he thought he was being flattering but . . . well he wasn't.

Still Rhyce forced her frown into a smile and nodded, “Thank you for the compliment,” she said, “even if I don't really feel like it was one, I shouldn't judge your people by Earthling standards. Your old world was a harsh one, huh?”

“Yeah. We're all just trying to adjust to the new one.” Korrard nodded, then he jumped in his seat when Rhyce slammed her fist down on the table and shouted at him.

“Well you'll miss it when I'm done with you! You think Planet Vegeta was harsh, well Rhyce is harsher! I'll make you sweat blood, do you hear me? Now get on your feet and get ready to train!”

It was all well and good for Kor not to want to embarrass her, but if strength was all that mattered to the Saiyans it was more important to her that he not embarrass himself, especially in front of the rest of his kind.

After all she sort of liked what he'd said, so if his way of thinking was going to catch on he'd have to do well in the tournament. It might be the only way the others might listen to him in the future.

 

** To Be Continued . . . **

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Sixteen and Soda train in an unexpected place, meanwhile Erasa interviews Trunks and Mai, but when Gohan has his turn answering some of her questions he's surprised to find she's not asking the sort he expected._

 


	100. I Can Guess

**Episode Twenty**

**'I Can Guess'**

 

The sandy beach of Master Roshi's private island was always more inviting than Soda liked to admit to, and she'd gotten to know it pretty well over the months she'd spent hiding out with Oolong and Puar.

She wasn't entirely sure why she was coming back to the island now, especially with a dreaded Android like Sixteen, but maybe it was because at the end of the day even if the Turtle Hermit's island was too far away to make a practical training ground she felt like Master Roshi was a too-long absent part of the team.

And if anyone deserved to know the secret of Turles' impending betrayal he did.

She arrived with Sixteen about an hour before noon, the island's three inhabitants were sitting on the porch leisurely playing checkers.

Well to be more accurate Oolong and Roshi were playing checkers, Puar was floating back and forth between them offering advice.

Soda almost hated to interrupt but the truth was as powerful as Sixteen might be—and because she couldn't sense his energy or get the Scouter to read it she really wasn't sure—she would feel a lot better if she could stand up to Turles herself, and the only person who could help her do that other than Trunks was Roshi.

At least that was how she felt.

And again she couldn't help but feel like the old hermit wouldn't mind coming out of seclusion considering the cause.

She approached and looked at the checkers board from over Master Roshi's shoulder to see that they were playing with buttons and bottle caps to stand in for some of the pieces sos he had no idea who was winning.

_You'd think being one of the Defenders of Earth Master Roshi could afford a full set,_ Soda thought, _maybe I should get him one as a gift, after all I owe him a lot and I'll owe him more if he agrees to help me and Sixteen train._

“Well well well if it isn't Sodapop.” Oolong said.

“Nice to see you again Baconator.” Soda said with a smirk.

“What brings you here? And who's that, is he your boyfriend?” Puar asked.

“He's Sixteen,” Soda said and Oolong interrupted her.

“That guy's just sixteen!?” The shape-shifter cried in shock.

“What? No! His _name_ is Sixteen!” Soda clarified.

“What kind of name is that?” Oolong scoffed, returning his attention to the game board. “You were better off with Trunks.”

Soda smiled slightly, “It's not like that. Actually I came to see Master Roshi.”

“You can see me, but I'd rather see you.” Master Roshi said as he studied the checkers board, but Soda could tell his heart wasn't in it.

She put her hands on her hips and asked, “Master . . . I thought you might like to know some of the things going on back in West City. There's going to be a tournament, uh . . . Trunks needs Sixteen and I here to enter and try to defeat Turles.”

“Defeat Turles. “Try” implies a chance of failure, but I am confident in my capability to surpass Turles even if he transforms.” Sixteen commented.

But Roshi sat up from the game board and looked at the both of them. “Why does Trunks need you two to defeat Turles?”

“He needs _anyone_ to defeat Turles.” Soda admitted. “I've got . . . kind of a lot to tell you, Master.”

But Master Roshi just sighed and said, “Let me see how much of it I can guess.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“So let's slow things down a bit,” Erasa said as they all sat together in the conference room.

That was a relief to Mai, but she'd see how that went. So far Erasa hadn't shown much sign of having a “slow” setting.

“That'd be . . . a lot better.” Trunks told her and Captain Videl nodded.

Erasa smiled and said, “Let's be real now, you wouldn't have invited me here unless there was something you stood to gain from it, right?”

“Well we just want to get the truth out-” Trunks began but she interrupted him.

“Right, _bu--t_ ," Erasa said in a singsong voice, “you also wouldn't need to do that if there weren't a bit of truth to the rumors, a bit of a story to cover up, am I wrong?”

“Actually it's all very innocent,” Trunks was saying but again, Erasa interrupted him.

“Of course I'm not wrong, I'm a reporter I have an instinct for this sort of thing! You're on damage control because there's damage to control, otherwise you'd just ask for a retraction like you did with my last article! You know what they say, where there's smoke there's fire and you need little old me to make your fire seem like . . . what, a barbecue?”

Mai felt like that logic didn't track, but honestly since there was a little bit of truth to what the papers would be saying . . . or a lot, she couldn't quite argue with Erasa.

“More help us make it a controlled burn.” Captain Videl said with a shrug. “If it were just Trunks and Mai being caught coming out of a restaurant that'd be one thing, the threatening the press on the other hand . . .”

The blond smiled and said, “So lets try this, why don't I talk to you individually? That way you don't have to feel self conscious or embarrassed in front of each other, and you can trust me to be discreet!”

“Isn't your job to do the opposite?” Mai asked.

“Not with personal information, and anyway Videl is one of my closest friends!”

Videl gave Mai a look that said that wasn't terribly accurate, and Mai had to wonder to herself just how long it had been since they'd last seen each other given that Captain Videl would have stopped being able to attend school . . . well, rather a while ago.

But Erasa smiled at her, “So what do you say we start with you then?"

Mai felt herself blush but she nodded slightly. She'd be the first on the firing line, why not?

“Are you sure?” Trunks asked and she nodded again.

“If it helps move things along.” Mai said.

“Oh it _will_! Just as smooth a conveyor belt!” Erasa promised.

“Might as well take the chance to prepare yourself mentally, kid.” Captain Videl told Trunks, who looked like he might disagree for a moment before he finally nodded.

He said, “Sure. But take it easy on her. She didn't ask for any of this.”

“That's just precious how you try to protect her but not everyone who becomes famous asks for it,” Erasa smirked and waved him and Captain Videl out of the room. “Shoo, shoo, girl talk, I'll send for you in a moment when we're done!”

Trunks and Videl left, and Mai tried to prepare _herself_ mentally.

Erasa smiled brightly and asked, “So, for starters are you comfortable sharing your name with the public?”

“I don't mind that, I suppose.” Mai shrugged.

“It's Mai, isn't it?” Erasa confirmed and Mai nodded.

“Y-yes, sorry.” Mai said, she should have introduced herself properly but things seemed to be going in such a whirlwind.

“I'm not out to _get_ you, you know,” Erasa said with an honest looking smile, “You can relax a bit.”

“Okay.” Mai nodded, but she had no intention of letting her guard down.

“An officer of the King's Royal Guard you must be used to facing worse than me,” Erasa said, taking out a new pad.

_How many does she have? Maybe that one's just for interviews, the other doesn't seem used up._ Mai thought, but she answered, “Uh, well yes, but I don't find you intimidating in any sort of martial way.”

“So what is it? You're clearly nervous, but relaxing would make this a lot easier they're just harmless questions.”

“Well you say that . . . but there's the chance I might mess up or accidentally say something that embarrasses Trunks or the Captain, or something that's easy to take out of context.”

“Would I do that?” Erasa laughed.

“Weren't you the one who wrote the article about us on the balcony?”

“Well I had to get a little creative there,” Erasa said with a shameless smile, “Don't worry about that, like I said I'm not out to get you. So tell me in your own words, how do you feel about Trunks?”

“What . . . romantically?” Mai asked with a great deal more quiver in her voice than she would consciously admit to.

“Well yes if you'd like to make me the happiest woman in the press! But just in general if you'd prefer.” Erasa said.

“Well he's a hero.” Mai answered easily.

Erasa laughed, “Of course, we all know that!”

“Yes. But I mean he's a _real_ hero, like that old . . . well you might not know him, but a young martial artist named Goku. Trunks is a lot like him.” Mai explained, “He's selfless, not always in a good way but he's also very young and reckless, that recklessness can be perilous but it also pushes him forward at times and brings others in his wake, he elevates those around him and he seems genuinely pleased when they make progress.”

“Interesting. No, I've never heard of Goku, but some of my readers might have, I'll make a note of that.” Erasa nodded. “Would it be fair, perhaps, to say he's a source of driving inspiration to these fighters he's training?”

“Yes.” Mai nodded. In fact she felt like that was exactly what she'd just said.

“And he inspires _you_?” Erasa asked.

“Yes. He does,” Mai nodded again, “but more than that he's . . .”

“He's what?” Erasa asked, leaning forward.

Mai shrugged and said, “I don't know if I can necessarily put it into words, it's more of a feeling. A feeling like . . . like everything will be okay if he handles it, like there's never anything to be afraid of when you have him around. Like living in such a good neighborhood you never have to lock your door at night. Nothing can ever be so bad that you can't fix it and make it better when Trunks is with you . . . at least that's how I feel.”

“So would it be fair to say he makes you feel . . . secure?” Erasa asked.

“Well yes, I suppose. But not like you're helpless, or not needed . . . at least except once, and it wasn't on purpose.”

Erasa smiled broadly, “This is some great stuff, really helps me get inside the head of one of the Golden Warrior's followers. So tell me, if you and he are not an . . . item, shall we say, what were you doing together outside of that _romantic_ restaurant?”

Mai hesitated a moment with her answer, she knew she'd gotten a little too relaxed there. She needed to be more careful.

So she answered, "Well for starters the restaurant wasn't a romantic one, it was just a restaurant. Captain Videl and I go there sometimes and she and I are definitely not an "item" either.”

“Oh of course, the very thought. But go on.” Erasa encouraged her.

Mai complied, “Well we were eating dinner. The cafeteria gets pretty crowded and the Saiyans can cause a ruckus so I thought he might like to clear his head.”

“Why's that?”

“Uh well maybe you should ask him that, I don't know if I should say,” Mai said evasively.

But Erasa laughed, “Heavy is the head that wears the crown eh? You could have just said that he's got a lot on his shoulders, you evading the question just tells me there's something there. Keep that in mind if you're ever with a less sympathetic interviewer.”

Mai was surprised and let out a stunned, “Uh . . . thank you?”

“Don't mention it, but tell me with regards to crowns, why do you suppose that other woman called him her prince?”

“Because his father was the Prince of the Saiyan race, so Trunks has inherited that title.” Mai said, feeling like that answer couldn't hurt them, and besides Erasa was on their side, right?

“Oh, that's fascinating. So these Saiyans, where do they come from?”

“You should ask Trunks, I don't fully understand it.” Mai said.

“Interesting, interesting. Would you say there's any danger from them?”

_What a question,_ Mai thought, “Um . . . no, they're allies of Earth just like the Namekians.”

“Ah, so wherever they come from it's not Earth.” Erasa said. “And you said Trunks was the son of their Prince? Does that mean that our Golden Warrior is some kind of alien?”

Mai stared ahead into space helplessly, this was  _exactly_ what she'd been afraid of.

But Erasa smiled at her and wrote a dash through her note pad, “Let's say that was off the record then, shall we?”

“Thank you.” Mai said a little more sincerely now.

“Don't mention it, but tell me more.” Erasa said.

Mai folded her arms though, she didn't know if she should keep talking even if Erasa was on her side she felt like she might reveal something that could cause a panic.

Like the fact that the Golden Warrior was housing the same aliens that had tried to destroy Earth, or the fact that he was partially one of them . . .

“I . . . sort of feel like I couldn't possibly tell you anything more.” Mai said.

Erasa's smile wavered a moment but it recovered and she said, “Well you've been a real trooper. Hah, it's funny because you _are_ a trooper and you've _been_ a trooper! I think you've given me enough, I can see where I'd take the article from here. Just a friendly dinner between co-workers, yes?”

“Yes.” Mai nodded, then she hesitated.

_No . . ._ she thought. That wasn't what it had been . . . but was that how Trunks had seen it?

She had to wonder . . .

Erasa smiled, “Well, go ahead and tag Trunks in if you'd be so kind. And just for the record,”

“Yes?” Mai asked.

“When people thought you and he _were_ an item you wouldn't believe the positive feedback they sent in. Just food for thought, not everything has to be deep dark secret.” Erasa smiled.

Mai wasn't sure if that made her feel more or less uncertain about things.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks knew how uncertain _he_ felt as he paced back and forth outside of the lounge. He was trying to imagine whatever questions Erasa might ask him, trying to prepare his answers in advance but . . . in the end he was mostly just hoping that she wasn't stressing Mai out too much.

Videl had left to go about her duties, after all she wasn't one of the people Erasa had expressed interest in interviewing but Trunks couldn't focus on anything else until the danger had passed.

With everything else going on this was an easily climbable mountain, and it felt like if he could just solve _this_ problem he could get the others under control too.

“You look like you're waiting for someone to come out and shout 'it's a boy!'” Gohan said, interrupting his thoughts.

Trunks looked at his mentor and smiled, “Well I guess I could stand to loosen up a bit, I'm just worried about this.”

“Why?” Gohan asked.

“It doesn't bother me if the newspapers think I'm dating Mai,” Trunks explained.

“Why would it?” Gohan chuckled.

“But it would bother her,” Trunks explained, “She's really . . . old fashioned I guess you'd call it. She tried to do something nice for me as a friend and now everyone thinks we're a couple. I just hope Erasa can actually _help_. Besides that there's the matter of Cauli and Rhuby scaring all those people half to death.”

“Yeah . . . sorry about that,” Kodva said from behind him and Trunks realized he'd been so lost in thought he hadn't even noticed the former monk.

He shook his head and said, “I don't blame you! I mean I don't blame them either, it would have been kind of funny if . . . well . . . their hearts were in the right place I guess.”

“Still, Gurein and I should have stopped them. It was just so sudden and we were sort of surprised.” Kodva said. “I wanted to see if maybe there was anything I could do to smooth things over with the reporter or at least take my share of the blame.”

“No, there's no need for that.” Trunks said, noting the relieved look on Kodva's face he tried forcing a smile to show that there was nothing to worry about.

“Just keep at that until it feels natural,” Gohan said, nodding sagely, “Try not to show teeth though, makes it seem like a grimace.”

Trunks dropped the fake grin and looked at his former mentor in dismay, “Was it _that_ bad?”

“No, it was great. Just an odd time for your war face.” Gohan winked.

“I wouldn't suggest you do that in front of any old persons or small children if that's what you're wondering.” Kodva shrugged.

Trunks laughed and shook his head, “Okay, okay. But still it's no big deal. Anyway I have to say I was surprised to see you four there, some kind of double date eh?”

Kodva laughed, “Oh I wouldn't call it _that,_ Master. Though Gurein and I have our suspicions about those two you'd still need to be _couples_ to go on a double date. No, we were just a group of friends trying to unwind, much like yourself and the Lieutenant I'd imagine,” Kodva suggested and Trunks nodded.

“Tournament getting you guys worked up?” Trunks asked.

Kodva nodded, “That's it exactly. Rhuby was upset about something to do with Turles, the rest of us tried to help her get her mind off of it.”

_Well that makes sense, after all we—wait, no,_ Trunks thought until he realized that in order for his students to have had a table before him and Mai without waiting in the same lobby as them they'd probably arrived before he had and he and Mai had gone straight there.

So Brassica hadn't had any time to talk to Rhubara about Turles.

Which meant Turles might have already gotten to Rhubara.

But she was upset by Turles, so . . . that was a good thing, right?

“Uh . . . did she happen to say _why_ she was upset with Turles?”

“Not in any specific detail,” Kodva shrugged, “I think she was trying to work up to it but in the end none of us felt like it really mattered. She was upset, we wanted to make her feel better. That was what mattered.”

“So you have no idea at all?” Trunks frowned.

“Well I think it's something about pride, at least if I had to guess,” Kodva shrugged, and since Rhubara was a pure-blooded Saiyan that was a strong possibility. “She mentioned that fighting and losing to Cauli would have been okay but she can't let herself lose to Turles or let Cauli lose to him. I guess he'd see himself as their superior or something.”

_Or beating them is some kind of prerequisite for them siding with him._ Trunks thought, and he and Gohan shared a look telling him that his mentor had thought the same thing.

By now Cauliflora and Brassica would be training, but Trunks trusted Brassica would have already told Cauli the previous night and if she'd told Rhubara either Rhubara hadn't said anything that Brassica judged worthy of reporting back to him or . . . well maybe it was too late.

Still if she wanted to defeat Turles . . .

Trunks asked Kodva, “Do you know where she's training?”

“Right now? Probably in the gardens. I know she was on the roster for the gravity room.” Kodva said.

“Good. I'd better talk to--” Trunks began but then the door swung open and Mai almost bumped right into him as she exited.

“Eep!” She cried, jumping back a pace.

“Oh, there you are Trunks!” Erasa said cheerfully, coming over to the doorway. “You weren't listen in were you? Naughty boy. Well come on then, it's your turn to—oh . . . hello there tall strong and handsome!”

“She must mean you,” Trunks said to Gohan, who towered a head above him and Kodva.

“I _do._ ” Erasa said, batting her eyelashes.

“Me?” Gohan gawked.

“Just who might this be?” The reporter asked.

Trunks smiled, “You know, actually he's the man who trained me, he taught me most everything I know. You really should talk to him first.”

“Me?!” Gohan gawked some more, but this time he sounded alarmed as well. “I don't want to be in the news!”

Mai blinked in surprise as Erasa practically sprang past her and grabbed Gohan's arm, pulling him into the lounge asking, “So you trained Trunks? But my goodness you two look the same age, you hardly seem like a wise old Master type! Were you two school mates?”

Gohan gave Trunks a look that clearly asked 'why' but Trunks just shrugged.

Erasa was a small problem. He could deal with a small problem.

But Rhubara and Cauliflora siding with Turles could become a bigger problem and he needed to deal with that right away.

So he told Erasa as she closed the door, “I'll just be in the gardens when you're done.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** Trunks talks to Rhubara and comes to realize a few startling things about the Saiyans under his command. Meanwhile Beeta and Chillax prepare for the tournament in their own ways and will Erasa have her interview with the Golden Warrior before the day is out?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. 100 chapters. To be honest I don't know if this story is doing well or not on this platform, so I won't say 'here's to the next hundred' but I will say thanks to everyone who has made it this far with me.


	101. Dalmatians

**Episode Twenty One**

**'Dalmatians'**

 

The gardens had seen better days.

Though Trunks knew his people were being as careful as they could the truth was no yard had ever been made to survive their level of 'play' and while they mainly kept it to the lawn and its resilient grass the gardens were a popular meditation spot.

Of course they weren't sparring in the gardens, the worst it got was light exercises but even that was enough to leave Trunks thinking their gardener was in line for a generous 'Nondescript Winter Holiday' bonus.

He'd have to suggest it to his mother, but he suspected she was already way ahead of him.

All that said Kodva was right and they found Rhubara and Okran performing some sort of meditation exercise floating just above the green grass near a lot of flowers Trunks didn't know the names of. The tall Namekian called Bass stood under a tree nearby watching them as if he expected them to spontaneously catch fire or something.

“Here they are, just like I thought. Need anything else Master?” Kodva asked.

“No, thank you.” Trunks said, smiling though he wasn't too confident.

He wasn't afraid, just wary. He didn't know Rhubara well at all and it might have helped to have Kodva with him while he talked to her, but at the same time he didn't want to go spreading the news that he knew about Turles' plans to anymore other than those who absolutely needed to know.

And if he could keep anyone from knowing he'd try. He wanted to salvage things with Turles if he could, after all Turles was so powerful and growing so fast he might just make an ideal defender someday.

The last thing he wanted was to throw that away.

Kodva took his leave, and Trunks took a moment to think about how he was going to approach this.

_Just be direct,_ he thought, _she doesn't know you any better than you know her so this will be just as uncomfortable for her, best not to prolong it with a lot of painful small talk._

He approached, bowing politely to Bass and asking, “Do you mind if I borrow one of your students for a few minutes, Master Bass?”

The Namekian nodded slightly and answered, “That's fine, they're your subjects after all.”

_I_ _suppose_ _that's true,_ Trunks thought.

And after Cauli-er Brassica's story he knew better than to admit out loud that he didn't like looking at them that way.

“Rhubara?” Trunks called, “I'd like to talk to you for a bit.”

Rhuby's face went from deep concentration to a more worried look as she rose to her feet, still floating above the grass. Her purple eyes opened almost reluctantly, though Trunks could tell from her expression it wasn't because she'd been enjoying the meditation.

“I should have expected this . . .” Rhubara sighed.

Trunks frowned, “You know why I'm here?” He asked as they walked away, hopefully out of range of the others' hearing..

“This is about last night right?” Rhubara guessed.

“Last night?” Trunks asked then smiled, realizing it made sense for Rhuby to expect discipline. He hadn't even considered it.

“We really weren't going to harm them. We just thought we'd scare them away from you,” Rhubara said sheepishly.

“That's good. I'm glad that you weren't out to hurt anyone, but you shouldn't try to make them afraid of you either,” Trunks told her.

“Yes, Prince Trunks.”

_Don't correct her. But it's weird hearing that._ Trunks thought.

Out loud he said, “Besides I'd guess Brassica already gave you two a lecture.”

_“Yes,_ Prince Trunks.” Rhubara repeated, this time with emphasis. He could guess Brassica had given them _quite_ the lecture.

“So no need to retread that ground. I'll trust you to act more responsibly in the future.” Trunks told her and she looked a little relieved. Trunks felt like a teacher letting a rowdy student off the hook and then he realized that was literally what he was.

Rhubara might think of him as her Prince, but really he was just a teacher hoping he wouldn't have to be the only one who could protect the Earth for much longer.

Rhubara was tall, about the same height as Cauliflora, but the both of them were still a few inches shorter than Brassica, reminding Trunks that they were still youths with some growing up to do.

And so was Turles who was, at least biologically two years their junior. If they were still kids so was he, right?

All the more reason to try to fix the situation with him.

“Well . . . if it's not that . . . what _can_ I do for you?” Rhubara asked.

Trunks frowned because now he just wasn't so sure. He'd _known_ what he needed to ask her to do when he came over.

Instead now he just answered, “Well I'm here about the tournament.”

“Oh! Well I understand if having my mother as my teammate violates some rule, if I need a new teammate-”

“No, nothing like that,” Trunks laughed, “You're fine with Okran.”

"If you say so, Prince Trunks."

Trunks wasn't sure, but Rhubara sounded disappointed.

“It must be a relief to have her back, right?” Trunks asked, then remembered he'd wanted to avoid small talk.

“It is not something I can put into words.” Rhubara said a little dryly.

“Right. I get it,” Trunks nodded. So Rhubara didn't get on with her mother. He supposed it made sense for a Saiyan, after all he hadn't gotten along with his father terribly well at first.

He asked her, “I wanted to know if you . . . well I hear you've got plans for a sort of grudge match with Turles in the tournament . . . do you think you can beat him?”

“I don't know if I can beat him. I know I _need_ to.” Rhubara said.

“That's an unusual answer. Can I ask why?”

“I . . . uh . . . just do?” Rhubara offered hesitantly.

“Are you not sure why, or are you trying to keep the reason to yourself?” Trunks asked.

“A bit of both.” Rhubara sighed, lowering her gaze.

_Well I can work with that at least._ Trunks sighed and said, “Okay. I don't need to know if you don't want me to. But I do need to know I can rely on you.”

“You can, Prince Trunks.” Rhubara nodded.

“You don't know what for yet.” Trunks pointed out.

“You can rely on me anyway.” Rhubara shrugged. “You're the Prince.”

_Well at least she's loyal._ Trunks thought. He nodded as a gesture of gratitude, then said, “The truth is Turles needs to be beaten in the tournament, he's getting too . . . overconfident. It would be for his own good.”

“You want me to beat him to help him?” Rhubara raised an eyebrow.

“Something like that.” Trunks sighed, disappointed in himself for not being direct like he'd wanted.

“Why don't you just beat him?” She asked him.

“I will if it comes to it, but . . . I'm trying not to let it reach that point.” Trunks said.

Rhubara seemed confused, she asked him, “Why? Fighting is . . . well it's good, isn't it?”

“It doesn't always have to be the answer.” Trunks told her.

“But it's always the best one.” Rhubara chuckled but Trunks didn't join her.

He said, “Look . . . the truth is that most of the other Saiyans . . . I don't know how well I can trust them, I know he's got a lot of influence over them. But it seems like that's not the case with you. I don't know that they'd be able to beat him for me, and even if they could I don't know if they would or if they'd just think I was asking them to do it out of some fear of him.”

“But you're not afraid that I'd think that?” Rhubara asked. “I don't think anyone would think he's strong enough to make you nervous, but it is strange to ask someone else to be the one to get rid of him for you.”

“I'm not asking you to get rid of him, just to beat him in the tournament before things escalate to me having to beat him myself. If I do it I don't know that it would fix anything.”

Rhubara put her hands on her hips and said, “I . . . see.”

“You do?” Trunks asked.

“You're worried about him. He's cocky, but he won't learn losing to you because of the power gap.” Rhubara folded her arms and said, “It's a ready made excuse. You need him to lose to someone more equal so he realizes all this power we have doesn't make us gods.”

Trunks was surprised. She was wrong, but he'd never expected her to come to that conclusion all the same.

“It doesn't bother your Saiyan pride to say that?”

“What, that I'm not invincible? No. Bass taught me to stop being a warrior and start being a fighter years ago. A warrior has to overcome, they can't afford to think of their weaknesses but a fighter has to be keenly aware of theirs.” Rhubara said. “Cauli and I had plenty of time to feel like goddesses on War World, and if we'd let it fool us we'd probably have ended up dead. Even a weaker opponent can outdo a stronger opponent with less experience and too much bravado.”

Trunks folded his arms, it was weird to hear a Saiyan talk about pride as if it weren't all important, but it was kind of nice too.

Rhubara continued and said, “I may have my own reasons, but if you're looking for someone to humble Turles I'll be happy to. You're right, he's got a lot of influence on the others but he doesn't have any over me or Cauli and I want to keep it that way.”

Trunks actually found himself smiling and said, “You two are pretty close huh?”

“Well sure, she's my best friend.” Rhubara shrugged. “What happens to her affects me, if she falls in with Turles' fans it'd sort of mean I'd have to to, right?”

“No, not at all.” Trunks said. “You don't have to do everything your friends do.”

“Well I might not have to, but I prefer to. If I didn't I'd end up alone again.” Rhubara shrugged.

“There are worse things than being alone.” Trunks told her.

“No there aren't. Isn't that why you started training people, Prince Trunks?” Rhubara asked, and Trunks had to reluctantly nod.

She had a point.

Rhubara shrugged and said, “I was alone on Goulder, at least at first until I accepted Kon and Kori—uh the Iwatians that took me in and cared for me that is--” Rhubara was explaining but Trunks had no idea what she was even talking about at this point. Iwatians were the thing Konpeito was, right? Was Kon short for Konpeito?

But Rhubara told him, “In the end that all worked out . . . but it confirmed what I already knew; that Cauli's the most important person in the universe to me, I'm miserable without her so I can't let her get . . . drawn off by some braggart like Turles, and I can't have him thinking he could ever claim any kind of ownership over me or her. I'll beat him in this tournament, and if it helps you then that's all the more reason to do it, Prince Trunks.”

Trunks smiled slightly and said, “You've given me a lot to think about. But I'm glad you're with me. I know training with your mother is probably a little bit of an impairment . . . if you can I was hoping you'd let me start training you directly. In the evenings in lieu of your usual free time, at least until the tournament.”

Rhubara seemed hesitant, she said, “I . . . had planned on training with Cauli that way actually.”

Trunks shrugged, “I want to train her too. You two are about even, one of you is bound to be able to beat Turles.”

Rhubara asked, “You don't mean to teach us to become Super Saiyans, that's not allowed in the tournament after all.”

“That's true, it's not. But I think being able to fight to your fullest against an opponent that can handle it will help you both improve and break through your own limits.” Trunks told her, then smiled, “Besides, I need to start getting stronger myself.”

Rhubara nodded then and said, “I . . . guess that would be okay. It wouldn't break any rules would it?”

“I don't see why it would. I trained half of the other fighters in the tournament after all,” Trunks said, then realized that he hadn't even trained half of them.

He didn't _know_ most of the Saiyans because he hadn't _trained_ any of them apart from Turles, he'd delegated it to his students and he was proud of the results . . . but it did mean he didn't know these warriors who swore fealty to him. Could he really blame some of them for following a popular captain instead?

_Mom was right . . . as usual._ Trunks sighed, realizing what she'd meant before when she'd said he acted like he was afraid of the Saiyans.

He'd thought she meant his own Saiyan side, which was true enough, but he was so much stronger than Turles and the others that he hadn't realized she could possibly mean _them_.

Or that she might not mean it in the martial sense.

He smiled and said, “You've given me a lot to think about indeed. Thank you. That's all I need for now.”

Rhubara bowed and returned to her meditation with Bass and Okran.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The garden had seen better days but the patio of Capsule Corp. HQ was still just fine.

Mostly the fighters avoided it because it was where Bulma and others indulged in their smoke breaks, and for the majority of them the smell was overwhelming.

But Beeta had gotten used to it just from spending time on the Royal Guard base. It seemed like _everyone_ in the military smoked.

So she didn't have a problem standing out there leaning against the wall next to Thyme as he smoked a cigarette.

“Keeping busy?” She asked him.

“Yeah. It's been great, the boss has Baz and me doing a lot of actual science stuff instead of piloting space ships and watching time machines.”

“Because those aren't science stuff?” Beeta asked, genuinely uncertain if the Earthlings considered them such. She knew she considered the time machine some form of magic.

Thyme shrugged. “Not the sort I thought I was signing on for at Capsule Corp. I know it sounds a bit ungrateful to act as if adventure is a bother, but still . . .”

“It _is_.” Beeta guessed with a slight smirk.

“What about you? How's being in the military?”

“I was already in the military.”

“Fine, how's being in _our_ military?”

Beeta shrugged. “It's all right. The uniform's too soft, I'd prefer my armor.”

“You look good in orange.” Thyme offered.

“Thanks?” Beeta shrugged. “That doesn't help me much if someone punches me in the guts.”

“Well it was just a compliment, it wasn't meant to change your life,” Thyme shrugged. “You looking forward to this tournament?”

“Yeah I guess. It's a chance to fight, which I like, but it's all just for spectacle so who cares?” Beeta shrugged. “Give me a life or death battle any day.”

“I guess I can see what you mean.” Thyme said, then took a long draw on his cigarette before saying, “I'm hardly in a position to criticize your life choices.”

“What's that mean?” Beeta asked.

Thyme smiled, “Just that generally people don't take life advice from someone addicted to cigarettes.”

“Why not?” Beeta wondered.

Thyme shrugged, “They're bad for you.”

“For me?”

“Well for everyone, not you specifically. Though yeah, inhaling the smoke even secondhand like this is bad. Didn't you know that?” Thyme sounded concerned.

“I didn't.” Beeta admitted, but she shrugged. “Not that it matters.”

“It does actually. These things kill, you know,” Thyme told her.

Beeta had a newfound respect for the little white cylinders.

So these . . . sticks the humans put in their mouths were lethal? “What is it, some form of slow suicide?”

“I mean . . . I guess?” Thyme sighed.

“Lady Bulma allows this?”

“Allows it? She smokes too.” Thyme said, then got a thoughtful look and added, “Actually I'm pretty sure she's the one who suggested my favorite brand.”

“Basil lets you do this?” Beeta asked.

“Well she's not exactly cheering me on. But it's not a lot of her business,” Thyme said simply.

“Give me one!” Beeta said suddenly, she had to know _how_ these things could be lethal.

Was this why the soldiers almost all used them? Were they trying to build up some immunity to their deadly might?

They couldn't be _that_ strong if they hadn't killed Thyme yet though.

He didn't give her one, instead he said, “Enough. Maybe you should go back inside.”

“Why? I'm a lot stronger than you, it'll kill you first.” Beeta said.

“I don't doubt that, but I'd rather it not kill you at all.” Thyme said.

“Does awareness of the danger somehow initiate its lethality? You didn't seem to care about my being out here any other time.” Beeta pointed out.

“Yeah I didn't think about it.” Thyme admitted. “I forget how little you know about this world sometimes. I'm done anyway come on, we'll both go inside.”

He tried to lead the way but Beeta's hand shot out and snatched his package of cigarettes. She put it in her own pocket and said, “I'd rather you not kill yourself when I'm not around.”

He gave her an annoyed look then shrugged, “Yeah, I guess you can have those. I've got others.”

“How do you use them?” She wondered.

“Don't you have a tournament to prepare for?” Thyme asked.

“I _am_ preparing, for all I know my opponent will use these.” Beeta said with a wink but Thyme looked annoyed and tried to snatch the package back.

It was . . . well, honestly one of the most futile efforts she'd ever seen in her life.

“You don't _really_ think you're going to be able to steal _anything_ from me, do you?” Beeta raised an eyebrow. “You're not fast enough.”

“Am I?” Chillax asked, appearing from out of nowhere and snatching the box from her.

Beeta rolled her eyes, the Arcosian was obscenely quick and she'd sensed he was nearby but she hadn't thought he'd be listening in on her conversation.

“What did I win?” Chillax asked, looking inside the box.

Beeta shrugged, “Some kind of Earthling suicide sticks.”

Chillax half dropped half threw the box away, “What? Why? That's insane!”

Thyme was blushing now, “They're _not_ suicide sticks! Let's just drop it!”

“I did.” Chillax said cheekily.

“Don't you two need to train?” Thyme asked.

“We sure do.” Chillax said, “That's what I'm here for.”

Beeta looked at her watch and sighed, “Oh all right then. We'll pick this up later.”

“I cannot wait.” Thyme said insincerely.

Chillax asked her though, “What's the big deal? Almost everyone on the base smokes those things.”

“Yeah but I don't care about them,” Beeta told him as they walked inside. “I think of that Earthling as a . . . I _guess_ you could say 'friend?'”

Chillax scoffed, “Him? Why? What's so special about him?”

Beeta shrugged, “We're similar, we both spend a lot of time thinking about our own mortality. Anyway it's nice to have a friend, you should try it.”

“I have friends, I've got my old squad and Tathy.” Chillax pointed out.

“None of them are Earthlings though. We're on this planet full of Earthlings don't you think you should try to befriend at least one of them?” Beeta asked.

The young Arcosian shrugged. “I hadn't thought about it . . . but it's fine, I don't need more friends.”

Beeta shrugged, “Don't knock it. You never know when all the ones you have could be gone.”

Chillax frowned, “Trust me, I've got experience with that.”

“Me too.” Beeta nodded.

“I figured. You had a lot of friends on Planet Vegeta?” Chillax asked.

“Yes.” Beeta nodded again, but that's all she planned to say about it and after they walked further down the hallway in awkward silence Chillax seemed to realize she had no intention of expounding.

The Arcosian frowned and said, “Well . . . lets do well in the tournament and honor their memory by wiping the floors with that Turles, huh?”

Beeta shrugged, “That won't bring them back.”

“No, I guess it won't.” Chillax sighed. “How'd I get paired with a ray of sunshine like you?”

“Luck I suppose.” Beeta shrugged.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks was more than a little reluctant to finally sit down in the lounge across from Erasa.

“Just . . . try not to make me look too bad.” He told her.

“Oh don't worry, you're the Golden Warrior, it'd be impossible!” Erasa said. “Why if I made _you_ look bad my spotless record would suddenly be . . .”

“Tainted?” Trunks offered.

“Dalmatians! Just covered in spots!” Erasa cried, then clicked her pen and took out a pad of paper from her bag, “Now, first of all Golden Warrior, I've got to ask you, these aliens, the ones who call you Prince, the ones who threatened the press, what are they like? Are they a threat to the public at large?”

Trunks sighed and said, “You know, if you'd asked me just earlier I'd have said they're a prideful aggressive bunch but no threat as long as I'm around.”

“And now?” Erasa asked, leaning forward, “Is your answer different?”

“Well . . . yes.” Trunks admitted. “Now . . . well, I can see . . . they're just kids. They're teenagers taken from everything they knew, taken from their home and asked to come here and protect ours . . . they're strong and they're used to fighting other people's wars but we shouldn't take them for granted because they're still individuals. Individuals with their own senses of humor, their own desires and fears, individuals who will all make their own decisions. They deserve our patience, even if they make bad decisions, and I intend to give them that and honestly get to know them better over the coming days.”

Erasa said, “Very nice. Now . . . would you say you and Mai are are romantically involved, and if you wouldn't could _I_ say it?”

“No and no,” Trunks said and warned her, “Keep up like that and this interview is over.”

“Oh come now, weren't you just saying you were going to be trying to offer more patience?”

Trunks sighed, this was going to be a long day.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Exciting Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Master Roshi returns to Capsule Corp. to have a few words with Bulma, but Bulma seems to already be a step ahead of him. What has she got planned, and what's in store in the next episode of Dragon Ball COED?_

 


	102. Alien Invader

**Episode Twenty-Two**

**'Alien Invader'**

 

It was still late afternoon when Master Roshi made his return to Capsule Corp.

He hadn't trained Soda and Sixteen, though he _would_ if his talk with Bulma didn't go the way he hoped. For the moment he felt it was far more important to talk to Bulma.

Trunks knew, but did Bulma know? Roshi had to assume she didn't, or that she hadn't shared her plan with Soda because something as indirect as hoping Turles lost support from his followers by being beaten in the tournament . . . well that left far too much to chance.

Even if Android Sixteen was strong enough to defeat him fighting in the tournament might only make Turles stronger, surely Trunks would realize that being a Saiyan himself.

Master Roshi caused quite a stir arriving, people around here knew him and under normal circumstances he'd have been willing to receive their greetings and spare a few words for them each in turn but right now he was in a rush and to the first person to approach him he simply tapped his staff on the ground and said, “I'm here to see the Lady of the Super Villain's Lair. Is she in?”

“The boss?” Thyme asked, and then nodded, “Right this way. She's been busy these last couple of days, but I'm sure she'll meet with you.”

_Let's hope so._ Roshi thought and he followed the tall young man down the hallway and down the stairs to Bulma's lower level workshop.

Sure enough the aging super scientist was busy at work with some kind of contraption that looked like a large metal coffin. Perhaps the tube Android Sixteen had come in? Roshi could guess at least.

Thyme cleared his throat and said, “Master Roshi here to see you ma'am . . . oh jeez I sound like a butler!”

“Thank you Thyme, that will be all.” Bulma told him in an overly sophisticated tone to imply she was joking but Roshi didn't smile or chuckle.

Instead he nodded and said, “Thanks young'un, now run along.”

“Uh . . . sure.” Thyme said and went about his business.

Bulma rose to her feet and turned to regard Roshi. “You're back. Welcome?” She said as if it were a question.

“I'm back for a visit, not to rejoin the effort just yet.” Master Roshi said. “Anyway it feels like I'm not needed, the power levels in this place . . . you can almost imagine the old team's back . . . and stronger.”

Bulma actually snorted, but she recovered and said, “Oh come on Master Roshi, they're not _nearly_ that strong yet.”

“Not all of them.” Master Roshi agreed. “But some of them are getting close.”

“My Vegeta would have been able to beat all of them at once!” Bulma laughed, “And Goku would--”

“No, I disagree.” Master Roshi interrupted. “Don't over-romanticize the past, child, open your eyes and look at what's happening now. You have very strong fighters . . . and very powerful threats.”

“No, _I_ disagree.” Bulma said. “Threats I'll give you, but we're at peace for the moment. Even so that doesn't mean our current batch are even close to the old team, if the Androids came back today Trunks would be the only one who could defeat them. Oh, and Sixteen, but Gohan hasn't changed much since his death and short of him Turles is the strongest and Turles can't transform into a Super Saiyan. All the rest are beneath him so really we're still just struggling to get back to where we were, let alone surpass that point.”

Master Roshi stroked his beard a moment, then took a seat on some contraption Bulma was building.

It was awfully high-tech looking but once he sat on it he realized it was just a fancy looking stool.

Bulma frowned at him and asked, “What is it that brings you here if you're not really back yet?”

He had to be careful how he broached the subject, but he didn't feel like bantering.

Finally he said, “Soda stopped by my island this morning with that metal Goliath of yours.”

“If that's a problem I can ask them . . .” Bulma began but Roshi was shaking his head and she trailed off, tilting her own head to the side and asking, “So what then?”

“She had some interesting things to tell me. He had some interesting recordings to play for me.”

“He has recordings?” Bulma laughed, “I didn't see that in the blueprint. That's fascinating.”

Roshi thought it was a little worrying. Either Bulma was playing, or she had actually activated a _formerly_ enemy super weapon without being fully aware of its capabilities.

He decided she was just playing with him.

The old man cleared his throat much more loudly than Thyme had just moments before and said, “Well in any event it seems some interesting happenings have been going on since I've been gone.”

“Oh I'd say so. My son is in the news repeatedly, and not for saving the world like you'd expect, but for having an interest in the opposite sex. Of course hopefully this scrutiny will keep him well behaved . . .” Again Bulma trailed off seeing his response, this time when she resumed she sounded a little annoyed, “But you mean the tournament? Well I suppose I shouldn't be surprised an old Martial Arts Master like you would only have one thing on your mind. Fine, there's going to be a tournament but it's not like we weren't going to tell you!”

Roshi shook his head and said, “Do you know what your pet project is becoming?”

Bulma frowned, “Which pet project?”

“The Saiyans.” Roshi clarified, “Tell me you know what Sixteen knows.”

“Of course I know what Sixteen knows.” Bulma said in a serious tone. “He _literally_ cannot keep things from me, it was one of the first safety protocols I installed when I had the time to really get things running in there.”

“So you know about Turles.”

“What about Turles? That he thinks Trunks is an unsuitable leader, or that he's trying to convince everyone to rebel?” Bulma asked, and Roshi stared at her in horror.

How could she know and do nothing?

“Please. Turles is shaken because we spared those Arcosians, he'll get over it. A good tournament to kindle that fighting spirit is just what he and the others need. As for the rest, he's gotten half-hearted or lukewarm responses from all of them, most of them aren't ready to trade a Royal Super Saiyan for a fast-growing prodigy, and that's all Turles is. Sure he's strong and that's amazing but the two Karuto brought us grow almost as fast. That probably has something to do with his bluster really.”

“You really think this is nothing?” Roshi asked.

“I don't want to fight over this _again_.” Bulma sighed.

“Neither do I, I'm genuinely asking you.” Roshi insisted. “Do you truly believe this is nothing? That Turles trying to convince the others to rebel is just . . . what, what would the word for that even be?”

“Impetuousness?” Bulma offered with a shrug, “He's a teenager he's bucking against authority and trying to figure out how he fits in the world. What do you want me to do, tell him to look out at a lake while I talk about rabbits?”

Roshi shook his head, “If that's what it takes.”

“If that's what it takes that's what I'll do then.” Bulma shrugged. “But I don't feel like that's what it's come to yet. You're so eager to mistrust Turles you're ignoring the fact that for whatever reason he's come further in a shorter span of time than any other Saiyan we ever encountered, including Goku. All the others grow about the same way Goku used to, tens of thousands after a little while at a hundred times Earth's gravity, hundreds of thousands now after months at over a hundred times, some a brushing up against a million or so,”

“You say it like it's nothing,” Master Roshi said, “they're all capable of destroying this planet in a tantrum.”

“Which none of them has thrown yet.” Bulma said firmly. “Turles is still on our side, Master.”

“How can you possibly say that?” Master Roshi demanded.

“Because he's not looking to destroy the Earth, just change who runs it. Everyone feels like they should be the one to rule the world sometimes, I know I do. Turles is a teenager with too much energy, we just have to give him a sport he can enjoy . . . that's tournament fighting, he's a Saiyan, it's perfect.”

“This isn't just a rowdy kid who need to go out for track and field,” Master Roshi insisted but quickly raised his hand, “I don't think you're completely wrong, and I didn't come here to tell you what to do though. I just needed to know that you did know, to know that you had some idea of what was happening and what you were going to do about it.”

Bulma sighed and said, “If I can I want to tame Turles and the rest of them, I want them to protect Earth. If I can't . . . well like I said, my Vegeta could take them all and Sixteen is stronger than Vegeta.”

It would spare Trunks the turmoil of doing it himself at least.

Roshi nodded to Bulma, he didn't _like_ it, but at least he knew she was willing to actually do what might be necessary.

So that begged the question, “And what about the time machine?”

“What? I'm not getting rid of it if that's what you mean.” Bulma frowned.

“I mean are you still going to be using it to bring back Saiyans?”

“Not for a while. I want a breeding population, I'm trying to figure out how to accomplish that without causing a real rift . . . but I also know we need to see how these Saiyans adjust. I've been thinking we might need to start collecting them younger, but the opportunity might not arise as often.”

Master Roshi shook his head slowly, “I'll leave that to you. I just don't know how much of what they are is nurture over nature, remember even Goku loved to fight.”

“How could I ever forget it?” Bulma asked with an affectionate roll of her eyes. “Anyway I don't want to eliminate what made the Saiyans who they were as a people, but I do want to try to guide them into something more . . . civilized.”

Master Roshi folded his arms leaning his staff over his shoulder, “Civilized you say? Well how will you do that?”

“It's not terribly difficult, they were becoming more civilized on their own once they conquered Planet Vegeta after all.” Bulma explained. “They went from being nomadic tribes of barbarians to a united empire with a feudal hierarchy and interstellar space travel in the blink of an eye after all.”

“After they turned into giant apes and annihilated the race they shared their planet with.” Roshi reminded her.

“I thought you didn't want to have this argument again?” Bulma said dryly. “Look, they'll adapt to Earth, I know it. And if it helps Trunks to realize his own Saiyan side isn't anything to run from that's all the better, isn't it? Turles will work out, and if he doesn't we'll get rid of him and try with another one. We'll try until we run out of them.”

“To what end?” Master Roshi asked, “Why can't we just let Earthlings be the Defenders of Earth?”

Bulma sighed and asked, “Because that just won't work and we both know it. General Boreal could have destroyed Earth if Brassica hadn't stopped him.”

“Brassica is old—okay maybe not old, but she's definitely a wizened veteran,” Master Roshi said, “she's fought across the stars and settled down enough to know how to behave herself. She's the opposite of the younger Saiyans.”

“Well I can't rebuild a species with old-timers . . . heck we can't even stop having the same argument with old-timers, can we?”

Roshi chuckled, “I think the sheer illogical nature of what you're doing is what keeps trapping me in this loop.”

Bulma smiled, “And I think the fact that you can't ever present anything other than gut feelings and racial discrimination is why I can't ever be swayed. Even now you come to me because _Turles_ is a problem, but you want to expand the conversation to _all_ of them.”

Roshi shrugged, “All right then, all right then. What else is new?”

“What's this?” Bulma asked.

“Finding a new argument to argue about. What else is new? You said Trunks is in the news a lot over girls, right?” Master Roshi chuckled, “Are they cute girls?”

“Of _course_ ! There was _something_ with Soda, I'm not sure where that went, I think they're both too busy to carry it on.”

“So who's he in the news with then?” Roshi asked.

“Oh, this other girl, Mai. She's Videl's second in command, very . . . traditional? Reminds me of someone I used to know, I swear. They've been in the papers after some slimy photographer caught a picture of them standing together on the balcony and some sleaze-bag reporter wrote what amounts to a fantasy and passed it off as news so we had them print a retraction.”

Roshi laughed, “Well then . . . that's something!”

“That's _nothing_ ,” Bulma smiled, “Apparently they caused quite a stir getting caught at a restaurant last night which makes our forcing the paper to print its retraction seem like a cover-up! _Now_ that sleaze-bag reporter is running around here interviewing whatever hapless idiot agrees and—get this, I, the most ingenious scientific mind of our time, am hiding out in my workshop because I am not about to waste an afternoon getting asked questions about my son's love life, questions I don't even know the answer to!”

Master Roshi chuckled and shook his head. “I wonder if this is why Goku and the others tried not to embrace celebrity.”

“They had that choice, Trunks really didn't. Not if he wanted to train others at least.” Bulma shrugged. “But what's done is done.”

“And this new tournament? When is it being held?” Roshi asked.

“I'm not sure. I think Trunks is planning to do something about Turles during it, but he's already agreed to let Sixteen enter so it doesn't matter. Even Gohan can't beat Sixteen.”

“Then what's the point of the tournament?” Master Roshi asked.

“What do you mean?” Bulma asked.

“I mean why have a tournament at all if Sixteen is going to win no matter what?”

Bulma smiled, “It wasn't my idea. No, none of them stand a chance, martial arts against technology? I'm sorry but Android Sixteen is going to clean them out. Who knows, maybe we can just have Androids protect Earth and then we won't have any need for special forces.”

Master Roshi knew what Bulma was doing, he could see it as plain as day.

After all she'd just barely been saying what a good idea the tournament was, now here she was suddenly saying it would also be a waste of time?

“I mean there might have been a time when someone like Gohan _could_ have stood a chance against Sixteen, but you know . . . probably not now. Anyway it's not like he's going to be able to really focus on getting better tied down with a weak teammate like he is. What a shame, the son of Goku, competing in a tournament he's bound to lose.”

Master Roshi adjusted his sun glasses and said, “I get it, I get it.”

“What ever do you mean, Master?” Bulma asked.

“I guess I can't quite head back to my island _just_ yet, I'll have to help make sure Gohan's in as good a shape to fight and win as this Sixteen fella at least.” Master Roshi said. “Of course I can't help but wonder why you're so interested in that.”

“Because I'd rather Turles' ego get bruised by someone flesh and blood, someone he can recognize as an equal and not someone he'd just view as a piece of machinery.”

“Why's that?” Master Roshi asked.

“You know how sometimes if your kid is the sort who pushes other kids off the swings you let them get pushed by a bigger kid so they know what it feels like?”

Roshi stared at her for a moment, then said, “No. No I don't . . . and I don't think any parent--”

“Oh spare me. Obviously I never had that problem, even as a baby Trunks would have been the _only_ kid pushing anyone off of anything at the park, but I've read parent books, it's a sound principle.”

Master Roshi frowned, “So you think part of teaching Turles to behave is to . . . what, let him get bullied?”

“Something like that. Letting him get slapped around a little couldn't hurt, and anyway it didn't seem like the sort of thing you'd object to.”

Master Roshi nodded slowly and said, “Right you are . . . but if he fights Gohan and doesn't lose,”

“He still won't be strong enough for Sixteen, and even if _somehow_ he is he still won't be strong enough for Trunks.” Bulma said simply.

But Roshi could hear just a little bit of doubt in her voice.

_Well then . . . I'll just have to make sure he doesn't defeat Gohan._ The old Master thought and let out a long sigh.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Chillax could feel the heavy press of the gravity room more keenly than usual, and not just because it was set as high as it was.

He was distracted and it was causing him problems. Beeta had landed a few much heavier hits than she should normally have been able to manage against him as a result of it.

And the Saiyan knew it too, partway through the sparring session she even asked him if something was wrong and he'd told her no.

But after another ten minutes he finally had to raise a hand for pause and ask, “Hold up, remember when you asked me if anything was on my mind?”

“No. I remember asking you if there was a _reason_ you were distracted, I don't recall ever expressing uncertainty that you _were_.”

Chillax rolled his red eyes and said, “Fine. But the truth is . . . I have been thinking about what you said.”

Beeta just sort of stared at him for a moment until he clarified, “Earlier, about making friends with Earthlings.”

“Okay?” Beeta sounded like she wanted him to get to the point and he had to admit he didn't know necessarily that he had one.

“I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life on this planet you know?”

“Not really. You can travel.” She told him.

“I'm not going to be welcome anywhere else you know.” Chillax scoffed. “The Galactic Patrol would lock me away forever, the PTO would kill me on sight-well they'd _try.”_

_“_ It's the same for us you know. Saiyans aren't a welcome sight anywhere but here.” Beeta shrugged.

“Yeah but you all still have each other.”

“Yes, the very last of our kind.” Beeta said dryly, then her expression suddenly softened and she said, “But I do understand what you mean. You're totally alone since your cousin left. But that was months ago, why are you only thinking about it now?”

“It's occurred to me before,” Chillax assured her, “but I guess . . . with what you said I've been thinking . . . I think I kind of avoid making friends with the Earthlings themselves because . . . doing so sort of means accepting my fate. Accepting that they're, in a way at least, my people now.”

“That's a bit deeper than I've looked into it.” Beeta shrugged again.

“Sure but even there it's still different. Saiyans and Earthlings look similar, you can accept each other quicker on that level but me . . . I'm still the odd Arcosian out, aren't I?”

Beeta shrugged yet again then said, "Try it anyway? I mean you've got little left to lose at this point. Anyway I didn't go looking to make friends, quite the opposite really but it just happened. It could be the same for you."

“You think so?” Chillax wondered.

“Yes. Now, can we take full advantage of our remaining ten minutes or should we cease early?”

“I'm fine to continue,” Chillax said, though he really didn't do that much better for the remainder.

It wasn't so much that he was still distracted as it was the damage he'd already taken slowed him down enough that he continued to take a beating.

But he was more focused on it at least.

Eventually they did finish, and they vacated the room in favor of the Earthlings known as Anavill and Schip.

“What about them?” Chillax asked.

“What do you mean?” Beeta asked.

“Should I befriend them?”

“Why are you asking _me_?” Beeta demanded.

“You know the Earthlings better than I do, you trained under them for that trip to False Namek.”

“I didn't train with Master Schip, and Anavill didn't come at all. I trained with Rhyce, but I don't know how you two would get along.” Beeta shrugged as the two got into the elevator.

“Don't your shoulders get tired?” Chillax asked.

“Not _most_ days.” Beeta said dryly.

Chillax nodded to her, “All right, all right.” He told her. “I just figured since we're partners in this tournament you'd want to help me out.”

“I'm not opposed to it, but I must admit to drawing a bit of a blank. Your first Earthling friend might approach you first though, the way Thyme did with me.”

“Oh none of them will ever do that!” Chillax was saying as the elevator stopped with a contented sigh and the pair of them stepped out.

That was when he saw the Earthling woman coming down the stairs with Trunks, she was saying, “Oh thank you so much Golden Warrior. Can I call you GW?”

“Why not just call me Trunks?” He asked as they descended.

Then the woman spotted Chillax and let out an excited sounding . . . squeak of some sort.

Actually it sounded like a shriek.

But she rushed over to him saying, “Wow oh wow oh wow! A real alien invader! Oh an interview with you would be like a blank check from my boss! Oh please tell me I can interview this . . .”

“Chillax.” The young Arcosian offered.

“Not possible!” The Earthling woman cried, though Chillax wasn't sure why she doubted him.

“I don't know . . .” Trunks sighed.

“Trust me, it'll help take the focus off your minions' antics last night!” The yellow haired Earthling said.

“They're not my minions! I don't know, Chillax, do you feel like answering some questions for Erasa?”

“Okay?” Chillax shrugged. “I _do_ know what an interview is.”

“Oh hurray!” Erasa said happily, “Oh you're going to be my new best friend!”

Not remotely what Chillax had had in mind.

But it was a start, he supposed.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Training with one of the Evil Twins might prove hazardous to Telluce's health, but will it give his brother Turles some inspiration? What could Turles be planning and can his teammate help him to see reason? As Rhyce's training of Korrard continues might the two discover some untapped potential? Find out Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . ._

 


	103. Gone Mad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story's second bonus update.

**Episode Twenty Three**

**'Have You Gone Mad?'**

 

The day's training was starting to wind down and most of the Saiyans were looking forward to dinner.

Not Turles. Training with Brock was continuing to frustrate him, he couldn't get _better_ training against someone who didn't test his limits.

Outside of the limits involved in not accidentally killing Brock that was.

Part of him recognized it as an exercise in self control, but the rest of him argued strongly that self control was not what was going to help him defeat someone like Trunks.

After all even if he could become stronger than Trunks in his normal state the Super Saiyan transformation would always be the advantage he couldn't overcome, instead he needed to find a way to make it his own as well or the fight would always be over before it began.

Turles didn't know how much longer his superior growth speed would last. He knew that Cauliflora and Rhubara grew slower than he did, but only just barely, so he logically had another year before he slowed down the way they had but how long had it taken “Brassica” who showed no signs of growing any quicker than a typical Saiyan to lose her edge?

Would matters with Trunks be settled before then? Could Turles, even with this growth ever become more powerful than a Super Saiyan?

That might be what it came down to in necessity, but the thought seemed so beyond the realm of possibility that he tried not to consider it.

He _had_ considered of course the pouch of seeds he kept in his quarters but where would Earth have room for the tree if it grew to the size it had on Goulder?

And how long would it take for it to make fruit for him?

No, he had decided some time ago that the tree would come later. Once he was at the top that would be the time for it.

For now, as Lamson had suggested he was still trying to build up his popularity with the others, both Saiyan and Earthling. After all even if the Earthlings weren't Saiyans they were strong fighters and he had no problem admitting that. Being the best didn't mean everything else was _totally_ worthless.

Besides even if he couldn't turn them he could at least leave them uncertain in the event of a clash, or so Lamson had suggested. He found he truly did rely on her just the same as King Vegeta used to rely on Zorn, _if_ their coup was successful he'd see that she was similarly remembered by future historians.

Which made it all the more ironic that they were standing in opposition to the grandson of King Vegeta and possibly the daughter of Zorn if neither Cauliflora could be turned to his cause, and so far Lamson didn't seem to have had much success in that endeavor.

But Turles felt like he was having success in his as he stood outside the doors greeting the returning fighters. Most of the more intense training that day had happened abroad but now as evening drew in most everyone who had left their headquarters were returning and Turles was there both to greet them and to gage their increases.

He was in for a surprise however when his brother returned with Kayle. The young Saiyan warrior snickered when he noticed Telluce's right arm hanging limply at his side in such a manner as to imply that it was broken. Turles wouldn't have behaved that way with anyone else, but Telluce was blood and he knew he wouldn't have to convince him to fight by his side.

Besides, it _was_ funny.

“Tell me she at least went berserk before she did that!” Turles teased.

“Actually I _did_.” Kayle said fiercely, though Turles could detect a hint of embarrassment in her angry tone.

Telluce shrugged, then visibly regretted it. He smiled a weak, forced smile and said, “I'll be fine, it's nothing.”

Turles folded his arms and gave them both a hard stare. He sensed that there was an opportunity to be had here . . . but he needed to play his role just right.

He said, “And just what happened that left you thinking you needed to battle rage on my brother?”

Kayle glared at him but she didn't speak. Instead Telluce said, “She didn't _need_ to, I asked her to.”

That wasn't what Turles had expected, though it still worked with what he had in mind. In reality the 'why' wasn't important at all. Still he kept his arms folded and his look stern as he asked, “And just why are you putting yourself at risk like that? Does it make you _that_ jealous that you're not as strong as me?”

Tell scoffed but Kayle took up the argument now saying, “No, he just knows we'd have a better chance in the tournament if I could use my battle rage and still recognize friend from foe!”

“We thought maybe she could learn to control it the same way any of the rest of us learn to control the Oozaru instincts.” Telluce admitted.

Turles nodded, though he hadn't learned to control the Oozaru instincts himself yet. Still he said, “You thought you could just practice until you had control? Well at least it's not stupid, Tell. Trying to make the rage more useful in the tournament makes sense and I was thinking the same thing just now myself.”

This admission seemed to embolden Kayle who snapped, “We were only doing what we had to to stand any chance in this game! The Earthlings' red aura lets them multiply their strength without losing control, right? If I use my own battle rage in the tournament I might be stronger than all three of the people in the arena square with me, but I stand just as much chance of killing them or hurting my teammate as I do of taking the enemy out and winning! So yes, we were practicing using the transformation without losing control!”

“But you did anyway.” Brock said sternly, “You've known since you were small that a curse like berserker's blood is no play thing!”

Turles was surprised, he hadn't realized Brock had come over, the older Saiyan warrior was still too weak for Turles to really sense him without the scouter.

“You never succeed if you never try.” Kayle scoffed, folding her arms.

“She was doing fine, it was just a momentary lapse and it's not a big deal, I'll be fine by tomorrow.” Telluce said.

“Without healing tanks?” Turles teased, “That arm looks broken, brother.”

“It's not.” Telluce was obviously lying, though Turles wasn't sure why.

Was he _that_ afraid of losing face?

It just made the stronger Saiyan laugh and then hold his hand out, “Then prove it with a hearty handshake, _little_ brother.”

Tell's icy eyes narrowed and he said, “I was still born first.”

“Don't change the subject.” Turles teased, but Kayle slapped his hand away with more force than he'd expected.

She snarled, “You two can play your power games some other time, if my teammate says his arm's not broken it's not broken.”

Turles nodded and pulled his hand back, “All right, all right,” he said. He smiled slyly and said, “I'm sorry Tell, sometimes I get carried away. I'm used to you being the one who looks down on me, I should remember how it feels to be the weaker brother. I'm proud of you for trying to get stronger.”

That . . . did not have the affect Turles anticipated, rather than being placated Tell's eyes turned fiery. Turles could see something dire in there, but he disregarded it and carried on telling Kayle, “And like I said, you two are right you need to learn to control your rage. Oni as well. The two of you need to be able to unleash your full fury and turn it into the devastating weapon it was meant to be without the risks or loss of control that come with it.”

“Have you gone mad?” Brock gawked.

Turles turned a hard stare on him and asked, “Are you questioning _me_?”

Brock took a nervous step back even though he towered over Turles in height he shook his head and said, “N-no, I--”

“Apology accepted,” Turles said icily to silence the older upper-class warrior. He turned back to Kayle and Tell but kept talking to Brock saying, “You've woken up to a brave new world old timer, and things aren't like you remember. There are Super Saiyans now, we're all stronger than anything our people ever encountered short of Frieza, so why shouldn't it be possible for the Evil Twins to control their berserker's blood?”

“So you don't object to our training?” Kayle sounded relieved but Turles shook his head.

“I do. I'd rather you not leave my brother dead in some ditch somewhere trying to master your primal rage, I approve of the concept but not the sparring partner. From now on you _and_ Oni will practice controlling your rage by using it against _me_.”

“ _Have_ you gone mad?” Brock gawked again and this time he staggered a couple of steps back when Turles shot him the icy glare.

Even Tell seemed to forget his anger, though he certainly didn't seem concerned. Instead he asked, “Are you sure you're able to take on both of them? The rage multiplies their power level by five, they'll both be pretty close to you at that stage.”

“And the pair of us together . . .” Kayle trailed off, letting the implication hang in the air.

But Turles smiled, “I'm Turles, the greatest pure-blooded Saiyan there is. Of course I'm sure about this. Anyway _you_ survived a hit from her in that state, Tell, I'm sure _I_ would be fine and even if I'm not I'll have you and Routz to try to pull me out of it, wouldn't I?”

“Would you?” Telluce raised an eyebrow and Turles laughed.

“I'd better. After all why wouldn't you be there? This is your teammate and you should be working together. So it makes sense to me, train in the day normally then at night in our free time we find a place to carry on training and letting the twins master that rage.”

And it would alleviate his own troubles not being able to fully test himself against Brock.

But even more importantly than that it might just help him unlock something in himself.

He was from the same clan as the Evil Twins after all, that berserker's blood of theirs might well be something they shared, perhaps he just hadn't found a way to tap into it.

But if he could . . . well maybe it could help him against Trunks.

The others seemed uncertain but it was Tell who finally smirked and said, “I don't know . . . might be worth it to see you punch the smug look off his face at least once, Kayle.”

She smirked at that and folded her arms. She nodded and said, “I'll pitch the idea to my brother.”

Turles grinned and said, “If he agrees then meet me tonight. No sense letting even a single day go to waste.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The day had been a tiring one even for Rhyce so she wasn't surprised that Korrard could barely stand as it came to its close.

Of course he'd had a harder time of things than her since he had further he needed to come, but that didn't mean she'd just supervised all day. They'd both performed the various tasks she'd thought up, from stump pulling which had actually never been something she was particularly good at—Gurein had always handled that—to the more intensive boulder crushing.

Well she called it “crushing” but really it was more punching and breaking.

They'd found an old abandoned sandstone quarry that apart from being totally infested with venomous snakes had served their purposes pretty well, and Rhyce just played it cool and pretended the snakes were part of the training.

Kor had of course believed her.

As they headed back now hovering high off the ground to make certain they didn't disturb the serpents—any more than punching a bunch of boulders in their quarry home did at least—he asked, “Do you really learn to punch harder by punching stone?”

“Yes?” Rhyce said a little uncertainly. After all it might be how _she'd_ learned, but since Master Trunks had never asked them to do anything of the sort maybe she was wrong?

She'd never really questioned it. At the end of the day she just thought of this as teaching Korrard the basics.

Still she needed to sound official so she added, “Anyway it's not just about punching harder it's about not injuring yourself when you punch something or _someone_ who happens to be . . . well, hard, you know?”

“I see. Very wise, I know a flesh and blood opponent won't feel nearly as bad compared to those stones. Even an armored one!” Korrard said, his enthusiasm telling Rhyce that if nothing else he'd accepted her answer.

But she thought to herself that she _might_ need to consult with Gurein . . . or maybe Master Trunks.

_I hope I'm not training him wrong!_ She thought.

True she had trained Lamson, Kayle and Beeta and all three of them had done great but they'd all started knowing the basics and being able to advance quickly through the things Master Trunks had taught her and left her to pass on to them. Korrard had learned those same things from Schip and still it hadn't made him much stronger.

Of course it was relative, Kor had started out a lot stronger than she had been when Master Trunks took her under his wing which was why he was able to master in hours things that she'd spent years doing as a younger martial artist.

But compared to the erst of the Saiyans Korrard was still very weak, almost abnormally so. It was clear he was getting stronger from the training but it almost felt to Rhyce like the amount of strength he was getting compared to the amount of effort he was putting in just . . . didn't add up.

Maybe that was why he usually didn't bother.

She thought on this and they flew back home in silence, arriving to find Turles greeting everyone at the doors. Gurein and Kodva arriving just before they did she could hear Turles talking to them.

Rhyce thought it was a little weird, was he trying to size up the competition? It seemed almost like he was trying to encourage everyone instead, though she thought he still came off a little condescending.

“Impressive, you'd never even know you'd been dead,” Turles was telling Gurein, “you're definitely one of the fighters I'm most looking forward to trying my skills against with your Kaioken technique, no offense Kodva.”

Kodva chuckled and said, “With you Turles I've learned it's best to just assume that at all times.”

Rhyce wasn't sure if that comment was actually meant for her own benefit, but she rolled her eyes at Kodva, ever the peace maker.

Turles on the other hand grinned and pounded his chest as if in salute to Kodva then smiled warmly at Rhyce and Korrard as the other two went inside, “And if it isn't the second most surprising pair of all!”

“Second?” Rhyce raised an eyebrow.

“After Gohan and the Earthling Captain,” Turles explained, “I forget she's even a fighter sometimes, but after this I'm sure I won't make that mistake with you anymore, Kor.”

Korrard shrugged, “I've got a long way to go, but Master Rhyce is . . .” He trailed off and Rhyce realized she'd been making a face.

She shook her head, “Sorry. Master is just usually something applied to men, but having you call me “mistress” wouldn't really be fitting. It's just weird hearing it.”

“Oh . . . okay. Well in any case she's helping me with the fundamentals.” Korrard said with a nod.

It was strange to see him and Turles together sometimes. Because they shared similar features—and very similar hair—it was almost like looking at someone else looking into a fun-house mirror with Turles so muscular and Korrard so thin.

Rhyce felt now like it was a bit like yin and yang to boot with Turles being the darker side and Korrard the lighter side.

Not because of their skin tones of course, though Turles' was darker and Korrard's paler—though less pasty since she'd been training out in the sunlight with him for the past few days—after all Rhyce herself had darker skin than Turles and she'd hardly call herself a force of darkness.

Rather it was just the way she _felt_ about the two of them. Turles felt . . . sinister somehow, but Korrard felt just the opposite.

So even as Turles complimented her work and told Korrard how impressed he was with his progress Rhyce felt like it was just words. But she didn't doubt Korrard's sincerity after they'd passed Turles and were on their way inside when he told her that, “I never thought he'd say anything like that . . . thanks for helping me get this far!”

“Surely getting complimented by him isn't _that_ big a deal right?” Rhyce asked.

“Getting complimented by anyone is a big deal for a weakling—sorry, that is for _someone_ like me,” Korrard said, “To think I'm getting stronger at a rate that even he can notice? Or at least pretend to, don't get me wrong it's not going _that_ far to my head.”

Rhyce smiled and patted Korrard's shoulder, “Glad to hear it. But don't sell yourself too short, even if he's over-blowing it you've made real progress, I can feel it.”

“Enough not to hold you back in the tournament?” Korrard asked.

“Well . . . we've still got plenty of time to train.” Rhyce said evasively.

Korrard chuckled and Rhyce smiled too, rolling her eyes and saying, “Well I mean it's not like you're going to become top tier overnight but I've got confidence in you!”

The two laughed as they went into the cafeteria and Korrard's attention immediately went to the portion of his old team that was there.

Sharro and Lamson weren't there yet, but Ro and Tell were, their teammates the Evil Twins sitting across from them arguing about something giving Tell the chance to slip away and come over to them holding his arm and looking apologetic he asked, “Hey Kor, got a minute?”

“Always for my friends, Tell.” Korrard said cautiously, eying his friend's arm. “What happened?”

“Just a training mishap.” Telluce said with a pained smile.

“Is it broken?” Rhyce asked, regarding Telluce's arm.

“Almost definitely?” Telluce offered.

“Definitely.” Korrard confirmed with a sigh. “I better fix it before Sharro sees and breaks your other one.”

“If _one_ more person mentions Sharro--” Tell warned but Kor shook his head and slapped his teammate's shoulder with a subtle blast of white light gathered in his palm.

It seemed to go unnoticed by the rest of the cafeteria but not by Rhyce and when Tell's arm suddenly seemed to be in working order his irritation disappeared replaced by relief.

“You're a life saver, Kor! It feels good as new!” Tell told him with an actual smile now.

Kor smirked at him and said, “That _is_ what I'm good at.”

Rhyce shook her head in amazement and whispered to Tell, “Did you feel that?”

“What? Of course I felt it, it was worst!” Tell told her but Rhyce shook her head harder.

“No, I mean did you feel the _energy_ he used?”

“No . . .” Tell blinked, “I wasn't focused on that.”

Rhyce tilted her head to the room full of Saiyans, Earthling martial artists, and military officers and whispered, “Nobody noticed what you just did Kor.”

“That's good though.” Kor said.

“Sure but . . . if you're using energy and none of us can sense it . . .” Rhyce folded her arms and said, “I . . . I don't know, I'd need to ask Master Trunks but . . .”

“But what?” Telluce and Korrard asked together.

Rhyce couldn't help but smile when she said, “Well . . . I don't want to freak you out or anything Korrard, but . . . and keep in mind I could be wrong . . .”

“What is it?” Routz asked, having come over now and towering over the three of them he put a protective hand on his scrawnier friend's shoulder, “Is something wrong with him?”

“The opposite. Kor, I don't think your power level is as low as you think it is.” Rhyce said and she saw the light of understanding flash in Telluce's eyes, he started nodding as she continued, “I think it just doesn't register right on the scouters properly because . . .”

“Because if _we_ can't feel the energy you're using even something as sophisticated as the scouters is probably going to have trouble with it.” Telluce explained.

“What does that mean?” Kor asked.

“Don't get overexcited . . . but I think you might actually have a much higher power than you think you do,” Rhyce said.

“Yes!” Korrard cried in excitement, drawing some looks from the crowded room and prompting Rhyce to drag the three Saiyans back into the hallway.

She shushed him and said, “Hold on, I didn't say you could go picking a fight with Turles or anything!” Rhyce said. “I think you're strong, just not in the same way as the others. I mean . . .”

“Scouters pick up battle energy, it makes sense.” Telluce was saying.

“I came into this late.” Routz reminded them, but no one felt like backtracking for his benefit.

So he'd remain as lost as Kor seemed to be until Rhyce and Telluce exclaimed at the same time, “Your energy is totally different!”

“Well we already knew that, I can't use it to harm just to heal.” Korrard said.

“But what she's telling you is that your ki does just that, it _only_ heals it never harms!” Telluce explained to him, “so it doesn't register as battle power to a scouter and it doesn't set off people's inner senses the way an attack would!”

“Hurray . . . what does this mean?” Kor asked.

“I _think_ they're telling you that your natural strengths trump trying to achieve a more conventional ideal of strength.” Routz said, and Rhyce nodded to indicate that he was right causing him to smile proudly.

“How does that help us in the tournament?” Korrard asked.

Rhyce laughed, “Well I mean you won't be able to accomplish much by fighting . . . but maybe there's a way you won't need to, maybe we can work up some kind of technique, maybe?”

“What, like . . . something that constantly heals you? Maybe that lets you draw from my ki to bolster your own?” Korrard suggested.

“A healing factor might be nice, but I don't know if I could use you like a battery, even if I could the last thing I'd want would be for my blasts to start _healing_ my opponent!” Rhyce told him, then she laughed, “But I bet it'd confuse the crap out of them!”

The four of them laughed and Rhyce shook her head in amazement. She _had_ to talk to Master Trunks about Korrard's capabilities.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Two powerful warriors train by placing themselves against double opponents, but as Trunks trains to improve others Turles trains to improve himself. There's a wild night ahead in the next action packed episode of Dragon Ball COED!_

 


	104. Martial Prowess

**Episode Twenty-Four**

**'Martial Prowess'**

 

Chillax understood what an interview was but that didn't mean he'd had to have very many of them in his time.

“So would it be fair to say that it's desperation that has you serving our King?” Erasa asked after he'd admitted that it was turning on his own that had left him with no option other than to remain on earth.

But the young former-Commander said, “No, I served the King . . . mostly for a thing to do. I've always been a soldier, same as my partner in the tournament, Beeta. We just wanted to keep doing what we've always done, besides my whole squad was going to do it.”

“So would it be fair to say that there was an element of peer pressure?”

“If I tell you it wouldn't be fair to say it would you say it anyway?” Chillax asked.

“If it reads well.” Erasa told him, then she laughed and said, “Oh but I'm just kidding! No, no, no, I'm interested in the truth! A real alien invader, _wow_!”

“Yeah, you've mentioned that a few times.” Chillax sighed. “Look, the truth is that we didn't joining the Royal Guard due to peer pressure, we did it because that's just who and what we are . . . we're soldiers. We just happen to be serving a different side now.”

“And if you could go back to your people would you?” Erasa asked.

“I try not to think about it,” Chillax told her honestly, “I mean . . . it's difficult, you know? Imagine being totally alone on an alien world, sure there's an element to it that's exciting and maybe you have some people you're familiar with . . . but you're still the only one of your kind and you don't know what the future will hold for the rest of your kind, maybe you'll be put in a position where you've got to choose between them and your new loyalties then what do you do?”

“Well for our sake I sure hope it doesn't come to that!” Erasa told him, “Your people sound like really tough guys! But if we can I'd like to expand on that. If there were peace and you had the opportunity to return to your people would you take it?”

Chillax considered for a moment then finally nodded, “I think I would. If there were peace. But I think I'd bring them a very different perspective than the one I left them with.”

“How's that?” Erasa asked, sounding genuinely intrigued.

“Because now I know what it's like to be in the position we've put so many alien beings into, now I know what it's like to worry that I'll be the last of my kind . . . and if I let myself think about it too much it becomes really horrifying realizing what I've personally done in the past.”

“So would I be correct in assuming you don't think about it?” Erasa asked.

“You'd be wrong. But it's not constructive to dwell on it, I need to try to make things better and make a difference, a change. That's why I chose to swear fealty to your King, he seems a good man . . . dog? Anyway I know that I can't bring back everyone I've hurt but I can try to help those that are left.”

“Fascinating.” Erasa nodded. “Just one other thing, you mentioned a Galactic Patrol, is that what it sounds like?”

“I don't know, what does it sound like?” Chillax asked.

“Like space cops or something!” Erasa laughed, “If I'm right are you saying your people engage in some kind of war with the space police?”

“It's a little more complicated than that, but I mean . . . sure? They try to stop us from doing what we do, but they weren't always effective at it. Back when Frieza was around they'd never stand a chance, but now that we're so much weaker they do, and they've been using that as a way to slow us down. I think, if it weren't for my father and uncle they'd have actually shut down our business.”

“And which father was that? You seem to have two . . . not that there's anything wrong with that, it just makes it difficult to keep track.” Erasa said.

Chillax laughed and said, “Right, you Earthlings being a species with two parents needed . . . uh if I had to be honest I think Admiral Frigus is closer to being my father and Lord Frostburn is more like a mother.”

“In what regard?” Erasa asked.

“He's passive aggressive, always wants to me write home, always checks up on me, thinks he knows what's best.”

“It sounds like you have a pretty negative opinion of mothers.” Erasa said, but Chillax continued.

“Whereas Frigus was usually never around, became a frightening figure of discipline and enforcing Lord Frostburn's will until I got old enough to more effectively rebel against it.”

“Ah, so it's mothers _and_ fathers you have a low opinion of.” Erasa nodded. She giggled and said, “Oh well, at least you're not sexist. But your race being entirely male, where uh . . . where do little Arcosians come from?”

“Well back in the days of cousin Frieza our clan was more or less capable of just . . . producing offspring on our own? Sort of like the Namekians, I guess? To be honest I haven't really studied it, it didn't seem important. But from what I understand King Cold just _made_ Frieza on his own, at least if the stories are to be believed.”

“Wow, and this was just a generation ago you said?”

“That's right.” Chillax nodded. “The truth is that when Frieza died none of us were even close to his power level, he was in the hundreds of millions and I tell you one thing, I never believed that that was possible until I fought Trunks, but now I can believe it.”

“Right, right, so it was after that that your species started . . .”

“Well it's artificially done, so we don't need to waste our time with any of that troublesome 'romance' you Earthlings bother with,” Chillax explained.

“No romance at all? No wonder you guys want to conquer the galaxy.” Erasa quipped.

Chillax continued and said, “We now just take two individuals with traits that seem useful and splice their DNA together into a new being. My older brother Cooly was one of the first ones handled in that way, so he's only a half-brother because Lord Frostburn's DNA combined with someone else's to make him. I don't really recall whose, but the idea was to try to make someone as strong as Cousin Frieza and they failed. Karuto's one of the most recently made, he's from my uncle Frostbite and our chief Scientist, obviously they wanted to see if they could make someone strong and smart at the same time, a warrior scientist if you will.”

“So what about you?” Erasa asked.

“Well with me it was the Admiral, like I said, and Lord Frostburn they were hoping to create someone with leadership capabilities and martial prowess. It worked, if I do say so myself.” Chillax said with a smirk, then he added, “Next time they should try to make someone who is also loyal, eh?”

“I don't know, from what I've heard so far it does sound like it was loyalty to your friend that caused you to act out in her defense . . . or maybe your species isn't as blind to romance as you think they are.”

Chillax laughed, “Oh I doubt that romantic interest had anything to do with it. Even if I were inclined to like other beings in that way Tathy is . . . well I don't even know _what_ Tathy is.”

“I see . . . this is really fascinating, I feel like I could do a whole series on you! Maybe a whole series on these alien species!”

“Well if you do you've got lots of Saiyans to choose from.” Chillax pointed out.

Erasa shook her head, “No, no, I don't need to go interviewing all of them! No, I think just one Saiyan would suffice, get a really good feel for them from a single perspective like I'm doing with you and maybe branch out from there if it works out and there's an opportunity. I just need to decide on the Saiyan.”

“Well I think Turles is their captain,” Chillax said and he almost mentioned that they'd been charged with defeating him but he thought better of it and instead said, “I think if you want to start there . . . well, I think a lot of people would love to know what's on his mind, Trunks included.”

“You don't say,” Erasa nodded, tapping her chin with her pen, “Well I just might do that! I wonder if he's busy.”

“It's evening and he's a Saiyan, their metabolism is insane,” Chillax said, “so if I had to guess I'd say he's probably in the cafeteria stuffing his face with the rest of them.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The city ruins south of Capsule Corp in the place Turles understood to be called South City gave him a strange bit of nostalgia.

The destroyed homes and vehicle wreckage reminded him of Planet Vegeta after the Tuffles had been destroyed, though here everything was built to a scale that the Saiyans could actually use and enjoy.

A pity they'd likely destroy a great deal of what _was_ left before the night was out.

Tell and Routz were there looking a lot less certain than he was, and of course the Evil Twins were along too.

Lamson had come, but she'd failed to bring Cauliflora, much to his disappointment. It would have been a good opportunity to show off his capabilities to her, help her to realize that he was worth following.

But apparently Rhubara had asked her to do something else and she'd chosen her over her own teammate. Turles hoped in that case that at least Okran was making herself useful and succeeding in turning Rhuby over to his side.

They came to the center of the city, a great portion of it had been burned to the ground and Turles said, “This seems like as good a place as any. Let's just jump into it, what do you two think?”

Oni cracked his knuckles and said, “If you're sure . . . I'm not going to lie, Turles, it seems to me like we might have closed the gap enough that you'll want to be careful.”

“I told him that,” Kayle scoffed, “he thinks he can take us.”

“He thinks right,” Lamson said with the same confidence that Turles himself could feel, “After all he's the strongest pure-blood Saiyan there is.”

“Maybe being pure-blood isn't great,” Oni suggested, “maybe there's a reason the half-bloods can be Super Saiyans and we can't.”

“If we can't why can Brassica?” Lamson challenged, “It's obvious we can we just have to find out how.”

“All right, all right,” Turles said, “I asked if you guys were ready to fight, not if you were ready to talk.”

“I'm ready, I'm just not sure you realize what you're getting yourself into.” Oni warned him.

“If you're strong enough to push me to the edge I can only look forward to it.” Turles told him with a wicked grin, “Of course that's a big _if_.”

“If you're strong enough to survive us I'll be pretty disappointed.” Kayle said, then smirked and added, “Not that I want to see your brains littering the ground, but since you're underestimating us . . .”

“That remains to be seen, so far you've done a lot of talking and not a lot of--” Turles began but then the two seemed to simultaneously choose that moment to transition into battle rage.

They looked mostly the same but their auras became blood red and blazed so brightly they lit up the pitch black ruins. Turles raised his own power level to its maximum and warned the others, “Just remember don't get in the way even if it looks like I'm--”

He was cut off when both twins sprang forward, Oni pulling his fist back for a punch that Turles, though sensing energy was still new to him, could _tell_ he'd be better off avoiding and Kayle flipped in the air, clearly planning to bring her armored boot down on his head.

“In trouble? Don't worry, this is all you.” Turles had time to hear Tell said dryly before the Evil Twins reached him and combat ignited.

He narrowly dodged Oni's punch and felt the force of it reverberate in the air hitting him like a shock wave as he threw himself backwards, missing Kayle's drop kick by a safer margin though the crater she created and the debris that flew up into the air struck him hard in the back and he realized that _that_ had been the attack the whole time.

Still a bit of broken concrete wasn't enough to throw Turles off, instead he grinned wickedly and shot for Kayle like a bullet, holding his arm out and clotheslining her before she could recover from her own attack.

She hit the ground hard and went into the ground for several feet before blasting the road away in a second crater and springing for him again.

But Turles was turning to meet Oni head on by that point, matching the brawny Saiyan blow for blow, each punch he blocked impacting his armored bracers but the shock waves they created slammed into his body with all the force of a sonic boom.

_This is already more rewarding than anything I've been able to experience in a while!_ Turles thought excitedly.

Kayle came at him from behind, just like the Oozaru it seemed like even in this berserker stage the Evil Twins knew better than to attack each other, their full focus was on him.

He tried to dodge out of her way and let Oni's punches hit her instead but instead he stopped his fists short and held them up in front of his face as if for protection from Kayle's kick, but instead the smaller but still muscular Saiyan struck her brother's armored bracers with her boots and then kicked off with her powerful legs and flew backwards towards the dodging Turles.

He could tell he wouldn't have much time to think in this fight, he was stronger than his two opponents but they were aggressive and between the two of them they mightjust have what it took to take him down.

_Might._

Turles let Kayle slam into him then grabbed her by the waist and shoved her backwards head first into the cement again only to find that as his back had been turned to Oni the brawny Saiyan had grabbed him in the middle and threw him backwards over his head still holding his waist so that Turles' head finally made contact with the concrete as well.

He was seeing stars and still wobbly as Kayle came at him again, kicking him hard in the groin.

_Leave it to a berserker to have no respect of the rules of engagement!_ Turles thought, letting out a pained grunt but refusing to show any other sign that the attack had struck home.

For all the talk of the battle rage turning the Evil Twins into berserkers Turles had to admit it seemed like the pair of them were still capable of thinking tactically, at least together but he doubted that would carry over to their teammates in the tournament, after all it hadn't carried over to anyone else they ever tried to fight alongside before.

That made them a liability to his cause as much as an asset, he needed them to get control of themselves.

He let out a blast that knocked the both of them away and off of their feet giving him time to stand up and shake his head, rubbing it slightly and brushing some bits of building out of it before he saw Oni spring forward at him.

He turned and met the rampaging Saiyan with a heavy punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of him before throwing him up into the air, spinning around to backhand Kayle only to strike thin air, realizing he'd been off in his timing of her recovery and counter-attack.

Instead she ducked under his still extended arm and head-butted him hard in the left side before punching up into his armpit and throwing him off his footing.

This earned Turles' second grunt, but he gathered energy in his right hand and thrust it forward in a blast so powerful it knocked Kayle back and so wide that it engulfed Oni as well even as he recovered midair and tried to launch an attack of his own.

The force of Turles' own blast thrust himself backwards unexpectedly but he regained his footing and with some pain added his left hand to the blast as well, pushing both twins back and grinning widely.

“Not so tough after all, eh?” He laughed but then the two of them stopped being pushed back, their blood red auras became spheres that seemed to be protecting them and expanding.

Before Turles knew what was happening those two red spheres became domes of heat that absorbed his blast and knocked him back, throwing him off of his feet. He struggled to rise before their next attack, but to his surprise it seemed like the two were panting in exhaustion themselves.

“I didn't know you could do that,” he admitted, “But it looks like it's left you open!”

He surged towards them with all of his might and speed, reaching out for them and grasping the pair by their faces and spreading his arms apart he brought them back together quickly, cracking both their skulls against each other.

The two were clearly stunned but not taken out of the fight. That left Turles with the special opportunity to decide which of them he was going to focus on.

He chose Kayle, she'd kicked him in the crotch after all.

As she was still wobbling on her feet he rushed in, punching her hard in the stomach then raising his knee to meet her face as she doubled over.

But she wasn't out of the fight at all, instead she head-butted his knee, and it hurt far more than he'd expected, she grabbed his calf and spun him around as if she meant to hurl him into the distance.

Instead she spun him right into Oni's waiting fist. Turles didn't see it but the brawnier twin wound his fist back and then punched out with a terrible force striking Turles right in the face and so hard that he was actually torn from Kayle's grip and thrown over fifty feet into a distant building that apparently still had some intact windows because it was one of them that Turles went through first before crashing through several interior walls.

He laughed weakly and said to himself, “At least the building didn't come--”

He was about to say the word 'down' before he saw the flashes of red light as both Oni and Kayle flew through the walls and started to pummel him in unison, it was everything he could do to block their attacks and he could feel the shock waves of their blows pounding into him all the same.

And then to make matters worse he was proven wrong about the building as it finally came down right on top of them.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks smiled almost apologetically as he explained, “It's not that this place is significant, just that it's a wide expanse of desert so it'll give us plenty of space.”

“Right.” Cauliflora nodded, “So . . . how are we going to do this?”

“Do you seriously just want us to . . . let loose and wail on you?” Rhubara asked.

Trunks nodded, “Yes. I don't mean to be rude, but even if you _do_ manage to push me to the edge I can just go Super Saiyan, and if you're able to push me that far I think you two will have come as far as you need to.”

“There's always further.” Cauliflora told him.

Trunks laughed, “Yeah, that's true. I guess I should have been the one to tell you that since I'm the teacher and all.”

“If you prefer you don't have to think of yourself that way, you can just think of us as sparring partners.” Rhubara said “After all you're wanting to improve too, aren't you?”

Trunks nodded, “That's true. I definitely need to really stretch my legs, even if it's just in my base form and not at my full might. I can sort of manage that training with Android Sixteen but it's tricky sometimes to gage my own strength since I can't sense his.”

“Agreed, and I don't even come close to you in strength yet,” Cauliflora said and Trunks smirked.

“Yet, huh?”

“Yes, yet.” Cauliflora confirmed.

“Well any time you're ready,” Trunks told them, “Brassica's already told me that you favor physical attacks and you favor energy blasts,” he added to Cauliflora and Rhubara respectively, “so feel free to use the best you've got, at least for this first exercise.”

“Shouldn't we be trying to become more well rounded fighters?” Cauliflora asked.

“No.” Trunks told her, “I mean yes in general but for tonight I want to get a feeling for where you are as it is, more-so than I've gotten just from sensing your energies and watching you train in the gravity room.”

“If you say so. Should we call you Sensei?” Cauliflora asked.

“What? Why would you do that?” Trunks asked.

“It's just what we call the teachers back on War World, it's what we call Bass. But I understand if we shouldn't since we're not on War World anymore.” Rhubara shrugged and Cauliflora nodded.

Trunks shook his head, “It's fine if that's what you want to call me. The others call me Master, but if I'm being honest I don't feel like much of a Master, at least not compared to Master Roshi whose been training heroes for ages!”

Trunks blushed, realizing no student wanted their teacher to be humble about their teaching qualifications and remembering that Brassica had told him that Saiyans didn't really respond well to humility in general he quickly amended his statement with a “But then again I might not have been at it as long but I guess I've had great results. Go ahead then and call me Sensei when we're training like this, but at all other times keep it to Trunks or Prince Trunks.”

Both girls seemed pleased with the answer and saluted, “Understood, Sensei!” They said together.

And then the fight was on.

Cauliflora sprang forward launching a flurry of quick jabs and punches that Trunks was able to deflect but he had to admit she had good speed.

A _little_ slower than Turles though.

He could feel the energy spike of Rhubara charging a blast and he maneuvered himself to be able to block it with his left arm while deflecting Cauliflora's blows with his right.

Using just one arm to deflect her seemed to irritate the younger Saiyan and she surprised him by charging her punches with Ki, the blows he was deflecting now leaving spheres of yellow energy attached to his arm like stickers from a bush and stinging in a similarly irritating manner.

Trunks expected them to detonate but they didn't, instead they just stuck to him, stinging until Cauliflora jumped backwards away from him to make room for Rhubara's blast.

The brilliant blue light was reminiscent of a Kamehameha wave, but that wasn't what she was using. The blue blast hit him, because Cauliflora had left he'd tried blocking it with both hands and it actually set off the yellow blasts attached to his right arm.

It stung and it left his arm tingling. He smiled, thinking to himself that he should have expected them to have some combination techniques.

But those wouldn't help them against Turles in the tournament so he said, “You've got to do better than that. Come on, don't let up, I can take it!”

“If you say so,” Cauliflora said from behind him, Trunks spun around in time to see and narrowly dodge her fist. He fell into a backwards step deflecting Cauliflora's blows and blasts from Rhubara at the same time but he was beginning to feel concerned.

Not because the two were in any danger of overpowering him, they weren't.

But instead he found himself enjoying the battle, and not in the usual way he felt when he trained his students. Trunks could feel his darker side, his Saiyan side was enjoying the fight, he wanted more.

_Get a grip,_ he thought to himself, _get a grip!_

The fighting even managed to get more intense, it seemed like the girls had just been warming up before and Cauliflora's blows were coming faster, Rhubara's blasts her hitting harder and . . . closer?

He reacted on instinct and jumped up into the air just in time to avoid the kick Rhubara tried to land on the small of his back. The kick didn't hit Cauliflora on accident, instead the other Saiyan rolled forward beneath it, charging energy in her hands. Coming to a stop on one knee and spinning around she thrust her hands out in a large spherical blast that shot from her hands and straight into Trunks who was only barely able to deflect it and toss it away into the desert where it struck down and exploded with force, creating a pelting blast of sand.

Trunks smirked to himself, _seems like they're not totally helpless when it comes to their weaknesses._

This was going to be an interesting night.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** The training carries on, will Turles and Trunks discover unexpected capabilities within their sparring partners, or within themselves? And will Erasa get her interview with Bulma before she calls it a night?

 


	105. Maybe Someday

**Episode Twenty Five**

**'Maybe Someday'**

 

The cold night air was hardly noticeable from the heat of combat, and Trunks could feel his Saiyan side getting all the more riled the hotter his blood burned.

It was a relief that this sparring session wasn't taxing him too greatly and he could keep his darker side in check. It struck the young Prince of all Saiyans as odd that prior to losing control he'd never realized control was something he needed to have.

He'd always . . . more or less _felt_ like he had control.

Was he overreacting now?

It seemed almost as if the slightest hints in the periphery of his mind that his Saiyan side was feeling anything be it enjoyment or disappointment put him on edge.

_Of course it's not like I have a second personality,_ he thought to himself as he deflected a flurry of blows from Cauliflora, making sure not to let her attach any more energy briers to him, _my Saiyan side is just me . . . but it's the me I know I should be . . ._

Be what? Embarrassed by? Certainly not ashamed of, at least not outright . . .

So what was his Saiyan side to him?

Fighting these two he had to wonder what their Saiyan blood meant to them and could they even understand such a question given that it was all they'd ever been.

After all they were full blooded Saiyans, they even still had their tails.

_Turles has his tail too,_ Trunks thought, _if necessary Gohan might be able to grab him by it, or else one of these two._

In truth Trunks didn't know yet what the order of the tournament would be, he didn't know if it was a wasted endeavor to train Rhubara and Cauliflora to beat Turles.

_Well, maybe not wasted,_ Trunks realized as he sensed Rhubara's energy spiking for another powerful blast, _I should have been training all of them this way, maybe Turles wouldn't have followers if I hadn't delegated so much to him._

It was useless to think about now, but as Trunks felt his own Saiyan instincts riled by the battle he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like not to have human instincts to balance them out. To want to fight all the time, to _need_ it.

It was the very opposite of what he wanted for his own life. He fought for a day when he wouldn't have to fight anymore . . . what did Turles and the others fight for?

In the end he couldn't help but ask aloud, “What do you fight for, Cauliflora?”

Cauliflora seemed surprised, “What? What do you mean?”

“I mean what I asked. What do you want in life, what motivates you? Why do you fight? I fight for the day when I will no longer need to fight, I fight for the day when the Earth is safe from all threats both foreign and domestic.”

“You fight to feel safe.” Cauliflora reasoned.

“Yes, and no.” Trunks said, sweeping her legs out from under her and ducking Rhuby's blast at the same time. “I fight so that others can feel safe.”

“Why?” Cauliflora asked.

“Because I know what it's like to feel unsafe, and I know not everyone has the strength to protect themselves.” Trunks told her. “Why do you fight?”

“I don't know . . . to me that's like asking why do you breathe . . . I just do. I've never thought about it . . .”

That answer didn't surprise Trunks in the least.

“Is it the same for you, Rhubara?” He asked, and the other Saiyan hesitated before nodding.

Trunks smiled slightly and said, “There's more to life than that, even for a Saiyan. My father learned that here on Earth, I hope you two will too. I hope all of you can look beyond your violent instincts to—ugh!”

Trunks was cut-off mid-speech when Cauli kicked him in the stomach.

She seemed as surprised as he was, “Sorry . . . was I supposed to stop?” She asked.

Trunks smiled, “I guess the middle of a sparring match isn't the best time for life lectures,” he conceded and thought to himself, _that was embarrassing, how did you let yourself get so distracted?_

At least it hadn't hurt much.

Cauliflora seemed put out though, “You didn't even get winded by that kick! I gave it practically everything!”

Trunks shrugged and said, “To be fair I'm stronger than the both of you combined, the fact that I noticed the kick in the first place is something to be proud of.”

“You don't need to be _that_ condescending, Sensei.” Cauliflora scoffed, folding her arms. “What is your power level anyway?”

“Haven't we told you not to rely on those?” Trunks asked. “There's a reason everyone stopped carrying scouters around all the time.”

“Right, you want us to start sensing energy, but still,” Cauliflora said, “What's your power level?”

Trunks shrugged and said, “Last time I checked? In this form it's bout ten million, but I've trained with Sixteen on a few occasions since then, it could be a lot higher for all I know. Still ten _feels_ about right. You both _feel_ like you're a bit better than three.”

“Three million?” Cauliflora shouted, “My power level is three million?”

“ _My_ power level is three million?” Rhubara asked, apparently presuming the sparring was over or at least paused because she'd floated over to them.

“You're around there, like I said. You're close to Gohan, but still behind Turles.”

Cauliflora shook her head in surprise, “How could we be that strong in just six months?”

“That's a great question, actually none of us are certain why you two and Turles advance so much faster than anyone else,” Trunks admitted, “but if Turles grew at a steadier rate I think everyone would be more comfortable.”

Trunks didn't miss that the two girls exchanged a look that told him they knew _something_ they weren't sharing.

He wondered if he should press them on the matter before Rhubara said, “It might have been something to do with Goulder. Turles thinks so at least.”

“Does he?” Trunks asked.

“He talked to us about the three of us being the best because of what happened on Goulder,” Cauliflora said, “but I dismissed it, didn't make any sense to me.”

Trunks nodded slowly and said, “Well I guess it could be anything. After all if it was just having been on Goulder then Konpeito and Brassica--” he cut himself off but the damage was done, he'd already mentioned that Brassica had been to Goulder and Cauliflora didn't miss it.

“My sister went to Goulder?” She asked.

Trunks frowned. He didn't like lying, but he knew Brassica had to have her reasons for the alter-ego and he wouldn't expose her to her younger self if he could help it.

So he mixed a bit of truth and fiction, “She became a bounty hunter so she could try to find signs of other surviving Saiyans. She looked all over for anyone she could find except my Father who was serving Frieza at the time.”

“Well she wouldn't have found us on Goulder,” Cauliflora said with a nod, “bounty hunter though . . . that sounds like a neat job. Hey, maybe that should be what I fight for!”

“You'll fight for the day that you can fight some more?” Trunks asked.

“No, I'll fight for the day that I can get paid to go around the universe and fight tough guys!” Cauliflora said, “and if I get paid for catching them alive and bringing them to justice that's fine too, right? What do you think, Rhuby?”

Rhubara shrugged, “I don't know. If it's what you want I'll follow you, Cauli. But I like what Prince Trunks said.”

“You do?” Trunks asked in surprise.

Rhubara shrugged again, “Fighting so you won't have to fight anymore, protecting those who can't protect themselves . . .”

Trunks smiled in spite of himself, this answer _did_ surprise him.

“It's just like you protecting me, Cauli.” Rhubara said and Cauliflora looked away in obvious embarrassment.

“I don't protect you because you can't protect yourself, I protect you because you're my friend . . . I don't really know the Earthlings. Anyway a bounty hunter protects people too,” Cauliflora pointed out.

Trunks smiled slightly and said, “I think you should both think about what you want for yourselves and your future. I think all of the Saiyans should, because you're still young and you have a chance you didn't have before.”

“What's that?” Cauliflora asked.

“The chance to be anything other than a warrior. You can be _anything_ on Earth.”

“Can I be a Super Saiyan?” Cauliflora asked.

Trunks laughed, “Well . . . someday, maybe.”

“Why not now? Why don't you teach us that?” Cauliflora asked.

“Because you can't use it in the tournament.” Trunks said simply.

“But you're thinking of the immediate, you've got to look towards the future too,” Cauliflora told him, “sure this tournament transforming to a Super Saiyan is against the rules. Fine. But if there's ever another big battle and you need more Super Saiyans by your side . . .”

Trunks smiled and said, “Maybe someday. The truth is even if I could help you all turn Super Saiyan it's a tremendous amount of power and I need to know I can trust you all before I do that . . . and since some people are showing me that they can't quite be trusted it's a lucky thing they don't know how to transform.”

“I guess, but doesn't it make it harder on you?” Rhubara asked.

Trunks raised an eyebrow, “How so?”

“Because if you want to deal with them you need proxies like us instead of being able to just fight them.” Rhubara explained. “Since your advantage is so overwhelming no one challenges you directly, but that also means that they don't air their grievances the way we would with any other Saiyan. And since your advantage is so overwhelming even if you discipline someone it doesn't really prove much since they never stood a real chance to begin with. It's the same as dealing with Frieza.”

“She doesn't mean that!” Cauliflora said quickly, but Trunks smiled.

“No, it's fine . . . and maybe in a way I guess you could be right, Rhubara. But the truth is that Planet Vegeta is gone, Planet Earth is our only home now, it's my only home, and I need to protect it. That means that I can't risk it, if I'm going to teach anyone to become a Super Saiyan they need to be . . . well, worthy of it. They need to be good.”

Cauliflora looked disappointed, but Trunks added, “but I tell you what, if you can defeat Turles in the tournament I _will_ teach you on one condition.”

“One condition in addition to defeating Turles?” Cauliflora asked.

“That's right.” Trunks nodded. “Do you want to know what it is?”

“No, I never want to learn to become a Super Saiyan.” Cauliflora said with thick and heavy sarcasm.

Trunks smirked, “Well if you insist.”

“I was kidding!” Cauliflora cried.

Trunks nodded and said, “I will teach you to become a Super Saiyan if you use that power to make my dreams a reality. Help me build a world where we won't _need_ to fight anymore.”

Cauliflora and Rhubara exchanged looks again, this time without any air of conspiracy. Still Cauliflora asked, “We won't _need_ to, but we still _can_ right?”

“In tournaments, sure. Or if a threat rises up.” Trunks told her.

Cauliflora nodded slowly, as if in deep consideration before Rhubara answered for the both of them.

“We'll do it. You are the Prince after all.”

Trunks nodded to them, and said, “Good. Now . . . break is over, back to training!”

The young Saiyan wasn't entirely confident in the offer he'd just made . . . maybe it was just his Saiyan side being moved by the idea of having other Super Saiyans to spar with someday, maybe it was just his Earthling side being moved by the idea of having other Super Saiyans to defend the Earth.

But he figured that as long as he was still the strongest in his base form it shouldn't matter if a few others could become Super Saiyans as well . . . maybe.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Turles kicked a heavy slab of rubble into an oncoming Oni as he held Kayle by the throat.

Hardly the finishing hold he would have expected, she flailed and kicked at him like some insane cat about to be thrown into a tub full of water. Turles was actually fairly certain that he was suffering more damage holding onto Kayle than he had when she'd been free to move around on her own.

The fight was exhilarating but it wasn't _changing_ anything in him. He wasn't becoming a Super Saiyan or unlocking any kind of Battle Rage. He was just winning.

The others were watching and waiting for him to either triumph or mess up and maybe even get himself killed.

After all the Evil Twins had no restraint in this form, they would have an excuse that Turles would not.

Though with the level of damage Kayle had inflicted on him over the course of the night he felt like his own restraint were being sorely tested, especially as he held her by the throat.

Instead he threw her hard into her brother, who had gotten back up after dusting himself off from the slab of rubble Turles had kicked at him.

Turles didn't give the Evil Twins time to recover, instead he threw himself at the pair of them and began launching a series of quick and powerful punches towards their stomachs and faces, taking each of them with one hand. The two tried to deflect but more of Turles' punches struck home than missed and before long the pair of them finally collapsed on the ground unconscious, their blood red auras disappearing as their rage died out.

Turles spat blood out on the ground, surprised that he'd been damaged that much and turned back to the others.

“Well?” He asked, “How was that?”

“What do you mean?” Tell asked him.

“I mean how did I do?” Turles clarified angrily.

“Were we supposed to be grading you or something?” Telluce asked and Turles kicked a slab of rubble at _him_ this time causing Tell and Routz to both go scrambling out of the way.

Lamson and Brock were both safely out of the line of fire but Brock did seem worried—no doubt because he was the weakest Saiyan present and if anyone was going to get bullied . . .

“Stop playing around!” Turles shouted, “You should have been watching the fight! You should have been ready to jump in if need be!”

“We were!” Routz insisted, “There wasn't a need.”

“You had it under control the whole time,” Telluce agreed, sounding a lot more cautious.

Turles glared at them and asked, “And did you _learn_ anything?”

“No?” Both fighters said at the same time, but Lamson quickly stepped in.

“I did! I learned that two powerful opponents aren't enough to overcome even one more powerful opponent. Together and raging the Evil Twins' power levels surpassed your own, so we've seen evidence firsthand that power levels do not stack.”

“Which means?” Turles asked.

“That we need to be strong as individuals if we're going to take on stronger foes,” Lamson said and Turles nodded to her.

“Pay attention to her you three, at least she has a good head on her shoulders! Now hurry up and rouse these two, I want to fight them again!” Turles ordered and stalked off while his minions rushed to do his bidding.

Lamson came over to him though and asked, “Are you all right?”

“Of course I am!” Turles said sharply.

Lamson frowned at him though and said, “I don't mean physically. You're awfully upset right now, that's strange for someone who just won a fight like _that_ one!”

Turles shook his head, “They're not good enough to get me ready to fight Trunks! Nothing happened to me, I didn't learn to transform into a Super Saiyan and I didn't unlock any hidden Rage, I just got banged up!”

The female Saiyan nodded slowly in understanding, “I get that, but that's no reason to get too aggressive with my team. Try to control your temper with them or--”

“Or what, they'll stand against me?” Turles demanded.

“At the very least they won't stand with you.” Lamson warned him.

“Then I'll kill them, make sure they know that.” Turles grunted.

“You'll kill them? Are you serious?” Lamson asked, “I thought you were doing this to protect our people, to give us a proper leader? You seriously think you can protect our people by killing off some of the last of us?”

Turles' eyes hardened but her words did strike home.

His temper was high, he was frustrated at what had actually been a rather painful fight that had failed to unlock any hidden doors metaphorically speaking and that _had_ made him . . . well, less collected than he usually liked to be.

Turles took a deep breath and nodded to Lamson, “You're right. I shouldn't take my frustration out on those two . . . I'll find some way to make it up to them later.”

Lamson nodded to him and the Twins were roused. He cracked his knuckles and the battle reignited, this time he hoped being beaten up and a little tired would push him closer to the edge, closer to unlocking something in himself.

But it was just a long night filled with disappointment.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Bulma took a sip of coffee and watched the clock.

It was getting late. Not late enough to worry about Trunks, but certainly late enough to wonder about him.

She'd been sitting in the cafeteria, assuming that that was the best place to catch anyone who returned late but so far she had not found a single person.

“Oh well as I live and breathe!” A voice called from behind her and Bulma took a deep calming breath before taking another sip of her coffee.

It seemed someone had found her.

“You _are_ Bulma, right?”

“Yes.” Bulma answered, turning to regard the blond woman approaching her, pen and pad of paper in hand.

“ _The_ Bulma?”

“No, just _a_ Bulma.” Bulma said dryly.

“There's no need for modesty! I think you know very well you're the most famous Bulma that there ever was or ever will be!”

“Well I guess I _am_ kind of a big deal. And I guess _you_ must be the reporter.” Bulma sighed.

“Got it in one! You really are a super genius!” The woman cried.

“Tone it down.” Bulma sighed, “It's been a long day and I'm not in the mood.”

“Oh should we do this later?” The blond woman asked.

“I'd rather we not do it at all, but if you need to ask a few questions of the grouchy old lady go ahead and ask them.” Bulma tried to sound unpleasant so that the reporter would leave, but in all honesty she knew she was being meaner than she probably needed to be.

After all they were just questions.

Still the undeterred blond woman sat down on the other side of the table from her and said, “Well okay. For starters what is it like being the wealthiest woman in the world?”

“It's okay, I don't really focus much on money. Anyway it isn't like I made all of it myself, I inherited a lot of it.”

“Sure, sure, but unlike a lot of heirs and heiresses you've only kept the fortune growing! What would you say to the allegations that having your son reveal himself to be the Golden Warrior was just a publicity stunt by Capsule Corp.?”

“I'd say that's pretty insane, and even if it were true _is_ Trunks the Golden Warrior? It seems like it'd be a pretty suicidal gesture to claim to be the Golden Warrior if you weren't strong enough to back it up. So what are you accusing me of, telling the truth?”

“Oh I'm not accusing you of anything!” The woman cried “Maybe we started off on the wrong foot. My name's Erasa, I'm a friend of Captain Videl's, you can think of me as . . . oh, I don't know, sort of your new PR manager?”

“That's an awfully important sounding position to just assign yourself.”

“Oh I didn't assign myself that position!” Erasa said, “The funny old man with the sunglasses did. I thought he was someone important, everyone called him Master?”

“Oh Roshi you . . .” Bulma was muttering but Erasa clapped her hands.

“Yes, Roshi, that's it! Master Roshi, such a nice man!”

“Isn't he _just_.” Bulma said insincerely.

“Anyway let me ask you, do you feel like having a powerful independent woman like yourself in his life helped your son to choose such . . . shall we say . . . interesting young women to court?”

“I was unaware that he was courting anyone.” Bulma said. “If you're our PR manager why don't you manage our PR and make sure people know that?”

“Well I--”

“More over make sure they know that it's not a lot of the their business who he dates. This whole planet would be a smoldering ruin if it weren't for my son so unless he starts trying to establish a palace and a harem I don't think his love life deserves this kind of public scrutiny!”

“Certainly not but--”

“How would you or your readers like it if just standing on a balcony turned you into front page news? Do you or your readers even understand the kind of affect that might have on a twenty three year old?”

“I'm not going to--”

“So remember that the whole reason you're here to interview anyone is because you're supposed to set the record straight, not add to the fire!”

“Yes, I--”

“So no questions about my son's love life, that's not your business, am I clear?”

Erasa waited, presumably until she was certain Bulma wouldn't interrupt her before she said, “Okay, that's--”

“And another thing,” Bulma interrupted just to spite her.

“What?” Erasa asked.

“Never try to talk to me while I'm drinking my morning coffee.” Bulma said with a curt nod.

Erasa finally seemed flabbergasted, she blinked a few times and then cried, “It's almost ten at night!”

“AM and PM are interchangeable when you're a super-scientist.” Bulma told her.

“Wow! What kind of science are you working on now?” Erasa asked with more enthusiasm than Bulma would have thought her intentionally rude behavior would have warranted.

Did this woman have some kind of iron skin or something?

No matter, Bulma sipped her coffee to make sure Erasa realized she still wasn't done and Erasa wasn't going to get to ask her anything until she finished.

She got through half the cup before finally saying, “You know, since it _is_ so late maybe you should head home. I'll have someone escort you, it's dangerous at night.”

“Oh not at all, but I was really hoping I could get a real interview with--”

“Maybe tomorrow.” Bulma smiled insincerely.

Erasa frowned for a moment before she said, “Well okay then. I suppose I did get some great stuff for today, and I'd better get writing! But I'll hold you to that and see you tomorrow!”

Bulma waved dismissively and Sixteen appeared as if on cue—and since he could hear her mention having someone escort Erasa it pretty much was—and said, “I will take you home now if you please.”

“Oh sure . . . my my you are _tall_!”

“I am aware.” Sixteen said with a nod.

Bulma smiled, if only Videl's irritating friend realized she was in the presence of someone a lot more interesting than just 'the mother of the Golden Warrior' but an actual Android.

Of course that was news they didn't need getting out.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Karuto will learn a few things from Kiwano and the matches for the tournament are announced much to both General Boreal and Kalt's displeasure._

 


	106. A Bit of Personality

**Episode Twenty-Six**

**'A Bit of Personality'**

 

“So how many pieces of fruit have people eaten?” Karuto asked.

“The officers have received one piece of fruit each, some outstanding soldiers have been given a piece of fruit.” Kiwano answered him.

Karuto asked, “Outstanding soldiers? What about the rest of them?”

“Our Lords have not decided to distribute fruit to every soldier yet, the rank and file may receive fruit someday or they may need to excel, it is currently unknown.”

Karuto asked, “Wouldn't our forces be a lot stronger though?”

“Yes.” Kiwano said flatly.

“But . . .” Karuto asked, hoping the Iwatian would elaborate.

Spending time with Kiwano was frustrating, the old Iwatian was never very forthcoming with information, a stark contrast to Konpeito, and worst of all when he did have anything to say he said it in a way that implied disinterest in or even disdain for the questions he was being asked.

Karuto wasn't used to being treated that way, but at the very least he told himself that it probably meant Kiwano was being honest, it didn't seem like he cared enough to lie.

“But there may not be enough fruit for that, there are thousands of soldiers in the service of the PTO.”

“Thousands? That few?” Karuto blinked.

“Perhaps tens of thousands?” Kiwano offered but Karuto shook his head.

“I expected millions for a galaxy-spanning empire.”

“It hardly seems as if any more are needed. Besides, don't forget that not everyone who works for the PTO is a warrior.”

Karuto hadn't forgotten that not everyone who worked for the PTO was a warrior but that only made it worse. He'd expected millions of soldiers and billions of support staff, otherwise . . . well as he asked Kiwano next,“If there are so few Arcosians and so few Arcosian servants why do we keep exterminating worlds?”

“There are many.” Kiwano sighed.

“Not enough for this scale of galaxy spanning conflict. Don't we have enough worlds, what do we need any more for?”

“To sell them.” Kiwano answered.

“But who cares about that? The money they pay us is only as valuable as we decide it is.” Karuto pointed out.

“Maybe. But consider this Lord, perhaps your kind only need to operate in the way they do because they have a small powerful army rather than a large one.”

“What do you mean?” Karuto asked.

“If your people were more numerous who's to say they wouldn't need to take _more_ worlds? If your people had more followers who's to say you wouldn't need to take _every_ world?”

“It seems like that's what we're doing anyway.” Karuto sighed. “But still, that's not what I want to talk about anyway, I want to know more about the fruit and the tree.”

“If you insist, though I don't know why you keep asking me.”

“Well with my Daddy gone,” Karuto explained.

“Your father is still here.” Kiwano pointed out.

Karuto shook his head, “Well Papa's still here but Daddy went to Earth.”

“Oh right, your father is gone but your _father_ isn't . . . because that's not confusing.” Kiwano sighed.

“It's not to me.” Karuto pointed out.

“It irritates something primal in me,” Kiwano seemed to admit, “how can your kind be gods and yet never invent a second word for parent? I suppose with omnipotence you always just know which one you're referring to?”

Karuto smiled, “Did you just tell a joke?”

“I don't think so.”

“I think you did! Maybe there's a bit of personality to you after all!”

“No. Anyway if it were a joke it wouldn't have been funny.” Kiwano said.

“Well nobody's perfect.” Karuto said. He explained, “One is Daddy, one is Papa.”

“No, I've heard you mix them up before.” Kiwano told him sternly.

“Huh . . . well maybe I do?” Karuto conceded. He was pretty sure he didn't . . . maybe Kiwano just lost track sometimes. Either way he didn't want to make the Iwatian feel any more confused, he wanted to know more about the tree.

“Actually,” Kiwano continued, “I was being honest. It is . . . bizarre to me that your species hasn't thought up a second title for your second parent.”

“We're not used to having two.” Karuto shrugged.

“Why have two now then?”

“Seems to work well for other species, and medical technology allows for it. Anyway enough about that, I'm not knowledgeable enough to really help you with that.”

“Very well. I will enjoy the silence.” Kiwano said and Karuto could hear the relief in his voice but he'd burst that bubble.

“That doesn't mean our discussion is finished! I know the tree came from your world, so you should know lots about it.”

“You're wrong, it wasn't from Goulder.” Kiwano said.

“But--”

“But nothing, it wasn't from our world.” Kiwano insisted. “It came from the skies, surely the traitor told you that much.”

“He said that was a legend.” Karuto said.

“That doesn't make it untrue. The tree was from the skies, and it was unlike anything on our world before it.”

“Before it?”

“Perhaps after, but I believe it changed us. I believe it changed my people's very nature, its might made us stronger as a race, and it made the wildlife stronger. Those that survived it that is.”

“How so?” Karuto asked.

“Well the animals that ate its fruit became stronger, the predators that preyed on them had to become stronger to survive as well. So the Knife-Tails evolved over centuries and over centuries our people adapted to the changing environment, ate the fruit ourselves, became stronger.”

Karuto nodded, “That makes sense. But how do you know it came from the stars? Maybe it was a natural part of your evolution.”

“Then why was there only one?” Kiwano asked.

“I don't know.” Karuto admitted. “Tell me more about it.”

“Well to be honest I don't know much. But look at this world since the tree arrived, much of its plant life is dying and many of its animals are going mad trying to remove us and the tree. I imagine my own world was similar when the tree first arrived, perhaps those first Iwatians that congregated around it ate the fruit and knew it would make them stronger, or perhaps they were simply impressed by the big tree. Either way it certainly wasn't of our world, and it nearly destroyed our world.”

“Fitting for my people then, isn't it?” Karuto quipped.

“It amazes me that you could hold such a negative opinion of your own people.” Kiwano sighed.

“Stop sighing at me, and anyway it's not a negative opinion. I just happen to think we don't need to be so . . . violent.” Karuto explained.

“Perhaps. But might makes right.” Kiwano said.

“Have you had a piece of fruit yet?” Karuto asked.

Kiwano hesitated then said, “I have not been given a piece of fruit, I have not distinguished myself in the eyes of this organization.”

The hesitation made Karuto wonder, “But did you have a piece before?”

Kiwano was quiet for a moment, then he said “I did. I had a small bite of the fruit when Konpeito did.”

Karuto blinked in surprise and asked, “Konpeito ate the fruit? But when? How? He never told me that!”

“Of course he ate some of the fruit! He and--” Kiwano stopped suddenly and said, “Sorry. I shouldn't talk about the past.”

“No, talk about the past! This is easily our best conversation yet!” Karuto insisted.

“I disagree.”

“I order you.” Karuto said with irritation.

Kiwano scoffed, “I don't need to follow frivolous orders, your father granted permission to ignore orders like that.”

“But you're withholding information that could prove vital to the Clan. After all if Konpeito ate some of the fruit it's useful information since he's alive on Earth.”

 

Kiwano scowled and conceded “Fine. Konpeito ate the fruit just after his ward did. They passed one of the fruits around to all the hunters from their village and any who had answered their call initially, I was one of the hunters that ate the fruit.”

 

Karuto tapped his chin and asked, “But Konpeito wasn't that much stronger than the average Iwatian, right?”

“The Elder did not make the most of the fruit while it remained in his system and by the time it passed he was not much stronger, still his energy was easily ten times what it had been even in old age.”

“So he used to have a power level of five hundred or so . . . that _is_ more consistent with the average Iwatian civilian, but all of your hunters had power levels in the thousands, he didn't seem to stand out that much.” Karuto said thoughtfully. “Of course he was a young hunter then . . .”

“Those of us who fought survived and our children inherited our strength.” Kiwano said.

“Wait, you mean eating the fruit affected your offspring too?” Karuto asked.

“Yes. That was why I said I believe the tree and its fruit affected our evolution, those who ate it were stronger and their offspring were stronger, the hunters who faced your forces when you took our world were the sons of the warriors who had fought the Oozaru.”

Karuto frowned, “But that's not how DNA works! When my fathers combined their genes I was made as a wholly new individual but what they _ate_ didn't affect me.”

“Perhaps the fruit changes your DNA?” Kiwano suggested.

“If it did Daddy would have noticed it by now . . . though that could explain why Turles grows so much faster, a byproduct of eating the fruit!”

“That sounds accurate. If it's the case it will affect him for a few years and then stop.” Kiwano said.

“He'll go back to normal?” Karuto asked.

“But he will keep much of the strength he gained, as long as he maintains himself.” Kiwano said. “Konpeito settled down, he was the Elder he had no need to maintain his physical peak.”

Karuto wished he could give this information to his friends back on Earth. They'd probably like to know.

But he asked, “So it should make training more effective, right?”

“Yes.” Kiwano told him.

“But it leaves the body eventually . . . but somehow also affects children born later.”

“The affect on them is significantly less than the affect eating the fruit has on a person, but the child will be relatively powerful.”

“This tree really can change everything for my people . . . I only hope it changes things for them for the better.” Karuto sighed.

And he hoped it didn't embolden them to attack Earth again.

Still Karuto had to admit he'd come away from this most productive conversation with Kiwano with more questions than answers really.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Boreal punched the ground leaving a small crater and slapped Aurora's hand away, struggling to stand on his own.

They were in their secret training ground sheltered by the snaking roots of the tree. It was just a makeshift place for training in a cleared field of the planet within the confines of the base. Safe from the natives, but far enough away from the main base as not to draw too much attention to the General's embarrassments.

This was the fifteenth time Aurora had knocked him down just today, whatever her tried the thin Arcosian was like a red and white blur and hit with all the force of . . . well, of that Super Saiyan.

Almost anyway.

“Again!” Boreal insisted.

“It'll be the same, Boreal.” Aurora said in an irritated tone, “we've been at this for weeks, when will you just accept that you can't overpower me?”

“You were never this much stronger than me before! You were never _stronger_ than me before,” Boreal insisted.

“Neither was Kalt, but things have changed, General.” Aurora said.

“I told you not to call me that anymore, not until I earn it!” Boreal said, rising to his feet and standing up straight.

“You already earned it, and it's still yours until it officially goes to someone else as far as I'm concerned.” Aurora told him.

“No one else will earn it, I'll earn it back!” Boreal told him.

“How? There are _scientists_ stronger than you.”

“I'll get back to the top, I just need to be stronger!”

“I' m helping you to get stronger!” Aurora snapped, “But your stubborn pride is getting in the way!”

Boreal was surprised by the sharpness of Aurora's response. He nodded his head slightly in apology, “I didn't mean to be so rude just now, it's just frustrating. This is the fifteenth time you've knocked me down and we've only been training for fifteen minutes!”

“I'm not talking about you batting my hand away, I'm used to your temper by now.” Aurora scoffed, “I'm talking about your refusal to do the one thing that you _know_ would see you win this tournament!”

Boreal scoffed, “If you don't wan to help me train anymore--”

“Shut up!” Aurora hissed. “Who would be a better General than you? Cooly? He's too wet behind the ears. Icebreaker? He's all wrong for the job. Sleet? He's too much of a glory hound, he'd let us all suffer for his own pride. The PTO needs General Boreal, the troops need General Boreal, all of us, the Frost Clan _needs_ General Boreal.”

“And why is that?” Boreal asked.

“Because you're a hero!” Aurora exclaimed.

“Wrong.” Boreal scoffed. “Wrong, Aurora! You know why the soldiers need me, why the clan needs me?”

“Why if not that?” Aurora asked.

“Because I am strong! I am strong as I am, I don't need fruit!” Boreal insisted angrily, “I've _worked_ for this, I've _worked_ to become who I am and to become what I was!”

“Hard work is not enough, you have to know how to use the advantages given to you!” Aurora insisted.

“You mean shortcuts!” Boreal accused.

“You use a scouter, don't you?” Aurora insisted, “the Fruit is the same, it's a tool to help you and nothing more. Everyone has used it, you _were_ the third strongest of our kind now you're among the weakest. You've already earned your place, just take a piece of the fruit and get it back!”

“I will not--”

He didn't finish before Aurora knocked him down again, the thin Arcosian's white tail lashing out with incredible speed and taking Boreal's feet out from under him, then slamming into his chest and knocking him to the ground.

“I will knock you down a thousand million times if that's what it takes. I will bring you to the brink of death if that's what it takes,” Aurora warned him, “because you will eat that fruit and you will be the General of this army!”

Boreal shook his head, “I . . . I can't let myself take shortcuts!”

“Then Kalt will kill you!” Aurora snarled.

“Actually,” A new voice said from behind them, “He won't.”

Boreal struggled to his feet so he could fall to his knees before Lord Frostburn.

Frostburn glowered at the pair of them and circled Boreal calmly, holding a data pad.

“Lord Frostburn . . . I . . . I am honored.” Boreal said.

“Of course, why wouldn't you be?” Frostburn said with a sneer, “Of course if I were in your place I would be embarrassed. My Lord, catching me training in a place like this getting beaten by a middling officer over and over again? But different strokes, I suppose.”

“He's greatly improved, my Lord.” Aurora said.

“Noted, Commander, but lets just face the fact that our former General here is no match for Kalt. But all the same, Kalt won't be killing you . . . at least not in this tournament.”

“I thank you for your faith,” Boreal tried to say but Lord Frostburn actually started to laugh out loud.

“No, no, it's not faith! It's just the fact that you won't even get to _face_ Kalt, not in _this_ tournament! I've decided to start you and he at opposite ends of the tournament. If you want to face each other you'll have to overcome every adversary to win the chance, and neither of you is up to the challenge.”

“I will train harder than ever, my Lord.” Boreal insisted.

“You will, and then you'll fail.” Frostburn said with a scoff. His first opponent is Gelato, yours is Hiemal. Both are magnitudes stronger than either of you, and both will move on while the two of you hang your heads in shame and pray that Lord Frostbite and I leave those heads attached to your bodies.”

Boreal clenched his fists and his sides and said, “Then kill me now, Lord Frostburn! If I'm such a disappointment to you then kill me now!”

“Don't be so over-dramatic, you'll make me sick.” Frostburn scoffed. “ After Hiemal defeats you he'll take on either Icebreaker or Hail, odds are it'll be Icebreaker since he's stronger than Hail. Do you know what that means?”

“That Icebreaker might become the General?” Aurora guessed.

“Icebreaker certainly has a good opportunity, but no, it means Icebreaker will then move on to face Cooly, and between the two of them . . . well, who knows? But whichever one it is will have to take on Sleet . . . isn't it funny that Aurora here was just barely mentioning how unsuitable all three of them would be . . . but oh silly me, maybe Kalt will succeed in his wild ambition to eat a second piece of fruit.”

“What?” Boreal snarled, “That cheating scum!”

“Spare me,” Frostburn scoffed, “at least he's _trying_ to win. He's a fool to think there's _anyone_ he could confide such a plot in that wouldn't leak the news back to myself or Frostbite but at least he's still an ambitious fool. _You're_ just shaming yourself alone under the roots of the very tree that could seal your victory, _you_ who were so promising once.”

“I . . . I . . .”

“Have no words, obviously.” Frostburn scoffed. “You won't even listen to your closest friend as he tries to help you stop shaming yourself. I've watched you train through my scouter. True the forests interfere with them and the tree itself is so powerful that it can play games with them, but I can still catch glimpses of where everyone is when they drill at full power. Your power level's slow increase is not enough and it won't be enough even for Kalt even if he doesn't eat a second piece of the fruit.”

Boreal slumped, the tall and powerful former General felt small and weak for the first time since . . .

Actually since he'd lost to Kalt before. Perhaps this was just the way he'd have to get used to feeling . . .

“I . . . I will try harder!” Boreal insisted.

“And die all the more pitifully.” Frostburn scoffed. “Do yourself a favor, Boreal . . . if you're not going to eat that piece of fruit I've secured for you then just give it to Kalt before his kills himself or someone else trying to steal one. Maybe he'll be so grateful to you for it he'll spare your life when he's in power.”

Boreal's gaze fell to the ground and Lord Frostburn turned to leave.

“I've spent enough time in this depressing place in this depressing company. Just remember that I warned you, Boreal.”

Frostburn simply left without another word leaving Boreal standing there hanging his head in shame.

Aurora said, “Well what does he know? You heard him, at least you're improving . . . we'll work harder and--”

“Contact Kalt for me. Tell him I want to meet with him tonight . . .” Boreal muttered.

“What? General you can't--” Aurora began but Boreal raised a hand to silence him.

Aurora fell silent but Boreal had no words of interruption.

He had no words.

He truly was a failure . . . he'd known it since he'd arrived on Frago, he'd known it when Kalt beat him.

No, he'd known it sooner, he'd known it when he lost to that Saiyan.

The former General's fists clenched and his eyes hardened though as he said, “Contact Kalt for me . . . I'm going to continue training. I won't let Hiemal beat me!”

Aurora nodded and left without another word.

But Kalt didn't train in his absence, it had all just been words.

Instead the general sat down near the crater he'd punched into the ground and contemplated how he could be so strong . . . and yet find himself outclassed by a bunch of fools who'd done nothing more challenging than plug their noses and bite into some alien fruit.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _As Admiral Frigus and Chief Scientist Glacien travel towards the Earth they speak a bit about the journey and what they could possibly achieve. Meanwhile Boreal and Kalt meet to discuss the tournament and their chances, what will the former General decide?_

 

 


	107. Catching Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was at about this point in the story that, feeling it really hadn't managed to find an audience on Ao3, I stopped posting the regular updates. I'd periodically pondered whether to take it down or just keep posting since I had the chapters anyway I eventually decided to keep posting (you can tell because you're reading this!) and if you are reading this thanks for coming this far with me on this experiment.

**Episode Twenty-Seven**

**'Catching Up'**

 

The trip to Earth was long and boring which left Frigus a great deal of time to think to himself.

He thought about the journey, he thought about the tree, he thought about Lord Frostburn, he thought about his mission.

Unlike Glacien who could amuse himself with scientific . . . things, Frigus could only amuse himself in his own mind. Their interstellar combat activities had ground to a halt while the Twins handled things on Frago. Their forces were consolidating, he should have been there for that. As Admiral of the fleet he should have been preparing for their eventual assault on the Galactic Patrol.

But did the rank of Admiral mean anything these days? Anything more than the rank of General, which was so meaningless the Twins didn't even are who held it now?

He'd thought an awful lot about that too, was he wrong to think he was anything more than a glorified middle-manager? Free to run operations when the Lords were busy but utterly redundant once they decided to roll up their own sleeves.

But hadn't they chosen him for a reason? Was he not to tactics what Glacien was to science?

Or had his Lords become so powerful that they saw tactics as something useless? Something quaint? Once they had this earth technology would they even need to plan things? As it was Frigus could plan things out in his mind, he could draw up ideas for the entire invasion and subjugation of the Galactic Patrol and their sectors but in the end the situation once he returned could be totally different if they succeeded in obtaining this . . . instant transmission technology.

He knew he should be excited by the possibilities, they could fight and win the war against the Galactic Patrol in mere days . . . but as it was he was skeptical of their chances of coming back with anything from Earth other than their lives.

So instead he had to plan for the war he knew he could fight, even if in the end it was a waste of his time.

It wasn't as if he had a better use for it, the entire trip was a waste of time for an Admiral and the sting of being sent on such an excursion was keenly felt every second of every day.

He was actually planning out an attack on the Galactic Patrol headquarters when the door to his office slid open and Glacien came in without even pausing to pretend he would wait for permission.

Frigus' eyes narrowed and the Admiral felt like it was all just another sign that he and his rank meant nothing.

"Can I help you?" He asked archly.

Glacien either didn't notice or didn't care about the Admiral's tone. Instead the scientist just answered, "Obviously."

"Well . . ." Frigus trailed off.

"Enjoy the trip?" Glacien asked.

"No. Why?"

"I am. I've been going over the satellite logs, you know from those orbiters that the Earthlings _still_ haven't gotten rid of?"

"Why would they, as long as they're there they know we know how much more powerful than us they are." Frigus scoffed.

"And with teleportation vessels they know that even if we detect the absence of their Super Saiyans we won't be able to act on it before they return," Glacien nodded, "nevertheless I've found some truly marvelous things."

"If you have a point I think you'd better get to it." Frigus said.

"What, busy day of brooding ahead of you?" Glacien teased.

"I know you feel like one of the tough guys since you've eaten that fruit, but bear in mind that unlike Boreal I've eaten it too so to me you're still just an egg head and I can shatter your dome with a flick of my wrist." Frigus warned.

"A bit of an extreme reaction, don't you think?"

"Not for wasting an Admiral's time."

The Chief Scientist smiled that mouth-less smile and said, "Very well. It might interest you to know I've scanned the Earth multiple times from our satellites' logs and though there is a strange power surge around a day before and then again during the time that Boreal attacked, there's no sign of any sort of ship traveling through space at all. Still these surges have occurred repeatedly and new relatively high power levels always accompany the second surge, the return trip I suspect."

"So you think these power surges are caused by this transportation?" Frigus reasoned and Glacien nodded.

"Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be mentioning them."

"Clearly," The Admiral said in what was almost a growl. "So can you replicate that kind of energy?"

"No, but I can configure a scouter to trace it specifically, once we arrive on Earth we could locate this vessel. If our mission to secure the technology through diplomacy should fail . . ."

"We what, steal it? How would you even operate it?" Frigus asked.

"With time and experimentation. Or do you think I mean to fly it off the planet?" Glacien shook his head, "I suggest nothing of the sort. If we cannot secure the objective I suggest we at least deny it to our opposition. At least temporarily."

"You mean destroy them." Frigus nodded, "What's to stop them just building new ones?"

"Nothing, I would imagine. But it could delay them at least. These power surges, they're very high I believe this vessel—or rather _vessels_ , since there are often two simultaneous surges—require a tremendous amount of power and I believe the long pauses between uses are due to the time it takes the Earthlings to _gather_ the energy for them."

"So destroying them adds the time to charge the vessels onto the time of rebuilding them," Frigus nodded, "that could give us . . . how long?"

"I can't even speculate at the time it would take to build the vessels since I haven't seen them, or heard anything of the science involved in them. The recharging time seems to be quite long, so it could well buy us a month or more."

"A month?" Frigus demanded, "That's nothing at all! This _trip_ takes a month!"

"Well we needn't destroy the vessels on our way out like children throwing a fit," Glacien said, "We could find a way to leave an agent to do the work at just the right time if necessary."

Frigus nodded, he could see the wisdom in that though it would be tricky.

Glacien continued though, saying, "Also I can tell you that one of the vessels has been in service for what appears to be some years so the Earthlings may not see this as a new technology worth guarding. Since it's old tech if we downplay our interest in it we might be able to get it without much hassle or at least get their scientists to talk about it without realizing what they might be giving away."

"Old tech? How many years have these backwoods apes had technology like this?" Frigus asked in amazement.

"At least four of their years, though it has seen more rampant use lately."

_Suggesting either that they've refined it or that they've had more need of it,_ Frigus thought. He said, "So not _that_ old, I'd still call it a new technology."

"Only because you don't understand technology," the scientist said with a wink.

But the Admiral was not amused. He growled, "This is a bad day to insult me, Glacien."

"Apologies, I'll wait for a better one next time." Glacien said in something less than a convincing tone.

Still Frigus nodded and said, "Very well. So your suggestion if we cannot obtain the technology by diplomacy to deprive our enemies of their vessels to keep them from interfering with us. It sounds reasonable, I'll have to put some thought into who we could use as an agent on this world though."

"Actually I've solved that for you as well."

Frigus' eyes narrowed. _Wonderful. Tell me yet another way that I'm useless,_ he thought but he kept his tone level as he asked, "Very well. Whom?"

"Verglas, I've had occasion to speak to him during our trip and he's quite the master dissembler."

Frigus frowned, Verglas was Hail's first officer and the acting captain of the vessel they were traveling on since Hail had remained behind on Frago to compete for the rank of General.

More importantly Verglas was an Arcosian. "How would we convince them to host one of our own kind on their planet?"

"Obviously we suggest Verglas as an ambassador." Glacien shrugged. "Anything less than one of our own kind as Ambassador should seem an insult, wouldn't you think? And besides he's not strong enough to threaten the Super Saiyan."

"I'll see what I can do." Frigus grunted, "I certainly wouldn't want a Saiyan on New Arcoss, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to try. Have you spoken to the Commander about this?"

"No, I assumed that you, as the Admiral, would want to brief your officer. Besides, suppose I'd done so and you'd disagreed?"

Frigus smiled slightly, _well at least he's left me_ something _to do,_ the Admiral thought.

"All right then, go back about your business and send Verglas in."

"Certainly." Glacien said, and then stepped out the door which Verglas was waiting just outside of.

Frigus' eyes narrowed and Glacien, seeming to suspect the reason smiled his mouth-less smile and said, "Well I didn't tell him _why_ he was waiting."

Frigus did have a mouth and he used it to snarl, " _Go_."

Both his fellow Arcosians seemed to sense the danger and scrambled for the door, but Frigus barked, "Not _you_ , Commander! Sit down and be briefed on your mission, that is assuming our good scientist really _didn't_ tell you all about it!"

Verglas had a helpless look as he quickly fell into a nearby chair and said, "I have no idea what mission you're talking about. But I'm ready to serve however I can, if you need me to select an elite strike force for-"

"No strike force, just yourself." Frigus snarled.

Verglas smiled a smile that Frigus had to admit he wouldn't have thought fake and said, "A solo operation then? Well if you're sure there's no one better suited to the job. What dangerous deed has need of my talents?"

Frigus scoffed and said, "If everything goes well there will be no danger at all, you'll just have to be a good liar."

Verglas nodded slowly, "Hmm. Yes . . . well I'm generally an honest soul, but I can certainly _try_. But you said 'if everything goes well' so if everything should go _poorly_ . . ."

"If things go _poorly_ this will most likely be a suicide mission." Frigus said honestly.

"Of course . . . well it will be an honor." Verglas said, his smile not even wavering.

_Well . . . he just might do._ Frigus thought.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Kalt felt more than a little nervous meeting with Boreal. It wasn't that he was afraid of the General's strength, not anymore at least.

But he didn't know what would cause his old rival to ask him to a private meeting, it all seemed . . . too strange.

In truth he wouldn't have bothered to come at all if Aurora hadn't told him that Boreal meant to discuss the piece of fruit he'd been given.

The fruit he'd been given and not yet eaten . . .

Kalt could think of no better chance to obtain a second piece of fruit than to steal it from Boreal. Not only was he stronger than the General—or rather _former_ General—he could think of no one more deserving of the theft than Boreal himself.

Still he felt as if this could be a trap . . . perhaps Boreal was waiting for his arrival to eat the fruit, perhaps Boreal meant to 'put him in his place' so to speak.

And _if_ he did eat the fruit and their power gap returned to what it had been—or worse since Boreal had noticeably grown stronger drilling with Aurora these past few weeks—the fight would be so brief Kalt might not even last long enough to be rescued by Lord Frostbite.

Still Kalt's scouter told him that Boreal was waiting in his quarters just as Aurora had said he would be and he was alone, again just as the Commander had told him. His scouter also told him he had indeed not eaten his piece of fruit yet for though his power had noticeably increased it hadn't grown _that_ much.

That didn't make him any less nervous though.

Kalt pressed the door chime and after only the briefest of pauses it opened revealing the former-General's quarters.

Just as spartan as Kalt would have expected, no decorations or medals on the walls no pictures of friends or family just a cot, some data-pads and a holo-map of the galaxy on a desk.

And besides that desk a small box, the sort that the pieces of fruit had been kept in.

The box had been designed by Glacien and other scientists to keep the fruit as fresh as the day it was picked, and Kalt could feel his eyes drawn to the box unable to look away as the object of his ambitions lay before him out in the open ripe—no pun intended—for the taking.

"Thank you for coming, Captain." Boreal said, standing by the desk he put down a data-pad he'd been looking at and put a protective hand over the fruit box.

"My pleasure . . . would it be Captain as well? What _is_ your rank when it's not General?"

Boreal laughed softly, an unexpected sound. "You know," he said, "I don't know. I've been the General for as long as I can recall us even having ranks . . . but I suppose Captain sounds about right. It's not so bad, it's the rank you've worn for so long."

"I'm glad you like it, because you'd better get used to it." Kalt said.

"So I've been told. Actually that's why I've asked you here."

Kalt tensed, "Wanted me present when you ate your piece, eh? Or are you going to offer it to me in the hopes that I'll treat you well once I'm the General?"

Boreal scoffed and then said, "Five hundred thousand."

"I beg your pardon?" Kalt asked.

"Power level." Boreal said.

"Whose? My power level now is _six_ hundred thousand, and yours is only four hundred-eighty thousand, certainly you've made some improvements training with Aurora but you're still weaker than I am and neither of us is-"

"The twins." Boreal interrupted him. "The twins power levels were five hundred thousand before they ate the fruit."

Kalt hesitated, "What? How could you know that? No one is permitted to scan them with a scouter, and anyway how do you know-"

"That they were actually trying? Because it was in the heat of battle and I was feeling rebellious—towards the rules, not them of course—and competitive. I wanted to know how I measured up and as they battled side by side against a Veleek monster their powers combined were surely a sight to see. Most of my men just watched in slack-jawed awe, but I took the opportunity and scanned them both. They were an identical five hundred thousand apiece."

"That's what they were then, but-"

"But the Veleek was the last thing they battled before they decided that personally leading our forces was too troublesome and effectively retired. Their power levels are unlikely to have been much higher than that."

Kalt frowned, "So . . . what are you telling me? That you'll be nearly as strong as them once you eat the fruit?"

"I am telling you that they were at or around five hundred thousand when they ate their first piece of fruit." Boreal said sternly.

Kalt folded his arms, "Okay. So what?"

"So they haven't eaten a second piece yet." Boreal said calmly and in a tone that suggested he was waiting for Kalt to catch up to him and just understand where he was going with this but the Captain was unable to follow his nemesis' line of logic.

"How do you know that?"

"Because if they had they'd be stronger than they are now." Boreal said.

"Okay. So what?" Kalt repeated.

Boreal walked over to the desk and tapped the box of fruit sitting on the desk, "So I understand that you've an interest in a second bite of this fruit, and with your power level of six-hundred-thousand if you were to obtain it you would be even more powerful than our twin Lords."

Kalt could feel his stomach rumble at the thought.

Him? More powerful than the Lords? That would make _him_ the Lord . . . greedy images of grandeur flooded his mind and he said, "So you're offering me your piece in the hopes I'll defeat the twins and no longer _need_ the rank of General, you're hoping I'll just let you have it back, is that it?"

It actually _was_ tempting . . . even if Boreal was a General he'd still be taking orders from Kalt.

Boreal glowered at him and said, "Aren't you going to ask me how I learned you wanted a second bite of the fruit?"

"Fine, tell me which loose-lipped conspirator I need to eliminate." Kalt demanded.

"Lord Frostburn."

That caught Kalt off guard.

He blinked and asked, "Lord Frostburn . . . knows about my plans?"

"I don't know how. But he knows." Boreal told him.

"I see . . . but I don't see. I am completely at a loss, Boreal. What does this mean?"

Boreal closed his eyes for a moment, as if seeking patience before he answered, "Do you and Lord Frostburn get along well?"

"No, everyone knows I'm of Lord Frostbite's camp and you were always the Frostburn supporter," Kalt scoffed.

"Yes. So why do you imagine Lord Frostburn would, knowing you were seeking a second piece of fruit, suggest that I surrender it to you if my doing so would make you stronger than he and Lord Frostbite?"

Kalt shrugged, "Perhaps he assumes I wouldn't betray them? Which is of course a safe assumption to make, I am obviously a loyal-"

"Loyal enough to plot to steal a piece of fruit, yes." Boreal interrupted. "No, they don't think you're loyal Kalt, they think you're desperate. Desperate to win this tournament and become the General, desperate enough to eat a second piece of fruit."

Kalt scoffed, "So what if I am? The prize for the tournament is a second piece, is it not? They want a General comparable to them in strength obviously!"

"Or, given that they themselves haven't eaten a second piece perhaps they want a General even stronger than they are?" Boreal asked in a tone that suggested to Kalt that he didn't think so.

And neither did Kalt, his mind was hardly dull and he was putting it to work now.

He folded his arms and said, "Most of the Captains entering the tournament have power levels over one million thanks to their first piece of fruit, even stronger than me, and they've been growing stronger through practice drills . . . they'd all be stronger than the Twins if they ate a second piece of fruit . . . but perhaps the Twins mean to eat their second piece at the same time as the future General?"

"Perhaps. But then why would Lord Frostburn suggest that I surrender my piece to you if I would continue to refuse it?"

Kalt shrugged. "Perhaps . . ." he trailed off as the realization struck him and he scowled, "That _rat_! The second piece of fruit . . . it must not be safe!"

"Now you're catching up." Boreal said with a nod. "That's precisely what I suspect. At least perhaps unsafe until a point. So the future General and the Twins will consume a second piece when it is safe to do so and anyone who defies them and steals a piece . . . anyone like say _yourself_ , Captain, would suffer the consequences of disobedience. Perhaps it would have no effect, perhaps it would weaken you, perhaps it would even kill you."

Kalt laughed, "So they meant to make an example of me . . . just suppose I'd shared with my co-conspirators, they'd have lost half the captaincy!"

"And not cared, I'd wager. They aim to become Frieza twice over, what need would they have for all of the rest of us if we're not loyal?" Boreal insisted.

"So it's a test of our integrity? But if we can't eat multiple pieces of fruit how can they become anything like Lord Frieza?"

"I'm sure we can, our bodies probably just need time to process it . . . with how close Lord Frostbite and Chief Scientist Glacien are I'm sure they know exactly when it will be safe to consume another piece, and I'm sure they'll know when they can have their third."

"Or the fourth they'll need before they can be a threat to that Super Saiyan." Kalt scoffed.

His visions of becoming General were fleeing before his eyes.

Now the fruit on the desk seemed like some sort of horrible taunt instead of his salvation. He scoffed a second time and said, "So what now? Do I watch you eat your piece and become nearly as strong as our Lords?"

"No. If a second piece is unsafe I doubt the _first_ piece is as beneficial as you all believe it to be. I'll continue to grow with my own effort but that does mean that neither you nor I will be anywhere near the level of power needed to win this tournament legitimately."

"Key word being 'legitimately' I assume." Kalt said expectantly.

"Now you're catching up." Boreal said again, this time with a wicked smile.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _We return to the Earth as Turles finds himself ambushed . . . by questions. Worse it's not once but twice, with both Erasa and Trunks wanting to have words with him. Which experience will be the more harrowing for the young Saiyan?_


	108. The One to See

**Episode Twenty Eight**

**'The One to See'**

 

Things seemed to be going poorly for Turles that morning. For the better part of a week he had managed to avoid the yellow haired Earthling woman who was going around bothering everyone while they tried to prepare for the tournament.

Obviously it wasn't out of any sort of fear though Lamson had suggested that he should be cautious around her since 'those who ask a lot of questions tend to find their own answers' Lamson had said and Turles had nodded as if he'd understood what the heck that was supposed to mean.

He tried not to seem too stupid in front of Lamson, even though he'd accepted her into the position of trusted advisor and didn't suspect she would be disloyal or try to move against him he still knew he needed to project the image of a paragon Saiyan above any flaw or weakness be it of the body or mind.

He understood that the Earthling woman wanted to ask him questions and he could guess that Lamson was worried he'd get too relaxed and let something slip. But he was far too clever to slip up and he doubted she knew anything about his plans anyway or else Trunks would have already killed him.

 _Or he wouldn't,_ Turles thought and scoffed at the mere thought of such a merciful Prince.

"Oh come on," Erasa urged, "It's not _that_ bad an idea, is it?"

Turles hadn't intended the scoff to be at her, but he decided to play it off as if he had rather than apologize.

The young Saiyan didn't have disdain for Erasa because she was an Earthling, or because she was asking a lot of questions. The truth was that he'd taken to letting his opinion of others be influenced by those around him whose opinions seemed decent enough to him, which was to say that if Lamson thought someone was okay he was inclined to be open to the idea that they were okay.

Not only that but Lady Bulma was without question an Earthling of value and _she_ didn't even seem to value Erasa. Even Captain Videl, a weakling but one with a fiery Saiyan-like spirit who was supposed to be a so-called _friend_ of Erasa's seemed annoyed by her often, especially if Trunks' mentor was around.

So what was Turles to think of this weak yellow haired Earthling? No one he valued or even saw as decent seemed to think Erasa was anything more than a waste of space, and so he saw no reason to waste his time on sharing words with her.

There was a tournament to win after all.

But on this particular poor morning with things going so poorly Turles was trapped waiting for Erasa as Brock tended to biological urgencies in the lavatory, delaying their training for the day.

"Oh come on, don't be a sourpuss!" Erasa urged him, "Everyone tells me that if I want to talk to a Saiyan you're the one to see!"

Turles wouldn't deny he liked the sound of that, but he wasn't _that_ easy.

He folded his arms and leaned against the wall waiting for and willing Brock to finish so they could start for the day. But since he was waiting he told Erasa, "Flattery won't work on me, I'm a true Saiyan Warrior, don't confuse our pride with ego."

"I. Would. Never." Erasa said with great emphasis, raising her hand in some Earthling gesture that Turles had seen before but failed to understand. She insisted, "But that's what the people want! You're a race of warriors, proud valiant alien warriors! I really want to do a piece on your kind, I mean you look human except for the tails, you could just live among us and blend in but instead you choose to protect us? That's wonderful and the people would love it!"

"The people?" Turles blinked.

"Of course! Now that I'm publishing stories straight out of Capsule Corp. our readership is nearly the entire population! Even the Namekians have learned to read to read our papers, or so I'm told!"

"That's awfully fast . . ." Turles said, skeptical of her claim.

"Well, maybe some of them already knew how to do it, who can say?"

"I can say. I say no. Go away." Turles warned her.

"So would it be fair to say that you Saiyans are a . . . closed off bunch?"

"Sure, why not?" Turles scoffed.

"That's great, you know people are just dying for information about you all!"

"Wait, did that just-" Turles demanded angrily and totally unfazed Erasa nodded to him.

"Count as a question? Well it sure did! You never said 'off the record' we're just two people having a chat! Oh but see how harmless that was?"

"I . . . did not . . . answer-"

"Oh come on now, don't be that way!" Erasa said, "You're a closed off bunch, I get it. So is it because I'm not a fighter like you are? If I had a black belt would you talk to me?"

"I don't care what color your belt is!" Turles told her, wondering why that would even matter but not wanting to invite her to continue conversing by asking.

He'd just order Tell to find out from Schip at some point so if it was a stupid question at least it would just be Tell who looked stupid.

But Erasa continued, "So you do have a tolerance for non-warrior types? Well then do you just not like blonds? Come on, why won't you talk to me?"

"Because I don't want to, and every second you pester me is a second you test my self control." Turles warned her.

"Oh my, am I really that ravishing?" Erasa giggled and Turles stumbled forward in surprise and shock at the mere _idea_ that he would find her at all attractive.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" The young Saiyan snarled.

"Oh I am a bit too old for you aren't I? But some boys like that, would you say Saiyans go for older women on balance?" Erasa asked.

"No! I mean that doesn't matter, we like _strong_ women! All Saiyan women are strong, few of you Earthling women can compare!" Turles said, straightening up proudly so he could look down on Erasa.

"Ah, so some of us _do_?" Erasa said slyly.

"Obviously," Turles scoffed for the umpteenth time and folded his arms, "But that's got nothing to do with you."

"So it's fair to say that Saiyan men are open game in the dating world for any girl whose got the fiery soul to try, eh?" Erasa asked.

Turles was shrugging and saying, "I suppose," before he realized that again she was trapping him with a question.

So quickly he shook his head and said, "No! No, never mind, I don't want to answer any questions!"

"Oh you're too fun," Erasa teased him, _dared_ to tease _him,_ and she asked, "So then you don't dislike us Earthlings because we're from Earth, that's good! That's really good, people will be so happy to know that!"

Turles looked away in irritation and said, "Well . . . fine, you can tell them _that_."

"Oh I plan to!" Erasa said cheerfully, "But I was wondering all the Saiyans I talk to sort of seem to think you're the man to see, like I said! Is it because you've been here longer, worked with Trunks longer?"

Turles kept his mouth shut, refusing to play her games.

Erasa nodded and said, "Oh I see, I see, trying not to get caught in my web eh? Well we wouldn't have to play these games if you'd just cooperate. So you've been here the longest, that's fair to say is it not? After all it's not something that's been contested . . . so is it fair to say that Saiyans respect seniority?"

Turles rolled his eyes and Erasa said, "No? Oh then it must be strength! I'll bet you're really strong, do you think you'll do well in the tournament?"

Turles wasn't sure if he should answer that one . . . he wanted to convey his confidence but he also didn't want to say anything else to Erasa . . .

"Ooh you seem uncertain . . . Trunks' right hand Saiyan-man worried about the upcoming fight, could he be afraid of losing his position in the eyes of his peers?"

"No! It's nothing like that!" Turles said in a mixture of anger and urgency, "Don't you tell people that!"

"Oh confidential is it?" Erasa tapped her nose, "Don't worry then big guy, I'll keep your secret."

"It's not a secret, I'm not worried, I'm the best fighter on this planet apart from Trunks, and it won't be long before I'm just the best!" Turles told her, his pride flaring now, "I grow faster than anyone else, I've gotten stronger faster than any Saiyan in history and once I learn the secret of becoming a Super Saiyan I'll be unstoppable!"

"Ooh, impressive," Erasa smiled at him, "So Earth could have new top hero eh? And what would that mean for her people? Would you be a benevolent hero, or would you be strict?"

Turles scoffed yet again, "Benevolence? Not in a Saiyan's vocabulary, not a _true_ Saiyan's vocabulary anyway!"

Erasa trembled in a visible and likely exaggerated way, "Ooh, chills down my spine! So you mean to tell me you'll be a tyrant? Are you going to see humanity in chains?"

"I never said that!" Turles insisted and he started to feel like he was understanding what Lamson had meant.

Ironically he was definitely changing his opinion of her, even if no one he knew saw any value in her Turles was rapidly beginning to recognize that Erasa was a warrior herself. Not one who fought with weapons or power, but one who fought with words and Lamson had been wise to warn him about her.

For all his own intelligence this small non-intimidating Earthling woman was capable of saying just the right thing to provoke a response and twisting his words if she needed to so that he almost _had_ to be honest with her or risk her shaming him. In his efforts not to give any answers he was still accidentally giving enough away for Erasa to make guesses and he could tell she was saying terrible stuff to try to get him to deny it.

But he wasn't an idiot, he was as sharp as Saiyans came and he told her, "Make no mistake, I'm no tyrant, I'm no Frieza going around blowing up loyal planets just because I can. I'm a Saiyan Warrior, the greatest of my kind to still draw breath little Earthling. When I'm at the top I'll be absolutely indomitable, unrivaled and I'll keep getting stronger, nothing will _ever_ threaten what's mine, and _if_ I decide the Earth is mine then a thousand battle fleets won't be able to so much as scratch the surface of it, your ruined cities will be an embarrassmenton the heads of your previous defenders, a testament to their inadequacies."

"Inadequacies is it?" Trunks' voice rang out from down the hall behind him.

Turles froze. Trunks could be difficult to sense at the best of times without his scouter, and the Saiyan Warrior had been trying to master sensing energy without the device, but now he cursed himself for not wearing it and allowing Trunks to creep up on him with his impossibly suppressed power.

 _This . . . is not good. This is not the sort of thing I want him to hear me saying,_ Turles thought as he turned around to face the Saiyan Prince.

Trunks was standing near the stairs four doors down the hallway his arms folded but his eyes locked on to Turles like a predator eying prey even though his face was calm and neutral those eyes betrayed something Turles had first assumed that he would see often, and then after getting to _know_ Trunks had assumed he'd _never_ see.

Not anger at his words, but . . . fire. A Saiyan's fire, that eager anticipation of a challenge. Not fear of possible defeat but embrace of whatever outcome there might be, eagerness for the challenge itself regardless of outcome.

Trunks asked him in a deceptively calm voice, "You think you'll be able to protect the Earth better than my father? Better than Goku? Better than _me_?"

"I . . ." Turles began, but then something in him decided to just . . . be honest.

After all he'd already been caught boasting of his strength so why not just go all the way? He was curious about the fire he could see in Trunks, but it was just an ember.

He wanted to see it become a raging flame.

So he told Trunks, "I'm going to be a warrior the likes of which has never been seen on this pathetic planet! Yes, I'll even surpass _you_. Isn't that the way of things? The new surpassing the old? That's what you wanted, isn't it? Someone to take your place? Well I'll take your place, Prince Trunks," Turles said and thought to himself, _in more ways than one, as you'll soon find out,_ but aloud he only said, "I will surpass you so thoroughly that you will live to see yourself fade from memory! Because that's what you wanted, _isn't it_? I'm going to give you exactly what you wish for and in so doing I'm going to make you regret it. What do you think of that?"

Trunks smiled a wolfish, dangerous smile and it was _Turles'_ turn to feel chills down his spine.

Was this . . . was this what he'd expected all the while? Was there _actually_ some trace of a true Saiyan in this young Half-Earthling Saiyan Prince? Was Turles tempting his own fate by challenging him before he was ready?

Some mad portion of him almost hoped the Prince would attack him then, some wild instinct in him could see the fire in Trunks' eyes and wanted to rise up and meet it, equal it, then surpass it and destroy it utterly heedless of the fact that he wasn't a Super Saiyan.

Because even if he wasn't a Super Saiyan he _was_ a Saiyan Warrior. A _true_ Saiyan Warrior looking at what he thought was a fake, a phony, a weakling, a _merciful_ Saiyan he could not abide, and yet when he saw the fire in Trunks' eyes he almost welcomed the promise of his own destruction in that gaze, he almost wanted to be destroyed if it meant that that fire would burn and the true Saiyan Prince would rise from the ashes of his Earthling weakness.

And then it seemed like the moment passed, Trunks looked down shaking his head as if Turles had said something funny and Turles' natural ability to talk smooth kicked in, he realized that his best shot _was_ to act as if he were just kidding around.

Turles got a hold of his senses and brought himself down, shaking his head too and saying, "Of course . . . I don't expect any of that to happen . . . but it's nice to dream."

"Wow!" Erasa said, "I mean _wow_! That's some great stuff!"

Trunks unfolded his arms at the end of the hallway, Turles blinked in surprise and irritation at Erasa's words intending to spin around and scold her but in that instant . . .

When he opened his eyes Trunks was standing in front of him and the power coming from him was _overwhelming._ Turles wasn't very adept at sensing energy but he could tell that in an instant Trunks had gone from so suppressed he hadn't noticed him approaching to so overwhelmingly powerful that he might well be double what Turles was at his own peak.

And his hair was still lavender-blue, he was no Super Saiyan and still if he chose to he could treat Turles like a rag doll.

That fire was still in his eyes and he said, "Turles . . . if you win this tournament I will personally take charge of you and I will not stop until you are a Super Saiyan, until you are a _worthy_ challenge to me. Once you are we'll just see about this talk of surpassing me."

"You would teach me to become a Super Saiyan just to challenge me?" Turles asked in confusion.

"No. I'll teach you to become a Super Saiyan to challenge _me_." Trunks told him.

Turles was honestly having a hard time seeing the downside for him. Once he won the tournament—and he knew he would—he'd learn from Trunks how to become a Super Saiyan . . . and that was only if Lamson and Okran failed in their missions to bring Cauliflora and Rhubara over, thereby hopefully bringing Brassica and any secrets she might be able to teach him on the matter.

Turles smiled and said, "I promise not to disappoint you, Trunks."

" _Prince_ Trunks." Trunks told him much to his surprise.

Didn't Trunks always tell him _not_ to call him that?

While Turles was busy being surprised Prince Trunks added, "But there's one condition. You have to make good on what you said here, if you can defeat me I expect you to take the mantle of Earth's Defender and protect it. Not a scratch from any threat, put every previous defender to shame just like you said."

Turles hesitated, he didn't like the idea of being put in a box like that . . .

But at the same time if he defeated Prince Trunks Earth would be _his_. . . and he certainly wouldn't let anyone damage anything that belonged to him.

So he nodded, "I will. I'll surpass you, defeat you and I won't stop there. I'll become the greatest in the galaxy, you'll see."

And maybe he would. Turles wouldn't lie, he was open to the idea of letting Trunks live as his prisoner to see it all once he was safely subjugated.

Trunks nodded and said, "Good luck in the tournament then. Because you're going to need it, because you're not quite where you _think_ you are."

Turles smiled, it was very possible that he had never truly felt so much respect for Prince Trunks before that very moment. Maybe it was the gratitude of knowing that he would become a Super Saiyan, or maybe it was the elation of knowing that Trunks' own ego would be his undoing, whatever the reason in that moment Turles was actually _happy_.

And he'd never been more eager to fight in the tournament.

He said as Trunks walked back down the hallway, "I'll show you _exactly_ where I really am in the tournament, I'll defeat every challenger, I'll take them all on at once if necessary!"

"Ooh boy! Someone's blood is running hot, excited for the tournament sounds like it doesn't begin to describe you!" Erasa said, reminding Turles that she was still there.

He was about to scowl at her and tell her to leave but to his surprise she said, "Well thank you so much for answering my questions! I _really_ think we should do this again sometime, maybe after you win this tournament you can tell me just what a Super Saiyan is and what is involved in becoming one! Toodles!"

Turles didn't get a chance to argue but he was glad she was gone at least.

The day was looking up.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks walked away from the encounter a bit less happy than Turles.

He'd nearly lost total control and he knew it. His greatest fear these days wasn't of any enemy, it was of himself of his own Saiyan side coming out the way it had at the battle of the bunker.

Hearing Turles talk that way, openly bragging to Erasa that he'd defeat him even though Trunks knew he shouldn't be encouraging Turles in any way all he could think at the time was 'I wish you would try.'

It was just like training with Cauliflora and Rhubara for the past few days, the pair of them together weren't a martial threat to him and just as he'd suspected even working together they couldn't tax him enough to provoke a transformation from him through fighting, his base form was more than adequate and he'd never doubted that.

 _But_ as it turned out even from the first night he could tell that it wasn't them being a _threat_ he needed to worry about, it was them being too much fun to fight. Real living thinking opponents eager to meet and surpass him, strong foes to train with . . . the excitement of the matches set his Saiyan blood on fire and sometimes that dark side almost took control during training and he nearly forgot to fight them at half strength.

Worse just like he'd done now with Turles sometimes his true power came out, sometimes his Saiyan side got too riled, too eager for him to stop it from happening and even if it was only for an instant one instant could sometimes be all it took. It had been all it took for him to kill that Arcosian when he hadn't even meant to . . .

Or had he?

And if he could do that to an enemy in an instant what might he do to his students in an instant?

What might he do to someone like Turles? His heart was pounding in his chest and his teeth chattered as if he were freezing, but he knew it was just his nerves. His hands were shaking as he tried to suppress his darkness.

He was lost in his own world trying to bring himself back under control, trying to be Trunks the Earthling, the Golden Warrior, the Defender of Earth instead of Prince Trunks the Half-Saiyan warrior, the fighter, the killer.

 _It's not killing that bothers you though,_ Trunks thought to himself, _it's unnecessary killing, it's killing when you don't even mean to, when you don't even realize what you're doing, killing when you're not the one in control of your actions._

But even then, a different but similar voice in his head asked, _and when is that exactly? It's not as if you're an android with a remote control, you're always in control of your own actions._

He was lost in thought as he walked, almost not realizing that Mai was calling his name until she reached out and tugged on his wrist.

The sensation snapped the young warrior out of his stupor and into one of a different sort. His mind went mostly blank and all he could think of was the fact that her bare hand was touching his bare wrist and it was warm . . . warm and soft, softer than he'd expect a soldier's hand to be but not so soft that he couldn't still tell she was used to holding a firearm.

He blinked a few times and looked at her while he tried to focus on . . . _Maybe my surroundings?_

Yes, surroundings, where was he? He needed to ground himself.

He was in the lobby headed for the door, that made sense, he was pretty sure that was where he'd meant to be going . . .

What was Mai doing? What did she want?

Trunks shook his head to clear it and told her, "Sorry, I was in my own head . . . what uh . . . were you saying something?"

"I can tell, and yes I was." Mai said. "You seemed . . . upset, are you okay?" She asked.

Trunks nodded slowly, "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. But you could tell me you know," Mai said, then added, "I promise not to write a news paper article about it."

"Apparently she does magazines too." Trunks said dryly.

"So she is the problem?" Mai asked.

Trunks smiled slightly and said, "No . . . it's just . . . difficult to discuss."

Mai frowned at him and said, "Well . . . we talk to each other a lot lately, don't you think you can talk to me about this?"

Trunks wondered. Honestly part of him wanted to.

But part of him wasn't enough, he was too divided on . . . well, everything these days it seemed.

He didn't think it was anything to do with being Half-Saiyan, after all Gohan didn't seem to have these problems so he had to accept that this was something wrong with him personally and for some reason he didn't want Mai to think there was anything wrong with him personally.

She frowned at him and asked, "If you can't talk about it with me, will you at least promise to talk about it with someone?"

"Who?" Trunks wondered. Who could understand this problem?

His mother didn't . . . could Gohan?

Trunks frowned and said, "I . . . I'll talk to someone, I promise. Please don't worry about me, it's nothing. I just got a little irritated."

"That's not surprising. You've got a lot on your plate and you manage to keep such an even temper most of the time I'd expect you to go through pillows faster than Captain Videl . . . I mean from punching them in frustration but now that I say it out loud you'd probably bring the whole building down even if you did punch a pillow."

"Or worse." Trunks said. Luckily he'd never been _that_ upset.

"Well try not to let . . . whatever it is bother you, okay?" Mai told him, "You've dealt with bigger things after all. I mean I don't know what you're dealing with now," She said with a smile and a bit of a soft chuckle, "but you've sort of saved the world multiple times, saved an alien species, survived Andorids and alien overlords and invaders and worst of all having Captain Videl and even myself angry at you so whatever you're having trouble with now you've dealt with worse."

Trunks smiled, "Thanks," he told her, "but I don't know if I'd call having you and Videl angry at me the worst thing I've ever run into."

"Oh? Well do you ever want us to be mad at you again?" Mai asked and Trunks shook his head quickly.

"No, of course not!" He told her.

She shrugged and said, "You see? You're willing to fight alien overlords and save the Earth again, but even the Golden Warrior knows well enough to fear the wrath of an angry Royal Guard officer."

They laughed together and Trunks felt almost embarrassed to be laughing when just an instant ago he'd been so annoyed but Mai had calmed him down so quickly . . . he almost wanted to tell her about his problem, but he still couldn't.

But he would keep his promise to her and talk to someone else.

Maybe Gohan _had_ dealt with things like this . . . and maybe Trunks needed his old mentor to teach him a few more tricks if he could.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Some of the competitors discuss their chances and their hopes for the tournament, but with Videl further behind than even the newcomers like Brock and Okran can Gohan convince her that she's a worthwhile addition to the tournament roster?_


	109. Strategy

**Episode Twenty-Nine**

**'Strategy'**

 

The stream was noisy and its waters were full of life. There had hardly been anything like it back on planet Vegeta after the war.

Obviously they'd had rivers and streams but fish and other living things swimming around in the water had been a lot more scarce. It was a new and fairly strange experience to sit on the bank watching the clear water rush by full of small fish, and Telluce hadn't yet decided whether or not it was one he liked.

Not just because he thought of fish as food and seeing so many made him hungry but these were all too small to eat, but also because just sitting by the stream gently flicking rocks into the water wasn't going to help him in the tournament.

"Aren't we sort of slacking off?" He tried to remind Kayle, who was casually reclined on a tree branch that reached out over the water.

"Sort of? I think you you mean 'definitely' and you would be right." She didn't even bother to open her eyes, and Tell was tempted to throw a rock at her, but abstained judging it better to live.

"Well the Tournament is fast approaching, every day counts," he told her as he carried on throwing small rocks into the stream gently rather than at her in her tree roughly.

"And every night, and we've had several late ones haven't we? Maybe they're not much trouble for you but I'm pretty worn out."

He could sympathize with that but the training with Turles also benefited her a lot more than him. He just stood there supposedly to intervene if his brother's life was in danger . . . as if there were anything _he_ could do. It just meant spending all night feeling inadequate and annoyed while other people got to have fun and fight and get stronger.

Still he didn't let his sympathy or his jealousy show, instead he just smiled at her and said,"Worn out? You? I've barely ever met anyone as energetic as you when it comes to training lately, come on let's just give it an hour then you can relax some more, what do you say?"

"I say it's taxing work going berserk and getting beat by your braggart brother every night," Kayle told him, "I don't think there's anything wrong with you and me taking a personal day once in a while, do you?"

_Yes, yes I do,_ Telluce thought but he wanted to phrase it better than that. He told her, "The only reason you're losing to Turles is that you can't control yourself, you and Oni together actually have him beat for raw power. That's all the more reason to keep training."

"Oni and I may have your brother beat for brute strength when we're together, but we're not going to _be_ together. It's going to be _you_ and _me_ in the tournament so no point focusing on what a potent combination Oni and I are." Kayle said with a yawn.

Telluce didn't see how she could be so calm. He'd gotten to know that the Evil Twins were a pretty relaxed pair outside of combat but even this was pushing it he thought. He told her, "Exactly. We should be trying to train and get your rages under control around me rather than just around him"

"Later. Right now I just want to relax." Kayle told him.

"Well then I could leave you to it and train alone," He told her, feeling a little frustrated.

"No you're good there. If you leave I might get upset, and you're still not strong enough for that."

"At least we'd be doing something." Telluce sighed.

"We are doing something, we're _talking._ Talking while you're harassing fish and keeping me from napping."

"I'm actually trying not to hit the fish," He pointed out.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"So they'll grow bigger and we can eat them later—look that's not important." He shook his head then looked up at her, "Don't you even want to win?"

"No. I just want to fight. Don't you?" Kayle asked, surprising him with her answer.

He almost didn't want to admit what he wanted. But if it'd light a fire under her he'd tell her, even if she'd only laugh at him.

"I want to fight, but I want to win too! I want to _beat_ Tullece, that's right Tullece! I want to beat my brother and stop him from looking down on me! It doesn't matter what time travel shenanigans he got up to, I'm still the older brother!"

"Well not really if he's been alive longer and experienced more than you, right? But I get it, you're used to calling the shots and it bugs you having to jump when he calls. It'd bug me too." Kayle said but made no move to get out of her tree.

"It's not that," Tell admitted, "Lamson's a boss not me. I don't want to tell him what to do, but I don't want him to look down on me like this either! He's my little brother, I'm the one who should be looking after him, when he tells me to make sure you don't kill him I should be strong enough to actually _do_ it!"

He stood up and clenched a rock in his fist so hard that he crushed it. He told her, "We're low class Saiyans there's always been people stronger than me I can live with that."

"But they've never been your brother." Kayle nodded.

Tell nodded back even though her eyes were still closed. "That's right. I've never had him look down on me and worst of all if he ever had before I could have done something about it . . . but I can't do anything about it now! That's why I _have_ to train, I have to get stronger with or without you."

To his surprise Kayle didn't laugh, instead she sat up on her tree branch and looked at him with fierce red eyes and said, "You want to be the top sibling? You want your brother to see you as a peer and not a bother?"

"I just want to beat him." Tell said.

"Me too." Kayle said. "I want to beat my brother too. Obviously for different reasons, but our end goal is the same."

"So why are we sitting around?" Telluce asked.

"Shared purpose doesn't change our reality," Kayle told him, laying back on the branch again. "I can't control myself, and you're not strong enough to beat Turles yet, and you won't be in time for the tournament. So relax."

"Are you kidding me?" Tell sighed, throwing a rock extra hard into the water causing a huge splash, some of which hit Kayle whose eyes opened again, narrowing on him dangerously. He could feel those eyes on him like a snake looking at a mouse but he didn't apologize, maybe she'd be mad enough to train now.

Instead she told him, "There will be _other_ tournaments, Tell. We shouldn't look at this as something we need to do _now_ , but a step in our journey. Someday you'll beat your brother and someday I'll beat mine because we're going to keep working at it. But we can't rush it, we'll just hurt ourselves if we overdo things."

Tell said, "Future tournaments? So this one doesn't even matter?"

"It matters. But we're not going to be the champions, instead we're going to fight as many opponents as we can, we're going to get a measure of our fellow Saiyans and our Earthling allies, we're going to see with our fists what scouters can't tell us so we'll know what we need to do in the future."

Telluce was undecided on whether what she said was intriguing or insane, but one thing he knew was what he told her next, "That's not what I expected to hear from you."

"What, strategy? How do you think Oni and I know the right time to lose control in a battle? We've _got_ to be strategic. Have to think about where we are, yes, but also where we'll be when it's done. What could happen in the meantime. Battle Rage is a lot more mental than people think, when you won't be in your right mind for a while it helps to at least understand what might happen while you are and what to expect when you come back."

"I guess so." Tell admitted. "Still if you wanted to nap why not just do it at Capsule Corp.? Or why not let me just train on my own, why are we out here?"

"Maybe I just like spending time alone with you, have you thought of that?" Kayle asked dryly.

Telluce laughed, "Yeah, I'm sure it's that and not just that you don't want anyone else noticing that I'm training and you're not and wondering what you're up to."

"Hah, I knew you were clever." Kayle said with a smirk.

"Still us doing stuff like this instead of training might make people think exactly that."

"So what? Not a lot of their business but they wouldn't really be wrong. Right now we're just alone together to be alone together."

"And so no one knows you're napping."

"I'm _not_ napping, _you're_ seeing to that." Kayle told him a little archly. "Anyway I doubt they'll assume anything more than that, so you won't have to worry about Sharro."

Tell scoffed, "Worry? Who's worried? I don't care what she thinks we're doing! And she doesn't care what we're doing for that matter, we're _not_ Earthlings. She and I are just as close as you and your brother."

"What?! Just how close do you think Oni and I _are_?" Kayle snapped, sitting up on the branch and glaring at him for a moment before her expression suddenly softened and she laughed, "Oh . . . I get it . . . you're _embarrassed_ about it!"

"What?!" Tell snapped back, "What would I have to be embarrassed about?"

But Kayle just laughed and said, "I was wondering you know. You and Sharrot are always together, I thought every minute you didn't need to be training with me you'd be with her but you've been _avoiding_ her. I thought maybe you were just angry at her for picking an opponent who can actually control their power up and sticking you with me."

"I'm not avoiding her," Tell scoffed, "We spend loads of time apart!"

"Liar. You're mad at her." Kayle accused with a grin.

"I'm more annoyed than mad."

"Liar," she said again.

"Well I don't need her choosing teammates for me, I can do that myself, thank you!"

"Mm-hmm." Kayle nodded knowingly. "I'm sure you would have gotten around to asking me eventually, right? So what does it matter if she saved you the time?"

"She should have paired with you instead of putting me first!" Telluce insisted.

Kayle actually blushed at that, "You . . . think _I'm_ a better teammate than Pastel? You don't think you got the worse deal?"

"Why would I?" Telluce asked.

"Because if I use my rage I'll probably knock your front teeth out, Pastel will have _control_ when she makes herself twice as strong as us."

"We don't even know if Pastel _can_ increase her power level that high, and even if she can once I'm eliminated you can rage without risking your teammate and blow them both out of the water, if anything I'm just a leash on you in this tournament."

Saying it out loud only made Telluce feel more annoyed though. He was the second fiddle on his own two-man team for crying out loud, he wasn't used to being . . . well, the weak one.

In a weird way it sort of made him miss Kor.

Kayle smiled and said, "Well you're assuming she had the opportunity to pick me over Pastel, who ever said I didn't think _you_ were a way better teammate than Sharro?"

"If you did then _you_ should have come to _me._ " Telluce shrugged.

"Fair enough. So you're mad because you think she chose me for you and gave herself the disadvantage?"

Tell raised a skeptical eyebrow, "You're going to tell me she didn't?"

"Oh she did, sort of." Kayle said cheerfully and with a shrug. "But it wasn't her idea. It was Oni's."

Tell raised his other eyebrow and both now took up a 'surprised' position rather than skepticism as he asked, "Your brother's idea?"

Oni wasn't paired with either of them. What concern was it of his?

"Is there some other Oni? Of course my brother." Kayle said with a wide grin.

"Why?" He had to ask.

"Strategy," she told him simply.

"Strategy?"

"Echo . . . echo . . . _yes_ strategy."

Tell frowned wondering if he should dare ask what the strategy was and so risk continuing to seem stupid to his teammate.

He put his hands in the pocket of his Capsule Corp. jacket, since they weren't training he hadn't bothered to wear his weighted training armor, and sat down on the bank again.

They were both quiet for a while until curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "What strategy?"

Kayle smirked and finally got out of the tree branch. She floated over the water and landed on the bank next to him and said, "That's for us to know and you to find out. Now come on, let's go."

"Are we finally going to train?" Telluce asked hopefully.

"No, you mentioning the fish getting bigger made me hungry. Let's go out to that big ocean they've got here and catch a really big fish!" Kayle said.

Telluce smiled slightly, at least it'd be _something_ to do other than just sit around.

But now he couldn't help but wonder . . . what strategy were the Twins playing at?

And why had Sharro gone along with it?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Training in the desert didn't offer much by way of scenery, but it did mean that there weren't any people or places to get hurt or damaged respectively when huge torrents of golden energy cut deep trenches in the rocky ground around them.

Videl held her hands in front of her face and fought with all her might to stay in place even though it felt like she was trying to stand strong against a hurricane. The force of the blasts Gohan was using was enormous for her, but she knew it was just peanuts to him.

He was taking it easy on her, he was performing probably as weakly as he dared and it was still overwhelming for her.

She felt sort of embarrassed and more than a little outclassed. She was a professional soldier, had been for all of her adult life and she'd been a martial artist for as long as she could remember. After all she was the daughter of Mr. Satan, martial arts had been like a second language for her and one she'd learned to speak very early.

But Gohan was something else all together, he was something her father would never have hoped in his wildest dreams to be. Even when he tried not to be too impressive he still was, and even what he thought was just a low power blast was almost too much for her to endure.

When it was over she breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled at her and said, "Now you try it!"

Videl almost laughed. Instead she just told him, and not for the first time that day, "It's no use, Gohan."

"Oh come on, don't say that. It's a powerful technique, if you can master it-" He was telling her but Videl shook her head.

"I can't blast like that!"

"Well a few days ago you thought you couldn't even blast at all!" Gohan said in an encouraging tone, but she could hear the doubt creeping into his voice.

He knew as well as she did that he was all but asking her to turn lead into gold.

If she had a year or so to train then she might be able to pull something off, but they didn't have that kind of time before the tournament.

Before _he_ would have to defeat Turles and _she_ would have to hold Turles' teammate in check to make sure he didn't interfere . . .

Videl just didn't think she could do that, at least not with brute force. She shook her head at Gohan and said, "Don't try to make it seem like just anyone can do what you do! I'm not a little kid learning to ride a bike and this isn't about taking off my training wheals. I'm a grown woman and a soldier no less, I know my limitations and I know my capabilities even if the bar on both is moving every day.

"Even if I can master the Masenko mine won't be strong enough to matter, I'm telling you I'm never going to be able to do anything like that in time for the tournament." Videl said.

The Masenko blast that Gohan had used had been overwhelming, she felt like she'd just been standing next to a volcano erupting just from the sheer force of it all, her own blasts were just barely stronger than the beam rifles they'd reverse-engineered from the PTO.

It meant she wouldn't need to carry a firearm anymore, but that wasn't going to mean much in _this_ tournament.

Gohan frowned and said, "You have made a lot of progress at least, try not to be disheartened. I've been doing this a long time."

"And you were dead for a long time," Videl said, folding her arms. "I think it's time we rethink this tournament."

"What?" Gohan sounded shocked.

"You're the one who needs to beat Turles, right? So you should be training with Trunks or Sixteen, someone closer to your level so you can increase faster, not someone like me. I'm dead weight."

"You're not dead weight!" Gohan said, "I wouldn't have even entered the tournament if I couldn't have had you as my teammate—uh I mean," the Half-Saiyan blushed and stumbled over his words suddenly.

Videl folded her arms and asked, "So you don't even care about the tournament?"

"I do! I mean I didn't care about winning until I knew about the trouble with Turles, but testing myself was never the goal. I won't even be allowed to go Super Saiyan, if I wanted to really test myself I shouldn't have entered. This was just a good chance to . . . uh, help you out!"

Videl shook her head slowly and said, "I appreciate it. But you intentionally gave yourself the weakest possible teammate there was, right? I mean even those two newcomers started out stronger than me and they're getting a lot stronger than me a lot faster."

"Don't worry too much about scouters," Gohan told her.

"I'm not trusting scouters, I'm trusting my gut and my gut tells me they're both a lot stronger than they were when they arrived. Me, I'm stronger but I'm not as strong as them and if I'm not as strong as _them_ what chance do I have against the rest?"

"Well they're Saiyans, we get stronger the more we fight," Gohan said sheepishly, "that doesn't mean you're not getting really strong too!"

"I know that, but it's slower for Earthlings, isn't it? That's why Bulma brought the Saiyans to Earth after all, she wanted strong defenders who'd grow fast. Well I have to admit I can't compete with them, not in a conventional test of strength anyway."

"That's no reason to drop out."

"Who said anything about dropping out?" Videl asked, "I'm still going to help you beat that Turles if I can, but I think we should rethink _how_ we're going to do it."

Gohan held his chin for a moment as he thought to himself and then he said, "So you're saying we shouldn't try to win with strength?"

"That's right," Videl said, "I think we need a better strategy."

Gohan seemed intrigued, he asked her, "What do you have in mind?"

"Well going Super Saiyan increases your power level by fifty, right? So . . . is there a way I can go Super Human?"

"If there is no one's found it." Gohan told her.

"Right. So we have to rule out winning with brute strength all together," Videl said, "unless my job is to stand in the ring while you grab both our opponents and jump out."

Gohan's expression brightened and Videl shook her head, "No!" She scolded him.

He nodded to her, "You're right, it wouldn't be in the spirit of things and besides it'd probably only work once, if that."

"Not to mention there's a lot that can go wrong with that sort of plan. Suppose you can only get one of them? Suppose one of them knocks you out before you can get them? If you failed or messed it up in any way I'd be on my own against at least one irritated opponent, maybe two."

"Right so . . . what else can we try?" Gohan asked.

Videl shrugged, "I'm not sure. But I don't think me blasting anyone is going to do the trick . . . maybe we need to think of a way to keep me in the ring instead?"

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked.

"All the power and the pressure from the blasts and attacks that are going to be going on, I know whoever we're up against is going to be trying not to seriously injure me—especially because my death would mean their disqualification—but what stops me from just being blown out of the ring by the force of it all?"

"I hadn't thought about that. You've been fine so far," Gohan told her.

"Barely. And you're not at the level you're going to be during the fighting, you've been taking it easy because I'm too weak to warrant a full effort."

"I wish you wouldn't say it like that," Gohan said, "I'm just not using more energy than I need to to train you."

"Fine, we'll call it that then," Videl said with a dry smile, "but I think maybe we should try some heavier blasts."

"What, you mean actually try to blow you away?" Gohan asked.

"Well yeah, I should practice being able to hold my ground against a heavier blast."

Gohan looked skeptical, "You won't be able to just plant yourself during the fight."

"Of course not, but once our first match starts it's not like our opponent won't throw everything they've got at you, right? So if I don't want to be thrown out of the ring either from the power of it or just dodging for my life I should get used to feeling that kind of power."

"You mean you want to try to work out some kind of . . . protective technique?" Gohan reasoned and she nodded.

"Sure. Maybe a barrier or an aura." Videl explained.

"We can try. But whatever defense you can muster is going to be a reflection of the power you have." Gohan told her.

Videl smiled, "Sure. But I think we'd get further focusing on my defense rather than focusing on my offense, don't you?"

Gohan shrugged and said, "All right . . . how about if I use a light blast and I'll gradually keep increasing the force until you _are_ blown away? Then we'll know what we're working with at least."

"Okay, sure." Videl said with a shrug, glad that she'd mastered flight at least.

She'd need it when she was blown away.

Gohan nodded and said, "All right . . . get ready . . . here goes . . ."

He began to gather energy for his blast and Videl braced herself as blue light gathered in his hands.

"Ka . . . me . . . ha . . . me . . ."

"Ha!" Videl cried, thrusting her hand forward and blasting the ball of energy he'd been gathering.

She'd hoped for some kind of chain reaction, maybe for it to blow up in his hands but instead her blast of yellow light just got swallowed up by his blue energy before he abandoned the attack and asked her in surprise, "What was that?"

"Nothing . . . thought I saw a fly." Videl lied then said, "Okay, okay, I thought maybe I'd try seeing if ambushes were my thing. It didn't work, let's just go back to what you were going to do."

Gohan gave her a skeptical look but she smiled and said, "Promise, I won't try anything else."

But Gohan shook his head and said, "No . . . I think you should! Were you trying to do what I think you were?"

"What do you mean?" Videl asked, blushing, "I . . . thought maybe I could detonate the attack before you could finish it."

Gohan smiled at her and she frowned in confusion, "What?" She asked.

Gohan said, "I think we just found our new strategy."

"But it didn't work!" Videl said.

"No, you won't be able to make someone else's blast go off in their own hands because it's their own energy they're gathering. But . . ."

"But?" Videl asked.

"Well we're supposed to be a team right? So maybe a bit of teamwork . . . I have an idea. Have you ever seen those old war movies where the use mine fields?"

"Gohan I'm a soldier, I've _set_ mines." Videl said.

Gohan just smiled at her and summoned up a blue ball of energy. He threw it in the distance and said, "Go on, try it now."

Videl shrugged and did as she was told, blasting that floating ball of blue energy.

This time it went off . . . and again she thought it was a good thing she'd already gotten the hang of flying.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Chillax is still on the hunt for an Earthling friend and they've got to be strong, the best of the best, after all they're going to be_ his _friend. But what happens if the person he hits it off with isn't anything like that?_


	110. Bonds of Friendship

**Episode Thirty**

**'Bonds of Friendship'**

 

Hanging up her phone as the elevator doors opened Erasa groaned so loudly it drowned out the elevator's contented sigh, causing a raised eyebrow from Mai, who was just stepping into the elevator herself to go down and see how the training in the gravity control room was going.

It wasn't that she felt like she could contribute much to it, but since it was the Guard's Special Forces training down there she felt like she should at least see how they were coming along relative to everyone else. For the sake of camaraderie.

Still she felt obligated to ask the reporter, "What's the problem?"

Erasa just laughed, her cheerful demeanor returned as she answered, "Oh it's nothing you need to worry about! Just got a call from Sharpner, apparently some of your Saiyans have gone rogue."

Mai's heart skipped a beat in shock. Was Turles already on the move? She'd thought he'd wait, Trunks had thought he'd wait but it seemed they'd been wrong.

"I'll let Trunks know, we'll deal with it," she assured Erasa.

Erasa shook her head and said, "No, I'm more or less public relations here now, I'll have to find a way to spin this."

"Spin this?" Mai gasped.

"Well yeah, it's not _so_ bad," Erasa was saying but Mai gasped.

"Saiyans going rogue isn't so bad?" Was this woman insane?

"Yeah, they only killed a couple . . ."

"They've taken _life_?" Mai was absolutely shocked at Erasa's blasé attitude on the subject, but she was glad she was heading for the gravity control room, "How can you possibly spin this?"

"I'm thinking an environmentalist angle? I mean why should aliens know not to hunt whales if we don't stop doing it ourselves?"

"Are you—wait, whales?" Mai blinked.

"Yeah, I figure that's the best angle, it lets us put the blame on an unpopular industry instead of on you lot. Given a week we can have people forgetting all about that pod of minke whales . . . though I have to admit even the name is cute, that's not great for us. But I'll push the story as a pair of kids who had no idea their actions were wrong because of the example we ourselves set, make them the victims and all that."

Well it was probably true that the Saiyans, whichever ones they'd been, had no idea their actions had been wrong though Mai doubted that Earthling example had had anything to do with it, or the sentience of the animals would have factored into the decision to do them harm. To the Saiyans they'd probably just looked like really big tasty fish.

It should have occurred to them to tell the carnivores with a metabolism like a shrew not to just kill and eat whatever they encountered in the wild. Still Mai shook her head and tried to process what Erasa was saying and the relief that it wasn't what she'd assumed at first, "Wait, they . . . they killed a bunch of whales?"

"Or Sharpner's pulling my leg." Erasa shrugged. "Said he's at the beach right now, I'll head down there in a bit."

"And they're eating them?" Mai asked.

"Must know them pretty well." Erasa nodded. "Apparently even a whale is too much for them, at least in one sitting so they were sharing with some locals . . . so at least there's that, you know a generosity angle and all."

"I . . . this is not a problem I expected I'd have to present to Trunks." Mai admitted.

"No need, I'll make sure it's no problem at all!" Erasa declared.

Mai sighed and the elevator did too as they arrived. She stepped off and Erasa came with her.

She asked, "Um . . . were you coming to this floor?"

"It is the bottom, isn't it?" Erasa asked.

"I mean it's the training room . . . so no one will be able to give you an interview." Mai pointed out.

"Oh that's fine! I an interview you while I wait for them!"

"Me?" Mai asked in surprise, "But I already gave an interview."

"Yes, but the people are so hungry for knowledge about you!"

"Me?" Mai asked, again in surprise.

"Yes! Well, all of you, but mostly you though."

"Mostly me?" Mai blinked.

"Well of course! I mean come on, no one buys that there's _nothing_ between you and Trunks! The public imagination is going wild!"

"That's bad!" Mai cried.

"No it's great!" Erasa insisted, "Our sales have never been better and like I said before the public opinion is positive on the subject, really there's no reason for you two _not_ to be a couple yet . . . except personal preference I suppose."

"But I thought you were supposed to stop the rumors!" Mai cried.

"I don't think I ever promised _that_ ," Erasa said, "I just said I'd get your side of the story out there! And my good lady, even your side of the story makes you two sound pretty chummy!"

"Uh—sure, we're chums, we're pals, we're buddies even but we're not a _couple_ , Erasa!" Mai insisted.

"Well I've told the public that and it's done very little. So why not help me to clarify it further? Answer a few more questions for me!"

Mai shook her head and said, "I . . . don't want to discuss this just now, it's still a bit of a . . . difficult subject. Why don't you deal with the beach situation and if the evening news isn't accusing Capsule Corp. of having a whaling arm I'll talk to you about this then, okay?"

"Well if you insist," Erasa sighed. She looked at the video monitor of the fighters training in the room and said, "You know I have to say I never thought there'd be so many aliens serving on the Royal Guard. Does it make you feel obsolete as a mere human that most of the King's Special Forces are from other worlds?"

"No, I know that we Earthlings have our roles to play, anyway Captain Soda is still an Earthling and she's one of the toughest of—hey, I said I don't want to give an interview right now!" Mai insisted.

"Oh pshaw it's just an innocent question!" Erasa giggled.

"With you I'm starting to think there's no such thing," Mai mumbled.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The search for an Earthling to call "friend" had taken Chillax far and wide that particular day.

More specifically he had attempted to make friends with Captain Soda, but she was often busy and he didn't like cozying up to superior officers anyway, least it seem like toadying.

So he'd tried to steal Beeta's Earthling friend but that hadn't worked out, he was as fatalistic and depressive as she was but without any of the positive aspects like being a good fighter or having stories about actually getting to meet Lord Frieza.

So he'd tried to steal Beeta's Earthling friend's Earthling friend, but she was as impossible to understand as Glacien once he really got talking and worse unlike Glacien who at least had the decency to have no head for games the Earthling called Basil just kept beating him at that board game she played.

And of course any time he asked her what it was called she just told him to "Go."

So "go" he had . . . to the kitchens, and there was an Earthling there so he'd tried to strike up a conversation with the man only to learn that Asiago had no patience for anyone who did not cook or could not help cook.

Weirdo.

Sitting forlornly in an overly comfortable chair in the lounge while some of the other fighters who weren't training at the moment watched a view screen depicting some sort of Earthling dance called 'wrestling' and shouting advice and criticism at the dancers Chillax was increasingly of the opinion that it was a futile search.

And anyway he couldn't call just anyone 'friend' his 'friend' had to be someone superb so he wouldn't need more than one.

Someone who would make all other Earthlings jealous.

Someone who would make all other non-Earthlings jealous.

Someone he wouldn't hate to be around.

Obviously someone _other_ than the white-whiskered black-eyed being who sat down across from him and asked, "What's got you down in the dumps then, young'un?"

"Greetings Master Roshi," Chillax greeted automatically before sighing and said, "And . . . it's nothing."

"No interest in watching the match with the rest of them, eh?"

"I've seen this episode." Chillax lied.

"It's a live broadcast." Master Roshi said with a grin.

"Of course it is . . ." Chillax sighed, "Well it's not very interesting to me."

"That's too bad. But you know _you're_ pretty interesting to me," the old hermit told him.

Chillax gave him a skeptical look and said, "You're aware I am male, yes?"

"As I understand it your whole species is," Master Roshi said lightly, "but more to the point I'm not interested in you for that! Don't you go believing everything they say about old Roshi, haha!"

"Okay . . . then why am _I_ interesting to you?" Chillax asked.

"Well because you switched sides. Not only did you switch sides but you brought a whole band of powerful fighters over with you and I don't think I've ever bothered to really ask you just what it was that inspired you to join us instead of fighting us."

"Why do you want to know?" Chillax asked.

"At first I thought it was just because of desperation because you'd turned on your people," Roshi explained, "but as I thought about it I realized that even if that were the case you still _turned_ on your own people. Not for our sakes, but because you'd befriended Tathy."

"Sure." Chillax shrugged. "I wish I'd known just how immortal she was before I did that though."

"So you _would_ have gone with your people if you could have?" Master Roshi asked him.

"Of course." Chillax shrugged. "But that was then . . . this is now. Now that I'm here, now that I've been a part of this I wouldn't find it so easy to turn back if you're afraid I'd betray."

Master Roshi's large black sunglasses revealed nothing he just nodded his bald head and asked, "So what about life on Earth has changed your opinion?"

"I don't know that my opinion has been changed by anything on Earth," Chillax admitted, "I think . . . it's just harder to destroy things you're used to."

Roshi actually laughed and said, "That's not terribly comforting!"

"I didn't mean for it to be." Chillax said honestly. "If you want comforting I would tell you it's all the lasting bonds of friendship I've made with your wonderful people."

"But you'd be lying." Master Roshi nodded.

"More or less. To be honest I don't feel any stronger towards Earthlings than I did towards any alien race that served the PTO. I recognize your resilience and power of course, and I think your King is a kind leader but . . ." Chillax searched for the words to express how he felt.

He said, "The truth is that I have no desire to see Earth or any world extinguished anymore. I think that my people should simply leave life alone and let nature take its own course. Lord Frieza . . . he established an absolutely pointless economy. Selling planets for money that's only worth as much as we decide it is? Exterminating whole races because we can?

"I see now it was never a sustainable lifestyle or even one to be admired or envied though I do wish I had the kind of power Frieza had."

"You've come a long way training here." Master Roshi pointed out.

"It's true, but Frieza never needed to train, he was a natural talent. I've had to work for what I am and even now I can't compare to him."

Master Roshi nodded slowly and Chillax asked, "Why are you asking me questions anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Master Roshi asked him.

"Exactly what I asked. You said yourself you didn't give it much thought. My being here shouldn't bother you any more now than it used to, so why question me?"

"I'm just trying to get a feel for who you are as a person." Roshi explained.

"What? Why?" Chillax asked.

"So that I can help you out." Master Roshi said simply. "You're causing a bit of a disturbance pestering so many people lately, and I'm not just talking about the ones you've bothered today."

Chillax felt a little deflated, "Well I'll try not to bother them any more."

"It seems like you're trying to make a friend," Master Roshi said, "but you're not just letting it happen naturally."

"That's because I've never made a friend naturally," Chillax said, "at least never on purpose. Every friendship I've ever formed was on accident."

Roshi laughed, "Yeah? Well that's one way to do it. Why don't you just give it time and let it happen accidentally then? After all you've got a tournament to train for and you're one of the ones that Soda's really counting on."

"You mean I should try to focus more on my training," Chillax nodded.

"And less on pestering others." Roshi said.

Chillax shrugged, "That's fine I guess. But it doesn't help me . . . the truth is if I'm going to spend the rest of my long life here on Earth I want to . . . I don't know . . . _want_ to live here? Right now I'm just accepting of it, if I could go somewhere else I probably would. I want to _want_ to be here."

"Why?" Master Roshi asked, "Why not want to be back home with your own people? Why not wish for the day when you'll be accepted by your own kind again?"

"That's the point though, this has to be my home now, I want it to _feel_ like one. I don't want to pine for the place I was born, and to be honest I don't. I wasn't really close to anyone there."

"No one?" Master Roshi raised an eyebrow and though Chillax couldn't see his eyes he suspected skepticism.

But the Arcosian shrugged, "Truly," he said, "I was fashioned into a fighter from before my first memory and sent from 'uncle' to 'uncle' to be trained in combat and tactics and all of that sort of thing so I never made very many friends, I never had the time."

"They weren't really your uncles?" Master Roshi asked.

"Technically they were, I think we all come from the same source if you go back far enough, we are the Frost Clan so we're all related in one way or another I guess. But no, not all of them were my fathers' brothers, I was just supposed to treat them like they were because they were older."

"Ah. But what about the one your own age?" Roshi asked.

"I didn't have to treat them like anything so I didn't," Chillax said with a slight smirk, "I was a pompous little thing! I was competitive too, I saw everyone as a rival. Being the son of one of the Clan's leaders, and the second son at that I knew I had to be the best, if they were better than me I couldn't stop until I beat them."

Master Roshi nodded slowly and asked, "Well if friendships have never come naturally to you and they didn't make you feel any connection to your old home why are you trying to forge one here?"

Chillax said, "I don't think you understand, I'm not saying that I'm incapable of friendship,"

"Of course not, you're friends with Tathy after all." Roshi agreed.

"But what I'm saying is that it doesn't come easily or naturally to me, I'm not like Karuto; still young enough to make friends with anyone for whatever reason, still trusting enough . . . but friendship took control of my hands when my mind went blank, friendship fired the blast that changed my life. Friendship saw my whole squad defect to Earth along with me . . . if friendship is something I've been missing in my life until now doesn't it stand to reason that friendship is going to help me make the connections that will make this place feel like one I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life in?"

Master Roshi nodded slowly. "Interesting. Interesting . . . well then, I think I might be able to help you out."

"What? Help me?" Chillax asked.

"Of course, young'un! So that you can focus more on your training!"

Chillax frowned, "Okay . . . what do you propose to do?"

"I'm going to take what you've told me about yourself and find you the right person to be your Earthling friend, the right person to make you feel that sense of connection and home."

Chillax frowned, "That's a bit of a strange thing to do for someone like me . . . or anyone, come to think of it."

"I'm bored," Roshi said simply but Chillax could tell it was a lie.

So he asked, "Really, what would you do that? It can't just be that I'm not focusing on the training because I'm still improving at high speed so what is it really?"

Master Roshi smiled slightly and said, "Truth to be told . . . it's because I'm curious myself to see if someone like Frieza really can be friends with an Earthling. Someone without the sort of power they have so they don't have to accept them as a peer, or a superior, instead someone you have to accept for their personality."

Chillax blinked, "Wait, I never said they shouldn't be powerful!"

"Of course you did!" Roshi laughed, "You said yourself you were very competitive, you didn't like people who could compare to you, right?"

"When I was a kid!" Chillax said, "Now I know people who can compare to me are the best!"

But the old Turtle Hermit laughed and said, "Heh I think we'll find someone."

"But they've got to be the best!"

"The best? Well maybe the best for you. But the truth is there is no objective 'best' when it comes to people. Maybe that's been your problem all this time?"

Chillax was about to argue, but then he thought . . . what did he have to lose?

He sighed and shrugged, "All right, I guess . . . but won't I just wonder about who it's going to be now? How will I focus on my training?"

"You'll focus because if you don't I won't introduce you to them!" Master Roshi said with a wicked laugh.

Chillax scoffed, "So friendship at the cost of performance in the tournament eh?"

"Why not?" Master Roshi asked, "What ever motivates you."

Chillax nodded slowly, "Okay . . . deal then."

But he was still confused about who Roshi would choose . . . whose personality would compliment his regardless of strength?

He couldn't even imagine . . . but what was the benefit in this for Roshi, he wondered.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Training in the desert never offered up much by way of scenery, but Gohan had to admit Videl looked beautiful as they walked across the golden desert sands, her raven hair blowing in the gentle breeze.

"The tournament is going to be tough, even with this strategy you know." Videl told him.

"Yeah. But I think we'll surprise quite a few people." Gohan told her.

The two could fly back to Capsule Corp. of course, but they'd decided to take a moment to enjoy the solitude.

It was hardly a long walk along the beach, and though they didn't know it at the time it had far less excitement than the beaches had at the moment, but it would suffice far better for their purposes.

There was no paparazzi here, even if Erasa's exclusive coverage had resulted in a lot more reporters bidding for interviews it hadn't stopped random camera-jockeys from trying to snap some photos.

Not that Gohan was anywhere _near_ as in-demand as Trunks.

But still, almost _anyone_ caught leaving Capsule Corp. got their picture taken these days, privacy was getting hard to come by, especially now that people knew there was some secret tournament coming up between the EDF fighters.

It threatened to absolutely dwarf the King's tournament in terms of excitement and rumor had it that many of the fighters who would be competing for the chance to join the new batch of EDF recruits would be trying to locate and maybe even participate in this tournament.

Gohan was of a mind that any that would be able to sense and reach them deserved at least be heard out.

Brute strength wasn't everything, and he felt like he and Videl working together would show that.

Videl smiled at him and said, "I don't think it'll work more than once, should we save it for the match against Turles?"

"I don't know that that won't be our first match, it depends on how the tournament is laid out," Gohan told her, "we might take him on right away if Trunks' training with the girls doesn't go well."

"How has that been going?" Videl asked him.

"I'm not sure, but I don't sense their power levels quite reaching Turles' yet." Gohan admitted. "Still . . . strength isn't everything, they might be able to take him out."

"But since Saiyans get stronger by fighting strong opponents won't it be bad if he beats them both?"

"Numerically speaking he probably won't get the chance to fight them both. Honestly we should be thinking of what we'll do against them too, they're really strong competitors."

"So is everyone really, I think they've each got something up their sleeves."

"That's true." Gohan agreed. "Are you worried?"

"No." Videl said with a slight smile, "I'm on your team after all. We'll win."

"Win?" Gohan asked, "Are you sure? I'm pretty sure Sixteen is a lot stronger than me in my base form."

"Then you just worry about Soda and I'll handle Sixteen." Videl said with a smirk.

"Oh you will, will you?" Gohan smirked back.

"Of course. After all, strength isn't everything." Videl said with a wink.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

 **Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _preparation for the tournament reaches its conclusion , many fighters are feeling the crunch as the time rapidly approaches and some feel the pressure to do well. Everyone deals with it in their own way, but can a strange camaraderie rise from all of this? And is there something dangerous on the horizon? Find out next time!_


	111. New Neighbors

**Episode Thirty-One**

**'New Neighbors'**

 

Anavill let out a steady sigh as she sank down onto the couch in the lounge.

"That tiring?" Rhyce asked her. The other girl was sitting on an ottoman nearby half paying attention to Anavill, half paying attention to the TV it seemed.

It was a commercial break, no doubt the reason she was able to spare some focus for Anavill. The program was an old black and white retelling of a very well known story but to Rhyce it probably all seemed new, like most youths there hadn't been much opportunity to watch television with the Androids rampaging.

Anavill was only slightly older so she understood, but had had a lot more time to binge watch after the battle of the bunker and before she'd been healed.

The truth was there wasn't much to watch these days. The Androids had destroyed a lot of cinema, anything they didn't like or maybe anything they did, no one could really tell. Maybe it had just been everything they _found_.

Whatever the case mankind hadn't really managed to produce much entertainment that wasn't shot live, even the reruns of the Golden Warrior's tournament held nearly a year ago was considered prime time television.

Most people just read these days.

Anavill smiled and answered Rhyce's query saying, "It was rough today, but I think we made a breakthrough. Schip still can't get through my Pop Rocks defense, but I can't stop his Bash Barrage without it anymore. What about you?"

"Well we didn't break any bones this time." Rhyce told her, "Kor's coming along pretty well, he's still not going to be the best fighter but he'll do pretty well."

"I hope we all will," Anavill said, "I have to admit I'm getting nervous."

Rhyce seemed surprised and gave her her full attention, turning her back on the television, "You're nervous? But you're tough as nails, and Schip's your teammate. You two will do just fine!"

"But we're just two Earthlings," Anavill sad quietly, not wanting to get the attention of any of the other people in the lounge. There was the two of them, Thyme, Bocan and Pastel trying and failing to keep anyone from noticing they were holding hands, and a small group of Royal Guard troopers, including Card who was showing Korrard a new trick.

"What's wrong with that?" Rhyce asked speaking quietly no doubt because Anavill had been.

Other than Korrard though none of the Saiyans were in the lounge, still Anavill didn't want any of the Earthlings to hear her and she kept whispering, "We don't grow as fast as the Saiyans and neither of us died and learned the Kaioken, we're at a real disadvantage."

"So am I," Rhyce said, "having a Saiyan teammate didn't change that. There are some big power levels here, but that doesn't mean we can't still do well or even win."

Anavill smiled, "Yeah?"

"Strategy, sister." Rhyce said, tapping the side of her head, "Gotta fight up here as much as anywhere else, right?"

"Right." Anavill nodded. "Though I've got to admit I envy Gohan and Videl getting a private lesson from Master Roshi in the gravity room right now."

"Well that's hard to argue with," Rhyce admitted, "but the Captain is way behind everyone else she probably needs it."

"Don't be too sure," the Royal Guard trooper known as Card commented, "The Cap's a pretty sharp thinker, I'll bet she comes up with a strategy that blows her opposition right out of the water. Rhyce is right, you gotta fight every battle in your head too."

"What about the odds?" Anavill asked, "You're the game-maker right? What are you rating Schip and me as far as winning?"

Card actually blushed and said, "Well I thought it'd be in poor taste . . . but if I had to throw out a number . . ."

"I put you at eight to one." Tarragon reported.

"What? Tarra!" Card gasped.

"What? _You_ thought it'd be in poor taste, _I_ didn't." Tarragon said simply. "Before you ask, Rhyce, you and the future magician there are nine to one."

"Harsh." Rhyce said. "Is there anyone lower than that?"

"Do you really want to know?" Tarra asked with a smirk.

"I do," Anavill admitted.

"Tathy and Prage are at ten to one. They've trained as much as anyone but neither of them has increased their power level at all."

Anavill sat up, intrigued by that. "So . . . Tathy is still just sitting at thirty thousand?"

"Yeah, and Prage hasn't moved from the one hundred thousand he started at, which was still higher than he was when he first joined the Guard so obviously he _can_ grow and he just hasn't."

"But in that case why only a ten to one?" Rhyce asked.

"I didn't want to be mean." Tarra said lightly.

"Or if I know you, and I _do_ ," Card said with a wicked smirk, "you're betting there's something up their sleeves that the scouters can't see."

"Well . . . I haven't ruled out the possibility." Tarra said with a shrug.

Anavill smiled, "Well as comforting as it is to know I'm not at the bottom rung of the ladder I can't help but feel like you're right to be concerned, Tarragon. After all Tathy is functionally immortal, right?"

"Cauliflora did say she tried to kill her over and over again . . . or um . . . I mean Brassica." Rhyce said, glancing nervously at Kor but the scrawny Saiyan seemed utterly engrossed in practicing his new card trick.

Just in case Anavill laughed and said, "They _do_ look awfully similar."

"No kidding, right?" Card added helpfully.

"That's just the way we all are," Korrard spoke up, showing that he had indeed been listening even if he didn't seem like it, "I'm sure you've noticed that even I and Turles have some similarities, and Tell and Gohan look alike too. The truth is that Saiyans mostly all look the same."

"Why is that anyway?" Rhyce asked.

"Well we don't have the same variety you Earthlings did." Kor told her, looking up from his cards, "From what I understand of our history there was a civil war and only a few hundred of our ancestors survived to be the parents of our whole race, and our population was always really low because most of us like to fight. But still Brassica and Cauli looking alike isn't that weird, siblings often can look almost identical, especially if they have the same parents which they almost never do because long term bonding is seen as a weakness. But then you guys are getting to see that whole thing play out between Tell and Sharro."

Anavill did wonder where those two had gotten off to. Tell had been disappearing most nights lately, but Sharro usually at least stayed in the compound but Anavill couldn't even sense her energy nearby.

Still she nodded her understanding to Kor. So that was why younger Cauli had just accepted that her older self was just a sister. It had seemed strange to Anavill that she'd do that, but then Schip had suggested that a rational mind wouldn't necessarily assume the more obvious answer, after all who had any experience running into an older version of themselves? Schip had suggested it just wouldn't occur to the average person right away, and Brassica had been fairly guarded since her first meeting with her younger self.

But Anavill could see now it made sense that the Saiyans in general just didn't question similar appearances. She shook her head in amazement, "Wow . . . but if you all look so similar how do you tell each other apart?"

"Well the same way you Earthlings do it," Kor said looking at Anavill now, "We spot the differences in our faces, in our voices, the way we carry ourselves, our scents."

"Your scents? You mean you just smell each other like . . . like dogs?" Anavill gawked.

"Hey, don't be rude!" Rhyce said and Anavill blushed and bowed her head in apology.

"S-sorry, I was just surprised by that revelation."

"It's not a revelation because it's not quite right," Korrard said but he didn't sound offended, "We don't sniff each other when we meet or anything, I was just saying sometimes you can tell a person by their scent, and we have much stronger noses than you Earthlings."

"Huh . . ." Rhyce said, trailing off looking like she was thinking about asking exactly what Anavill was.

But it was Card who said it out loud first, asking Korrard, "How do we smell?"

Korrard laughed, "You all smell just fine! I mean most of the time . . . but you're not any better or worse than a Saiyan to me, I can't speak for the others."

"Where _are_ the others anyway?" Rhyce asked, "I mean not that I'm complaining but I don't even see much of Turles anymore."

"They're probably all off training." Korrard said, then he looked embarrassed and said, "Uh—well I mean I'm sure they'd be back before curfew if they were!"

And then Anavill realized he didn't look embarrassed, he looked guilty.

Before she could wonder why Rhyce jumped up and said, "Oh so that's what it is eh? Well that sounds like a good idea to me! Come on, Kor, there's still another half-hour of free time before curfew, let's train some more!"

Korrard sighed wearily and handed Cardamom's deck of cards back to her before obediently following Rhyce out just as Schip came in.

"Where are they going?" Schip asked.

Anavill was tired . . . but she also didn't like having just eight to one odds so she said, "Same place we're going," she told him as she rose and headed for the door to follow them, "Come on, Schip let's go train some more."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The night sky was beautiful but without a moon it was always so dark. Bulma had given some pretty serious thought to using the Dragon Balls to wish back the moon, after all that wouldn't be a totally selfish use of their power the moon served a very useful function apart from just helping to light the night.

However with so many Saiyans the return of the moon would pose a pretty serious issue as long as they all had their tails, and if Earth was to become their new home as well they should really be able to live on it without destroying it once a month or so.

Though in the spirit of sportsmanship or some other such nonsense all of the fighters of the EDF and the Crusher Corps. had agreed not to use scouters to measure each other's power levels as they prepared for the tournament Bulma had made no such agreement and wearing one of the newer visor-versions with which Earthling eyes fared better she watched the distance and the scouter's readout of the various power levels being used.

They were all getting so strong, Earth was very nearly safe again.

But it wasn't complete or whole just yet.

She had been trying to find time to schedule a visit with the Grand Elder Moori, but with Cargo and Dende always on the lookout and Bass something of an outsider among his cousins she hadn't found a proper go-between yet and she didn't want to just barge in. Still she knew that Moori's arrival on Earth had brought with it the Namekian Dragon Balls, the most powerful Dragon Balls there were.

If anything could bring her Vegeta back to her it was bound to be that, she just needed permission to use them.

One little request, then hopefully one little wish . . . it wouldn't change the world but it would make a difference for her.

She smiled slightly, watching as everyone's struggles carried on through the night knowing that in the end it would make for quite the spectacle but more importantly it would show them all just how far they had come in less than a year.

Turles was powerful, there was no denying it. He really was so similar to Goku, it would be a shame if he couldn't be reasoned with, a further shame if he took too many of the others down with him, those Evil Twins were quite a force and Bulma hoped that training with Turles would help them get control of their berserker rage so that they could make better use of it in the future.

And the girls Karuto had brought back, Young Cauliflora and Rhubara weren't going to be anything to sneeze at, even if their overall growth seemed to take longer than Turles' they were doing a good job of keeping pace with him if not quite closing the gap completely yet.

But Gohan would still be able to give him a run for his money by the looks of it, and even though the scouter couldn't recognize Sixteen's actual power Bulma knew he would be an immovable object for everyone he encountered.

Unfortunately that was how it had to be, they needed someone guaranteed to be able to beat Turles to help him lose a bit of face in front of the Saiyans . . . well Sixteen could do the job, Bulma knew, but she still hoped it'd be Gohan to do the honors.

And a wild part of her even hoped it wouldn't be. A part of her hoped that Turles would be just like Goku, that he would surpass all expectations, overcome Gohan even overcome Sixteen as impossible as she knew that to be without the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan.

Maybe Roshi was right and she really had lost it. She smiled wickedly at the thought, and glanced over her shoulder at Basil, "Finished with the roster?"

"Yes ma'am," Basil told her, "I can post it tomorrow."

Bulma nodded her approval as the door opened up and Trunks came in. She lifted the scout-visor over her eyes and asked, "Trunks? Why aren't you out training?"

Trunks said, "I think they're capable of handling things themselves tonight, besides I asked Cauliflora and Bass to keep an eye on them."

"What about their teammates?" Bulma asked.

"Well since both of their teammates might be compromised I didn't ask them." Trunks said simply.

"I mean how have you managed suspicions over the past few days you've been with those two?" Bulma asked.

Trunks folded his arms and said, "Honestly I haven't. I know Lamson has been with Turles and most of the other Crushers training at night, and Okran doesn't seem overly concerned, Brassica said that's pretty typical of a Saiyan mother."

Bulma smiled and said, "I suppose I haven't been much better than a Saiyan mother these past few weeks. I think this is the first time we've spoken or even seen each other in days!"

"Sine this morning, mother?" Trunks chuckled slightly, "But I'll admit greetings at breakfast aren't exactly conversation. What did you want to talk about then?"

"Should I go?" Basil asked but Bulma shook her head.

"No, not at all Basil. Why don't you let Trunks take a look at the roster you've drawn up, let's see what he thinks."

Basil nodded, brushing long green bangs from her eyes she short woman handed Trunks the roster and smirked, "I think you'll find it's pretty well balanced, but of course I made sure to give the tougher opponents to Turles."

"Hmm . . ." Trunks held the line-up in one hand and rubbed his chin with the other. Bulma could see him muttering the names of the initial matches and could guess he was trying to figure out who would advance to which rounds. Finally he said, "It's good for the most part, but I'd switch Rhuby and Cauli."

"Why's that?" Basil asked, sounding a little confused, "Cauliflora's stronger and she's got the stronger teammate to boot, isn't she better to take on Turles?"

"Maybe on paper," Trunks said with a smile, "but Cauli's teammate is _obviously_ loyal to Turles and might hold back in the hopes of letting him win. It might not be the Saiyan thing to do, but I hear Lamson is a deep thinking and planner, I wouldn't be surprised if she handles things more strategically. And anyway when it comes to our former Arena Fighters Rhuby's actually the stronger one."

"Rhubara?" Bulma asked, though she didn't miss that Trunks had called the two by their nicknames, and it made her smile as she put her visor down again and looked towards the desert where they were training. She told him, "I don't see it, according to the scouter Cauli has a numeric advantage."

"You wouldn't _see_ it, you'd have to feel it," Trunks told her.

Basil blew her own bangs up in frustration and said, "Well we don't all have martial artists _feelings_ , boss! But if you say so."

"Trust me," Trunks assured her.

"But I'm worried Lamson would be too tough an opponent for Videl," Basil said, "We want Gohan to reach the finals in case Turles gets past Sixteen, right? But without being allowed to transform into Super Saiyan Cauliflora's power level is close enough to Gohan's for her to hold her own and if Lamson eliminated Videl they might beat him on a technicality."

Trunks raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? You have Gohan and Videl facing Kodva and Gurein first, both of them are stronger than Captain Videl."

"But even with Kaioken neither of them is as close to Gohan's level as Cauliflora is," Bulma explained, "he'd have an easier time beating the both of them."

"Well stop thinking that way," Trunks said sternly, "I don't want this thing rigged, I want everyone to have a chance to win. Even Turles."

Basil groaned no doubt expecting to have to rewrite the whole lineup but Trunks laughed and said, "But most of the list is fine, from what I can sense I think these will be very balanced first rounds . . . the second rounds might be a bit more skewed depending on who advances, but I have an idea for that."

"Oh no . . . he has _ideas_!" Basil groaned again.

Bulma laughed and was about to rebuke Basil when her scouter suddenly beeped in alarm.

"What is it?" Trunks asked, alerted by the sound or perhaps by Bulma's expression, which instantly fell.

"It's new powers . . . a ship's just arrived," Bulma said.

"PTO?" Trunks asked.

"It sure looks like it," Bulma answered, "I'll call everyone back."

"No," Trunks told her, "I'm the defender of Earth, let them keep training. I'll handle this. I'll just need to borrow that visor."

"Can't you sense their power?" Basil asked.

"Not really," Trunks admitted, "With our own people training there's a lot of high power levels out there to sense, it's harder to pick out these newcomers."

"There's a lot of them," Bulma warned handing the visor over.

"There are . . . but how did they get this close before anyone noticed?" Trunks asked, pressing the buttons on the side of the scouter and looking skywards even through the roof.

He was reading the scouter, not actually scanning the sky for the ship. He tilted his head and said, "Wow, you weren't kidding . . . hold on . . ."

"What?" Bulma asked.

"There's more than one ship," Trunks said, "Or else they're clustered on different parts of it . . . no there's two separate ships."

"Are they splitting up?" Bulma asked.

"No, they're staying together . . . they're definitely coming in though." Trunks said, taking the scouter off and handing it back to her, "I think I can find them now."

"Wait a minute," Bulma said, "let me get in the car and come with you."

"What? Are you crazy?" Basil demanded and Trunks nodded to her.

"What she said. This could be dangerous!"

"The PTO shouldn't be here to fight," Bulma said, "and I have another theory about why we didn't pick these ships up until just now, and if I'm right we might want someone who can actually negotiate there. Basil, contact the King and then tell Soda and Sixteen to track my scouter and come back us up."

"Yes ma'am, but are you _sure_?" Basil asked, "I mean . . . maybe just send Trunks with Sixteen and Soda right now? Won't they be way handier in a fight?"

Bulma shook her head. She told the younger scientist, "No, Basil. If I'm right I'm hoping we won't need to fight at all."

"Because of the peace treaty?" Trunks asked, "Aren't they violating it just by showing up here unannounced like this?"

"Well if I'm right they're not," Bulma said, "because if I'm right they're not the PTO."

"Then who?" Basil asked but Trunks suddenly got a light of understanding.

He grumbled, "It's the buyers."

"We were warned they were on their way," Bulma nodded, "this is sooner than Chillax guessed but even he said that was just a guess, it could be them. If it is I'll do the talking, and if it's not I'll keep my head down, I promise, son."

Trunks hesitated a moment, then nodded slowly, "All right."

"What's the problem though?" Basil asked, "Didn't the King intend to invite them to stay on Earth anyway?"

"He does, and you should let him know they might have arrived and where to meet us," Bulma told her.

"But no matter what he wants to offer them this could still be dangerous," Trunks said, "after all these aliens paid to have a sapient species exterminated so they could steal their planet, I don't imagine they're the nicest of people."

"Point taken." Basil nodded.

Bulma nodded back and headed for the door, "Come on Trunks, no time to waste. Let's go greet the new neighbors."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The bridge was alive with alarms and warnings as the ship passed the outpost on Rupert, Frigus gripped the armrests of his chair, leaning forward anxiously to learn why so many alarms were blaring.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

"Admiral, two large ships have just decelerated from light drive!"

"Light drive? What kind of primitive—oh, of course!" Frigus scowled.

"They're early." Verglas pointed out unhelpfully, "Shall we hail them?"

"Of course we should, if nothing else they need to know they're about to land in a dangerous situation," Glacien said, "though I doubt this is the full fleet. I would guess that these are just scout vessels."

"Well whatever they are open a communications frequency!" Frigus snarled.

It got him some surprised looks, Frigus understood why.

He was usually a lot more composed, but what they were doing was dangerous and the Calamareens were only adding an extra unwanted element to what would already be a difficult mission.

 _Or they're just the distraction we need_! Frigus realized suddenly. _Yes, yes, this is perfect!_

He straightened up and said "Apologies, I let the excitement get the better of me. Commander Verglas, please open a channel. Mister Glacien, please explain to the Calamareen officer the situation on Earth, but assure him that I will be there shortly to help mediate matters."

"You will?" Glacien blinked.

"I'm taking a pod down, it'll be faster. Keep the ship on approach at maximum burn, there's no need to be stealthy."

"Yes sir," Glacien sighed.

"Channel open," Verglas reported, then he asked, "Admiral should I accompany you? If I'm going to be the ambassador to Earth . . ."

Frigus nodded, "Good thinking, Commander. Glacien, the ship is yours."

"I'll try not to break it." Glacien said dryly as he took the command chair Frigus had just abandoned. Frigus and Verglas left the bridge but he could hear the screaming from the Calamareen as the channel was opened and Glacien's patient, "Yes, hello. I see your scanners are working! Well I understand your concerns . . . no I'm afraid it's not possible to talk to Lord Frieza,"

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Exciting Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Kon and Okran have another discussion, meanwhile Bass and Brassica watch as Rhuby and Cauli finish their training and the Namekian warrior takes the chance to let Brassica know that he isn't as easily fooled as a Saiyan, but why has she lied? The explanation might be cut short however when they sense the incoming ships and rush to help Prince Trunks next time on Chronicles of Earth's Defenders!_


	112. As a Person

**Episode Thirty-Two**

**'As a Person'**

 

Konpeito emerged from the training room wiping sweat from his brow. He felt so lightweight after he emerged from the gravity room that he almost felt as if he would float away like a balloon and with three hundred times Earth's gravity the feeling was all the more powerful.

He was surprised to see Okran waiting outside. He hadn't seen much of her but they were acquainted so he nodded an acknowledgment of her existence, and Ribuai snorted, clacked his beak and asked, "Planning some last minute training?"

"So what if I am, lizard?" Okran scoffed, arms folded over her chest and eyes glaring at the pair of them.

Konpeito snorted derisively and said, "No need to be hostile."

"I'm a Saiyan, it's my only personality setting." Okran scowled at him.

"A delight, as ever." Konpeito nodded again and the two large aliens were about to move past the smaller creature but Okran held a hand out to stop Konpeito.

"I wanted to have some words with you."

"Whatever for?" Konpeito asked warily.

"Time's up for training, at least if we expect to get enough rest to be in top form for the tournament. You never taught me what you did for Rhuby on your world."

"I never said I would." Konpeito pointed out.

Okran shook her head vigorously and said, "You didn't but I need you to. I'm still too weak, I can't support her like this. You said you wanted her to do well, didn't you?"

Konpeito shuddered and said, "I do and I think she will. But I'm no miracle worker. You've come quite far in a short time, what more can you expect from me?"

Okran scowled, "You and your partner, you were training at three hundred times Earth's gravity."

"Indeed . . ." Konpeito said hesitantly.

Setting the machine to three hundred was not his or Ribuai's usual routine but they knew that if by the end of this, the last night of training, they couldn't defeat the machine on its—currently—highest setting they would stand no chance of defeating Turles or any of the front-runners.

But it had been a great strain and not one he suspected Okran could manage.

"We're going in there together." Okran said firmly.

"If you want to I won't stop you. But I am finished and my name is not on the roster."

"Mine is, and I never heard anyone say I couldn't bring an extra." Okran pointed out.

"Have you considered bringing your daughter?" Konpeito suggested, "she _is_ your teammate after all."

"You do the whole sensing energy thing, you know she's not here." Okran scoffed. "She and that green giant are off training without me, it offers us the perfect opportunity. I am not strong enough and I'm asking you to help me. This is not something a Saiyan does every day."

Konpeito exchanged a look with Ribuai, who just shrugged and headed for the elevator. _So I'm on my own in this . . ._ Konpeito thought and then sighed aloud. He told Okran, "Don't ask me as a Saiyan warrior, as me as a person."

"What's the difference?" Okran asked.

"Only you can be a Saiyan Warrior, but we can both recognize each other as a person. If you can't do that I can't justify wasting my time on you."

"I see . . . then I ask you as a person." Okran said simply.

Only it wasn't so simple for Konpeito, and he told her so, "Don't be a fool, it's not so simple as just _saying_ you're asking me as a person!"

"How simple can you make it, time is something of a factor." Okran said warily.

Konpeito glowered at her for a moment and then she sighed.

She bowed her head and sad, "Please, Konpeito?"

"Why do you want my help?"

"You did _something_ to my daughter, she was trash before she went to your world. I can tell you don't like hearing me say that, but that's the truth of how I see it." Okran told him.

"She was _never_ trash," Konpeito told her firmly.

"You know what I mean! Or maybe you don't," Okran said as if it had only just occurred to her that the whole universe didn't see itself the way she did. She clarified, "As a fighter she was trash. Passable as a warrior but not exceptional, enough to survive but not enough to be worthy of notice, and I could tell she was doing it on purpose. No ambition, no desire to stand out, only wanting to be good enough . . . it made me so angry. Her father tolerated her better, thought she just needed motivation, tried to find out what would matter to her."

"She told me what happened to him," Konpeito said with a sad nod, "I'm sorry for the both of you."

Okran shook her head looking away angrily and almost snarling the next part to him, "The point is he never found it, and neither have I. When he was killed she went mad, broke through the cave in and threw herself at the Tuffles. She'd nearly annihilated them before the King's clan arrived to help us, and I thought maybe that was it, the way she broke through those rocks the way she threw herself at the Tuffles, it was like the Evil Twins when they rage but she knew friend from foe. I thought then for just a moment that we'd found it, that her motivator was loss and now that she'd broken through her shell she'd be unstoppable!"

"And was she?" Konpeito asked.

"No . . . King Vegeta's clan came in an finished up. She met that highborn friend of hers and she eventually just slipped back into her cocoon of contentment again and to be honest I mostly gave up on her at that point. There was nothing I could do, but I trusted she'd survive to adulthood so I left her to it as a parent does."

There was little about that that didn't confirm Konpeito's own suspicions about his former ward and he actually smiled a sad smile for her as her mother carried on, "But _I'm_ only here because of her, Turles only brought me here to help him win her over but I'm failing in that. The truth is that I don't understand her at all, at least not in the ways I need to. If I were her I'd be thrilled at the idea of the strongest of our kind wanting me, but she's only disgruntled by it."

Konpeito sighed and opened the door to the gravity room, he gestured for Okran to go in and said, "We'll increase the gravity gradually to three hundred . . . don't try to fight or spar, instead keep talking."

"What will that accomplish?" Okran asked.

"It'll be easier to survive the gravity, and maybe it'll help you realize the problem you're really facing here." Konpeito told her.

The two entered the room and Okran said, "I need to get stronger though."

Konpeito shrugged with his shoulders so she'd recognize it. It was a habit the Iwatian had been trying to adopt serving with the warriors of Earth, but one he'd been able to take a break from working with Ribuai since the saurian's people also "shrugged" with a shudder. "I can't help you get stronger, I can only help you with your real problem."

"My real problem?" Okran scoffed. "What's that then?"

Konpeito sighed again, "You're a tiring person."

"Thanks." Okran scoffed again.

"That's not the problem though, the problem is that you don't deal well with others. You view the world as predators and prey."

"As what?"

"You may need to forgive the analogy, I was a hunter for much of my life before I became the village elder," Konpeito explained, "and the way you behave is a way that many hunters might in the field. But it was not the way we were meant to behave when we returned to the village."

"Okay . . ."

"You view the world as predators and prey, everyone is either a predator who can do you harm or prey that you can do harm to." Konpeito said, slowly adjusting the dial bit by bit.

"Okay." Okran nodded, "That's fair enough. But it's true, isn't it?"

"Yes and no." Konpeito told her. "As a hunter I know that it has its element of truth but the important thing is that you cannot behave that way all the time. When you return to the village you must stop and right now and whenever you are with your daughter you must think of that as being in the village."

Okran shook her head, "I don't follow."

"If you want to talk to me I will only allow it when you view me as neither predator nor prey," Konpeito said calmly, "only when you view me as a person."

"Right. Am I not doing that?" Okran asked.

Konpeito told her as he continued increasing the gravity, "You're doing well enough. But it can't just be me."

"Well I treat lots of people with respect," Okran told him.

"Respect is something a wise hunter shows a knife-tail—that is something a hunter can still show to a predator. Respect is something you can still show to your prey. Respect alone is not enough."

"Then what?" Okran asked.

"Empathy. Compassion. You're _trying_ to treat your daughter like a person, you're _trying_ to understand her but you're only doing it so that she can become the prey of a predator you hope to avoid."

Okran chuckled, "Eh I don't know how much _I'd_ want to avoid him, like I said _I'd_ be thrilled."

"But _you_ aren't _Rhuby._ " Konpeito said.

To her credit Okran didn't immediately speak again, but that might have been because they were now entering one hundred times Earth's gravity.

When she did speak she asked him, "So I'm trying to understand Rhuby for the wrong reasons . . . but I am trying to understand her. So isn't that enough?"

"No. Because as long as you try to understand her by thinking of yourself you won't succeed." Konpeito explained. "To me she was alien, empathy helped but thinking of myself was not the way to get through to her. I had to observe her and learn who she was, I had to try to imagine how I would feel if I were her but I also had to accept that how I felt and how she felt about any given issue would often be totally wrong."

"This is unhelpful." Okran pointed out.

"Then you're not understanding what I'm telling you," Konpeito said at one hundred and sixty five times Earth's gravity.

"That's what . . . I'm trying . . . to say." Okran told him.

"Stop thinking only of how you would feel in her shoes. Instead just watch and listen and try to understand how _she_ feels in her shoes. It's good to put yourself in someone else's position, to empathize with them, but when that's not working it's time to try to understand where your difference lies."

"So . . . where . . . is it?" Okran asked slowly, but Konpeito could tell she was talking to herself.

She was pulled to her knees by the gravity but the Iwatian made no move to help her up. She'd need to do it herself, they weren't even at two hundred times Earth's gravity yet, if she meant to reach three hundred she'd need to try harder.

Still he decided to be merciful and answer her question for her. "You think she's without ambition, but I see she's actually very driven, but what she wants isn't what you would want in her place which is why you can't see it. But if you really think about her behavior . . . ask yourself how does she feel about Turles?"

"She's threatened . . . by him," Okran said as she struggled to stand up, "I can see . . . that. But . . . _why_?"

Konpeito stopped the gravity at two hundred times Earth's to allow her to grow accustomed to it and asked her, "She doesn't just see him as a threat, Okran. Don't you see it?"

Okran laughed but it sounded difficult, almost painful. She said, "She . . . sees him . . . as a _rival_. But . . . that's healthy . . . for a Saiyan."

"But Rhuby's no ordinary Saiyan." Konpeito said. "And she's never had a rival before, remember? You said yourself she never tried to catch anyone's eye, she never tried to stand out. So what's different now?"

Okran shook her head and collapsed down to all fours, the progress she'd made trying to rise from her knees utterly gone and she failed to answer as she seemed to focus instead on just keeping herself from collapsing completely.

But she was a Saiyan warrior herself, and through gritted teeth she managed to snarl, "I don't know!"

Konpeito slowly turned the gravity down again and told her, "Rhuby isn't just a Saiyan. She isn't just a warrior. She isn't just your daughter or my ward. She's a person, and a surprisingly easy to understand one at that once you start. She's very driven, but her hopes and desires are still very simple."

"Well . . . what are they?" Okran asked, panting as the gravity decreased and she was better able to stand up and breathe normally again.

Konpeito smiled and said, "I think you need to ask her, and when you do you'll need to ask her as a person."

"But what good will that do us in the tournament?" Okran demanded.

"Who knows? Who cares?" Konpeito shrugged so she'd understand it again, "What you should be asking yourself is what good can it do you as parent and offspring moving forward. Never mind why Turles brought you here, he can't send you back. You're here now and it's a new world and a new time . . . so make the most of it."

With that he left her to finish off her hour in the room. Maybe she'd think on what he'd said, maybe she wouldn't. Maybe she'd increase the gravity to three hundred, maybe she would keep it to a more reasonable zone.

It was all up to her.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Brassica checked her watch as her younger self and Rhubara trained.

It was a strange thing and she wasn't used to wearing it. She'd gone so long not needing to keep track of time and when she'd come to earth and time telling in their fashion became somewhat relevant the Earth scouters had done the job just fine.

But like most everyone else Brassica was mastering sensing energy without the scouters reasoning that it'd prove useful in the long run even if she was old enough and set in her ways enough to prefer the concrete numbers of a scouter. Having to look down at her wrist to see the numbers for the time however was frustrating.

Though Bass seemed to think her digital watch was a pretty neat idea.

She pressed the button to light it up allowing her to better read the time in the moonless night, Bass let out an impressed "hmm" which was about the highest his praise had ever gotten when he'd been training her on War World.

He could _tell_ you when you were impressive, but it was the almost involuntary "hmm" that told you when he was impressed.

Brassica raised an eyebrow at him, "Really?" She asked.

"It's a clever function." He said with a shrug.

"I suppose it is, but they devote so much of themselves to these things it makes sense they'd want to be able to use them even in the dark. It would give your position away to a sharp eyed enemy though."

"As would the white jacket you're wearing in the dark." Bass pointed out.

Brassica shrugged. Most of the Saiyans had taken to wearing black CC jackets with their personal colors, Brassica had chosen to take a white one lately. Not only did it show that she was identifying herself with the EDF and Prince Trunks rather than Turles and her fellow Saiyans, but it helped better differentiate herself from her "sister" and younger self.

She watched her younger self and Rhuby as the two slowed their training. Time was nearly up, they'd need to be back at Capsule Corp. HQ soon. Though the four of them could make the flight quickly Brassica liked to leave with a bit of time to spare usually . . .

But not tonight. Tonight the two needed to fight and she shouted out to them, "You're not out here to make sand castles, _hit_ her!"

She wasn't offering the advice to either girl in particular, both of them had been winding down but she wasn't satisfied.

Bass shifted and shook his head, "Don't push them too hard, they've been training with the Prince for several nights."

"So?" Brassica asked.

"So they're probably already close to their limits."

"I would have thought you of all people would welcome seeing them at their limits, isn't that how you train fighters?" Brassica asked, then added, "at least that's what Tathy always said."

Bass smiled an odd smile and told her, "On War World any good Sensei knows you can't push a fighter too far beyond their limits. Push them enough for them to break past the limit and redefine it yes, but never so much that they get yanked back like someone pushing against a rubber-band."

"Old War World wisdom, I take it?"

"I added the rubber-band part." Bass nodded. "It might not always have seemed like it, but I was always careful not to push you too far all at once."

"Me?" Brassica scoffed, "You've got me confused for the girl."

"Don't bother, I'm not that gullible and I've never needed a scouter to sense energy and when I sensed yours I knew who you were." Bass told her.

Brassica frowned and shrugged, "So?"

"So?" Bass repeated back sounding confused.

"Why haven't you told anyone?" Brassica asked.

"Who would I tell? Who would care? Kazoo knows of course, the other Namekians wouldn't care, I assume your Prince already knows who you are."

Brassica frowned, "Well then . . ."

Bass towered over her even though she was tall for a female, and in the shadow of the giant Namekian she always felt so small, like a child almost even though she realized that in this time line she was probably older than Bass by now . . . she wasn't certain how old he was really.

He asked her, "I've wanted to ask you . . . Tathy has refused to tell me about it . . ."

Brassica shook her head and said, "Tathy and I are probably of a similar mind on this, whatever it is you want to ask. There's a reason I didn't want to tell you all who I was . . . a reason I hoped you'd believe I was just a relative of mine."

Bass nodded slowly and said, "Then I won't have the chance to meet any mysterious older 'brother' of mine I take it."

Brassica shook her head slightly, but it was enough for the sharp-eyed Namekian.

"Unfortunate." He said simply.

"Karuto did a lot more than just bring a few strong fighters back when he went to War World you know," Brassica whispered, "he gave you all a second chance. One I hope you'll be able to make the most of."

"But he didn't take away your name, you did that." Bass told her. "Why?"

"It would just be confusing to have two Cauliflora's running around, don't you think?"

"There _are_ two," Bass said with a slight smirk, "what confuses me is why one of them is called Brassica."

"Because I want to see you all make the most of your second chance, not come to me with questions like the one you've got. I have nothing to tell you that you want to hear, I can only try my best to warn myself away from the mistakes I made that . . . messed things up."

Brassica sighed wearily and muttered, "I probably don't make any sense to you."

"No. But then I've never been a parent." Bass said simply.

"You think I have?" Brassica laughed.

"I think you're trying to be one now. To yourself that is, your younger self. Watching over her, helping her to grow strong and using your experience to guide her course and help her make better decisions than you did all the while knowing that at some level she's bound to make a lot of the same mistakes anyway . . . it brings parenthood to mind for me at least."

Brassica rolled her eyes affectionately and said, "Well maybe . . . we're certainly blood after all."

She folded her arms and thought about it though. Was she mothering . . . well, herself? Had it been a subconscious move on her part or was it just as she'd consciously perceived it, an effort to stop the younger Cauliflora from making the same mistakes she had that had resulted in her losing everything?

Everything except Tathy that was.

In any event it wasn't Saiyan parenting . . . was it something she'd picked up on Earth? How? From whom?

"I made a lot of mistakes when I was that age," Brassica told him, "some of them I didn't realize the cost of until a lot later."

"That's youth for you. But those mistakes shaped you into the woman you are today, a Super Saiyan and a strong vassal of your Prince."

Brassica nodded slowly and said, "I know. But even so not every mistake only affected the person I became, some affected her too . . . whatever it was that I did that made her decide to end things the way she did I'd rather not let myself repeat."

"You make it sou

They were quiet for a moment and then Bass said, "I am trying to determine whether or not I could stand not to know . . . and I must confess that I don't think the answer is positive."

Brassica sighed. She lowered her gaze and asked, "All right . . . ask it."

"Did I die with honor?" Bass asked.

That actually hadn't been the first question Brassica expected him to ask, she thought he'd ask _how_ he died.

And she'd have to tell him the truth, she couldn't lie to the Sensei.

Still the question he asked was hard enough and she had to admit, "I . . . don't know. I think you did, I can't imagine that you didn't. You probably died with a great deal more honor than anyone else on that world."

"That's kind of you to say," Bass told her, "but you don't know? Were you not there? Was Tathy not there?" Bass hesitated and then asked, "Did Lord Stobler _never_ return me to the roar of the crowd? Did I die of age or a sickness?"

Brassica shook her head, "You died in battle on the sands of the arena, Sensei. I can only assume it was with courage and valor because that was who you were for every one of the years I knew you. But I . . . didn't . . ."

She didn't want to say that she didn't remember it, that would sound all wrong and she didn't want to say that she hadn't been there because that would be a lie.

In the end she just said, "I didn't see it with my own eyes."

Bass nodded slowly and said, "That's . . . unfortunate. But thank you for telling me."

"It's harder than you might think." Brassica told him.

"I can . . ." Bass trailed off and turned his gaze skyward.

"What?" Brassica asked, looking up as well until she saw the flashes of the ship engines.

She hadn't sensed them, but it seemed Bass had.

The giant Namekian said, "I . . . I don't know who they are . . . but there are _many_ of them."

"Are they strong? I can't sense them . . ." Brassica said, though she could see the ships as they blocked out the stars where they passed.

"I think your Prince is going to meet them."

"Let's not let him do it alone then," Brassica told the Namekian. She called out to the girls, "Rhuby, Cauli, with us!"

"Are we stopping early?" Young Cauli asked, apparently not having sensed the ship so Brassica at least didn't have to feel embarrassed about being the only one who couldn't quite feel the inhabitants.

"Incoming vessel, could be dangerous," Brassica told her and Rhuby as they floated over.

"I can't feel it," Rhuby said, looking around in the night sky no doubt for the streak of light that would mean a space pod.

But Bass told her, "Just sense for your Prince, he's on the move towards them."

"Yeah, follow us," Brassica was saying but both young Cauli and Rhuby took off into the night like a pair of blue fireballs.

Bass floated up above the ground and said, "Come on, let's not let them get _too_ far ahead of us."

Brassica nodded and flew into the night following the others and trying to sense the power of these potential new enemies.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Calamareens arrive and Trunks will have to see if they come in peace or not, will the arrival of the Earth's buyers result in violence, or can a peaceful arrangement be reached?_


	113. Seems Alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you find the alien language aggravating to try to read don't bother trying to make sense of it. A few might recognize a word here or there, but I really doubt most would put two and two together, especially since this season's been so light on cameos and this one's a bit of a weird one, even I'll admit that. You can give it a shot if you like, or check out the note at the end of the episode to find out what they're actually speaking if you'd prefer.

**Episode Thirty-Three**

**'Seems Alright'**

 

First contact was a chilling prospect for Trunks, he wasn't certain that things would go well and they needed to if Earth was to make any progress at joining the interstellar community . . . if such a thing existed with the PTO running around.

His mother on the other hand seemed pretty excited as she drove her hover car towards the landing site. Trunks could have flown but he felt like she'd be safer if he was with her.

He could sense Cauliflora and Rhubara were flying towards the place at top speed, and Turles and his band seemed to be on their way as well.

_Just what I need,_ Trunks thought, _this could get complicated._

"Just remember to breathe," His mother told him, "this is all going to go just fine."

Trunks nodded, but he didn't say anything as they flew in. The alien ships were large oval shaped and green, they had chosen to land in the waters off the coast of West City and half-submerged they looked to trunks rather like olives floating in a drink.

The hover-car came in for a landing but it wasn't the only one.

There were cars, bikes people had swarmed from their nearby homes it seemed to see the spectacle, Trunks hadn't even realized the rebuilding of West City had stretched this far. People with flashlights were shining beams on the ships making them look even eerier in the night.

There were news crews, police, soldiers, it was utter chaos.

Trunks hopped out of the car and people recognized him immediately, some tried to rush towards him others pointed to the ships and cried for him to save them, and a part of Trunks wanted to tell them that that was exactly what he was there to do but there was no way he'd be heard over the roar of the crowd.

To his surprise though the police actually cleared a path for him and his mother to the ships, one of the officers nodding to him and saying, "Do your thing, Golden Warrior."

Trunks nodded and walked across the sand towards the large ovoid vessels.

His mother was with him talking about the way the ships didn't seem to have any sort of locomotion and wondering if they'd been launched from somewhere but Trunks didn't really understand much of what she was saying and he could only really focus on the fact that they were about to make first contact with the sort of species that . . . well, paid aliens to eradicate life on other worlds.

The only difference between them and the PTO that he could see was strength, and he didn't like it.

But they had, as far as anyone could tell for now, made peace with the PTO so he had to assume there was a chance they could make peace with these aliens as well.

Trunks could sense that the ships were full of people, but not as many as he thought it would take to colonize a planet. He wondered if these were military vessels sent ahead to make sure everything was safe.

Their power levels were comparable to those of a typical Earthling though, at least as far as Trunks could sense. Perhaps they were keeping them suppressed, but he doubted it.

After all it would make sense that a weak species would need to hire Frieza and his lot.

He stood at the edge of the water and asked his mother, "How do you think we should try to contact them?"

"Well if they talk the translator I built into this scouter visor should be able to figure out what they're saying eventually . . . you'll just need to keep them talking for a while."

"First I need to get them to come out of their ships . . ." Trunks was saying, but then a bright yellow light appeared near the top of one of the ships and a large silver bolt shot from the ship into the sand so quickly that Trunks almost thought it was an attack at first.

But before he could vaporize the ship for daring to attack him the Golden Warrior recognized the ramp for what it was.

"Oui zicd ubahat dra rydlr uh yh ymeah bmyhad! Ec drana yen? Oui tuh'd ghuf!" A shrill alien voice screeched.

There was a pause then a milder voice responded, "Caasc ugyo."

"Get any of that?" Trunks asked.

"One is shrill the other is not?" His mother offered, he frowned at her.

"I meant your translator-" He tried to explain but she interrupted him with a scolding finger.

"I know what you meant, and I told you it'll work eventually!" She scolded him.

Trunks could see a small mob of the aliens were slowly coming down the ramp towards them so he didn't bother to go up the ramp himself.

They were more or less human in overall shape, or at least they appeared that way. It was difficult to tell with only the yellow light of their ship to illuminate them—the lights from the beach hadn't reached that far up—but it seemed like their skin was teal and their eyes were large empty and black.

They didn't have hair, instead they had tentacles that sat on their head like dreaded locks of hair, some had them coming from their face but other than that they didn't seem that strange.

_Maybe it makes sense,_ Trunks thought, _that the species that would want to buy Earth would be similar to humans, after all they wanted to live on our planet maybe theirs was a lot like it._

But that sort of similarity wouldn't put him at ease, after all Saiyans looked even more like humans than these aliens did and _they_ certainly weren't safe.

One of the aliens, a masculine looking one with a thick beard of tentacles approached, raising a hand presumably to show that he had no weapons and shouted loudly, "Cib! Fa lusa eh bayla! Fa'na geht uv mucd!"

Trunks raised his hand having no better idea and said, "I'm Trunks, and this is the planet Earth. If you're peaceful we won't do you any harm."

The alien blinked its black eyes owlishly at him and said, "Dryd'c yh yfvimmo utt drehk du cyo, pid oac, so cruac yna lusvundypma."

"I . . . did not catch any of that, but if you keep talking my mother can translate . . . eventually." Trunks assured them.

Another alien, this one a more feminine shape holding a gray box raised a slender hand into the air and seemed to be trying to get the first speaker's attention when she—or he, Trunks knew he shouldn't presume—said, "Ur is cen . . ."

Trunks recognized that one as the milder voice from when the hatch had opened. But the first speaker didn't slow down to listen to them, instead telling Trunks in a seemingly understanding tone, "Hu, E ihtancdyht. Ybumukeac."

"Um . . . okay." Trunks nodded, turning to his mother who just made a rolling gesture with her hand encouraging him to continue. "Uh . . . well I'm the defender of Earth, and well I will defend it . . . if you mean it any harm."

How useful was it to say any of this if they couldn't understand him?

"Famm . . . du aylr rec ufh."

"Try hand gestures," His mother suggested, "indicate yourself as Trunks and this as Earth, you know sort of like that king of the apes guy."

Trunks nodded and tapped his chest, "Trunks. Trunks."

The bearded alien nodded and said, "Dryhgc, E's bnaddo bnuit uv so vycreuh cahca."

Trunks tapped his chest again, "Trunks. Truuunks." He then held his hand out to the alien to indicate that he should try telling him his name.

The alien either didn't get it or his name was "Fa yna dra Calamareens, fa lusa vnus y tuusat funmt eh caynlr uv y haf rusa, ihvundihydamo ed caasc fa'ja ynnejat yd dra fnuhk bmyla."

"Okay . . ." Trunks trailed off.

His mother said, "Actually I think I understood a little bit of that. The scouter is starting to catch up, keep going!"

Trunks frowned, "Well even once we can understand them will they be able to understand us?"

The first fellow seemed to think his question was addressed to him because he answered very confidently, "Famm ed fyc tuusat, yc E cyet. Ybbynahdmo dra fruma drehk fyc kuehk du lnycr ehdu dra cih. Un fyc ed dryd dra cih fyc kuehk du lnycr ehdu ic?"

A slender being whose voice Trunks immediately recognized as the shrill one from before piped up, "So lussyhtehk uvvelan cfuna dra ahdena bmyhad fyc ypuid du pa aydah po yh ahunsuic sidyhd cdyn kuyd!"

"Anything?" Trunks asked.

"Not unless he's talking about mutant star goats." Bulma sighed in frustration.

Trunks tried not to let his own frustration show, especially considering that he could sense both Turles' group and Rhuby and Cauli were getting very close now.

Part of him recognized that he should be happy things were going so well so far and no one was getting hurt. He just hoped when his warriors arrived that kept being the case.

Still tentacle beard seemed to be aware that something was up because he asked the feminine one with the gray box, "Ikameshan, ec drec dnyhcmydun fungehk?"

"Famm . . . ed caasc du pa ryjehk cusa bnupmasc?"

"No, no, I've got it!" Bulma cried, she pressed a button on the side of the visor and a small microphone popped out from the part covering her ear and snaked down towards her mouth. She said, "Hello, hello, can you understand me?"

The visor then translated what she'd said into some gibberish as impossible for Trunks to understand as anything else the aliens were saying but the one with the tentacle beard looked a little relieved.

"Ur kuut! Oac, oac fa ihtancdyht oui huf!"

"Wonderful! I'm Bulma, this is my son Trunks, he is the defender of Earth! I'm going to let him speak to you now, okay?"

The bearded being nodded and Bulma took the visor off and handed it to Trunks. He stared at her in a mild sort of horror and asked, "Why can't you keep talking to them? You seemed like you were doing well!"

"I'm going to call Basil and ask her to get Sixteen to bring more visors so the King will be able to understand them as well."

"I could have done that," Trunks pointed out.

"I've already introduced you, don't be rude!" His mother said with a slight smirk as Trunks sheepishly put the visor on.

He said, "Um . . . hello."

"Hello! So you are the defender of this place?" The first speaker asked.

"I am. My name is Trunks, what's yours?" Trunks asked.

"Ikasoma, I'm the captain of this vessel. You can call me Soma, This is my chief technician Ikameshan, you can call her Meshan, and my security chief Klamaro, or just Maro for short. The rest won't be relevant."

Trunks thought that was a bit harsh, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead he just asked, "So . . . what brings you to Earth? My mother said the translator picked up something about a . . . mutant star goat?"

"Yes, well there's still some dispute about that," Ikameshan piped up, " _I_ was told it was going to be devoured by a gigantic swarm of piranha bees!"

"That's not what I was told at all!" Klamaro cried and Trunks raised a hand.

"Uh hold on . . . okay . . . um . . . let's not split hairs over . . . whatever that is," He said, hoping that the translator was just buggy because he didn't want to imagine whatever creature it might be that warranted the translation of 'piranha bee' but he did ask, "Why are you here?"

"Oh well we come in peace," Captain Soma said, "we're lost you see, or we seem to be. We're part of an expeditionary fleet meant to colonize another planet! Very exciting of course but it seems that we've found the wrong one!"

Trunks was surprised. By pure coincidence had this species just . . . happened to come along?

Or was it a trick?

He asked, "This planet you were supposed to colonize, what was it called?"

"Oh I don't know what its actual name would be, we were just told to call it Calamar Two."

"I was told to call it Neo Calamar!" Meshan piped up.

"No, no, it's New Calamar!" Maro cried.

"That means the same thing!" Another one of the aliens pointed out.

"They _all_ mean the same thing!" Yet another of the nameless aliens cried and soon a loud squabble was taking place.

Soma waved a hand and said, "Enough. We've been in hyper-sleep for most of the trip, no doubt explains how we got . . . blown off course so to speak and it's got people a little mixed up in the head. Not me of course."

"Of course . . . this is just . . . terribly unexpected." Trunks said, shaking his head in confusion, "But if you're here in peace then you have nothing to fear from me. You'll have to excuse us, our world has been attacked an awful lot in its history, and the people are very wary. Speaking of which . . ." Trunks spun around in time to see young Cauli and Rhuby arrive. The two hit the sand like miniature meteorites and rushed over to put themselves between their Prince and the aliens but made no outright hostile gesture.

Clearly they could see things were proceeding peacefully. Hopefully Turles had that kind of foresight.

"We came as quick as we could," Cauli said, "we're ready for your orders, Prince Trunks!"

"I don't have any orders right now, they say they come in peace. Just . . . uh, oh actually see if you can intercept Turles and tell him that!" Trunks said, covering the microphone with his hand so that the scouter wouldn't translate his words and confuse the two. Cauli and Rhuby both nodded and seemed about to take off, but before they could do so several Saiyans suddenly arrived, striking the ground similarly to how the two girls had just a moment ago.

From the sand craters rose Turles, Lamson, the Evil Twins and their partners Telluce and Routz, and Turles' own partner Brock.

Turles took a place with Cauli and Rhuby standing near Trunks and asked, "What's all this?"

"Newcomers." Rhuby said curtly, stepping over and putting herself between him and Trunks.

"Ah! There we are, a representative!" Captain Soma said cheerfully.

"A representative?" Trunks asked.

"Where?" Turles asked.

"They say the come in peace," Cauli told him.

"Yeah, I'd guessed that," Turles said, "look at the size of these ships!"

But Captain Soma nodded his head at Turles and said, "Yes, a representative! You there, you're from the Planet Trade Organization aren't you? Isn't that their uniform?"

Trunks felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, could these scatterbrained creatures really be the buyers after all?

They knew the PTO . . . or at least what their uniforms looked like.

Turles raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is he talking to me?"

"I think he is," Trunks said, "but until Sixteen gets here with the visors I'll have to translate. They want to know if you're with the PTO," Trunks told Turles before turning to Soma and saying, "He isn't. He's a Saiyan warrior, and I'm the Prince of All Saiyans."

"Saiyans? What are those?" Soma asked his crew.

"Oh, I've heard of them! They work for Frieza!" Maro said.

"I heard Frieza!" Turles said, "They're with Frieza?"

"Frieza's dead though," Lamson said, "haven't they heard?"

Trunks nodded to her and said, "I'll find out." To Soma he said, "Frieza's dead, did you serve him?"

"What? Serve him? No. But our leaders purchased a planet from his catalog. Strikingly similar to this planet actually, mostly water reasonable gravity and size,"

"So you _are_ the buyers," Trunks said uneasily, "I'm afraid Earth isn't for sale."

"No, no, we already bought and paid for our world!" Captain Soma said, "But the PTO assured us it had no sapient lifeforms or dangerous wildlife on it, so obviously we're lost as we said."

Trunks frowned and was about to speak when he sensed yet another power level arriving.

This one was no Calamareen, or if it was it was whatever their version of him would be because this power level was over one million.

And so was the one accompanying it.

Trunks frowned and asked, "You say you bought a planet from Frieza, but it was supposed to be abandoned?"

"Not abandoned, uninhabited." Captain Soma clarified. "We wouldn't have wanted to run someone off of their home."

Trunks exchanged a look with Turles, the Saiyans didn't understand the Calamareens but Trunks told them all, "Looks like Frieza wasn't super forthcoming about his business practices. Seems the buyers didn't realize what was happening to the planets they were buying."

"Or they're lying," Turles said simply, "can I try talking to them?"

Trunks wondered if that was a good idea but decided that he shouldn't be seen differing any kind of authority to Turles at all, especially in front of so many of the others.

He didn't like this whole Saiyan alpha hierarchy thing, but he couldn't forget the role he had to play as their Prince, especially after what Brassica had told him.

So he shook his head and said, "I've got this under control. Turles, you see if you can't help my mother or the King. Once Sixteen arrives with the visors the King gets the first one, and any ambassadors he might have brought but after that you're welcome to put one on too."

Turles nodded and headed off down the beach to the air car Bulma was talking on the radio, presumably to Basil back at headquarters.

Lamson and the others seemed about to wander off after him but Trunks barked, "I didn't tell the rest of you to go with him!"

They all reacted as if they'd been slapped across the face and quickly fell in taking places near him as if they meant to protect him from danger more akin to the way Rhuby and Cauli had done when they arrived.

Trunks had to admit it didn't make him feel any safer having weaker warriors surrounding him and it didn't make him feel like much of a leader snapping at them for such a silly reason . . . more like a bully.

But that was what Saiyans respected apparently . . . it didn't mean he had to like it, but if he wanted to regain and keep their loyalty it was what he had to do . . . for now. He hoped he could change that soon though.

He turned back to Captain Soma and said, "I'm sorry, where were we?"

"Well we were just saying our world shouldn't have been inhabited . . ."

"Right. Well unfortunately this _is_ the world that Frieza sold you, and as you can see it _is_ inhabited. Frieza lied to you and planned to exterminate the Earthlings before you arrived."

"That's monstrous! But you said you were the Saiyans, who are the Earthlings?"

"They are," Trunks said, indicating the crowd, "this is their world and I am their defender. I'm sorry you've come such a long way to find out you were lied to, but even now that you're here I can't let you harm this world or its people."

"Well . . . we didn't intend to do anything like that . . ." Captain Soma hesitated.

"You know we _are_ the scout vessels," Meshan spoke up, "the mother ship and our leaders will be coming in a few months time."

"Yes, we could uh . . . see about buying a new planet or getting a refund or something by then . . ." Maro said, "but until then . . ."

"Until then we don't . . . ah . . . actually have anywhere else to _go_." Captain Soma said.

"I understand that," The King's voice rang out from behind Trunks, "and I cannot begin to tell you how relieved I am to learn that you didn't come intending us harm after all. I am the King of Earth and I would like to welcome you to this world."

Trunks hadn't sensed Sixteen's arrival, but then he never did anyway.

But he could see the King, his mother and a few other people wearing visors and approaching. Turles had one as well, but his attention was actually upwards, to the sky and the two power levels over a million approaching.

Trunks had seen them too of course and he said to Turles, "Any idea who that could be?"

"They're stronger than anything we've seen apart from Saiyans. There's two of them though," Turles told him.

"Do you have any powerful warriors?" Trunks asked the Calamareens.

"We don't have _any_ warriors!" Maro said.

"Aren't you the chief of security?" Trunks asked skeptically.

"Of a scout vessel, I'm not a soldier!" Maro said, his voice getting a little shrill again.

"Well if _you're_ not the PTO representatives that were waiting by this system's outer rims perhaps _that's_ them?" Captain Soma suggested.

"PTO representatives. This just keeps getting better." Trunks said dryly. He nodded slowly and said to Turles, "Take a couple of these ones and make sure whoever it is is friendly, bring them to us alive if you can."

Turles nodded and said, "Cauli, Rhuby, you two would handle this the best, lets go!"

Trunks supposed in his attempts to seem like a tough guy disinterested in his own troops he'd failed to specify who he meant by 'a couple of these' but he also couldn't disagree with Turles' logic in the decision. Though all the Saiyans present apart from Brock would have been able to accompany Turles to the interception without terrible risk Cauli and Rhuby really were the two strongest and best able to make sure nothing went awry.

But Trunks nodded, half in permission half in appreciation that the two looked to him for confirmation before going.

As they were leaving Brassica and Bass arrived and seemed bewildered that the two girls were already flying off again with Turles but Trunks reassured them, "It's fine, they're just going to deal with some other unexpected guests."

"But hopefully not unwelcome ones," The King said with a smile, and to the Calamareens he said, "Do come this way, the good Lady Bulma here has offered to set up a capsule house, we can have a seat and discuss things in greater comfort and away from prying eyes and ears. Won't you come, Prince Trunks?"

It felt weird to have the King call him a Prince, but Trunks supposed someone must have mentioned the problems with the Saiyans to him.

It made him feel even more embarrassed than he might have otherwise, but he nodded and fell in with the King and his group. Of the Calamareens only the three whose names had been offered left the ramp to come with them, the rest just waited chattering to each other uncertainly.

His mother produced a capsule and with a poof made a rather nice looking house appear on the solid ground just past the beach's soft white sands, people crowded around it some had cameras now and somehow Trunks was not surprised to see Erasa and Sharpner fight their way to the front as the King's Guard cleared a path through the crowd for them.

The small delegation headed towards the house while the Calamareen muttered among themselves.

"Captain, we're following a tiny blue furry creature into a house that materialized out of thin air on a planet that was supposed to be abandoned! How do we know we can trust this Trunks?" Maro was demanding of his fellows.

"Seems alright." Meshan said mildly.

Trunks smiled a bit. _Well,_ he thought, _at least there's that._

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Exciting Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Earthlings, the Calamareens and the Admiral all sit down to discuss matters and Trunks invites them all to witness the power of Earth's warriors in the Tournament, will Admiral Frigus be intimidated or will he use it as an opportunity to gather intelligence? Elsewhere a different tournament begins and Karuto is amazed at the outcome of the first fight!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, the Calamareens are speaking Al Bhed when they arrive . . . because I'm a nerd and Tikku was my OTP back in the day. There are translators out there so if you want to know what they were saying you can look one up and just copy paste (though the names will come out weird because you don't translate names).  
> Or if you're not interested in expending the effort never fear, I can tell you mostly they don't say anything of plot relevance, it's just a lot of jokes and references for fun. It did, obviously, occur to me that the joke might be lost on some but it was a fun way to make the encounter different so thanks for soldiering it out if you did.


	114. To Trust

**Episode Thirty-Four**

**'To Trust'**

 

The Capsule house was . . . cozy, Trunks thought. He was glad to have his mother, Videl and Mai there along with the King to represent Earth, but between them, the Calamareen representatives from both ships and now Admiral Frigus and this new ambassador of his the table set out in the living room felt a bit crowded.

It _had_ allowed him to have Turles wait outside though along with the girls to make sure he behaved and Sixteen to record if he didn't. It wasn't that he didn't want Turles around, or that he thought that Turles would try to overstep his authority with the PTO representatives, after all he had brought them safely to the Capsule House without too much complaint.

But it was Trunks' dealing with the PTO to begin with that had Turles feeling rebellious, he wasn't so sure letting Turles see him treat civilly with them again would be a good thing.

Besides it meant he could focus on the people in front of him.

Captain Soma was only one of two, his counterpart from the other ship, Captain Mari, seemed a lot more irritated from the onset. She probably wouldn't be as accepting of the situation as Soma seemed to be but Trunks wasn't sure who she held responsible; the PTO for lying or the Earthlings for . . . well, existing it seemed.

So far Trunks could guess their only common trait was curiosity just from the way they'd been behaving so far. Soma was pleasant if a bit scatterbrained and fascinated by Earth and humanity. He was asking a lot of questions about their way of life but Mari was demanding a lot of information about population density and breeding speed, "How quickly would your kind generate the numbers to overrun this world completely?" she'd demanded at one point giving Trunks the impression that she saw them as some sort of vermin.

As if she'd just bought a house only to find it infested with rats.

But both had questions for Admiral Frigus, but it was the other Arcosian with him who seemed to be taking the floor and answering. He was mildly familiar, Trunks had seen him on Fake Namek, one of the hornless ones bearing a stronger resemblance to Frieza's final form than his first, and that, along with the fact that he was more than ten times stronger than he had been on Fake Namek made Trunks uneasy around him.

"Let's take it slow, please," Ambassador Verglas said. The Arcosian was clearly older than Chillax but still very young it seemed, Trunks wondered what made him suited to being an ambassador. It might be nothing more than his calm voice, but the Golden Warrior supposed he'd find out before their interaction was through. Since he'd been one of the prisoners that Turles and the others had traded Trunks had expected Verglas to be a warrior, and from what Chillax had told him their kind rarely had two jobs.

But Verglas had been introduced as the Arcosian ambassador to Earth, coincidentally arriving just as these Calamareens had and though he had the power level to be a fighter he hadn't been remotely aggressive, apparently even being the first to raise his hands in surrender when Turles and the girls had shown up to apprehend him and the Admiral. He smiled a winning smile and said, "Let's begin with the obvious: Earth is inhabited. This _is_ the world our Lord Frieza sold you however at the time we believed that its population had been exterminated."

"Exterminated by _your_ people." Videl accused.

"Exterminated by a Saiyan actually, but yes on Lord Frieza's orders. Our records from that time indicate that the extermination was carried out to completion, we didn't know there were Earthlings until Lord Frieza's unfortunate accident on this world." Verglas said with an apologetic smile.

"By 'accident' you mean he was killed by the same Saiyan you sent to exterminate this world when he tried to come here to get revenge after that same Saiyan defeated him on the planet Namek." Trunks said by way of piling on the shame by letting Frieza's clients know about how _frequently_ Earth had come out on top in conflicts with the PTO.

"Indeed I do." Verglas said with surprising gravity. "But it was a different time."

"What was different about it?" Bulma scoffed, but the King cleared his throat.

"Now now good lady," The King said, "let's not be overly combative."

Verglas smiled though and said, "Thank you your highness, but she is right. To the Earthlings it might seem like nothing has changed but that's only because the changes are so new. We've never been so out classed we've had to make a peace treaty before," Verglas looked down for a moment as if embarrassed before adding, "and we've never needed an ambassador before."

The assertion surprised Trunks but he wasn't about to just believe it, even when Verglas smiled at him and said, " _You_ changed us. And now we're trying to be better moving forward."

Trunks thought, _You're certainly stronger than last time, but something tells me you don't really care about being better._

But Mari was as unmoved as Trunks was and demanded to know, "Why did you not just inform us there was a problem with the planet? When the mother ship arrives what are we supposed to do about all these inhabitants?"

Soma piped up with, "You're bothered because they're still here? You're not concerned about the inhabited planet marketed as uninhabited part?"

"It wouldn't have been if Frieza had kept control of his Saiyans." Captain Mari pointed out. She was almost robotic in her statement, speaking as if it were all just fact, which Trunks supposed it was. She spoke calmly and she didn't sound malicious, but the words were still chilling.

"Excuse me?" Videl demanded, sounding a mixture of enraged and gob-smacked. Mai put a hand on her arm in an effort to calm her, but the Captain still said, "Pardon me if it sounds juvenile, but I have never thought the expression 'excuse us for living' sounded more appropriate!"

Captain Mari shrugged and said, "It's unfortunate but it isn't as if _we_ would have been the ones at fault. I don't grudge you your existence but it puts _ours_ in jeopardy. I assume you can at least understand why one might be the greater priority for me."

Admiral Frigus spoke up, "We couldn't contact you due to your travel by light drive. As I'm sure you're aware while months passed for you it was years for us. I mean long enough that we lost Lord Frieza after all."

"We were frozen for a lot of it," Soma said, "Still I'm bothered that you tried to sell us this world. What would have happened to _us_ if we'd arrived and then someone else wanted it?"

Ambassador Verglas smiled an apologetic smile, "It doesn't bear thinking about, like I said it was a different time, Captain."

Trunks shook his head but Captain Soma seemed affronted, "I cannot believe our leadership would deal with such beings!"

"But they did," Captain Mari said sharply. "and now as a result our old home is abandoned and this beautiful new home we were promised is unsuitable!"

"In what way is it unsuitable?" The King asked.

"It is inhabited, obviously." The Captain said.

"Obviously." The King agreed with a smile, "But it is a large world and our population was drastically reduced after some tragic conflicts, a great deal of this world is now unclaimed. We are sharing it with a kindly race known as the Namekians and with these fearsome Saiyans. I don't quite understand why you feel your people couldn't share it with us as well."

"Because as long as your people exist you're a threat to us." Captain Mari said coldly. "We have nothing in common over which to build community and as such sooner or later conflict would arise and if your Saiyan warriors truly were dangerous enough to kill Frieza, a veritable force of nature in and of himself what would they do to us?"

"A very valid fear my good lady," Ambassador Verglas said, "but I have personally seen the quality of these Saiyan warriors and I can assure you that while they might be fearsome opponents if they are offering you a place at their side it's nothing to sniff at."

Trunks raised an eyebrow, was the PTO Ambassador trying to put in a good word for them?

Or was this just an attempt to keep from having to give the Calamareens a refund, or find them a new world? After all Chillax and Karuto had both said that their ship's original mission was to clear the backlog of Saiyan worlds for their new owners.

It was Videl though who said, "And we Earthlings aren't anything to sniff at either, so keep that in mind _Captain_."

Captain Mari shrugged again, "If you like. How does that help my people?"

"We'd be a lot safer." Maro said, speaking up for the first time and then shrilly adding, "Captain!" when Mari turned a hard glare on him.

"Why should there be any conflict?" Soma asked, "True we've little in common _but_ is it not clear that these are land-dwelling people? So let them have sea and we can have the land—no! Wait, I meant that the other way around!"

The King chuckled and asked, "Is that a compromise you think your leadership would agree to, Captain?"

Mari shook her head. "No. I assume you actually _use_ these big blue oceans of yours which would mean you would constantly be intruding on our territory. Besides that our kind is not wholly aquatic we do have surface needs."

"Those things can be accomplished with technology now!" Meshan pointed out but Mari's technician rebuked her.

"Technology can achieve a lot but it can't solve everything!"

The King interrupted though and said, "Our land is divided into quarters more or less. We have a capital city for each direction, north south east and west with another Central City. Earthlings have largely gathered in West and Central Cities, however we have set aside land in the South for the Saiyans and in the East for the Namekians. I had intended to offer up to you the Northern Ruins if you would take them, and along with them the northern seas if they're not too cold for you."

"You're giving us ruins?" Captain Mari scoffed.

"Think of it as a blank slate," the King said patiently, "a chance to wash away those ruins and build something for yourselves."

"And your people will just be all right with that will they?" Captain Mari asked skeptically.

"They will accept you as they have accepted the Namekians, and as they have accepted the Saiyans." The King said with a slight nod. "Earth is not just for Earthlings, it hasn't been since that great hero Son Goku came to us, and now we are protected by another good hearted Saiyan in Prince Trunks here, so we have nothing to fear and we can be generous."

"But make no mistake," Captain Videl said, "it is because of our strength that we can be this generous. If you're with us we are willing to protect you but if you'd rather be against us or go your own way that's fine too. Either way Earth will be protected and her people or _peoples_ will be safe and happy as long as the King's Guard and the Earth Defense Force have anything to say about it."

Captain Mari seemed to contemplate but Soma was still more agreeable. He said, "I'd much rather live here with strong protectors than try to find someplace else, especially now that I know how the PTO _really_ handles its business."

"But we'd still be the outsiders," Mari pointed out, "what stops them from attacking us? What stops their Saiyans from exterminating us? We have no warriors that can compare to the sort Frieza had, certainly none that could compare to Frieza and these people defeated him. So they say they'll protect us, what happens when they won't?"

Trunks said, "If you'd like I could train some of your own people along with mine."

"What?" So many people in the room asked that Trunks wasn't certain who _hadn't_.

He shrugged and said "I will train some of your fighters to be Earth's Defenders. You said yourself we lack any sense of community, anything in common well let training become the thing our people have in common. Let the defense of Earth become a thing we all hold in common, Earthling, Saiyan, Namekian and Calamareen. What do you think?"

Confused and concerned looks were exchanged not just by the Calamareens. Trunks felt a bit of satisfaction that Admiral Frigus looked uncertain, but a bit of confusion that Ambassador Verglas was nodding as if he approved.

The Arcosian pushed it further saying, "That sounds like quite the plan. Imagine, Captain Mari, if your people had the strength to stand on their own, you wouldn't need to rely on us or fear us."

"And how do we know that we can ever each that level?" Mari asked, "After all you say that some Saiyan killed Frieza but where is he now? Is _this_ Saiyan stronger? Can he help us become as strong as him, and if he could why would he? What _is_ a Saiyan even?"

Trunks sighed and said, "The truth is you're not that much different from an Earthling in terms of average power. So I think if I could train my students to be as powerful as I have I can mage the same for some of your people. We're holding a tournament among our students to see how much they've learned, why don't you watch it? Then you will be able to tell your leaders what you've seen?"

Trunks looked to Frigus and Verglas and said, "That goes for all of you."

"Us too?" Frigus seemed surprised.

"Why not?" Trunks asked with a shrug, "We have nothing to hide. You've gotten stronger since we last met but so have my students, so why not just for once see what they're capable of as a spectator rather than an enemy?"

Ambassador Verglas laughed and said, "We're holding a tournament of our own. Sometimes it seems like this whole universe runs on martial arts tournaments!"

"Well?" Trunks asked.

"That would be acceptable," Mari decided, "but I make no promises. Even if we decide you're strong enough to protect us I still don't understand why would teach any of us to be that strong."

"Neither do I," Videl said, "but he's a good kid so I tend to trust him. Maybe you should give it a shot."

"Why?" Mari asked flatly.

It was a fair question, Trunks thought. The Calamareen captain hadn't experienced any of the things that Captain Videl had experienced along with him after all, so why _should_ she trust him?

But it was the King who answered and said, "Because he is the Defender of Earth, and if you do accept our offer to live here that will make him your defender as well. It just helps to trust him."

Trunks couldn't help but smile at that, even if he had to admit he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing letting Frigus see his students tournament.

It would be a great opportunity to gather intelligence after all, Trunks just had to hope that it worked to intimidate the Arcosians into keeping the peace instead.

But he did bow to the King and say, "Thank you your majesty, your confidence gives me confidence."

Ambassador Verglas clapped his hands together and said, "Then that settles it, at the kind invitation of the Earth King and the Super Saiyan we should view this tournament Admiral, I'm sure it's far more entertaining than the one we're missing, and besides it would even give our crew a chance to . . . explore. Under escort of course, I would never presume to think you'd just let us wander unattended."

"You've got that right," Videl said with a nod.

"Well . . . I suppose it would let Glacien talk to some fellow scientists. He hasn't shut up about the impressive technologies of Earth." Admiral Frigus muttered.

"No kidding," Soma said, "they made this whole structure appear from a tiny little capsule!"

"Truly?" Verglas asked in surprise.

Even Admiral Frigus looked interested when Bulma, smiling with pride said, "Of course. There's a reason we call the company Capsule Corp."

Trunks smiled, if things went well it wouldn't just be Earth's fighters that impressed the Arcosians, maybe his mother's science could too. Maybe they really could show them that Earth didn't need to be a threat or something to be destroyed but a friend and a partner.

Especially if they really were trying to change.

But somehow Trunks doubted it.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

There were no stands to watch the tournament for the rank of General. A circle had been cleared for the fighting to take place and Arcosians had gathered to watch it as had many of their underlings.

Truth be told it was quite the crowd, and terribly noisy. It was _almost_ festive, Karuto thought and pretty much anyone who wasn't on duty or on a ship had come to watch the fight.

That included Karuto with his trusty if somewhat overly silent guard Kiwano.

For some it would be the spectacle of something never before witnessed, the highest and most powerful officers battling it out like demigods on a field of glory, some crews would be cheering for their commanding officers and _against_ other officers if they dared.

Still others would be there just for the sheer second-hand satisfaction of watching cruel or unkind officers being beaten by crueler even less kind officers in battle.

But for Karuto it was concern. What would this battle bring and what would its outcome mean for their people? Would the General lead them into another war, would they try to fight the Earth again?

What was going to happen?

Because there were no seats Karuto and Kiwano were sitting on one of the tree's roots, one that snaked around the place where the fighters would fight. Many other Arcosians were sitting there with them along with higher ranking alien officers, but most of the grunts were sitting on the dirt below.

Not because they couldn't fly up to a better spot but simply because all the best spots were taken.

Still Karuto couldn't help but hope the underlings wouldn't be caught in the line of fire during the fighting. The little Arcosian worried that two of his kind truly fighting would be too explosive to really serve as a spectator sport.

Of course he knew he and Kiwano had nothing to fear. He knew his father and uncle were nearby ready to deflect or shut down anything that got too out of hand. The contestants had worked hard but still none of them were anywhere near the Frost Twins in terms of power.

Not that _they_ were anywhere near Trunks but that was a different matter and one Karuto hoped would never be relevant. He really hoped the fighting would be finished forever . . . but then if that were possible he guessed they wouldn't need a General.

Still Karuto asked, "Did your people ever have tournaments like this?"

"Does it matter?" Kiwano asked.

"It does to me." Karuto said. "Did they ever have contests beneath their God-Tree?"

"The Tree isn't a god little Lord, and yes of course we had contests. But not tournaments."

"Then this will be your first time seeing a tournament? Do you want me to explain the rules to you?" Karuto asked.

"No thank you." Kiwano said politely, but in a tone that suggested he didn't want to talk anymore.

_Big surprise._ Karuto thought.

"Well if you get confused or have any questions just ask!" Karuto suggested anyway, but he really wished he'd been assigned a guard who liked to talk.

"I will." Kiwano said simply but it was very clear, at least to Karuto, that his guard wasn't very interested as the former General Boreal and Captain Gelato stepped into the circle that had been cleared for their fight.

The two were both tall and powerful fighters but Karuto' scouter told him plainly . . . the General—former General that was—was outmatched. Captain Gelato's power level was nearly two million, Boreal's was still only in the hundreds of thousands.

Karuto expected it to be over quickly.

"You all know me," Gelato declared, "I was on Earth, I've seen the fury of a Super Saiyan. If I become your General I can promise nothing, except that I understand the power of our ultimate threat and I will do everything I can to overcome it."

The crowd cheered and Boreal stood up straight and surveyed the crowd for a moment before declaring, "I was once General, I intend to be again. I have been gravely wounded by a Super Saiyan . . . when I regain my lost title I can assure you I will treat them with the gravity they deserve . . . but not with fear."

The crowd politely appluaded and cheered for that too an uncle Frostburn stood up and declared, "Captain Boreal, Captain Gelato, competing for their chance to be known as General and be gifted with a second piece of fruit. Are you prepared?"

"I am prepared." Captain Gelato said, cracking his knuckles.

"I will do my duty to the PTO," Boreal said, raising his fist to his heart and thumping lightly on his chest, "I am prepared."

"Then begin." Uncle Frostburn said with a nod.

The two fighters rushed at each other and exchanged a flurry of quick blows and deflections.

Nothing connected, which was astonishing to Karuto. Gelato's blows should have had no trouble hitting Boreal or knocking him out of the circle at the very least.

But instead Boreal dodged each blow until finally he spun around and in a flash struck out with his tail.

It was clear the former General had struck with all his might but Gelato did not budge he simply took the strike and stood like a statue.

There were gasps and shouts of awe some many of the onlookers but that only turned to true confusion with what happened next.

Captain Gelato took a couple of steps back and then knelt.

There was murmuring in the audience and Karuto stared, wondering what he was about to witness.

The Captain raised his head, exposing his neck and held his arms out as if welcoming death . . . and then said, "I forfeit."

"You what?" Karuto could hear his father almost growl.

"I forfeit. It is clear that Boreal is not strong enough to defeat me . . . but I cannot and will not serve a different General."

"Are you serious?" Uncle Frostburn roared with laughter, but it was not the joyous sort.

It was a more unbelieving and dangerous sort. Karuto realized then that Gelato was in an awful lot of danger at the moment and he became very nervous.

His eyes went back and forth between Gelato and his father and uncle.

Gelato said, "Boreal is the General who has led us for years, there is more to being in command than strength alone. Boreal knows how to lead troops and he knows how to win wars . . . other than the two of you my Lords, I will only serve Boreal."

There was deathly quiet for a long moment.

And then finally Karuto heard his father say more than a little archly, "Captain Boreal is the victor. _Congratulations_."

Karuto stared in shock, the crowd stared as well but they recovered from it far sooner than he did.

Though Karuto didn't know what to do the crowd did, they started to boo and complain.

Kiwano though just asked, "Is that not supposed to happen?"

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The General's tournament continues but the Twins are far from amused. Boreal may have won a battle but he still has stronger opponents ahead, and will the Twins allow him to play the same hand twice or will they decide to shuffle the deck? Find out Next Time!_


	115. A Beloved General

**Episode Thirty-Five**

**'A Beloved General'**

 

By the afternoon almost all of the other first round battles of the tournament had passed and been far more conventional. This meant that the one everyone was still talking about was Boreal's until Kalt entered the circle with his opponent Sleet.

The crowd was anxious, here was another responsible for the tournament being held, another who was nowhere near as strong as most of his opponents . . . but another who had a lot of political support.

Boreal was a sour taste to start the tournament, and Frostburn didn't doubt that Kalt had something similar planned with his opponent, especially since it seemed like he hadn't managed to take Boreal's fruit or eat a second piece himself.

Disappointing.

And it would be even more disappointing if both of them used this tournament as some kind of stunt to further themselves through subversion.

"If Kalt does what Boreal did," Frostburn began but his brother raised a hand and shook his head.

"He won't. Why would he?"

"He's weaker than his opponent but doesn't seem resigned to defeat?" Frostburn offered up the obvious.

"Sleet is too ambitious for that . . ." Frostbite said, but Frostburn could tell his brother sounded uncertain.

"I am prepared." Sleet said gravely.

" _I_ am prepared." Kalt announced as well.

Frostbite looked almost hesitant to start the fight so Frostburn shouted, "Begin!"

The battle was on, but Sleet was performing very poorly.

He was being sluggish, letting Kalt score hits he shouldn't have and Frostburn growled with irritation.

"He's going to throw the fight." Frostburn warned.

"I see that." Frostbite hissed, "What do you expect me to do about it?"

"May I offer up a suggestion?" Frostburn asked and his brother had barely even begun to nod before Frostburn leapt to his feet stretched forth his hand and pointed a single finger at Sleet.

There was just enough time for Frostbite to react to being shoved out of his brother's way with a "Wha-" before Frostburn unleashed his blast, the piercing red light shot from his fingertip like a laser and lanced through Sleet's chest sending the Arcosian to his knees with a wet gurgle.

There were shocked gasps and cries of dismay but Frostburn leapt from the "box" he and his brother were watching the fight in and grabbed Sleet by the throat, holding him up above the ground and shouting, "Enough! If you want to lose then lose, don't waste my time with play acting!"

The angry Lord threw Sleet into the crowd of horrified onlookers, the black and white soon-to-be corpse shot past several horrified faces, skimming the top of a far tree root before hitting another and falling to the ground behind the one he had skimmed. Frostburn saw several concerned looking minions rush to help and shouted, "Nobody touch him! You two," The enraged overlord pointed to a pair of Appullatiens who were in the lead and therefore nearest, "Stay with him if he's still alive. Don't help him but don't interfere with him either. _If_ he can make it to a medical tank in time he may live, if he doesn't then clean up the mess."

Frostbite leapt from the box and stood at his brother's side whispering, "You said you'd offer a suggestion, not take action."

"I misspoke." Frostburn lied. In truth he'd lost control of his temper . . . he'd only meant to _injure_ Sleet but when the moment came he'd though . . . _well, why not just kill him._

Indeed while Frostburn had been honest to the Appullatiens and _if_ Sleet could crawl to a medical tank he _would_ let him live, the truth was the overlord knew Sleet had only a few agonizing moments of life left in him.

Frostburn shouted, "You think this is just some game? We're not looking for a popular general, we're not looking for a skilled general even, your _might_ will be your skill, your _strength_ will be your popularity! The _strongest_ should become General, not the weakest! From now on any Arcosian who loses their fight intentionally will die by _my_ hand, no matter who they are!"

The crowd murmured in a mixture of fear and anger but Frostburn knew there was nothing any of them could do.

He reveled in the helplessness they must be feeling, and thought _it serves you right you conspirators swine, b_ efore he shouted to the upset crowd, "I understand! Boreal was a beloved General and Kalt is a popular alternative . . . now ask yourselves, does Lord Frostburn care if you all love him? Does he care if he's popular? No! _Now_ ask yourselves if there's anything you can _do_ about it!"

Frostburn's lips curled into a dark smile and he said, "You can all hate me, you can all fear me and you _should,_ but in the end I'm too powerful for _any_ of you to _do_ anything _to_ me! _That_ is the power of General we're looking for, a warrior you can hate as much as you want but who cannot be resisted, a hero you can love or hate, it won't matter to him. Only that caliber of Arcosian can lead our forces in the destruction of the Galactic Patrol, only _that_ sort of an Arcosian will stand any chance of rising to the top and becoming powerful enough to face our greatest enemy."

Frostbite put a strong hand on his shoulder, but it was not one of support.

"Calm down, brother," Frostbite whispered.

"Do not question me in front of them," Frostburn warned him.

"I'm not," Frostbite said patiently, "they cannot hear us here, but do not _threaten_ our men without my permission and do not inspire insurrection in our Clan without at least consulting me first . . . you idiot."

Frostburn shook his brother's hand off of his shoulder and scoffed loudly for all of them to hear, "You're right brother, I _am_ being unfair."

There was more murmuring, some of it sounded relieved and Frostburn saw his twin visibly relax before he said, "It's not right to hold Sleet wholly responsible . . . is it?"

Kalt looked very nervous now. He had inched his way away from the twins while Frostburn had raged earlier but now he at least had the courage to stand tall and proud as Frostburn's fiery red gaze fell on him.

Kalt met that gaze and Frostburn smiled an unpleasant smile before he said, "Someone . . . bring me Gelato. Let's have our first little conspirator pay the same price, and maybe anyone else thinking of-"

"That's enough," Frostbite shouted, "Gelato stay wherever you are. I won't retroactively punish our warriors, if you wanted to kill Gelato you should have done it when he offered you reason."

Frostburn spun on his brother lips curled in a snarl but when he turned he saw that Frostbite was barely a pace away from him.

There was a moment of perfect clarity when Frostburn realized how close his rage had brought him to blasting his brother and that his brother had closed the distance between them not only because he expected it but so that he could retaliate immediately. At a range Frostburn's blasts were unstoppable, but Frostbite's fists were just as devastating up close.

Back in the days when the twins still came to blows the deciding factor was always distance and at this distance Frostbite would win. His proximity was very much meant to be a threat, and it shook Frostburn out of his rage and forced him to recognize the damage being done to their unified image.

Or that Frostbite had done to their unified image, after all he was the one openly challenging him in front of the clan. It wasn't that he'd assumed his brother would support him, it was that he hadn't _cared_ and had assumed that Frostbite would at least save the challenging for later in private like he always did and like Frostburn always did in return.

But the challenge was out there now, in front of the entire clan no less.

Their leaders had openly defied each other, and the cleverer eyes would know how close the two had come to battle as well.

"Forgive me brother, I don't know what came over me." Frostburn said insincerely.

"We all make mistakes." Frostbite said coldly before turning to the crowd and shouting, "Take a ten minute break while we reorganize the listings to avoid and further . . . upsets."

Everyone rushed away, no one wanted to be anywhere near their Lords at the moment.

Frostburn folded his slender arms and said, "It's fine, I think I got the message across."

"You . . . absolute idiot!" Frostbite roared.

"Idiot?" Frostburn scowled, "I'm the idiot?" He shook his head and forced a mocking laugh before he lost control of his temper again, screeching at his twin, "You're the stupid sentimental one, I defy you to tell me that anything I said was wrong! It doesn't matter if they love us or hate us, it only matters that they _obey_ us and undermining our tournament is _not_ obedience!"

"You're right, it's not," Frostbite said, "but remember it was your man who started it, Boreal-"

"Oh to Old Arcoss with Boreal!" Frostburn roared, "It doesn't matter which of them started it they were both at it!"

"You don't even know that, Sleet might had lost legitimately, he might have underestimated Kalt and saved too much of his power for later fights! You didn't even _think_ about that, did you?"

"I did," Frostburn snapped, "and I judged it a worthwhile risk! If he lost legitimately then he's a failure and a fool and he deserves to die, if he lost because of conspiracy then he's a conspirator and a fool and he deserves to die! The fact that I left him the _possibility_ of survival-"

"You did no such thing," Bite scoffed.

"Fine, the fact that I _seemed_ to leave him-" Frostburn scoffed back but Frostbite interrupted him again.

"No. Just no." Frostbite shook his head and said, "You defied me to tell you that anything you'd said was wrong, well you did get one thing wrong."

"What's that?" Frostburn asked, genuinely curious.

"You said there was nothing anyone could do to stop you. But I'm just as strong as you. If you get out of control like that again _I_ will stop you. Do you understand me, brother?"

Frostburn glared and said, "Are you threatening me?"

"I'm making a promise. The Frost Clan is more important than either of us, don't throw everything away when we're this close to recovering our proper place in the stars. If you can't learn to control your temper . . . maybe I'll have to see how well the Clan does with just one ruler."

Frostburn unfolded his arms and let them fall to his sides. He said, "Careful Bite . . . maybe you're not the only one who's willing to try out a single ruler setup."

And now the challenge was given voice between them.

Perhaps it had been inevitable . . . after all when their power levels had only been five hundred thousand apiece they had needed to rely on each other to maintain control, but now after just one piece of fruit their power levels were in the millions.

And if Glacien's calculations were correct the next piece would take them to over a hundred million, a power to nearly rival Lord Frieza . . . and Frieza had never needed anyone's help ruling.

_Perhaps the truth,_ Frostburn thought with a bitter smile, _is that we were always bound to outgrow each other, dear brother._

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Sleet had managed to crawl a good several feet away from the place where he'd landed before it seemed he'd given up and lay in a growing pool of blood. His limp form barely moving except to take small breaths with too much time between them.

"He's still breathing," Karuto said and he moved towards him but Kiwano's large hand grasped him by the armored shoulder pad.

The Iwatian pulled him back and said, "Hold Little Lord, you cannot touch him!"

"He's not going to make it, you don't want him to die do you?" Karuto demanded.

"Not as such, but those were the Lord's orders . . ." Kiwano said and the two Appullatiens nodded dumbly.

Karuto scoffed and said, "Well this Lord is telling you to let him go, at this point _you're_ the one killing Captain Sleet."

Kiwano was just staring at him in confusion, the big alien asked him, "What are you doing? Your Lord Uncle said not to help him or hinder him."

"He didn't tell _me_." Karuto said.

"I believe he was addressing the crowd at large." Kiwano said.

"I disagree. He wasn't even looking at me when he said it, he just pointed to them," Karuto indicated the two Appullatiens and added, "You two don't have to help."

"I . . . cannot let you do this," Kiwano said, "I am meant to guard you. I am . . . not convinced that your uncle's threat of punishment did not apply to you as well."

"I am." Karuto said. "He's my uncle. And even if that's not enough my father wouldn't let him hurt me."

"I . . . don't think . . ." Kiwano was saying but Karuto broke free of the alien's surprisingly powerful grip and knelt down next to Sleet.

He carefully lifted him, but even though he was strong enough to lift someone of Sleet's size Karuto was too small to carry him effectively.

Still he couldn't just let someone die like this.

The little Arcosian tried to heft the unconscious Captain over his shoulder when a new figure leapt over the Great Tree's root that sheltered them from the view of the quarreling twins.

He was a large humanoid alien with beet red skin and a head covered in small pointy horns. He was a head taller than Kiwano was and just as wide from thick corded muscle.

Karuto smiled a disarming smile as best he could without a visible mouth and said, "Uh . . . this isn't what it looks like?"

"It looks like you're trying to help my Captain," the alien said, carefully almost gently taking the injured Arcosian from Karuto's shoulder and into his arms, "and it looks like you wouldn't have made it in time."

"You cannot touch him!" Kiwano insisted.

"I am _Commander_ Pitaya," The red alien said coldly, "That rank means that I'm one of the few non-Arcosians privileged with a piece of that fruit . . . so keep that in mind before you tell me what I can and cannot do, Iwatian."

"You're going to help him?" Karuto asked.

Pitaya answered, "I wasn't, I was . . . I _am_ as afraid of Lord Frostburn as anyone else. But Sleet is my captain . . . if a child is willing to take the risk how can I stand idly by?"

"But Lord Frostburn," Kiwano was insisting but Karuto shook his head and the big Iwatian fell silent with a shudder.

"You two come with me," Pitaya ordered the pair of Appullatiens, "I don't want to risk you telling on me before my Captain's in a healing tank. When it's over you can tell them I overpowered you."

"What about me?" Karuto asked, "Are you afraid I'll tell?"

"Not unless you want to explain the blood streaks on your armor." Pitaya said.

At first Karuto thought he was being threatened then he realized that having lifted the bleeding Captain onto his shoulder he'd gotten some blood on his armor. He smiled slightly and said, "Well, I wouldn't have anyway. Come on, I'll go with you!"

"Why?" Kiwano asked sounding almost pitiful, "The fault is with him now, clean your armor and your uncle need never know you were going to disobey!"

"Well yeah . . ." Karuto shrugged, "but if I go with them then I'm still in danger as long as they are, and since you're my guard you have to make sure I don't get caught . . . so I guess that means you can't go tell my uncle now, can you?"

"But . . . but I-" Kiwano sputtered as Pitaya took off towards the base at what was probably his top speed.

"You don't have to come with us, just don't tattle." Karuto clarified and followed after Pitaya.

Kiwano didn't wait long before flying after them.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Boreal's hands were shaking as he stood in the shadow of a great root about a hundred meters from where their Lords were quarreling.

"Your plan is failing, Boreal, worse than that it's gotten Sleet killed and if it weren't for Lord Frostbite then Gelato would probably-" Kalt was shouting but Aurora stepped between them.

"Back off, you were the one who had the idea to try to fake winning after you saw their reaction to Gelato's outright surrender, for all we know _that_ was what set Lord Frostburn off, he _did_ mention the _acting_ after all."

"Fighting amongst ourselves won't get us anywhere," Cooly said, "I can try to talk to my father but-"

"And what, tell him you agreed that whichever of us wins our fight next would surrender to General—I'm sorry, _Captain_ Boreal too?" Icebreaker demanded.

"You two might not even fight next round, you heard them they're going to reshuffle things. That means either of you two could end up fighting someone who never agreed to the plan." Aurora said.

"So what do we do?" Kalt demanded.

"You want to be General, you tell us!" Cooly snapped.

"My plan was to actually _be_ stronger!" Kalt snarled, "this is _your_ Captain's party! Boreal, why don't you _say_ something!?"

Boreal's hands were still shaking but he looked up at Kalt his teeth gritted.

Lord Frostburn's words were echoing in his head, replaying over and over. _"You can all fear me and you should,"_ he'd said and he was right. They _should_ all fear him, after all it was killing one of their own kind that saw Chillax exiled, there were simply some lines they did _not_ cross.

And the Lord's words still echoed in Boreal's head. " _In the end I'm too powerful for any of you to do anything to me!"_

_Too powerful . . ._

Aurora reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, "Boreal . . ." he said but Boreal clenched his fists and let his aura blaze with fury.

"Too powerful!" He roared out loud, "Too powerful for us to do anything to him! He can do as he pleases and we just have to take it!"

"G-general . . ." Icebreaker said nervously.

"Calm down," Cooly began but Boreal spun around and slammed his fist into the tree root so hard the thing actually cracked and splintered.

Boreal shook his head angrily, "I _fought_ to be who I am, I struggled for my strength and I was _proud_ of that! I _made_ myself a General, I _rose_ through the ranks! I wasn't _born_ strong and I wasn't _gifted_ my strength from any blasted fruit!"

"Boreal!" Aurora shouted, "Calm down! If the Twins hear you-"

"To hell with them both!" Boreal shouted, "Casting me down like trash because I haven't joined their little fruit salad club? Throwing away my years of service, my victories and the glory I've brought them because I didn't want to abandon what it meant to be me?!"

Boreal roared in fury and said, "Then so be it! No one strong enough to do anything about them eh? Well . . . fine then. Let the old Boreal die . . . and the new one will just see about _that_!"

"What are you talking about?" Kalt asked, backing away from him as if he thought he were insane, and Boreal wasn't so sure he didn't agree, "You _want_ to die in this tournament?"

But Boreal just reached into his battle jacket.

He pulled out a small box, something he'd kept with him planning to destroy it once he'd won . . . it would have been a grand gesture.

But now instead . . .

He said, "I was willing to resort to trickery to take back what I'd already rightfully earned, what was _unjustly_ taken from me . . . but that's only led to disaster and put those who put their faith in me in danger. Perhaps the better option truly is to be the ruthless powerful warrior they're calling for, perhaps the better option truly would be to give in and give them what they want . . ."

He opened the box and threw it to the ground hard, smashing it. He held its contents and felt as if he were holding poison . . . _if I do this,_ he thought, _I betray everything I am . . ._

"Boreal . . . give it to me," Kalt said, "I'll win the tournament legitimately and still keep our bargain."

"Remember why you took the bargain in the first place, Kalt," Cooly warned, "my father might have set a trap, there's obviously a reason the twins haven't eaten a second piece yet, it might be poison before your body is finished with the first."

"That's madness, they're only trying to get used to their new strength, I'm sure of it," Kalt said, "I'm used to mine. Give me the fruit Boreal, you said yourself this isn't what you want."

Boreal smiled mirthlessly and said, "You're right. I don't want this. Everything I am, I am through hardship and struggle. Everything I have . . . or _had_ , I had because I thought I had _earned_ it . . . that was always what it meant to _be_ General Boreal to me . . ."

He looked at the small piece of red fruit . . . how he hated it. He hated everything about it, everything it represented . . . But in the end there was no choice. He closed his eyes and said, "But I'm _Captain_ Boreal now . . ."

And he took a bite.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On The Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The Twins order the tournament to resume but Boreal has an odd request for them, and Kiwano makes a surprising decision. What will be the outcome of Karuto's gamble? Find out in the next episode!_


	116. Maximum Speed

**Episode Thirty-Six**

**'Maximum Speed'**

 

Ten minutes later less than the full crowd had returned.

It seemed that with one of their Lords in a killing mood many who had at one point intended to watch the tournament had suddenly found duties where none existed before and tasks to see to that would keep them out of the line of fire if Frostburn decided to throw another tantrum.

The remaining competitors marched back into the center of the arena, the eight of them looking uneasy and it was easy for Frostbite to see why. He folded his arms in irritation when the fighters returned, his scouter beeping to warn him of what he already knew.

Frostburn on the other hand was ecstatic, "Hah! Well look at that, brother!"

"I see it." Frostbite said coldly.

His brother was unfazed by his irritation as usual instead still excitedly saying, "Proper incentive and Boreal rises to the occasion! I knew once he really got the message he'd fall in line!"

Frostbite wasn't blind, he could see and his scouter could too. Boreal's power level after training had been getting close to what theirs had been before they ate their first pieces of fruit and as a result he was now nearly as powerful as they were.

_More trouble,_ Frostbite thought bitterly. Now he wouldn't just have to keep an eye on Frostburn he'd have to keep an eye on Boreal as well.

_Or worse, on both of them,_ he thought, after all Boreal had always been in Frostburn's camp.

While most of their cousins had reached a level just over a million Boreal was far closer to their own current level coming close to seven million.

"Well then," Frostburn said with a broad smile, "It seems we're ready to continue without any foolishness this time! So then, the next match will be-"

"If you'll excuse me," Boreal called up from the circle, "I have a request, Lord Frostburn."

Frostburn scowled, his good mood clearly gone in an instant but Frostbite stood up and put a heavy hand on his brother's shoulder as a warning against another embarrassing outburst.

"What is it?" Frostbite asked.

"I don't want to waste any more time with this pointless tournament. We already know who the winner is, who the winner would always be. Lord Frostburn said himself, you needed the strongest as the General and it's clear who the strongest is."

"So what, you think we'll just declare you winner because you had a power lunch?" Frostburn demanded.

"Not at all." Boreal said calmly, "Instead what I ask is that you let me take on all of the remaining competitors at once so that none of them can doubt who the strongest is."

Frostbite wasn't so sure, but Frostburn had yet another shift of mood, laughing and visibly relaxing he said, "Ah is that all? Well . . . if you're not afraid of being overwhelmed. I don't see a problem with that. Go ahead, entertain us!"

Frostbite shook his head, "Just a moment, this is highly irregular and besides-"

"Besides he's right, there's no point dragging this out! The crowd's gone anyway!" Frostburn interrupted.

_And who do we blame for_ that? Frostbite thought bitterly, but out loud he just said, "Fine then."

Frostburn laughed rudely and raised his fist, "Begin!" He ordered without even offering the fighters a chance to declare whether or not they were actually prepared.

Still there was no explosion of action, instead everyone seemed to stumble back in shock for a moment before they all very quickly ran to the edges of the circle to put distance between themselves and Boreal.

Boreal however just stood motionless for a moment before finally raising his fist to his chest and saying, "I am prepared."

Frostbite shook his head, "Needless theatrics," he muttered then he spotted a ship lifting off from the corner of his eye.

"What's that?" He asked, "I don't remember clearing any of our ships to leave . . ."

"Oh as if you memorize every flight order," Frostburn scoffed, "just watch the fight, or are you too worried that my Boreal is about to batter your Kalt?"

"You really still think Boreal is yours?" Frostbite asked, hoping to cast a shadow of doubt in Frostburn's mind and thereby hopefully slow any alliance that might intend to bring him down.

Frostburn scoffed and said, "Why wouldn't he be? Because I yelled at him a bit? I yell at you all the time, don't I?"

"I'm your brother. Boreal is just Boreal." Frostbite pointed out.

"Hmm." Frostburn seemed to actually take that to heart and scratched his chin thoughtfully for a moment.

But the moment passed when finally someone, Cooly, dared to make a move, springing forward towards Boreal blasts of red energy charging in his hands as he charged.

Icebreaker moved next, backing up his longtime comrade and then the rest moved as well all seven rushing for Boreal who stood completely still and calm in the center of the circle.

Frostbite watched too. He hadn't forgotten about the ship, but he simply couldn't take his eyes off the fight.

Their officers were giving it their all, even Kalt was _trying_ to hit Boreal and Boreal nimbly dodged and avoided every blow.

He danced and dodged between their attacks with a fluidity and grace that Frostbite had simply never seen, though Boreal was probably not used to his full power yet he was clearly already a master of his speed.

_Or at least enough of it to avoid everyone, which might not have been that much for him,_ Frostbite thought.

Frostburn actually giggled and said, "Look at that, brother! Now _that's_ a General! Lord Frieza would have been jealous!"

"Maybe," Frostbite had to admit, "but don't forget Lord Frieza's closest advisors were Zarbon and Dodoria, strength isn't all there is to a good vassal."

"That's true," Frostburn nodded without taking his crimson gaze from the fighting, "but that's what we have Frigus and Glacien for isn't it? They can be the good weak advisors, but Boreal," Frostburn was interrupted by his own gleeful laugh as Boreal finally made his first offensive move.

He swept his hand out in an almost gentle-looking backhanded slap that sent Hiemal flying out of the circle to crater into a thick tree root showering the spectators in splinters and shards of wood.

"But Boreal is a General." Frostbite supplied for his brother who nodded with a wicked grin.

"He'll be the instrument of our conquest, he's already strong enough to destroy the Galactic Patrol . . . we can start as early as tomorrow!"

"What about the tree and the fruit?"

"We'll have our second pieces and we'll save a third apiece, then we'll destroy it!" Frostburn said with a wild look in his eyes, "Don't you see brother? This is why it had to be Boreal and not Kalt!"

"What are you talking about?" Frostbite asked but then the ship blasted back into his memory when its engines flashed.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Kiwano seemed agitated but Karuto really couldn't be bothered to focus on that at the moment and anyway when _wasn't_ he upset about something?

Still even if Captain Sleet's critical condition was of a greater concern Karuto could at least tell his guard, "It's going to be fine, you're just doing your job."

"If I were doing my job I would be stopping you all." Kiwano pointed out.

"You'd be trying." Pitaya scoffed.

The small group of them went aboard the Arcoss Avenger, Pitaya had apparently called the ship before coming to assist his Captain.

He'd said as they flew that Sleet would never make it to the healing tanks in the base and Karuto sort of suspected he was right.

But calling a whole ship over was bound to attract attention.

Pitaya took the limp form of his Captain to the healing chamber and quickly shoved him into a tank before he began barking orders to the crew in the room. Karuto had spent a long time on Uncle Kalt's ship he knew what those orders were and what they meant.

They were what he expected.

"I just want to point out that I never agreed to any of this," One of the Appullatiens mentioned.

"Nobody asked." The other snapped.

"We have more important things to worry about right now," Karuto insisted and both of them quickly fell silent.

"Y-yes, sorry my Lord!" One of them cried.

"I didn't mean to-" The other began but Pitaya interrupted him.

The large alien snapped, "Get out of here, you're not needed anymore!"

The two scrambled off without hesitation, but Karuto asked, "Are we not needed either?"

"I wouldn't presume to order you." Pitaya muttered, "but you can't accomplish anything more than you already have."

"You hear that? All's well that ends well, right?" Kiwano told him. "Let's go."

"Why are you so eager to run off?" Karuto asked, "I told you everything will be fine."

"I don't understand why we needed to go along in the first place." Kiwano said.

"We didn't, I already told you you don't have to come too." Karuto pointed out. He turned to Kiwano, now that Sleet was in the healing tank he could give the Iwatian more focus and tell him, "It's time for you to go. It's okay, Captain Sleet will be fine now so it doesn't matter if you tattle now."

"I don't even know what a 'tattle' is," Kiwano said, "but . . . but I cannot just leave you either."

"You should both leave," Pitaya said, "this ship is getting underway."

"Getting underway?" Kiwano demanded, but Karuto nodded.

He'd suspected that this was Pitaya's plan the moment he'd called for the ship. After all Uncle Frostburn would punish anyone who helped Captain Sleet and Pitaya probably knew he'd be obvious.

He probably thought his best hope was to just leave the planet and try to get away.

But Karuto knew better.

"You can't go," Karuto said, "they'll track you down. There's no where for you _to_ go."

"We'll find something. When the Captain recovers I'm sure he'll know of _somewhere_."

"Or not." Karuto said. "But I know a place you can go. I'll go with you."

"Go _with_ them!" Kiwano gawked, "You can't be serious!"

"I feel like you should know better by now." Karuto told him.

"Where would you have us go?" Pitaya asked.

"To Earth, obviously." Karuto said with a slight nod. "If you're traitors that's the only safe place. The Galactic Patrol won't take you in, and they won't be safe for much longer even if they would. But the Earth will take you in, especially if I tell them you can be trusted."

"The Earth?" Pitaya mumbled.

"The _Earth_?" Kiwano groaned angrily, "With that traitor Konpeito?"

"Yes." Karuto said simply. "My friend."

"He was my friend once too, don't forget!" Kiwano said.

Karuto shrugged and said, "Well then why don't you stop complaining?"

Kiwano's eyes narrowed, "I have not even _begun_ to complain-"

"Yes you have." Karuto said brightly.

"No, I have not!" Kiwano said firmly, "me complaining would be pointing out how insane any of this is, how unfathomably ridiculous it is to think that the sheer nature of your birth will save any of these people, myself included from your uncle's wrath! Me complaining would be pointing out what a folly it is to turn against your own kind like this!"

"Turn against my own kind?" Karuto blinked, "But I'm not turning against them at all."

"This is an act of rebellion against the Lords of your people! You're a demigod defying gods and it's us mortals who will pay for it! _That_ is what complaining sounds like, little Lord, me telling you that when they kill those two fools and me it will be because of _you_!"

Karuto shook his head and said, "That's crazy talk! They didn't do anything wrong and anyway it's not like there's anything unique about them. They're Appullatiens, uncle Frostburn doesn't know their names and he won't recognize their faces. As long as they lay low they'll be fine."

"You really don't see the consequences for your actions?" Kiwano gawked.

"I do, I just don't agree with you about what they are." Karuto said. "Anyway it's fine. You can go."

"Why aren't _you_?" Kiwano demanded.

Karuto shrugged and said, "Because Earth won't just take them in without me there to tell them they're okay. And anyway if we hurry the _Frieza's Fist_ should still be there, I can come back here with my father and Uncle Frigus. Oh, and I can say hello to Chillax while I'm there!"

Karuto was getting excited to see the Earth again now that he really thought about it.

"You're a madman!" Kiwano groaned.

"The Lords might not take you back if they know you helped us to be accepted by our enemies," Pitaya pointed out. "You two should go, we can negotiate our own safe arrival at Earth."

"Listen to him," Kiwano said but Karuto shook his head raising his hand to silence Kiwano.

"Maybe. But I don't think so. Anyway I know my father would take me back, I'm only helping them escape my crazy Uncle's wrath after all."

"By sending another of your kind to betray and join the Saiyans?" Kiwano demanded.

"Not to betray," Karuto said, folding his slender arms, "don't you see? No, of course you don't . . . look, we're not at war with the Saiyans so it's not betrayal. It's just asylum, they'll be safe on Earth but they wouldn't be safe with the Galactic Patrol."

"And when your father and uncle come for Earth?" Kiwano asked, "Will it be betrayal then when you've given the Earth even more powerful fighters?"

"Earth already has the most powerful fighter." Karuto pointed out. "Trunks can take out both my father and my uncle at the same time, we can't beat them we need to learn to live _with_ them . . . maybe having even more of my kind living on Earth instead of just Chillax will help them see that we can live in peace with the Earth and the Saiyans."

Kiwano shook his head slowly and muttered, "Saiyans, Arcosians, all of us lesser races caught up in your war . . . do you really care about any of us?"

"I do." Karuto said in as soothing a voice as he could manage. "That's why you should stay here. Not because I think you'll be safer, I think you'd be safest coming with us, but because it's what you want to do. You don't want to go to Earth, you don't want to risk being seen as a traitor by my father and uncle so you should stay here and hope that they show you mercy."

Kiwano scoffed, "Hope they'll show me mercy? When I failed to keep you safe?"

Karuto shrugged. "Like I said, it's not because I think you'll be safer. It's just because it's what you'd rather do."

Kiwano shook his head and said, "No. If you're going to Earth I'd rather go with you."

"You would?" Karuto asked. "Why?"

Kiwano frowned and said, "I have my reasons. Konpeito and I were friends once . . . I followed him into battle against the Oozaru even though I thought it was suicide. I think that this is suicide as well but perhaps just like back then I'll be wrong . . . perhaps if I can see my old friend one more time he can explain his perspective to me."

Karuto unfolded his arms and nodded though he doubted Kiwano was being completely honest.

It was a lot more likely that Kiwano planned to attack Karuto and try to prove his loyalty to the Twins by doing something terrible on or even to the Earth.

But . . . well Karuto just didn't think he'd be too much trouble.

And anyway he could probably change his mind by then.

Maybe.

"All right then . . ." Pitaya said, sounding a little uncertain. He tapped his scouter connecting himself to the bridge and said, "Set course for Earth. Maximum speed."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Frostburn smiled wolfishly when Cooly finally fell to the ground unconscious.

He'd been the last, now only Boreal stood in the circle.

"Well there you have it," Frostburn said, turning to his brother, "Boreal is our General."

Frostbite shook his head slowly, Frostburn rolled his eyes at his wishy washy brother and said, "What are you worried about _now_?"

His brother didn't answer him honestly, instead he just said "Nothing. Go ahead and proclaim your winner, I suppose."

Frostburn did just that, standing before what was left of the crowd he declared, "General Boreal . . . just as I knew you would you stand triumphant. From this day forward you are second only to us, your Lords! Now prepare yourself for the war to come, revel in your well earned victory!"

"Well earned." Frostbite scoffed. "He ate a piece of fruit, I would have been more impressed if he'd actually won without it."

"He couldn't possibly have won legitimately without it." Frostburn scoffed.

"Exactly my point. Now he's won legitimately, but you may well have cost us his loyalty in the long term for the short term satisfaction of getting your way, Burn." Frostbite scoffed.

"Oh come now, why are you so glum?" Frostburn chuckled, "Do you truly not see the genius of what I've done?"

Frostbite seemed to do a double-take. He stared for a very long moment before asking, "You . . . think you've . . . done something _good_?"

Frostburn laughed and said, "Kalt getting the second piece of fruit early . . . let's say Glacien is wrong and it's _not_ toxic. Let's say he eats it and it works wonders for him the second time the same as the first."

"Okay . . ." Frostbite said.

"Then he'd be stronger than us, he could overthrow us!"

"Yes . . ." Frostbite said clearly still waiting for Frostburn to really spell things out for him.

_Poor idiot._ Frostburn thought. "Don't you get it? Boreal is the best choice for General! Not only is he not stronger than us after the first piece of fruit but he didn't want the fruit to begin with, he only took it after I started killing Clan members."

"So?" Frostbite asked.

"So Boreal will never surpass us and they'll never surpass him. We can eat as much fruit as we want and never worry about begin surpassed by some ambitious fool who might want to overthrow us like Kalt or Sleet."

"Sleet . . . wait, is that the real reason you attacked Sleet? Because he was ambitious?"

_No . . . but it sounds better when you say it like that, so_ "Of course it is!" Frostburn scowled, "I'm not some fool who can't control his emotions!" _That's you._

Frostbite folded his arms and had a mildly impressed look on his face, "So you had a method to your madness . . . but what makes you think Boreal won't take more fruit now that he's had his first taste?"

"He's so far behind," Frostburn explained, "even if he does we'll always be months ahead of him, if he tries to eat more than us and surpass us he'll kill himself."

"Unless Glacien was wrong and eating a second piece before the first one's been properly processed wouldn't be fatal." Frostbite suggested.

Frostburn waved his hand, "Nonsense. Why would _you_ be the one to start doubting Glacien? That's _my_ job."

"I just hope he's right. Because it will take more than just two pieces for us to stand up to the Super Saiyan, we can't let this tree fall out of our hands before then."

"It won't," Frostburn scoffed.

After all now that they had a General their people would be busy preparing for war.

They would wipe the Galactic Patrol from the cosmos and then the Planet Trade Organization would finally return to the top where it belonged with the Frost Twins at its head just where they belonged.

So even if Boreal did harbor some sort of grudge it wouldn't matter. In the end he'd never be anything better than the third best.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Chronicles of Earth's Defenders . . .** _Turles has some words with Cauli and Rhuby, but is he even trying to convince them to fight for him anymore? Okran makes what she sees as a bona-fide attempt to finally get through to Rhubara but will the two finally see eye to eye or could they be pushed even further apart so close to the tournament?_


	117. For Now

**Episode Thirty-Seven**

**'For Now'**

 

Looking up at the night sky while standing guard on the rooftop of Prince Trunks' Capsule . . . negotiations center, embassy, what ever Earth historians would end up calling this place, Cauliflora couldn't help but think that funnily enough even though Earth was making its first tense and tenuous contact with a new alien species for her and Rhuby it was pretty much just a Thursday night.

She even said as much quietly to the other girl and Rhuby laughed, "Well I'd prefer Kodva and Gurein over our current company, but I guess you're right."

Cauli knew she meant Turles specifically and not Brassica and Bass who'd also arrived. Some of the others, who Cauli could assume had been out with Turles were there too, Lamson among them. She was standing with Turles now and the two were having a whispered conversation of their own and Cauli couldn't deny that they looked pretty good together.

She still wasn't completely certain what the details were about the trouble between Rhuby and Turles. But it was obvious to her that they hadn't been resolved, which suited her just fine. Rhuby had always been tougher than many gave her credit for and having becoming stronger than Turles as a goal had left her far more driven training with Prince Trunks than Cauli had ever seen her training in Lord Stobler's stables.

It drove her to greater lengths as well and she'd loved it. Cauliflora couldn't for the life of her recall a much better week. Training with her sister and teammate by day, then training with Rhuby and Prince Trunks by night and knowing that all of it would soon be put to the test in a tournament the likes of which Planet Vegeta had never seen.

Still just standing near Turles she could feel that neither of them were as strong as he was yet. In fact Turles had gotten a lot stronger over the last few nights, strong enough that Cauli who could barely sense energy could sense the difference and know that he'd gained more in his training than they had in theirs.

Which especially came as a surprise since he'd been training with Brock, and Brock hadn't gotten that much stronger himself. The Regular had increased a great deal it was true but even Quash who'd started at a similar level and trained with Bocan, who was weaker than Turles, had gotten stronger than Brock had in the time they'd had to train.

Maybe comparing him to an elite like Quash wasn't fair but compared even to that relative newcomer Brock's growth seemed . . . typical of what Cauli would have expected. Not so of Turles. They'd started behind him and once he'd really gotten going the gap had widened instead of shrunk. Maybe that was why Rhuby was especially frosty towards Turles tonight.

Cauli stayed by her side of course and though she felt no particular good will towards Turles she also had no interest in alienating her own teammate by being quite as standoffish as Rhuby. After all, Lamson might judge it an insult.

_Which would be a shame, because I think this is going to be a great tournament,_ Cauli thought, _I'd rather have a teammate that wants to be on my team for it, not someone who's fussy because I evil-eyed her boyfriend._

Still maybe it would have been better to seem more standoffish because it was around that time that Turles came over to them. He was smiling a friendly smile but it did falter a bit when only Cauli returned it, and only halfheartedly.

Rhuby just gave him a 'what do you want?' look.

"Boring work, this guard duty." Turles said by way of greeting. "We should be inside with Prince Trunks, don't you think?"

Cauli shrugged and said, "I don't know, we were just talking about how pleasant the night sky is."

"But wouldn't you rather be inside where we can actually _guard_ him?" Turles asked.

"Why?" Rhuby shrugged, "There's only one thing as strong as he is on this planet and that's him."

Cauli and Lamson both laughed but Turles just smiled and said, "For now."

"For now?" Cauli asked, "Got some secret power boost you're hiding from the rest of us?"

"Maybe he just figures the zenkai after we beat him will be enough." Rhuby said in a tone that just slightly failed to sound playful.

Lamson clearly took notice and folded her arms, "You make it sound like the two of you will be together, don't forget Cauli's going to be with me and you're going to be with Okran. So he only needs to be able to take one of you on and even if that weren't the case he's got experience taking on-"

"That's okay," Turles said, raising a hand to quiet Lamson, "it's nothing at all like that, Rhuby."

Cauli relaxed a bit, and Turles continued, "Actually what I mean is that once I win this tournament Prince Trunks will show me how to become a Super Saiyan. Then it'll only be a matter of time before I surpass him."

"It's a possibility," Rhuby said a little stiffly, " _If_ you win of course. But you don't know, someone might surpass you."

"Gohan already knows how to transform, and no one can even get a read on that Sixteen guy." Cauli pointed out.

Turles laughed and said, "True. But I think if Sixteen were stronger than Prince Trunks he'd have forbidden him from entering the tournament. And Gohan can't use his transformation in the tournament itself . . . and neither can you."

"Me?" Cauli blinked.

"We don't know it." Rhuby shrugged.

"Oh? Well why not?" Turles asked, sounding genuinely disappointed.

"Why would we? If you haven't learned it why should we know it?" Cauli asked.

"What's the benefit of training with Prince Trunks night after night if you're not learning his secrets?" Turles asked.

Cauli raised an eyebrow but Rhuby scoffed. Turles smirked and asked, "What, you think I can't sense the two of you training with him? And absent your partners? For shame."

"I didn't realize we needed your permission." Cauli said with a shrug.

"Well I am the Captain." Turles pointed out and it was a fair point.

"He's the Prince." Rhuby shot back, and said, "Anyway that's not it. I don't care if you can sense us, I just scoff at the idea you wouldn't see training with Prince Trunks as a benefit itself."

Turles nodded slightly as if he were conceding the point but he said, "A social one it seems. After all I haven't been training with him and I'm doing _very_ well."

"If you like. I always think that if you're _really_ doing well you'll hear other people say it instead of having to say so yourself." Rhuby said lightly, but Cauli could sense she was getting riled up.

So she smiled disarmingly and took a step between the two of them.

"Easy now," she said, "save it for the ring you two!"

"Yeah, actions will speak louder than words," Lamson agreed, clearly recognizing that having these two start fighting on top of the Capsule House would . . . well, at least it would _probably_ reflect poorly on Prince Trunks in the negotiations.

Bass and Brassica seemed to have noticed the flare up too and they were coming over as well. "Is everything all right?" Their old Sensei asked.

Cauli smiled and answered, "They're just eager is all!"

"Very." Rhuby said in a tone that Cauli recognized as a dangerous one for her, but she hoped Turles didn't know her well enough to notice.

Brassica noticed though and said, "Well focus up, will you? No more banter, you're protecting your prince!"

"For now." Turles said with a wink. Louder though he said, "Don't know what for. Like you said, Rhuby, the only thing as strong as him on this planet is him."

"Then be honored he's letting you feel useful." Brassica told him.

"Is that an _order_? Don't forget that _I'm_ the Captain." Turles told her.

"And I'm not part of the chain of command," Brassica said, "I'm a bounty hunter, remember? Anyway I'm not ordering anything. I'm _advising._ "

"Advice noted." Turles nodded curtly. He smiled at Cauli and Rhuby though and said, "Good luck you two, I can't wait to see what you _have_ learned from your time with our beloved Prince."

"And we can't wait to show you, it'll be a great tournament!" Cauli said more cordially than Rhuby probably would have managed.

Turles went back to his part of the roof, Lamson along with him, she and Cauli exchanged a look that clearly said neither of them had expected that.

But Brassica and Bass remained, irritably Cauli's sister asked them, "What was _that_?"

"Noth-" Cauli began but Brassica silenced her.

"Not you! You," Brassica pointed at Rhuby, "why are you picking fights like that?"

"She's a Saiyan." Cauli offered, still hoping to diffuse the situation, and she could see it did illicit a slight softening of Brassica's expression.

No laughs though.

Her sister said, "I know what she is, and I didn't ask you. _Rhuby_ , I expected better from you. What was that?"

Rhuby shrugged. "He just . . . made me angry, okay? The way he talks like being a Super Saiyan is all it'll take for him to surpass Prince Trunks. The way he . . . well the way he looks down on us, the way he acts like there's nothing either of us can do to him."

She wasn't shouting but the frustration was plain in her voice as was the touch of worry when she looked down and whispered, "And the way . . . the way I don't know that he's wrong."

That came as a surprise to Cauli.

She'd seen the tournament as something that would be fun, she couldn't believe Rhuby, who used to lose fights on purpose would be so dedicated to defeating Turles now.

She smiled weakly, she wanted to say 'if you don't beat him I will' but she wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say to her. After all she'd said it before and it hadn't helped much, Rhuby wanted to do this herself . . .

Brassica said, "He's stronger than you are, there's no denying it. But you know strength isn't everything, especially in the Arena. What is a tournament if not a series of Arena matches? He might have you two beaten for brute strength but you two have him beaten for experience. Use that."

"We will." Cauli assured her.

Brassica frowned and said, "Well . . . in any event it's getting past curfew. Head back, Bass and I can handle things from here."

"But-" Cauli began but Brassica shook her head subtly to her and she fell silent.

She understood, it wasn't really the both of them being dismissed, Brassica was sending Rhuby away to avoid another dust up with Turles.

And Cauli was going just in case Rhuby needed a friend on the way.

But it was a very quiet trip.

When they left they did so without any goodbyes or anything like that, and they flew in silence.

Rhuby didn't say anything and Cauli wasn't really sure if she should try to strike up a conversation until they got back to Capsule Corp. HQ. Then as they were about to enter, not wanting the awkwardness to stretch into tomorrow Cauli said, "Well at least the stars were nice."

"They were." Rhuby agreed quietly as she headed inside.

Cauli reached out and took her hand, she told her, "We could look at them a while longer if you want."

But Rhuby shook her head and continued for the doors. "Maybe tomorrow night."

Cauliflora frowned, folding her arms she said, "Yeah . . . okay. Tomorrow night."

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Even though a part of Rhuby did want to stay up and look at the stars with Cauli the truth was she'd embarrassed herself enough for one night. All she wanted to do was fall into bed, shut her eyes and wake up to a better day.

But when she got to her room she found her mother awake and waiting for her.

It was actually unusual, Okran was usually asleep by the time Rhuby got back from training and tonight hadn't necessarily been any shorter than the others, Brassica sending her away notwithstanding.

But when she arrived at her room there was her mother awake and pacing. Okran was wringing her hands looking almost worried.

Rhuby frowned at her mother and asked, "What's your problem?"

"You're awfully late." Okran told her.

Rhuby forced a smile and said, "I can take care of myself."

"Obviously . . ." Her mother sighed. "I just wanted to talk to you before I went to sleep is all . . . before I think better of it."

Rhuby's forced smile disappeared. She wasn't in the mood for . . . whatever this was going to be. "Think better of it _then_ go to bed then."

"No." Okran said simply. "We . . . should talk."

"About what?" Rhuby asked.

"About this tournament. About you. About _me_. Look . . ."

"Why?" Rhuby asked.

Her mother stopped and frowned, looking confused for a moment before asking, "Why look, or why should we talk?"

"Pick one," Rhuby grumbled but then she shook her head and mentally scolded herself.

_She's making some kind of an effort, isn't she? Are you going to be the lazy one?_

"Sorry . . ." Rhuby said. "Just . . . why do you want to talk to me now?"

"Because . . . I'm your teammate . . . and I don't want to hold you back in the tournament. But also . . . because I'm your parent and on Earth that means something pretty different from what it meant on Vegeta . . . and I'm not really okay with that . . . but here we are."

"Here we are." Rhuby agreed. She shifted uncomfortably and said, "You don't have to treat me the way Prince Trunks' mother treats him."

Okran laughed and shrugged. "You're right, that's not me. But lots of parents become friends with their kids, why can't I?"

"I don't know." Rhuby said.

"Well I do." Okran said. "I mean I know why I haven't but I don't think . . . well I don't think I should continue."

"Okay . . ." Rhuby frowned, "but are you sure we can't do this tomorrow?"

"Yes. I won't want to do it tomorrow, I'll have come back to my senses."

"See it's things like that that make me nervous about what you're going to say." Rhuby pointed out.

"And it's things like what I'm going to say that make me nervous about saying them. I spent a good chunk of the evening talking myself into this." Okran told her.

"Okay." Rhuby said. "What is it?"

Okran hesitated though before finally she took a deep breath and said, "I don't like you. I mean . . . when you get right down to it you're not the sort of person I'd choose as a friend. But you're my blood so on a level I can't just ignore you."

Rhuby nodded slowly and said, "Yes . . . well I can see why you felt this wasn't something I might need to hear but I can assure you it's nothing I hadn't already guessed."

"Oh shut up," Okran said, "I know it's no big revelation I'm trying to say that . . . even though we might not have a lot in common and even though you disappoint me and I know I disappoint you too we do have a connection whether we like it or not."

"Blood." Rhuby nodded.

"Your father." Okran sighed. "You're not just my blood . . . you're his too. And for that reason I'll always hold you in . . . _some_ esteem, I suppose. You're a part of him just like you are of me."

"It sounds like you'd have eaten me if it weren't for that." Rhuby joked.

But her mother shrugged, "I don't know if I'd have _eaten_ you. But I wouldn't have kept you around."

Rhuby sighed, "Right . . . well thanks."

"Oh shut up," Okran said again, "If you keep feeling sorry for yourself you'll miss the point."

"Oh good, I was hoping there _was_ one." Rhuby said dryly.

Okran shook her head and smiled a little. She looked off into space and sounded almost dreamy when she said, "Rhuby . . . your father wasn't the strongest."

Rhuby frowned for a moment and then said, "I knew that."

"He wasn't the strongest in our clan . . . but I chose him anyway. I loved him before I knew what love even was."

"And you know now?" Rhuby raised an eyebrow.

"Yes you punk," Okran said with a smirk, "I'm trying to say . . . you and I are not that different. We're similar physically, you have my chin and my nose and if you should just so happen to find out that you really like having your tail squeezed-"

"What?! You are _not_ talking about what I think you're talking about!" Rhuby cried, feeling her cheeks burn and knowing she must be blushing furiously.

"Not the whole thing, obviously. Just a gentle squeeze at the tip some light pressure along the length, definitely not at the base, and absolutely no tugging!"

"Mother!"

"I'm just saying . . . when it comes to surface level things, physical things we're not that different. But mentally . . . mentally we're _very_ different. But still I get why you might not want to be with the strongest male. Turles doesn't . . . _do_ anything for you that way, I get it."

Rhuby relaxed a little and said, "Well . . . I'm glad. Did you need to tell me about your . . . tail fixation?"

To her surprise Okran actually smiled affectionately at her and said, "I . . . think it's adorable that of everything I said that's the part that bothered you the most."

"All of it bothered me, you just didn't need to talk about that _at all_." Rhuby pointed out.

"I was just trying to make a point." Her mother said. She frowned and continued, "It wasn't strength. It should have been, I should have found the strongest male to father my children but I didn't. I chose someone in the middle, someone . . . someone who no one else would have, someone no one would have thought I'd choose."

"Do you want me to ask why?" Rhuby wondered.

"No . . . but I'm going to tell you anyway." Okran admitted. "For me . . . it was his eyes."

"What?" Rhuby asked, blinking in surprise.

"Your father. The moment I looked into his eyes, those purple eyes of his, the same eyes you inherited from him . . . that's what I fell in love with. I mean I fell in love with him but his eyes . . . that was what caught my attention and what dominated my mind."

Rhuby found herself blushing again and she went over to the bunk that belonged to her. "That's . . . nice. Why are you telling me this now?" She asked as she hopped into bed.

Okran sighed and said, "You're not just my blood . . . you're his too, like I said. So even the times I just wanted to throw you from a cliff, those times that you wouldn't go to sleep, those times you wouldn't eat, those times that I thought it would have been so much easier just to get _rid_ of you . . . well those times I'd look at you and I'd see something of him . . . whether it was your eyes or those ears you hated . . . I'd see little things that reminded me of him and when we lost him it was even more important. You became all I had of him and it just got . . . uncomfortable.

"You became a weakness I didn't want, and I didn't like looking at your eyes anymore, I didn't like seeing the way you stand. I . . . started to keep a distance from you . . . and you seemed to do okay without me."

"I did." Rhuby nodded. "I was old enough to go my own way."

"You were still a child. You _are_ still a child."

"I'm nineteen. As I understand it by Earthling terms that makes me an adult." Rhuby pointed out.

"You're not an Earthling." Okran reminded her. The older female folded her arms and said, "Look . . . I'm trying to say that . . . you're the reason I'm still alive. And I don't mean that in some kind of melodramatic way, I mean the reason Turles brought me here was so I could bring you over to him . . . my whole reason for being alive now is so I can bring the two of you together. I guess . . . part of me sees the humor of it, after all I'm the reason you existed to begin with now you're the reason I _still_ exist."

"A side splitter." Rhuby mumbled.

"But . . . I guess in a way there's more of me in you than I sometimes remember . . . and so maybe I should have realized there was a chance you wouldn't want someone just because he was strong . . . and I should have realized that bringing you over to Turles probably wouldn't be easy if he was desperate enough to bring me in in the first place."

"I suppose so." Rhuby said.

"But the thing is I'm here now." Okran said, "I didn't ask to be but I am. You're here . . . and you didn't ask for me but here I am. I'm maybe not the mother you would have hoped for, and to be honest I still don't think we'd be friends if we didn't have blood ties . . . but . . ."

"But I'm the reason you exist." Rhuby said evenly. "So you don't have anything without me."

"Yes . . . and no." Okran said. "The truth is we're some of the last of our kind and when I see you . . . a part of me wonders who you became. The last time I saw you you were half as tall, now you're practically all grown up . . . who did my daughter become? I don't know. Would I get along with her better now?"

"Probably not." Rhuby said truthfully.

"Probably not." Okran agreed with a smirk, "the only reason she hasn't been smacked about six times tonight is because I wouldn't survive being smacked back."

"Depends on whether or not I feel like I deserve the smack." Rhuby admitted.

She felt like she'd deserved a couple.

Her mother sighed and said, "The truth is this is a new world and a new time . . . I don't understand you . . . but I understand you better than I understand most of the rest of it . . . so even if we're not close and even if you'd never have chosen me as your mother and even if I'd never have chosen you as my daughter . . . well here we are. We have a tournament to enter together . . . I want to help you win."

"Why?" Rhuby asked.

"Because I think it will help me understand who you are."

"Fighting?" Rhuby asked.

"No. Seeing _why_ you fight." Okran said. "Something's got you riled up for this tournament like nothing I'd ever seen in the past . . . apart from the day-"

"Don't mention that day."

"Yes because it hurts _you_ so much _more_." Okran said with a roll of her eyes.

"I was with him when it happened." Rhuby reminded her.

"Lucky you." Okran said.

"I didn't feel lucky." Rhuby told her.

"Luckier than him." Okran shot back before raising her hand and saying, "but this isn't accomplishing anything."

"What did you think it would?" Rhuby asked.

"I don't know," Her mother sighed, "But I meant what I said. I want to know why you want to fight . . . I want to know what drives you."

"Well once I find out I'll let you know." Rhuby scoffed.

But Okran scoffed right back and said, "I don't believe for a second that you don't know what it is that drives you. I think you just don't want to admit it."

Rhuby shrugged, "Guess your new life's mission is to find out."

"Guess it is." Okran said.

"Can I go to sleep now?"

"Dunno. Is that what drives you?" Okran asked.

It was Rhuby's turn to say, "Oh shut up."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _A less difficult evening plays out for Trunks and Mai as the negotiations close and the two make their own way back to Capsule Corp. The tournament is near, has everyone made the necessary preparations?_


	118. Real Peace

**Episode Thirty-Eight**

**'Real Peace'**

 

Mai took a deep breath, relaxing as the negotiations finally came to a conclusion.

She wasn't totally at ease but things were peacefully concluding and that was good. The King turned to Captain Videl and said, "Thank you for being here."

"Of course your majesty!" Captain Videl said, sounding surprised, "I'm always at your service."

The Captain bowed suddenly and Mai followed suit even though the King wasn't speaking to her. His Majesty chuckled softly and raised his hand, "Now, now, none of that. I'd like you two to do me a favor."

"The both of us, sire?" Mai blinked in amazement.

"If it's not too much of a bother to you," The King said, "I'd like to know how you think Trunks would respond to an idea of mine. Just a little something . . ."

The King explained what it was he wanted them to propose and Mai stood in absolute shock.

Videl on the other hand nodded and said, "If you're certain your Highness . . . but I don't think he'll be open to the idea."

The King frowned, "That's quite the pity . . . but do try all the same. Let him decide how he likes the idea, that is of course if you don't think he'd judge it an insult."

"I don't think he'd take it that far," Mai said, "but I think it _would_ trouble him."

"Well that much I expected," His Majesty sighed, "Still I think this is worth pursuing."

"I'll deliver your words to him personally," Mai nodded.

"They'll be better received coming from her." Videl agreed and Mai felt herself blush.

"Do you think so?" She asked.

"Obviously." Videl said simply.

The King smiled and said, "Then I leave it in your hands, Lieutenant."

"Yes sire." Mai said, bowing to him again.

"What about the aliens?" Videl asked. "The Arcosians I mean. Are you sure you want them staying in Capsule Corp?"

"Why, do you think it's too much of an imposition?" The King asked.

"Um . . ." Videl trailed off but his Majesty laughed and raised a hand again.

"It's a bit irregular, but it's the safest place for them in every sense of the word." The King said. "Besides that way they're under watch of both the EDF and your own people."

"Yes sire, if you say so." Videl nodded. "Mai, why don't you head back to Capsule Corp. with Trunks? You can run the King's proposal by him. I'll head back ahead of Bulma's car, get people ready for . . . uh, the reality of it."

"Yes ma'am." Mai said with a salute. "Your Majesty," she said with a bow and quickly dismissed herself to do her captain's bidding.

And her King's.

She approached Trunks as he was heading for the door of the Capsule House and asked "Excuse me, Trunks? I um . . . was hoping to talk to you a moment."

"Sure." He said, giving her a strange look.

She wondered why until he said, "You know it's funny but I was just thinking that we've made history here today one way or another . . . right here in a Capsule House. But if what my mother tells me is true then she did something similar years ago when she met Goku . . . after she shot him that is. Anyway it seems like wherever there's history in the making there's Capsule Corp."

Mai smiled and laughed, "I guess that would make for a good commercial."

"Well let's not go that far," Trunks said with a smile. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Um . . . well," Mai said as the two of them stepped through the door before they started blocking traffic out, "It's just that uh . . . well it's nice walking with you in any event but I uh . . ."

"What is it?" Trunks asked when her trailing off didn't actually lead to anything.

Mai frowned and said, "Well the King's asked me to . . . make you an offer. But it's one I don't think you want to hear."

"Is it that bad?" Trunks asked, but before she could answer a new voice cut in.

"Is what that bad? How did it go in there?" Turles asked.

Mai frowned, the spiky haired young Saiyan had descended from the rooftop, Brassica along with him and now they as well as the other Saiyans who'd come were gathering around Trunks.

Mai made a mental note of which Saiyans were out here, apart from Brassica and the girls it was a good indicator of who was in Turles' camp.

Actually, "Where are the girls?" Mai asked.

"What girls?" Turles asked.

"She means Cauliflora and Rhubara," the Namekian Bass answered him, and then he answered her saying, "They had to take their leave early."

"I didn't think you'd mind, my Prince." Brassica added and Trunks nodded.

Mai frowned, she felt a little outnumbered without them.

Even though they were surrounded by Kings Guard and curious civilians who'd turned up to see the new aliens despite the late hour the truth was that if it came to blows Turles was there with his brother, the Saiyans called Routz and Brock, Lamson and the two called the Evil Twins.

Mai was no fighter but Trunks had only himself, Brassica, Bass and Android Sixteen. No one else in the crowd would matter.

Sure she understood that as far as the scale of power went almost all of it was in their corner but there was something primal about having numbers on one's side.

Still numbers had meant little to the Androids.

"What's this thing that might be bad?" Turles asked again, "Is it the PTO? Should we destroy them?"

"Let me do it!" The one called Oni cried suddenly, "I want to do it!"

Mai took a little bit of comfort in the fact that Oni was clearly asking Trunks and not Turles, but that could just be because he wasn't stupid enough to get caught insulting Trunks to his face.

Trunks however shook his head and said, "They're our guests. My mother is going to take them back to Capsule Corp. with Sixteen and Captain Soda, Captain Videl is going to fly ahead to get things ready as much in advance as possible. Captain Turles!"

"My Prince?" Turles asked, snapping to attention, albeit just a half-second slower than Mai would have expected from him.

"Take these others, fly back and prepare the other Saiyans, tell Gohan to handle any necessary diplomacy until I get back."

"Yes sir," Turles said, sounding a little deflated no doubt because Gohan rather than he would be the one calling the shots back at Capsule Corp.

But he did as he was told and flew off with the rest barring Brassica and Bass. It made Mai feel a lot more comfortable both because they were gone and because Turles was behaving himself.

At least publicly.

Not everyone agreed though it seemed. "Is it wise?" Brassica asked, "Sending him off into the night with only Sixteen and Soda guarding the Arcosians? He might decide to try something, he's stronger than the both of them."

"He is," Trunks acknowledged, "hopefully that's enough for him to keep his behavior in check. Anyway Sixteen is stronger than the whole gang of them and the Admiral and Ambassador are riding with my mother in her car, if _anything_ happens to my mother Turles knows what I'll do to him . . . at least I hope he does."

Brassica nodded slowly and said, "In that case my Prince, if you don't mind I'd actually like to escort these alien ships to the North and make sure they get there without incident."

"Al right then," Trunks said. "Bass, what about you? Are you going to go to East City and tell the Grand Elder about this?"

"I suppose it would be the responsible thing to do," Bass said, "but I suspect he already knows. There were some television broadcasters, and the Grand Elder is especially fond of television."

Trunks laughed and Mai smiled, "That's good to know," she said, "in case we ever need to get him a gift."

With that and a nod Bass and Brassica flew off in their separate directions leaving Trunks and Mai alone.

Or as alone as any two people could be in a throng of picture taking West City civilians eager to see the new aliens.

Luckily because of that for a change she and Trunks weren't the center of their attention, but they were getting their fair share of photographers.

"Uh . . . let's just get away from the crowds," Trunks said. "Do you mind if I . . ."

He made a gesture to indicate that he'd carry her and they'd fly. It gave Mai butterflies so strong she felt almost like she'd be able to lift off from the ground herself, though it'd look awfully awkward.

"Oh . . . uh . . . okay," Mai said blushing.

"Not far, just past the crowds, we can walk the rest of the way after that." Trunks assured her as he lifted her up.

But she didn't really hear any of it the moment he picked her up her brain just sort of went fuzzy.

Peripherally she was aware that there were a lot of camera flashes and then she and Trunks were airborne.

True to his word they didn't go far, only about a third of the way back to Capsule Corp. before he landed and Mai realized that if Captain Videl was flying back at top speed it had probably been left up to Mai to take their air car back.

_Oh my . . . I'll have to impose on someone else to get it,_ she thought, utterly unwilling to seem foolish in front of Trunks at the moment and therefore unable to tell him that she'd only just remembered she'd come in a car.

Anyway a walk under the starlit sky would be nice.

Trunks asked her, "So what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Huh?" Mai blinked.

"That thing before. The thing that might be bad?" Trunks asked.

"Oh!" Mai remembered, probably blushing some more.

"So _is_ it bad?" Trunks asked.

"Most people wouldn't think so." Mai said. "But I feel like . . . it might be a little contrary to your own hopes and ambitions."

Trunks laughed, "Well whatever it is I'm sure I can suffer a bit longer for his Majesty. What does he want?"

Mai frowned and said, "He uh . . . he wants you to become royalty."

"What?" Trunks blinked.

"Officially. Recognized by the Earth that is." Mai explained.

"What? I don't get it. He's not talking about adopting me is he?" Trunks laughed but Mai could hear the unease in his voice.

"No, nothing like that at all!" She reassured him, "Just that uh . . . well he wants to make an announcement granting the Namekians their sovereign rights and land and he wants to do the same for the Saiyans. Moori is the Elder of the Namekians, he'd like to make you the official Prince of the Saiyans."

"Oh . . ." Trunks said.

"I mean you're already the official Prince of the Saiyans," Mai said, "but uh . . . well he wants to make it legally binding on Earth as well . . . so you'd be a prince on Earth also."

"But nothing much would actually change for me, right?" Trunks asked.

"Um . . . not quite?" Mai said frowning. "The reason for this is that he wants to form a grand council with a representative from each people. A representative from Earth, from the Saiyans, from the Namekians and from these new Calamareens as well if their leaders will agree to it."

"So . . . I'd become a politician?" Trunks asked.

"Well . . . royalty. It's not everything it's cracked up to be, I guess." Mai offered.

"Tell me about it." Trunks laughed, he seemed in surprisingly good spirits about it considering the number of times he'd professed that his real ambition was a quiet retirement.

Mai told him, "You and your line would rule South City and its surrounding lands in perpetuity publicly swearing fealty to the King of course."

"So . . . mostly my life doesn't change, but now I have the odd council meeting and I'm also in charge of a ruined city?" Trunks asked. He laughed and said, "I mean that's . . . a little weird I guess. But it's not that big a deal. The way you're hesitating it seemed like this would be a lot worse than just having everyone think I'm a Prince instead of just the Saiyans."

"Like I said," Mai told him, "most people wouldn't think it's a problem. But I think you might be forgetting one detail."

"Having to restore the city?" Trunks asked. "That shouldn't be _that_ hard."

"Well no, and obviously the government would help Capsule Corp. with that the same way they're helping the Namekians in the East. I was thinking of a different problem." Mai told him.

"What's that?" Trunks asked.

"The part where you have to publicly swear fealty." Mai shrugged.

"Oh that? That's not a problem." Trunks said, "I'm loyal to the King."

"But you'd be publicly swearing fealty." Mai tried to clarify. "As in everyone would know that you'd sworn it, including the Saiyans."

Trunks shrugged, "They already know I'm a loyal subject to the King."

"Yes," Mai said, "but remember Ca—Brassica's story? Remember her _warning_? The Saiyans might not stand for that for very long. This might just help Turles even if he does lose the tournament."

Trunks smiled slightly and said, "You're right, Mai. I hadn't forgotten but I guess it wasn't really on my mind."

"So . . . what do you think?" Mai asked. "I know you'd hoped you'd get to retire quietly away from the public eye someday . . . but if you take this that won't ever happen and worse it might make things difficult with the Saiyans."

"I'll think about it," Trunks said, "but I wouldn't worry about the Saiyans."

"Why not?" Mai asked.

Trunks folded his arms and said, "Well it's just the thing is I've given it a lot of thought you know? If I'm going to be the Prince of all Saiyans I need to be able to do it my way. I can't just be my father, that's not me."

Mai listened quietly as Trunks explained to her, "I have to do it my own way. Just like my Grandfather I have to let them either fall in line or fall behind . . . but their expectations of me can't dictate my actions. If I'm the Prince of all Saiyans I need to do what's right for _all_ Saiyans, not just the ones we've got here now but for the ones we'll have in the future, the ones who'll be born on Earth as Earthling as anyone else."

The young—physically—woman smiled slightly, "That's definitely one way to interpret the story."

"I think so." Trunks shrugged. "Anyway if this is something I have to do for the rest of my life I might as well make it my own. I can't imagine playing a role my whole life."

Mai could understand that. She smiled and said, "Well then should I tell his Majesty that you've actually agreed?"

Trunks laughed and said, "No, like I said, let me think about it. I'll give him an answer after the tournament. After all you're right, publicly swearing fealty could well rub my people the wrong way, they won't want to see their Alpha bowing to the leader of another pack."

"I'd avoid that analogy around the King just to be safe, but yes." Mai nodded in agreement.

Trunks blushed, "Right! Uh . . . well in any case we'll see how the tournament goes first and I'll give him my answer after it's over."

Mai nodded. "I'll let him know . . . um . . . well since there's the danger that you'll be an Earth Prince too soon . . . um . . ."

"What?" Trunks asked, "You're not afraid I'll let it go to my head are you?"

"No . . ." Mai said, "it's just . . . I mean it'd be really inappropriate for a prince to be caught on a date with a Lieutenant of the Royal Guard so . . ."

Trunks laughed, "Well we've got Erasa for that don't we? Don't worry, I saw the camera flashes when I picked you up too, but Erasa will make sure no one thinks this was a date."

"No I . . ." Mai blinked and mumbled, "I was . . . trying to say I'd like to _go_ on a date with you."

Trunks looked far more alarmed than she liked. He blinked rapidly and asked, "You . . . do?"

Mai looked away and said, "I . . . just thought it would help us both to get rid of some stress before the tournament, you know? I mean all work and no play and all that, right? I mean . . . before it becomes totally inappropriate—not that I want to influence your decision either!"

_Oh Mai,_ she thought to herself, _what . . . just what are you doing? Stop it! Just stop it before it's too late!_

There was an awkward silence that seemed to stretch for years instead of seconds, Mai thought to herself, _he's much too young for you anyway, right? I mean just because you're young again doesn't mean you're actually_ young _, right? This was a huge mistake._

She laughed and tried to both take it back and apologize at the same time but all that tumbled out of her mouth was an exasperated, "Ugh."

She couldn't even make eye contact, so it was a surprise when she heard Trunks ask her, "Well . . . would tomorrow night work for you?"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Though they were capable of flying on their own the Arcosian 'delegation' was riding to the place called Capsule Corp. with the Lady Bulma in her air-car. It was a surprisingly comfortable little craft and possibly the only thing about Earth that Frigus was enjoying so far.

Admiral Frigus didn't like the Earth itself very much.

It was pretty enough, temperate, green . . . but still the buildings didn't look right in this 'West City' of theirs.

Naturally he understood the place to still be partially a ruin and he'd seen many of those in his years, but what bothered him about West City was that none of the buildings that _were_ intact fit together.

So many domes and spherical shapes, a big glass tube that snaked its way through the city which he assumed must be for some sort of express traffic. He wasn't sure because he wouldn't debase himself by asking and when Verglas had asked, clearly feigning interest in every aspect of the city, Frigus hadn't been paying attention to the answer being far too distracted by how . . . _distracting_ it was.

So many strange lights and so many strange creatures. He had understood Earthlings to be all of the humanoid variety but not only was their leader a . . . canine of some sort it seemed a wide variety of small furred creatures lived amongst the Earthlings—were in fact Earthlings he understood.

He'd never seen such a strange sort of diversity outside of the PTO, and there it was due to so many different species living and working together under his people.

He wondered if in some bygone age Earthlings had been a galactic power, perhaps one that had fallen and become silenced now confined to just one world with a few remnants of their servants still with them to continue to serve—but then why would the dog-man be king?

As if that wasn't confusing enough Frigus suddenly realized that the reason humanoids generally seemed to bear such a resemblance to the Earthlings might well mean that they _weren't_ confined to just one planet, what if there _was_ once some bygone empire of humanoids and the fact that the humanoid body-type was so common was because their empire _had_ fallen and all of the worlds had become cut off from each other?

The differences in things like strength, skin colors, ways of seeing, horns and so on might all just be local adaptations, over the millennia the secluded populations of humanoids might have simply evolved down different routes but still retained enough of their old traits from their distant shared ancestors to resemble each other or even breed together, after all what was this Trunks if not living proof that the filthy Saiyan monkeys could breed with the filthy Earthling apes?

Were Saiyans and Earthlings just . . . two different breeds of the same species? Like a Kuririn Mallard and a Corellian Canard were both still just Space Ducks were Earthlings and Saiyans actually the same-

"It seems you've blown the Admiral's mind." Verglas said with a laugh.

"What?" Frigus asked, snapping out of his own thoughts with a bit of embarrassment, "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Ah." The one called Bulma responded with a curt nod, "Well I'm happy to repeat it, it's important information after all. I was just saying that due to the gravity of our situation and the dangers your visit imposes I'd like to ask you to submit to an escort while you're in my facility."

"Oh. Right. Fine, that's fine," Frigus nodded, trying to remember what he'd just been thinking about but the idea was lost.

Probably forever.

_Just as well, I get the feeling I was getting ridiculous. I'll leave the deep thinking to Glacien,_ the Admiral thought.

"I was wondering," Verglas said, "is there any chance that we could choose our escort?"

"What? Why?" Bulma asked, "Do you even know any of our people?"

"Well we know Chillax, if that's all right." Verglas said.

"Oh . . . well Chillax isn't part of the EDF." Bulma explained. "I think Sixteen would better suit you."

"Very well, if that's what you feel is best." Verglas said with a smile, "I wouldn't want to be a poor guest. But the Admiral you know, he's actually one of Chillax's fathers, I'm sure he'd like to reconnect with him."

"Yes actually." Frigus nodded. "Would that be possible?"

"I think that'll be up to him," Bulma said with a shrug, "But I'll let him know you're here. If I don't see him before the tournament Thyme will."

They traveled in silence a bit longer before Bulma asked, "Admiral . . . as I understand it you were the one that my son made the initial deal with. The one that led to this little ceasefire of ours?"

"That's true." Admiral Frigus said.

"Would it be pointless of me to ask how genuine you were at the time?"

"Not pointless. Awfully bold though." Frigus said with a slight smile.

"I'm the mother of the strongest being in the known universe, I can afford to be a little bold." Bulma said with a slight smile of her own.

Frigus' smile became an outright grin and he said, "Well truth be told I don't know _what_ I was when I offered your son a ceasefire, but genuine might have been at least part of the mixture. Really I had no idea it would stick . . . I expected Lord Frostburn would boil my eyes from my skull, and I think if the peace hadn't come at just the right time to benefit us as well he would have."

"Well he sounds delightful." Bulma said dryly.

"Actually he can be," Frigus laughed, "sometimes . . . but he's got a fearsome temper."

"Hmm . . . well do you think this ceasefire could become a lasting peace?"

"Well that is what I'm here to ensure," Verglas said with a light laugh but Bulma shook her head at that.

"It's your job as ambassador to try to tell me the things I want to hear, that's why I didn't ask you. I asked the Admiral." She said evenly.

Frigus thought for a moment . . .

And then he gave his honest answer.

"I don't believe that real peace can happen until one side finally submits to the other. Which side that will be will no doubt be revealed in the future, past this ceasefire and perhaps past several more. Perhaps this will be a war that lasts beyond your son or mine, perhaps our grand children will continue to battle . . . or perhaps I'm wrong and we will both live to see the day that our two species can coexist . . . but the safer route by far would just be for us to go our separate ways and forget about each other . . . or else one of us is going to go extinct."

"I was worried you'd say something like that." Bulma sighed.

"Why is that?" Frigus asked.

"Because I think that's what my son thinks too." She answered as they arrived at a large dome-shaped building. "Well gentlemen, here we are."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Ambassador Verglas turns up the charm meeting with the King's Guard, even Soda thinks he's an alright guy! Meanwhile Glacien starts trying to pick Bulma's brain scientifically and in spite of her misgivings the smartest woman on Earth is starting to find the intellectual conversation stimulating. It seems like the only one who isn't willing to at least give these new Arcosians a chance is Chillax, who doesn't believe for a minute that their intentions are genuine. But will a confrontation with the Admiral reveal what he wants to know, or will it make matters worse?_


	119. Unwanted Changes

**Episode Thirty-Nine**

**'Unwanted Changes'**

 

Though it had come as a surprise to find not just one or two but three new Arcosians running around Capsule Corp. Soda had to admit that on the whole they didn't seem that bad.

They were polite to the King as he and Bulma toured the grounds with them at least, fielding his many questions politely and even asking some of their own. The scientist had been around before back when the peace deal was first negotiated, but the other two were new to her. Chillax had said that one of them was called Frigus and that he was actually the Admiral of the PTO's whole fleet but he wasn't too certain who the other one was.

Which was fair enough, Soda wouldn't expect him to know every member of his species, so she'd spent the morning getting to know Verglas herself and she had to admit he didn't seem half bad.

Rather like Chillax he actually seemed pretty accepting of alien lifeforms, especially if they were strong. He'd been fascinated by the gravity training room—as had the scientist Glacien—and wanted to give it a try, and even the Admiral had decided to see how it felt for the sake of curiosity.

Bulma had agreed to allow it provided Sixteen went in with them and of course provided they didn't get too excited and blow up the planet. Verglas had joked that he'd never do that while he was still on it and everyone had sort of laughed politely.

Everyone except for Beeta and Chillax.

For Beeta that wasn't unusual. She was fairly taciturn in general and Soda wasn't even sure if the Saiyan woman _could_ laugh.

But for Chillax it was a little more intriguing. She would have thought he'd be a little excited at least to see some of his people and none of them had been aggressive or rude to him though he'd been particularly stiff whenever the Admiral had tried to speak to him until finally the older Arcosian had given up.

Soda had gotten to know Chillax fairly well over the time she'd spent as his Captain and she could tell that the young Arcosian was on his guard around the others of his kind.

Now as Sixteen and Verglas tested out the training room and Bulma and the scientist chatting about how the gravity control room actually worked with Bulma clearly trying not to give away too much information but also clearly pretty pleased to have an alien impressed by her work Soda could pull Chillax aside and ask him, "What's going on with you?"

"What?" Chillax asked.

"You don't seem like your usual self, you're sort of acting like you think these three are a threat." Soda whispered.

"I'm just being cautious." Chillax said guardedly.

"Is that all?" Soda asked, "Because you know them better than me, if you feel like I should be on my guard I will be."

"Well . . . what do you think of them?" Chillax asked.

Soda shrugged. "They seem alright to me. I can't follow half of what the scientist says but the Admiral's got that military atmosphere I'm used to and Verglas seems like he's trying to be friendly at least."

"That's what bothers me about him," Chillax muttered, "he's not properly arrogant, he talks to everyone like they're an equal."

Soda smirked, "Properly arrogant? You don't give me the impression that you see us as your inferiors."

"Of course not!" Chillax said, "But that's because I learned to respect other races. I was raised not to, to see you all as inferiors who didn't matter I had to _learn_ otherwise. But Verglas he just acts as if it's a lesson he's already learned."

"Is that not a good thing for an ambassador?" Soda asked.

"I suppose. We've never needed an ambassador before." Chillax said with a shrug.

"He might just know we're equals because of Fake Namek." Beeta piped up helpfully.

"Hmm?" Soda raised an eyebrow.

"He was there on Namek, or Fake Namek anyway. He and another guy, red and purple, they were with the big ship that blew its engines trying to kill us." Beeta explained.

"Wait the Troop transport?" Chillax asked and Beeta nodded. Chillax, like Soda, had heard the various retelling of the fighting on Not Namek so he was able to guess, "Red and purple, that'd be Captain Hail. So he's one of Hail's officers . . ."

"Maybe serving on a Troop Transport he had more opportunity to learn like you did that your underlings were people too." Soda suggested.

"Maybe." Chillax agreed but she could tell he wasn't convinced.

"Worse comes to worse we'll just kill him." Beeta said lightly but Soda shook her head.

"Don't talk like that. We try to make this work until they give us a reason it can't, is that clear?"

"Yeah. I remember the last time my superior said something like that."

"Really, what happened?" Soda asked in surprise. She didn't know Saiyans were the diplomatic type.

"I was sent on a suicide mission and apparently our planet was blown up." Beeta said dryly.

Soda tilted her head and acknowledged, "Okay, fair point. So don't be overly trusting, just don't shoot first."

"Yes ma'am." The two of them said simultaneously.

Still Soda wondered if maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to send them away. Beeta's taciturn nature made it difficult to tell just how bothered she was being around the Arcosians and she'd never seemed to have a problem with Chillax . . .

But if she had the destruction of Planet Vegeta on her mind it was probably a good idea to give her some space.

"Hey you two . . . you're supposed to be resting up for the tournament, right? Why don't you take a break."

"If you like, Captain." Beeta said and saluted, which Soda returned and she took her leave just quickly enough for Soda to feel like she'd guessed right and there was a potential problem there.

Now that she thought of it apart from Brassica for whom the loss of Planet Vegeta probably wasn't so fresh none of the Saiyans had shown themselves today.

"I don't think I should," Chillax said, "You need me to help guard the King."

"He'll be fine," Soda said, "I'm pretty sure I'm tougher than the Admiral and Glacien is barely even a blip. Besides I've got Sixteen, trust me they won't stand a chance if they decide to try to do harm."

Chillax shook his head and said, "If it's all the same I'd rather stay anyway."

"All right." Soda nodded, "If that's what you want."

Chillax nodded back and said, "I'll try to be less frosty."

Soda laughed even though she wasn't actually sure if it was a joke or not.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Though they were indeed making themselves scarce some of the Saiyans were still lingering around Capsule Corp.

For Telluce and Kayle it was mostly because they weren't allowed to wander too far after the incident with the whales.

For Sharro, Anavill suspected, it was because she was annoyed at how much time Telluce was spending with Kayle.

But the Artisan Baker wouldn't comment on it openly, it was none of her business. Still there was a definite tension between Sharro and Kayle, most of it coming from Sharro but the other Saiyan had clearly noticed it and was clearly responding.

The group of them, the three Saiyans her and Schip were all gathered in the lounge discussing the upcoming tournament.

"Do you think they'll post the lineup or do you think they'll have us draw names or something?" Tell asked.

"I think Basil mentioned working on a lineup," Ana said, "But don't think you can change the subject. Get back to the part where you decided to mercilessly slaughter some of mother nature's most majestic creatures just because you were hungry."

Tell smiled sheepishly, "Uh . . . well you see . . ."

"They didn't seem _that_ impressive," Kayle answered for him, "tasted okay though."

Sharro scoffed, "Okay? So that's good enough to land yourself _and_ Tell in trouble with Prince Trunks then?"

Kayle smirked, "I've never forced him to participate in _anything_. Everything he does with me he does because he _wants_ to, maybe next time you should come too."

"Well it's not like I was invited." Sharro sniffed.

"That's not stopping you now." Kayle said, her smirk widening.

"This is the lounge, anyone can be here." Sharro said with a roll of her eyes.

"Okay," Schip bravely cut in in, "Let's just agree that next time you guys are going to do something that's probably going to get Master Trunks upset you'll do it as a trio."

"Agreed." Both girls said, and Anavill relaxed a bit.

Too soon though it turned out, "Do _I_ get any say in this?" Tell asked.

"Don't you start with me, young man." Schip scolded him playfully, but only just barely.

Telluce sighed and Anavill smiled, "He's just kidding Tell. But maybe it _would_ be best if there _isn't_ a next time, maybe you guys should try to do something _nice_ for Master Trunks instead."

"Like what?" Kayle asked, pausing her teasing of Sharro to look at Anavill with interest, "I'd do just about anything to get out of being grounded."

"It's been half a _day_." Sharro scoffed.

"And you're making it feel so much _longer_!" Kayle groaned.

Anavill cut in before they could resume arguing and said, "Well you fed the extra whale meat to the people on the beach right?"

"We still got in trouble though." Tell said.

"Yes because you'd killed _whales_ , it was _what_ you were feeding them, not _that_ you were feeding them." Schip said.

"But Earthlings kill them too!" Tell insisted.

"Yeah but . . . I mean you need a special permit or something, and it's still not right." Schip said.

Anavill tried to get the conversation back on track by saying, "In any event maybe it would help Trunks and the EDF if you were seen feeding other people things it's _okay_ for them to eat. Have you thought about volunteering at a soup kitchen?"

"No . . . but only because I have no idea what that is." Kayle said.

"Is it different from Asiago's kitchen?" Sharrot asked.

"Yes," Anavill said, "Bocan took Red Team to one before, it was a nice experience and one I know he and Pastel repeat once a week or so."

"If it's so great why don't _you_ go?" Kayle asked.

"We're not talking about me," Anavill said, blushing and knowing that really she probably _should_. "But it's nice, you go and you feed the less fortunate just like you did on the beach. It shows people you care _without_ you also getting in trouble."

"But I don't care." Kayle pointed out.

"Oh . . ." Anavill frowned. "Uh . . ."

"Besides, that sounds like being grounded but I have to go someplace even _more_ boring and do work." Kayle said.

"Maybe. But it'd still be a nice thing to do and it might get Master Trunks to relax your restrictions." Anavill said.

"Eh. Maybe later." Kayle shrugged. "Need to slack more before the tournament."

"Yeah, because you don't do enough of that!" Sharro scoffed.

Kayle's eyes narrowed and she stood up from the couch to tower over the still sitting Sharrot until the other girl jumped to her feet too.

"Well you'll be glad that I did it once the tournament rolls around!" Kayle snapped.

"You mean once I beat you into the ground because you didn't train hard enough?" Sharro scoffed.

"No, once I _don't_ turn your-" Kayle was saying but she was interrupted.

To Anavill's surprise Telluce actually stood up and stepped between the two shoving them both slightly as he did it and saying, "All right if you're both going to act like idiots I'm leaving."

"Hold on, I'll go with you!" Kayle said.

"That'd kind of defeat the purpose." Tell said lightly.

Sharro looked annoyed, "Come on, I barely see you anymore!"

"And just look how much fun you are when you do!" Tell said, folding his arms and scowling, "I'm tired of this! I'm _not_ an Earthling Sharro, I don't get why you want to pretend we are! Everything was _fine_ until you started getting all . . . like this! I just want to focus on this tournament and not get in trouble with Tullece!"

"Tullece?" Schip asked.

"He means Turles," Kayle said evenly, and she sat back down on the couch. "Look, I'm sorry okay? I won't make your coffin-mate jealous anymore."

Tell spun around on her, fire in his eyes and he snarled, "We are _not_ -"

"Oh stop!" Anavill said, it was her turn to surprise everyone apparently because Tell did stop. Everyone stopped and looked at her.

She blushed but since the spotlight was on her she cleared her throat and said, "Look . . . I'm no expert on love and I won't pretend I know how Saiyans work, but I'm getting kind of tired of listening to you tell Sharro how she should feel just because she's a Saiyan. Has it occurred to you, Tell, that Sharro's not _playing_ at Earthling emotions but that she actually feels them? You can _say_ that Saiyans don't feel that way all you want but last time I checked Sharro has a tail."

Tell folded his arms. He muttered, "I just don't see why _everything_ has to change. My planet is gone, my little brother is older than me now, he's _stronger_ than me, than any of us, stronger than the Evil Twins _combined!_ Instead of being the one showing _him_ the way I have to follow his lead now, even if I don't agree with him. That was all bad enough but at least I had my squad, I had Kor and Ro and Lams, I had Sharro but now my best friend wants to change too?"

"Well sorry, but . . . tough." Anavill said with a shrug. "Life is all _about_ changes. Look I spent months unable to move my legs, I know a thing or two about unwanted changes in your life and believe me I understand wanting something, _anything_ you can hold on to that gives you stability . . . but the truth is that things _have_ changed. It's how you deal with it that'll define the sort of person you are, are you going to shut yourself off from reality wishing everything had stayed the same and pushing everyone away because you'd rather be alone than have anyone realize how scared you are? Or are you going to be stronger than me? Because _my_ answer was to hide away and it didn't work out but you're a proud Saiyan warrior aren't you? I think you can face this new world and find your place in it."

Tell shifted uncomfortably, clearly thinking about what she'd said, but before anyone could say anything else Anavill rounded on Sharrot, she said, "And you, Sharro, I know this is all new to you and I get how scary it can feel, how nerve wracking it can be and if what Tell says is true I know you've got nothing to compare this to . . . but I think I've seen enough of you Saiyans to know that he's wrong, romance is pretty clearly something your kind does feel even if it's a little different than how we Earthlings feel it.

"But one thing we Earthlings know is that trust is important, I don't get jealous of Schip when he spends time with Rhyce because she's his friend, and that's important. I'd never want to take that away or get in the way of it, and sometimes I get to be a part of whatever they're doing, sometimes I do things with my own friends, but when he and I aren't together I trust him and I know he wouldn't hurt me by doing anything improper. You need to trust that Tell feels the same way with Kayle."

Anavill took a deep breath and said, "Look, romance is . . . complicated, okay? But it's rewarding, and it's worth it. But if you three keep on like this someone's going to get hurt!"

"Three?" Kayle protested. "I'm not a . . . romancer!"

"You might think you're a participant but you're teasing Sharro and that makes you involved," Anavill scolded her, "it might seem to you like it's all in good fun but it's clearly actually bothering her. I'd hate to think that Saiyans as a race lack empathy, so where's yours?"

Kayle seemed thoughtful, but then she reached into her jacket pockets and turned them out. She shrugged and Anavill shook her head angrily before Kayle raised her hands in apology and said, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Look, if the fact that everyone gives me and my brother a wide berth didn't tip any of you off I'm not exactly great at dealing with others, okay? I mean listen to what they call us, the 'Evil Twins' oh that's great for scaring enemies except for when you remember that your friends are always calling you evil and acting like you're scary!"

"You seem to get along with Rhubara." Schip pointed out.

"Because she knows what it's like to feel the battle rage, she's as much of a social misfit as I am and believe it or not I don't _always_ want to be around my brother! Not that I have much choice, you all don't even treat the two of us like proper Saiyans! Were _tools_ , the crazy berserker twins! Don't make 'em mad, they might destroy you all!" Kayle scowled, "You see us as a thing, some kind of weapon, that's why Turles brought us back, remember? He brought you because you're his brother, he brought Beeta because she's a first class fighter, he brought Oni and me because he could _use_ us!"

Kayle took a deep breath and said, "Look . . . the only reason I've been spending so much time around Telluce is that I thought maybe if he I got used to having him around like I am with my brother I could rage without risking hurting him, okay? I mean it's win win, right? I get to fight at my full potential and he doesn't get eliminated by his own teammate!"

"Well why didn't you tell _me_ that?" Tell asked.

Kayle shrugged, "What if I'm wrong and it doesn't work? I'd look pretty stupid while you were in the healing tank."

They were all quiet for a moment, and then Tell chuckled, "Not as stupid as I would floating in one of those awkward old things."

Everyone smiled and then Sharro laughed uproariously, falling to her knees with mirth it was only with some difficulty that she managed to say, "Th-there _are_ no healing tanks! There's no fluid for them! You'd just die!"

"Hah, that's right!" Tell laughed, Kayle laughed.

Anavill laughed too, though she didn't find the prospect of Telluce's death quite as amusing as the Saiyans did the mirth in the room was infectious after such a tense lead up. She looked at Schip, who was laughing as well and just shrugged, "Saiyans, eh?"

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Chillax knew the moment was coming before it arrived but still he hadn't quite prepared himself for it.

"I was wondering if I could have a moment to speak to my son alone," Admiral Frigus had said, clearly playing on the Earthlings' idea of family.

So Captain Soda had had no reason to say 'no' and that left Chillax once again standing alone with his father a bit away from the group which had now made their way into the grounds' gardens.

The King was explaining to Verglas what gardens were for while Lady Bulma continued to wisely avoid giving Glacien too many little details about the effects of training in heavy gravity.

Chillax folded his arms and said, "Well then . . . what did you want to say?"

"That I'm glad to see you doing so well for starters," Admiral Frigus said, "and your other parent sends his regards."

"Bully for him." Chillax scoffed.

Admiral Frigus chuckled and said, "He also sends you this," the Admiral reached into his Battle Jacket and revealed a small box.

"What's that?" Chillax asked.

"It's the weapon that will bring our Clan back to prominence. Lord Frostburn wants you to have one so that you won't fall too far behind."

"Fall too far behind?" Chillax asked in confusion, "What's that mean? And why would you give me a weapon when I'm a traitor?"

"I wouldn't. Lord Frostburn would, he's not afraid of any traitors . . . besides this is what you've always wanted. The chance to _be_ Frieza instead of following in his footsteps. It's inside this little box."

Chillax frowned, "What is it, a bomb?"

"You can open it right now and find out. I wouldn't be able to escape the explosion if it were."

Chillax did in fact, but only because his King was nearby and he didn't want to risk holding a bomb that could endanger his liege.

But the box simply contained a small reddish piece of fruit . . .

"Looks pretty, what is it?" Chillax asked.

"It's the secret that will see our Clan rise back to its proper place. It's the weapon that's going to allow us to destroy the Galactic Patrol . . . and this one is yours to do with as you please. Eat it or give it away, give it to the Saiyan for all that it'll matter, we've got a whole tree of them. But this one is yours, do what ever you want to with it."

Chillax scoffed and closed the box. He handed it back to the Admiral and said, "No thanks. I can't accepts gifts or gratuities, part of the job you know."

"Chillax," Admiral Frigus sighed, "I'm not going to play games with you. Giving you this was literally the whole reason Lord Frostburn sent me on this mission."

"Which means I'll bet even you have realized how little he values you. You're an errand boy now." Chillax said cruelly.

His father just sighed, "So I am."

"So you expect me to believe he values me?" Chillax scoffed, then added, "Or that I value him enough to accept this? Whatever it is I won't risk it causing harm to the Earth. Take it back, or keep it for yourself, if it's all that wonderful you should have it as compensation for your wasted trip."

"I've already had one." Admiral Frigus sighed.

Chillax shook his head, "So you all pretended you wanted to send an Admiral just so my other parent could take one last stab at winning my affection?" Chillax demanded.

Admiral Frigus sighed and said, "No. Lord Frostburn wanted you to have this because without it you'll be nothing. When our kind are rampaging through the stars again, when we're all as powerful as Lord Frieza you'll just be you."

Chillax nodded and said, "Just me."

His father sighed and tossed the box into the air and caught it. "I told him you wouldn't take it. That's fine. I feel better about it now, actually."

"What?" Chillax raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Admiral Frigus smiled, "Because it tells me you haven't changed. You're still the same willful confused brat that left Alpha station . . . you want to be like Lord Frieza but when fate presents you the chance you refuse it. You're so obsessed with earning things as you see it that you deny yourself every advantage you're given. It's comforting to know."

"Why?" Chillax asked.

"Because it means you won't be a threat to us." The Admiral said with a smirk.

But then he held out the box again and said, "At least not without this."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** Anavill isn't the only one dishing out lectures to the young Saiyans, Rhyce has some words of her own for Korrard. Gohan and Videl prepare for the tournament with Master Roshi and we'll see what decision Chillax makes.


	120. Be More

**Episode Forty**

**'Be More'**

 

The trio with Anavill and Schip weren't the only Saiyans still hanging around Capsule Corp. HQ. While Turles and many of his followers were away preparing for the tournament in their own ways Korrard had remained behind preparing for the tournament in his own way it seemed.

He was learning a new card trick from Cardamom, he watched her hands move with rapt attention and fascination as he tried to mimic her movements.

Rhyce was utterly confused by it all, the two moved their hands like lightning shuffling, reshuffling, cutting the deck. They worked their game with a fluidity and ease that she wished she could have brought out in him when it came to training. The sort of skill she'd hoped to bring out in Kor on the battlefield he displayed in spades—so to speak—when it came to cards.

She sighed as she watched them and muttered, "Well maybe we can beat our opponents with magic tricks."

"You'll get used to it." One of Videl's other troopers, Tarragon said. She was sitting with her back against the table reading a newspaper so Rhyce couldn't see her face but she sounded amused.

Rhyce wasn't sure what was so funny, but she asked, "Used to it? To what?

"That feeling of irritated confusion, that 'why can't he show that kind of attention to the things I tell him to' feeling you're so obviously feeling. You get used to it."

"Seriously?" Rhyce scoffed, "Why _should_ I get used to it?"

"It just makes it easier. I've found it's best to just let them have their hobbies and try not to judge the childishness of it. Pretend you're interested if they try to involve you . . . a bit of a 'do unto others' concept I guess, but really it's more about accepting that the other will do stuff you don't want to do and stuff you don't understand and accepting that is just part of what it means to accept another person." Tarragon explained.

Rhyce frowned, "What do you mean?"

Didn't she accept other people just fine?

"I mean obviously you think he's wasting his time with those cards, and I think she wastes her time with them too. But it is _their_ time and your relationship will be a lot stronger if you respect it and don't try to monopolize it."

"My relationship?" Rhyce asked incredulously.

"No, time, respect his _time_." Tarragon told her, "And obviously expect him to respect yours as well."

"No I mean I'm not _in_ a relationship. Kor is just my partner in the tournament. He's not like . . . my partner in life or anything."

"Oh yeah?" Tarragon asked, "then why are you watching him now?"

"What do you mean?" Rhyce asked her, "Didn't I just tell you he's my partner in the tournament?"

"Well everyone's done training now, right? Everyone was going to take a couple days to rest and recover . . . so why are you watching Kor right now?"

"I'm just . . . well he needs extra work if he's going to do well in the tournament." Rhyce said simply.

"Okay, so you're going to train?" Tarragon asked.

"Well no . . ."

"Then what's it matter?"

"I guess it doesn't . . ."

"Exactly." Tarragon nodded as if she'd made a great point but Rhyce just scoffed.

"Exactly _what_?" Rhyce insisted.

"You're spending _your_ free time watching him even though there's no reason for it." Tarragon said. "So take it from me, even if you think his hobbies are dumb just let him have them. He probably thinks the same thing about yours."

"Well wait just a second," Rhyce said, "It's not like I _like_ him, he's my teammate!"

"He sure is. So what?" Tarra shrugged.

"So why would you just assume that I'm interested in him?" Rhyce demanded.

"Because you're so obviously interested in him?" Tarragon suggested.

"I am not, I have no reason to be interested in him! In fact I have way more reasons not to, he's weaker than me, he's an alien for crying out loud, I mean I could go on!" Rhyce told her.

"Those reasons are pretty flimsy. I've got way better reasons for not liking Card, didn't stop us from getting married did it?"

"I don't know, I wasn't even aware you were married!" Rhyce pointed out.

"Oh . . . well that's good. We're not supposed to be." Tarragon said, "But I figured the little motor mouth had told your boyfriend by now and he'd have told you."

Rhyce blushed, "But he's _not_ my boyfriend."

"Right, right. My mistake."

Rhyce nodded, "Yeah well . . . just don't bring it up again and we'll forget it."

"Right." Tarragon said and the two sat in silence for a while.

Rhyce watched Korrard and she thought to herself . . . did she like him?

She certainly enjoyed training with him and even spending time with him outside of training . . . he was easily the most tolerable Saiyan but more than that he was just a good guy in general . . . _did_ she like him?

"So do you want to know?" Tarragon asked at length.

"Know? Know what?" Rhyce demanded, shaking from her daze and glaring at the older woman.

"If he likes you." Tarragon said, completely unfazed.

Rhyce blushed furiously now, "I-I—what? _What_? I . . . I don't even . . . like he'd even tell you!"

"He'd tell Card." Tarragon said with a slight smirk. "But . . . you don't care about that right?"

Rhyce folded her arms, she might have to accept that she was learning something unexpected about herself . . . and it bothered her that other people could have seen it before she did.

She was glad Tarragon couldn't see her face. The Raven-haired trooper kept her main focus on the news paper.

But Rhyce knew she was blushing just at the thought of her and . . . well, _anyone_ really. She hadn't given romance much thought but she'd always assumed she'd marry someone . . . well, maybe a powerful warrior, an expert fighter. Someone like a brave hero . . . which she _supposed_ Korrard was, but . . . well he sure wasn't a powerful warrior or an expert fighter.

He certainly couldn't beat her in a fight . . .

Rhyce hesitated and said, "Let's say for a minute that I did care . . . which I'm _not_ saying, but let's say I did say it,"

"Or we could cut to the chase," Tarragon suggested, "You want to know or not?"

Rhyce nodded, then since Tarragon's back was turned and she couldn't see her she said, "Yes. But only because if he does I have to . . . you know, shoot him down and stuff . . . so it doesn't interfere with our teamwork."

"Uh-huh . . . because a broken heart would _never_ do that."

"Well I never said—wait, does that mean he _does_?" Rhyce demanded.

"I didn't say that, I'm just saying that it's not going to _help_ your teamwork."

"Well . . . still . . ." Rhyce said, "I mean it's kind of messed up to bring it up if you weren't going to tell me."

"I didn't say I wouldn't tell you, you said you didn't care."

"Right, I don't." Rhyce said. "But I mean . . . no, no I shouldn't even know. Curiosity killed the cat."

"But satisfaction brought it back." Tarragon said in a singsong voice.

Rhyce shook her head slowly, thinking at about a mile a minute before the doors to the cafeteria opened and a new group came inside.

It was Schip and Anavill along with Sharro and the grounded Tell and Kayle. Tarragon chuckled and said, "Too late, chance is gone."

"What?" Rhyce demanded as the five came over to sit with her and Tarragon got up, folded her paper and nodded her farewell to the group of them.

"We're not chasing you off are we?" Ana asked.

"Not at all." Tarragon said, "I'm just finished reading my paper, think I'll collect my would-be-sorceress there and head in to town, Lieutenant Mai left her car behind and asked me to go retrieve it."

Rhyce was affronted, she was about to argue but Korrard jumped up eagerly crying, "Sharro, Tell! Hey you two, you're just who I wanted to see!"

"What?" Tell asked, "Us?"

"Why us?" Sharro asked, looking back at Kayle and Schip and Anavill who'd come in with them.

"Because you're my team!" Kor beamed proudly at them, "And I just learned a new trick!"

"Another one?" Sharro laughed, "You're pretty good at learning these, what is this the twelfth?"

"The thirteenth." Card answered her. "That's why this one had to be special, thirteen's an awfully powerful magic number."

"It is?" Kayle asked.

"Yeah, I think I've heard something about that." Schip said with a smirk as he sat down next to Rhyce. He told her, "Your partner's becoming quite the magician."

"Partner? What do you mean partner?" Rhyce demanded in a fluster, "I—we're just friends!"

Schip gave her a confused look but she knew him well enough to know there was amusement there too as he slowly put meaning to her outburst.

Meaning that absolutely wasn't correct she was _certain_ so she said, "Never mind that! What are you all up to today?"

"Waiting to see this trick now." Tell said with a smirk.

"Me too," Cardamom said with a grin, "I want to see how my protege does."

"We need to get the car." Tarragon said.

"This is a big moment Tarra, I've taught him the trick of Intertwining Fate!"

"What?" Tarragon gasped, "Not that! Not the trick of Intertwining Fate, he's too young, Card! Too innocent for—" She dropped the act suddenly and very flatly said, "I don't know what that trick is. I don't know what _any_ of your tricks are called."

"Then hush that fuss and watch." Card said with a grin, "Go on kid, shock 'em!"

Kor smirked back shuffling his deck of cards with all the confidence Rhyce wished she could see from him when he trained.

He did some fancy shuffling then held out the deck and spread it out, "Pick a card Tell, any card! Look at it, remember it, then put it back without showing anyone else."

Tell nodded, "This is how like half of these tricks go, I've got that part of the routine down by now, Kor."

"Right, well now we shuffle the deck," Kor said, then he spread the cards face up on the table to show them that there was nothing unusual about the deck and then shuffled it again and offered them to Sharro, "Now you Sharro, pick a card!"

Sharro did so, then so did Schip and Anavill.

Kayle was reluctant, "So . . . what, like this magic thing . . . it's not harmful right?"

"Oh my gosh, you're scared of _this_?" Rhyce gawked.

"I'm not scared of anything," Kayle told her sharply, "I just don't like stuff I can't fight back against."

"It's utterly harmless." Kor assured her.

Kayle frowned then groaned and grabbed a card, she looked at it and then said, "Hey I like this one!"

"Don't tell us what it is!" Kor urged her quickly, "Just put it back, now Rhyce . . . if you would be so kind as to pick the sixth card."

"I thought you only needed two people for this." Rhyce said.

"Well I'm pretty confident the magic will still work with six. Just think of it as me pushing past my limits," Kor said with a wink.

Rhyce rolled her eyes affectionately—er that is she rolled them normally and took a card.

_Queen of Clubs . . . all right then,_ she thought and put the card back in the deck.

Kor smirked wickedly now and said, "Now let the fates and powers course through the deck and . . . one two three, one two three," he handed three cards to each of the six of them and finally slapped the deck down on the table and spread it along so that everyone could see the different cards. Rhyce didn't see the Queen of Clubs in the exposed deck so she figured the trick was going well so far.

"Now," he said, "all at once flip the top card of your pile over."

They did so and Rhyce saw that the card was not hers, it was the Ace of Spades.

_Well that's to be expected, it's bound to be the last card in the pile, that's how these things work._ Rhyce reasoned.

But then Anavill said, "Hey . . . that's the card I had."

"And that's the card I had." Tell agreed.

In fact there were two of each of the cards, the Ace of Spades which Rhyce and Schip had both flipped, the Queen of Clubs which Kayle and Sharro had both flipped and the King of Diamonds which Tell and Ana had both flipped.

Rhyce smirked, "Well this has got to be awkward. Not only do we see the extra cards but you gave them out in the wrong order?"

"Oh my . . . how embarrassing," Kor said with a devious smirk, "Well . . . what's your next card?"

Rhyce flipped it to find it was the King of Diamonds, and again Schip flipped the same card, and Tell flipped the same card as Anavill and Sharrot and Kayle both flipped the same card.

"Oh man, this is _really_ awkward now, isn't it? But it looks like your cards are catching up to you, huh?" Kor smirked. "Ready to flip those last cards?"

"Okay, okay, but there's nothing that magic about having a bunch of duplicates even if you did distribute them in a certain order." Rhyce told him.

"Oh I know, I know," Kor said, "but please flip your final cards."

Rhyce did so and raised an eyebrow seeing an unexpected six of hearts.

They'd all gotten the heart cards ace through six from Tell down the line to her.

Kor folded his arms and said, "No, no . . . that's not right. Hey, I tell you what, everyone flip all three cards right back over."

Rhyce sighed and did so, then Kor said, "Now flip all three all at once!"

Rhyce rolled her eyes. He hadn't done anything to the cards so she knew they'd just be the same-"What the heck!?" She cried when she flipped the three cards over again to reveal three Queens of Clubs.

"Hey . . . looks like your cards caught up to you." Kor said with a triumphant grin.

"Hah!" Card cried in triumph as even Tarragon stared in confusion.

"How the heck did he . . . _what_?" Tarragon blinked. "He didn't touch the cards after he handed them out! What is . . . let me see that deck!"

Kor grinned and then shuffled all of the cards back into the deck before handing it to Tarragon and saying, "Go ahead, nothing unusual about it except that it has been touched by the hand of fate!"

It was the Earthlings at the table who were really confused and, if Rhyce were to admit it, impressed as well. The Saiyans mostly seemed not to understand the full gravity of what had just happened and just made general approving "oohs" and "aahs" and such. It was clear they were amused by the trick but failed to grasp just how borderline actual magic it had been.

Kayle even stared at the cards and then at Kor and Cardamom and asked, "I don't get it, were they not supposed to change?"

Rhyce though just shook her head and told Korrard in no uncertain terms, "You're showing me how you did that! If it takes until forever you are showing me how that happened!

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Chillax was of a less pleased mood as he poked at his food with a single chopstick. He didn't usually eat with them, but he'd chosen to use them tonight because they were a fairly popular choice.

Even so he didn't quite understand using something so imprecise and his hands just weren't used to holding them and so after a while he'd taken to just using them to spear the larger pieces of food and what remained now he poked at like a child playing with his supper.

And he wondered if to some extend that wasn't exactly what he was, albeit not with regards to this particular meal.

But his decision had been made.

He had taken that fruit from his father . . .

But he would not eat it.

Still he was hesitant to hand it over to Bulma.

He wasn't sure why, but the idea made him uncomfortable. He didn't like the idea of the fruit existing much less of anyone eating it or of becoming reliant on it.

Training and growing through one's own hard work was rewarding and it created bonds, the sort of bonds that Chillax shared with his old squad, and with Beeta or Captain Soda, the sort that many of the EDF shared. To just sit around eating fruit all day, getting strength without earning it . . . that didn't sound like any sort of way to live to him.

The idea his father had put forward, that it would make him stronger . . . well he wasn't sure if he liked the idea but he wasn't sure if he could just ignore it either. A part of him felt that he should hand the fruit over to Bulma to be destroyed or researched . . . and another part of him worried that he might be a fool to give up the chance to eat it himself.

Beeta sat across from him having finished her food already she'd been eying his plate with all the desire of a hungry Saiyan but with more restraint than her kind usually managed.

They would be partners in the tournament and Chillax had gotten used to having her around but it was strange any time he remembered that she was indeed a Saiyan. Sometimes he forgot that she wasn't an Earthling, sometimes he forgot about her entirely just because of how quiet she could be.

He asked her, "Do you ever forget that I'm an Arcosian?"

"No." She said flatly.

"I guess we're pretty distinctive." Chillax acknowledged with a slight smile, but then he asked, "But . . . why don't you hate me?"

"Sorry?" Beeta seemed confused.

"It's pretty clear you don't like the rest of the Arcosians on the planet right now. You're tense and you avoid them. But you don't seem that way around me, so what's different?"

"You're not my enemy." Beeta said with a shrug.

"Neither are they, allegedly."

"What do you want me to say?" Beeta asked, "That I do hate you? Or that I find you repulsive but am going to be your partner anyway? Or that the only reason I'm teamed with you is because we were assigned together?"

"Is any of that true?" Chillax asked.

"Does it matter if it's true?" Beeta asked, "Will what I feel for you affect you in any way beyond simple curiosity?"

"It wouldn't have before, but the way you say it now it sort of bothers me." Chillax said.

Beeta shrugged, "It's not true then."

"Are you just saying that?" Chillax asked.

"Did you think any of it was true before?" Beeta asked him.

"No."

"Then why choose to now?"

"Because you mentioned it." Chillax shrugged.

"I only mentioned it because it's what I suppose you expect me to say." Beeta said simply.

"Well why don't you feel that way?" Chillax asked. "I'm an Arcosian, I hated your kind as much as any of the others before, I blamed Saiyans for Lord Frieza's death."

"Saiyans _were_ responsible for that, and Arcosians _were_ responsible for destroying planet Vegeta." Beeta shrugged. "But so what? What's that to you and me?"

Chillax tilted his head to the side and stabbed at his rice with his chopstick, "Huh?" He asked when it became clear she wasn't going to elaborate on her own.

Beeta said, "You and I are fighting for the same side. So there's no need to hate you. If you became my enemy again I'd just destroy you."

Chillax frowned and said, "I thought it might be because I'm different than others."

"You are." Beeta said simply.

"But I mean I thought maybe you could . . . I don't know, sense some kind of special quality in me." Chillax said.

"I'm not really the sort." Beeta told him.

He frowned and said, "I just thought . . . I don't know, maybe I'm different than the rest in some way . . . maybe whatever the rest of them are doing I don't necessarily have to do too, you know?"

"Of course . . . but why should how I feel affect that?" Beeta asked him. "You're you no matter how I feel about it, aren't you? And if you're you you'll be who you are whether or not lots of other people recognize it."

"I guess so . . ." Chillax said. "But is being me going to be enough? I'm the only one of my kind who has sworn himself to Earth . . . in a way I've doomed myself to a pretty lonely existence . . . and I think I'm okay with that for now. But the idea of being even a little bit closer to my own people . . . or at the very least of not becoming an outcast . . ."

"You are an outcast." Beeta told him.

"I know, but I meant-"

"Being outcast is the whole reason you're on Earth, don't forget. The other Arcosians hate you, that's reason enough for me not to. As for why I hate them, the truth is I don't. But I don't like them . . . I'm not comfortable around them because I know they're not on my side. They're not friends. They're still enemies even if we're at peace. They can still do to this world what they did to my last one."

"I did that to worlds." Chillax said.

"So did I. But not to mine, and not to yours." Beeta said with a shrug. "So there's no use in hating you. You're different and if it makes you feel better to think that that's why I don't hate you then think that. But the truth is I don't hate anyone . . . but that doesn't mean you're not still different than the rest of your people. The problem is that you shouldn't be looking to me or anyone else to define what that means to you. You should just be you."

"Is that how you see things?" Chillax asked, "With regards to yourself I mean. You're very different than the other Saiyans."

"I am." Beeta acknowledged. "But I've never had to worry about it. Saiyans mostly don't care. But I suppose if the others did hate me maybe I could better identify with your problems."

Chillax frowned and said, "My problem isn't that I'm hated, it isn't even whether or not I'm different . . . I guess really what I'm worried about is . . . is it enough to be me . . . or should I try to be more?"

"Be more." Beeta said bluntly. "Always be more. When you're the very best still try to be more."

He looked at her with just a bit or horror on his face, "What kind of advice is that?"

"The most basic of advice." Beeta shrugged. "To a Saiyan at least. Always reach for the stars and when you grab your star use it to pull yourself up and grab a further star, that's life to a Saiyan. We rise, we grow, we do it all again over and over until the end."

"So don't be myself?" Chillax asked.

"Who said that?" Beeta asked him, "I never said not to be yourself. But part of being yourself _should_ be to try to be _more_. The world does care about you and what you have to offer, I'm sure. But that doesn't mean you should be content with just scraping by in the world, so _be more_ and in so doing you'll make the world better for everyone around you."

"That's an odd thing for a Saiyan to say." Chillax said.

"Perhaps. But maybe that's because it was Thyme who said it to me first." Beeta shrugged.

"You sure took it to heart." Chillax pointed out.

"It sounded right." Beeta said simply.

"Yeah . . . I guess it does." Chillax said, eying the box of fruit. "So be myself . . . _and_ be more. Rise to the stars and just keep rising . . ."

He pushed his tray of uneaten food towards Beeta who asked for no confirmation before digging in to it. Still she did ask as he got up from the table and took the box, "Where are you going?"

"To see Bulma." Chillax answered. "I've got something she'll want to take a look at."

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Frigus has a bold plan in mind, but Glacien disagrees. Could the Admiral be making a grievous mistake, or is it just what the PTO needs to give them the edge against their enemies? Find out next time!_


	121. An Awful Risk

**Episode Forty-One**

**'An Awful Risk'**

 

As the three Arcosians set foot aboard their ship and shut the door behind them Admiral Frigus couldn't help but think the very opposite of what the Chief Scientist announced.

"Well, I think that was a productive and worthwhile day." Glacien said.

"You _would_ think that," Admiral Frigus scoffed, "You got to jabber about science all day."

"Yes." Glacien said with heavy satisfaction, beaming shamelessly.

"Well did you forget we're not really here on diplomatic business?" Frigus demanded.

"No, of course not. But were you expecting us to succeed on our first day?" Glacien asked.

"It would be nice," Frigus scowled. He glared at Verglas, "What about you?"

"I thought it was a productive day if that's what you're asking," Verglas said with a shrug, "you have to understand that establishing trust takes time, Admiral."

"Time we don't have, for all we know the tournament for the Generalship is concluded and our Lords are waging war on the Galactic Patrol even as we stand here twiddling our thumbs like a trio of old fools!"

"Perhaps. But even if that's true what do you plan to do about it?" Glacien asked.

Frigus smiled, "Well now that we've shaken our escort I think it's time we got a look at what they weren't keen to show us."

"What?" Glacien gawked, "I . . . I do not think you should risk that, you'd set back everything if you get caught!"

"Nothing ventured nothing gained," The Admiral said coldly taking a scouter from the rack near the ship's door and putting it over his eye. He pressed the button and said, "This should help me avoid the power levels I don't want to run into, but I'll need your help Glacien. Once I'm inside I'll need to know what to look for."

"I . . . are you insane?" Glacien asked, "What if you get cornered? The scouter will only tell you where they are, not how to avoid them! And they can sense you without needing one of their own don't forget. Please, think reasonably about this!"

"I am." Frigus said firmly.

He was thinking very reasonably about Lord Frostburn launching a war on the Galactic Patrol without _him._

_Oh he'll have_ General _Boreal by his side, or someone else to steal my glory,_ Frigus thought bitterly, _but not me, not loyal Frigus, I'm sent across the galaxy to pretend to play nice with the filthy Saiyans and deliver a present to our ungrateful son!_

"It's like you said," Glacien told him, "I spent all day discussing science. Now there's clearly things the blue-haired female isn't telling us but whenever I edged us into the subject of instantaneous space travel she became very interested, I think she wants to know what we've figured out on our own and if I play things right I could get her to reveal a few key secrets of her own!"

"That could take days or even weeks." Frigus said. "The war could be happening _now_ , Glacien . . . and I won't wait."

"Why not?" Verglas asked, earning a glare from the Admiral and a look of surprised worry from the Scientist.

But the younger Arcosian was resolute, he clasped his hands behind his back and said, "Were you not prepared to wait before we arrived? What's changed now, Admiral? Why are you ready to throw away all of our planning and endanger the diplomatic mission, farcical or not."

Frigus nodded, acknowledging that it was a fair question and he answered it honestly, "Did you _feel_ them?"

"Sorry?"

"Did you _feel_ them?" He asked again. "Not read them on your scouter, did you _feel_ them?"

"Feel them?" Verglas asked, "You mean the Saiyans?"

Frigus nodded and Verglas did too.

"I'm not really one for sensing energy . . . but yes, I could sort of sense the power from some of them."

"Do you remember _feeling_ that at the fuel depot?" Frigus asked.

"No." Verglas admitted.

"What does that mean?" Glacien asked.

"It means they're getting stronger," Frigus told him, "they're getting stronger and if we don't do something sooner rather than later our species itself will be eclipsed. It was one thing when the Super Saiyan surpassed our Lords but with the fruit of the tree for some of the Saiyan's underlings to do the same?"

Glacien folded his slender arms and looked away, "I still don't think this is the answer . . ."

"The risk will be mine alone, if I'm captured tell them I went rogue . . . tell them I was determined to visit my son and talk sense into him."

"And if you succeed? What then?" Glacien asked.

"Tell them you had no idea of what I was going to do . . . and hope they believe you." Frigus said and he watched on his scouter for an opening to infiltrate the Earthling base.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks breathed a sigh of relief when the Arcosians returned to their ship for the evening.

"Talk about egg shells," he told Soda who tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

"You weren't even there for most of it, you only showed up in the afternoon. Where were you all day?"

Trunks blushed. He was about to answer when he realized that telling Soda might . . . well . . . not be wise?

Gohan answered for him, "He was talking with Erasa to set up an itinerary for his date this evening. She needs to be able to make sure all the right places are prepared for him and spread rumors so all the usual riffraff with cameras think he's on the other side of the city. Rough being famous, eh?"

"Famous, yeah. Did you say date?" Soda blinked.

Trunks shrugged helplessly, "I uh . . . was going to tell you about it-"

"Why? You think you need my permission or something?" Soda interrupted him with a scoff, but then she shook her head and said, "No, it's fine. It's good even, it's great, I'm _glad_."

"Oh . . . well good!" Trunks said, relieved.

"I mean we did kiss and all," Soda said a little archly, "so talking to me first might have been . . . oh, I don't know . . . _decent_?"

"Kissed? Oh . . . did I say 'date'?" Gohan tried far too late while giving Trunks a surprised and slightly disapproving look.

"Yes, you did. Date, that's the word you said." Soda folded her arms and gave Trunks a very disapproving look.

Trunks bowed his head slightly and said, "Like I said . . . I meant to talk to you about it, but we didn't get the chance. I . . ."

He trailed off . . . was 'didn't know whether or not I was available' a suitable excuse?

But Soda smiled and said, "I guess it's lucky that Mai already talked to me on the subject. And I already told her it was fine. So like I said Trunks, I'm glad for you."

"Said it without sarcasm that time." Gohan pointed out.

"Well what can I say? I've been waiting to use this to put him on his back foot all week." Soda said with a wink.

"All week?" Trunks asked, "You two talked about this a week ago?"

"You were on the front page of the newspaper and the Lieutenant is so old-fashioned I _almost_ believe she's as old as she says she is," Soda told him, "I'd have to be pretty dense not to know what all of West City is talking about but _yes_ , we discussed it a week ago. Why, when did you find out she was interested?"

Trunks looked away sheepishly, "Um . . . last night?" He mumbled.

But Gohan put a hand on his shoulder in a comradely fashion and said, "Well we're not terribly good at matters of romance, it comes from our Saiyan side."

"And yet I hear you've got a date of your own with Captain Videl tonight," Soda said with a smirk. "Seems one of you is pretty good with romance at least."

That was news to Trunks, he said, "Why didn't you tell me, Master? I could have had Erasa set up an itinerary for you too!"

"No need!" Gohan told him with a laugh, "We're not the famous ones!"

Trunks looked down in embarrassment, "Well . . . maybe that will change after the tournament and the world sees how awesome you are. You too, Soda, I can't wait to see what you've both managed to learn and teach your teammates!"

"Changing the subject eh?" Soda smirked.

"Yes." Trunks said with a smirk of his own, "You two ready?"

"For the fights or for the mission?" Soda asked him.

"Yes." Gohan said with a nod. Then he said, "To both. I'm ready to have a blast in the tournament and I'm ready to take Turles down a peg or two."

"By the sound of things you've got quite the wait in line," Soda said.

"He's not a popular guy, makes a lot of enemies." Gohan joked but Trunks shook his head.

"The problem is that he's just the opposite," Trunks told them, "He _is_ a popular guy, a lot of the Saiyans are following him."

"A lot. Not all." Soda said, probably thinking of Beeta and Trunks nodded himself thinking of Young Cauli and Rhuby.

"Not all." He agreed.

"But," Gohan told them, "That's for tomorrow. You've got somewhere to be young man, and so do I . . . what about you Soda?"

"No, I don't, thanks for rubbing it in." Soda said dryly, but she was smiling at least.

"S-sorry!" Gohan said, clearly missing her playfulness and saying, "I-I just thought a girl as good looking as you would-"

"Oolong made some fairly serious sounding overtures while I trained on Master Roshi's island," Soda said, waving a reassuring hand, "I'm sure we'll be very happy together."

Gohan made a face that showed he clearly wasn't sure if she was joking or not but Trunks took his turn patting his mentor's shoulder and said, "You're right, Master, we'd better get going. Don't want to go on your date in that outfit do you?"

Trunks was referring to Gohan's martial arts gi of course which he'd worn throughout the day escorting the Arcosians around. Gohan smirked and said, feigning ignorance, "Why? What's wrong with this?"

The three of them shared a laugh and retreated into the Capsule Corp. HQ, thoughts of the Arcosians and the Arcosian ship gone from their minds for the time being . . .

Trunks just thought _I hope this really does go well . . ._ and glancing at Soda he thought, _and I hope she really_ doesn't _mind . . ._

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Coming out of the Time Machine's control room Genora was surprised to see Admiral Frigus.

Not because she hadn't known he was on the planet, obviously that was common knowledge by now and the Saiyans weren't the only ones who'd been trying to keep their heads down.

Instead what surprised her was his lack of armed escort. It was her understanding that none of the PTO's 'diplomatic delegation' was to be anywhere on or off the Capsule Corp. grounds unsupervised.

Her next surprise came when he addressed her by name. "Genora," he said, "it _is_ Genora, isn't it?"

"Y-yes?" She stammered.

"You don't sound very certain." He said with what almost sounded like a good natured chuckle in his voice.

"Yes. I'm Genora." She told him firmly.

But her hearts were racing, and not in a pleasant way.

"Just who I've been hoping to find," the Admiral told her.

A year ago she might have been scared or thrilled, maybe even both to know that the Admiral of the fleet knew her by name.

But now as it was she was just suspicious.

She closed the door behind her in as casual a manner as she could manage and nodded to him, "Admiral."

She looked up and down the hallway and said, "You seem to have lost your escort, did you need me to guide you someplace more well populated, say the lounge?"

"Not at all," Frigus said with a smile, "There's no need to trouble any guards. As it happens I'm fast asleep aboard my ship even as we speak."

Genora couldn't help blinking owlishly, wondering if maybe that was actually true. Who knew what sort of power the Arcosians had, maybe a form of Astral projection was one of them.

Or maybe she was the one sleeping.

Still she nodded and with a confidence she didn't really feel she said, "Oh? Well then it's good to know I'm only hallucinating."

"Genora," Frigus said in a no-nonsense tone, "Let's not play games."

"I assure you I'm taking this very seriously." Genora told him honestly.

"Good. Then take this seriously: I know you feel no real loyalty to these Earthlings."

"Do I not?" Genora raised a proverbial eyebrow.

"Not truly." Frigus told her. "You're here because you have no other option, isn't that so?"

Genora just shrugged. She wasn't going to commit to anything and if he felt like monologuing that just bought time for someone strong to come by and spot him.

Not her. She was a weakling.

"You're a traitor, if you tried to come home to the PTO you'd be killed," the Admiral told her.

"True. But wouldn't that just be incentive to be loyal to the Earth?" Genora asked.

"Not if you had other options, I would imagine," Frigus said.

Genora wondered how long it'd take for someone strong to sense the admiral. Was entertaining this discussion a lost cause?

Where _were_ all the strong people?

"Help me and I will pardon your crimes. You and your sisters. You could go home, be with your own kind again . . . isn't that worth just answering a few little harmless questions?" The Admiral asked.

"You expect me to believe this offer if you haven't made the same one to your own son?" Genora asked.

"The relationship between parent and spawn is not the same for Arcosians as it is with other races, but who is to say that I haven't? Didn't you say you wondered where my escort was?"

"I did . . ." Genora muttered.

But she wasn't sure she could believe that the Commander had switched sides just like that. She'd served with him for years and if there was one thing he was it was stubborn.

"You're an Appullatien, not an Earthling," The Admiral told her, "your kind have been with the PTO since the time of our earliest Lord, before we were even the PTO. It's only natural to want to return to your own people."

Genora wouldn't necessarily argue that . . .

"I _understand,_ Genora," The Admiral told her with a great deal of sympathy in his voice. "Help me achieve my mission and you can go home."

"What's your mission? Isn't it to reinforce the peace? I thought that was the point of a diplomatic delegation." Genora said.

"Come now, you're not dumb. You were the chief of Kalt's operations deck for years, you know how we work better than that."

"I do . . ." Genora admitted, _that's why I don't trust you now,_ she thought nervously.

"Just answer me some questions, that's all I'm asking for now. Now tell me . . . what do you _do_ for the Earthlings?"

"What?" Genora blinked. "I don't understand . . ."

"I mean what is is your function here in this base?" Frigus clarified.

"It's not a base, it's a very large residence . . . and I live here." Genora told him.

"Oh? Then this _isn't_ where they keep the ship?" The Admiral asked.

"What ship?" Genora asked in confusion. The only ship the Earthlings had now was the _Humanity's Hope_ and that was visibly docked outside across the street right next to the vessel that Frigus had arrived on.

Still she asked, "Do you mean the _Humanity's—_ uh I mean the _Cold-Heart_?" She asked, calling the ship by it's original name.

"You _know_ what I mean," Frigus said a little sharply, "I mean the ship they're using to travel without our notice."

"Oh . . . that ship . . ." Genora said though in her mind she wondered just what the devil the Admiral was talking about and whether or not failing to tell him about this ship would result in her untimely demise.

"Is it there?" Frigus asked, indicating the door she'd just come out of.

"No!" She told him quickly.

Too quickly.

"There's no space ships in there," She said with genuine honesty. _Just a time machine,_ she thought.

But obviously she wasn't about to reveal that. Instead she told him, "Look, you've got it all wrong . . . there _is_ no ship."

"No ship?" The Admiral asked, taking a threatening step towards her. He said very quietly, "Don't lie to me . . . I took an awful risk being here tonight, Genora . . . but no one knows I'm here and no one would think to blame me if something happened to you."

_Ah, no more pretense. Well . . . I don't know that that's a good thing,_ Genora thought. But she swallowed a lump in her throat and managed to stammer, "I-i-it's true!"

"Then how are our little Saiyan friends leaving and returning with more of their kind? We've seen the satellite scans, tell me the truth!" The Admiral hissed.

Genora thought fast and then . . . inspiration struck. A way to get out of this with her skin intact . . .

She had an idea.

An awful idea.

The Appullatien had a wonderful, awful idea.

She told him, "It's not a ship . . . it's a teleportation device."

The Admiral's eyes shone, "A teleportation device?"

"That's right," Genora told him, "It's at the bottom level . . . it'd take both of us to operate it."

_So don't kill me._

"Show me!" The Admiral ordered her.

Genora nodded. She told him, "Follow me," and led him down the hall towards the elevator.

Away from the time machine.

"How does it operate?" The Admiral asked her as they stepped into the elevator, which made a contented gurgle sound.

"I don't fully understand the science of it," Genora said, judging it wiser to say that then try to make up some techno-babble, "but you'll stand inside the chamber and I input the coordinates and press the button. Then you can go anywhere."

"Anywhere?" The Admiral demanded, "Why didn't they use it to travel to the world they thought was Namek?"

The Appullatien thought about how the Admiral had said they were watching the satellites. He probably knew the rate at which new Saiyans had been arriving so she said, "It can only move so much matter. They believed they'd have to bring back dozens if not scores of Namekians so they took a ship instead."

"Couldn't they have just used this teleporter to move multiple groups?" The Admiral asked skeptically.

_Blast . . . well more truth to sell the fiction,_ Genora thought. She told him, "It needs a while to recharge between uses. About one of this planet's months."

"Fascinating . . . to think these apes could invent such a wonder . . . perhaps we should enslave them instead of eradicating them."

Genora offered no reaction to that as the elevator arrived at their destination floor. Instead she took a deep breath to steady her nerves and said, "Here we are . . . let's go."

"Pleased to be of service!" The elevator said.

The Admiral scoffed, "Never mind! Eradication it is, anything that makes the experience of a lift even _more_ miserable deserves merciless extermination!"

Genora smiled slightly, "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Are you being sarcastic with me?" Frigus demanded.

"No, Lord. But right this way . . ." Genora indicated one of the old prison cells. "Step inside and I'll teleport you anywhere you want to go."

"Oh?"

"Just to show you how it works." Genora said with a shrug. "If you'd prefer you could come back later . . . perhaps bring Chief Scientist Glacien, he might understand it bet-"

"Never mind Glacien!" Frigus snarled, stepping into one of the cells. "So . . . how does it work?"

Genora went over to the console and began to press buttons, she looked at the Admiral to make sure he was still in the room.

She said, "Oh . . . I just enter the coordinates . . . tell me where you want me to teleport you and I'll send you there. You'll return in . . . shall we say ten seconds?"

"If it's that precise teleport me to the bridge of my ship," Frigus ordered her, folding his arms.

"Yes Lord." Genora said, looking down to enter in the gravity setting.

_Three hundred aught to be enough,_ she thought and she kept her face neutral to avoid revealing the triumph she felt at outfoxing a god.

Until she heard Frigus' voice behind her say, "Of course . . . it does occur to me that I could be wrong . . ."

Genora's eyes widened and she spun around. But before she could say anything Frigus' hand wrapped around her mouth and he lifted her from the ground in a casual effortless way.

"Yes I could be utterly wrong about you having no loyalty to the Earthlings . . . in which case you'd probably lie to me and the ship I want really _was_ in that room I caught you coming out of . . . but that's not possible, is it Genora?" Frigus asked with a cold look, a look that told Genora in no uncertain terms that this was the end.

Her plan had failed, he'd been toying with her the whole time . . .

He looked down at the console and said, "Ah now . . . this looks like the controls to that gravity room they showed me during the tour this morning . . . I see, _three hundred_ times this little mud ball's gravity? You didn't expect that to _hold_ me, did you?"

Genora couldn't answer with her mouth covered but she tried to struggle and squirm her way free.

The Admiral just said, "Well while I'm investigating the ship . . . let's see how _you_ like it."

He threw her hard into the cell she'd meant to activate for him. She struck her head and things started to go black as she heard the familiar sound of the door shutting and felt the crushing weight of three hundred times Earth's gravity descend upon her.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks and Mai go on their date, totally unaware of the dangers that could be transpiring at Capsule Corp. HQ. Will Sharpner ruin the evening or will the two have an enchanting experience before the chaos Trunks was so wary of returns in full force? Find out in the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball COED!_


	122. Mostly Harmless

**Episode Forty-Two**

**'Mostly Harmless'**

 

The evening air was cool but Trunks felt warm. It was strange, and he attributed it to nerves, though he thought that would have passed by now.

Mai's choice of attire had surprised him though, perhaps that contributed to his current state. Absent her military greatcoat she had quite the figure, a figure all the more accentuated by the fact that she'd dressed . . . well, in a dress.

Or almost, it might be better described as a long green tunic, but compared to the Royal Guard uniform she usually sported it might as well have been a gown.

“You . . . look good.” Trunks managed to say.

She smiled almost shyly, averting her eyes and almost whispering, “Thank you, so do you.”

Trunks scratched the back of his head sheepishly, he'd dressed pretty casually for the evening abandoning his blue suit and white EDF armor for a somewhat simple lavender suit.

It was old and it had probably belonged to his grandpa since he couldn't imagine his father wearing anything like it. Since Mai was so old fashioned he thought maybe she'd like it even if he felt a little awkward in it.

“So . . . did you have any plans for tonight?” He asked her.

She blushed slightly and said, “Well Captain Videl said I should keep it simple, but I thought a dinner date might be too conspicuous, besides a restaurant means lots of eyes on us and lots of people who can call the press.”

“I couldn't agree more.” Trunks nodded. Erasa had said much the same thing, but since Mai had been the one to ask him out he didn't want to just presume and had asked Basil and Thyme to make reservations at a few places and he'd impress—er that is _surprise_ Mai by already having reservations for whatever restaurant she wanted.

He smiled and asked, “What about a film? It'd be dark and everyone would be focusing on the screen and not notice us.”

“I'd thought about that,” Mai nodded, “but . . . well I didn't know what sort of films you liked. I know we talked about movies on the _Hope,_ but . . . well you were always sort of ambiguous.”

Trunks laughed, “Sorry,” he told her, “I guess I have to admit I don't much have a preference. Every film that gets made is a testament to mankind's continued survival and every film that remains is a precious rare artifact, it's hard not to find something to appreciate in all of them . . . except _The Hunt for the White Whale,_ that's four hours of pure boredom.”

Mai's face fell, “Oh . . .” she said, “That's actually my favorite film.”

Trunks blinked, “It is? Sorry . . . I mean it's definitely an  _impressive_ movie, just not really my cup of tea. But I can see why you like it!”

Mai laughed and she said, “I'm sorry, I'm only joking! Actually I've never even seen it.”

Trunks breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her, “I have half a mind to make you sit through it as punishment then.”

Mai smiled back, “Well you'd have to sit through it too, wouldn't you? Otherwise how could you know for sure that I didn't leave or fall asleep?”

“Hmm, seems you've foiled my plans for revenge.” Trunks joked.

Mai bowed slightly and told him, “You'll just have to find a different way to punish me.”

“Oh I'm sure I'll come up with something.” Trunks said with a wink.

The young Lieutenant suddenly seemed to regret what she'd said and blushed furiously, “Uh . . . but I mean . . . an appropriate form of punishment obviously. I . . . I didn't mean to imply . . . uh . . .”

“Obviously.” Trunks nodded, not wanting her to feel awkward. To be honest his mind hadn't gone down any lewd paths, it'd been simple banter to him so he wasn't sure what about his countenance had made Mai think he had any intentions of punishing her at all, let alone in a . . . less than appropriate manner.

Then he wondered  _Well if it wasn't me . . . was it her?_

He wasn't sure he was ready to deal with something like that. He felt himself blush to match her and the two of them headed for the air car in awkward silence.

Even walking with Mai to the air car that would be taking them to their date a part of him felt awkward just for having to take the vehicle in the first place. It wasn't just that he was used to flying and knew Mai could not, it was actually something he'd worked out with Erasa when he'd talked to her about the evening.

She'd told him that he should get a limousine but he'd told her that was far too conspicuous. Then she'd suggested getting the limousine and sending it out to draw off the usual paparazzi which he'd liked better but he didn't want to act as if he were doing something sneaky or wrong.

There was nothing wrong with it and he wouldn't act as if there were . . . though now he sort of regretted not going with the decoy idea, he was nervous enough as it was without the thought that wherever they went he might be recognized and have things spiral out of control again.

So Erasa had made the suggestion that they'd eventually agreed to . . . she'd get a company car and chauffeur if he let Sharpner come along and take pictures.

She hadn't mentioned that Sharpner would also be the chauffeur.

“Ready to go?” The buff cameraman asked.

“I suppose so . . .” Trunks sighed.

Sharpner seemed to guess his mood and said, “Don't worry GW, I'll be a fly on the wall!”

“GW?” Trunks asked.

“Golden Warrior of course!” Sharpner told him. “Come on kids let's load up.”

“Um . . . after you?” Trunks offered Mai who nodded thanks and got into the car.

Sharpner winked at him, “Careful, I might steal her and fly off without you.”

“As if I couldn't catch you.” Trunks scoffed with a slight smirk.

“Are you sure? This baby's a--”

“It wouldn't matter.” Trunks assured him.

Sharpner smirked and nodded, “Yeah, you're probably right.”

They got into the vehicle and the blond photographer said, “Now I know this feels a bit like your old man chaperoning prom night, but I assure you just a few snapshots of the happy couple, something for Erasa to write a story about and we'll be all set.”

Mai smiled and said, “I appreciate having a chaperon actually, it makes this whole thing feel less . . . unseemly.”

“Nothing unseemly about it, but at least I'm appreciated.” Sharpner said with an almost predatory grin.

_Not_ very _appreciated though._ Trunks thought.

“So where are we going?” Sharpner asked.

“Well . . .” Trunks looked at Mai, realizing that they hadn't quite finished discussing that.

“Well . . .” Mai said looking a little bit embarrassed, “if it's not too bold I did have one idea . . . um . . .”

She told Sharpner where to go, but Trunks wasn't really aware of the place so he had no idea where they were heading.

It definitely wasn't any of the places he'd asked Thyme and Basil to make reservations at, so his attempts to seem impressive would have failed completely.

As would any plans to divert the press with a decoy limousine since the place Mai suggested was on the side of West City that Trunks would have sent it, assuming they wouldn't go to the downtown area since it lacked many of the fine restaurants and cinemas that Capsule Corp. had finished rebuilding, instead the downtown area mostly contained a lot of ongoing work.

Though the restoration of West City had seemed complete those empty buildings had started to fill up and many people didn't want to have to travel all the way uptown to enjoy the best that the city had to offer and so new businesses and locations were being set up.

Could Mai plan to go to one of these, Trunks wondered.

Excitement at the prospect of adventure took over his feelings of awkwardness as they set out, he had no idea that someone was watching and waiting for him to leave before wreaking havoc on his home.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

In contrast to Trunks, Gohan was actually pretty relaxed that evening.

Maybe he shouldn't have been, after all this was his second date with Videl and . . . well it was also his second date _ever_. Maybe he'd chosen a poor location, maybe she'd think he was crazy or maybe he'd make it too obvious that he didn't really know what he was doing.

But things seemed to be going well.

“I just can't believe it, aliens running around old North City?” His mother sighed, shaking her head as she set out the rather over-sized home-cooked meal she'd prepared for the evening.

Maybe dinner at the parents' house was an odd second date, but Gohan had figured since Videl had helped him work up the courage to face coming here the first time it wouldn't be a stretch to think she might appreciate coming around and enjoying a second visit.

Especially on the eve of the tournament.

“Well, what's left of it.” His grandpa said and Videl nodded.

“The King doesn't trust indiscriminately, of course Guard elements are on hand to keep an eye on things and my unit will be ready to abandon the tournament tomorrow at a moment's notice.”

“If something goes wrong?” Chichi asked.

“Yes ma'am, exactly.” Videl nodded. “Though I'm sure everything will be fine. After all we've had aliens running around East City for a while now and it's been great, or so I've heard.”

“Well the Namekians have been here before!” Gohan said, glad he could contribute to the conversation. So far it'd been a great deal of his mother interviewing, almost interrogating Videl.

“That's true, I remember that. Before Frieza came.” His mother said, sitting down with a sigh. “But don't you have some of Frieza's kind running around unattended too?”

“Oh certainly. But Chillax is a member of the Guard,” Mai told her, “He's been a trustworthy member of my squad so far and he's one of our best.”

“I mean those others, the news said a second Frieza ship arrived.” Chichi said.

“Oh. Well they're hardly running around unattended. We keep a careful eye on them, it'd be utterly ludicrous not to.” Videl said with a nod.

“Well I wouldn't want to think I was being utterly ludicrous,” His mother said a little dangerously.

“And you're not,” Gohan interjected quickly, “It's a reasonable enough concern but you can rely on us and on Trunks to be sure things are under control.”

“But if you two are here and Trunks and that other soldier are on a date too who's there to control things?” the Ox King asked.

“Well Trunks and Gohan aren't the only two strong fighters at Capsule Corp.” Videl said thoughtfully. She closed her eyes and seemed to focus, Gohan guessed she was trying to sense the energy of the people at Capsule Corp. and he smiled when she said, “But I do believe Chillax is still there, and Beeta. Besides that most of Trunks' students are as strong as the Arcosians, at least that's how it feels.”

“As strong as those three visiting at least.” Gohan agreed. He imagined their leaders were going to be a lot stronger.

Though he could feel that many of the students had taken this final night of liberty to take to the town. It surprised him to sense that even Turles had uncharacteristically gone into the city with a cluster of the other Saiyans. But he could sense some strong powers still at Capsule Corp. in addition to Chillax and Beeta, he knew the Arcosians wouldn't be unwatched and while he couldn't sense him he was certain Sixteen was at Capsule Corp. and Master Roshi as well.

Things felt secure. Things felt safe.

His mother lacked his ability to sense the energy of his friends and comrades though or even the context that Videl was still only learning the ability herself so Chichi asked, “How it _feels?_ Aren't you sure?”

Gohan explained to his mother and grandfather, “Well Videl is learning how to sense energy. So is everyone really, we're trying to stop relying on scouters all together, so no one uses them lately except for the Royal Guard.”

“But not my squad.” Videl clarified.

“Wait a second,” Gohan's mother said, raising a hand with a worried look on her face, “You mean that with dangerous aliens running around all of our strongest fighters are learning to sense energy instead of using scouters? So . . . they might not notice if something goes wrong?”

“They might not,” Videl allowed. “However like I said the ship is being watched. I've got two teams of sharp shooters taking it in turns to keep one eye on the ship and the other eye covered by a scouter.”

That did seem to bring a relieved look to his mother's face and Gohan relaxed again.

“Besides I can still sense energy,” Gohan said with a grin, “I can sense their cluster of power around Capsule Corp. so they haven't gone anywhere and if they did they'd be followed.”

“But they can still do whatever they like _at_ Capsule Corp. can't they?” His grandfather asked.

Gohan shrugged, “If they did something aggressive I'd feel it. So would Trunks, so I think they know better. Turles is just looking for an excuse to do them harm, they'd be smart to just behave.”

“They'd be smart,” His mother agreed, “But when are the bad guys ever that bright?”

Gohan laughed but it was clear his mother wasn't joking so he sighed and said, “Well like I said it's not like they're not being watched.”

“But you said the others are only learning to sense energy.” His mother worried.

“The recruits are,” Videl assured her, “but the Masters are already pros at it, Master Roshi wouldn't let our guests get the drop on him and I'd be surprised if anything gets past Bulma's weathered eye. Besides that Dende is supposed to be the guardian of the whole Earth, I'm sure he'd let us know if something went wrong too . . . right?”

Gohan smiled, “Right, exactly.”

His mother smiled and said, “Oh . . . well that's a relief then. I guess that means we can focus on what really matters tonight.”

Gohan tilted his head to the side, “What really matters?” He asked, a little worried since he wasn't sure what his mother could possibly mean.

Chichi nodded. She asked him, “Gohan, after I reprimanded you for bringing Videl here for your first date what in the _world_ made you think this was a suitable place for a _second_ date?”

“W-well I thought it would be nice,” Gohan began before realizing that his mother was just toying with him.

He recovered with a laugh and Videl said, “Actually I really loved the idea. It's nice to see this sort of thing.”

“What sort of thing?” Chichi asked.

“You know, family life. I haven't seen a lot of it.” Videl explained.

“Not even from Bulma and Trunks?” Chichi wondered.

“No, not really.” Videl admitted. “I mean there's no question they're close, but I think they're both just really busy. Trunks has so much on his plate and his mother is pursuing so many different projects all at once it just seems to me like the two of them could stand to slow down and just enjoy a family meal like you and Gohan.”

Gohan's mother blushed at the compliment and said, “Well . . . maybe I should have a talk with Bulma, tell her to hold her horses a little bit. Gohan, you should do the same for Trunks. You're supposed to be his mentor, remember?”

Gohan smiled weakly, “I'll try,” he said, “but I think he and I have sort of switched roles at this point.”

“That's no reason to think he won't still value your opinion” His grandfather told him, “you should never hesitate to offer good advice, Gohan.”

Gohan nodded, “I'll remember that, Grandpa. But hey, why don't you and mom come by Capsule Corp. sometime? Maybe you can offer Bulma some advice yourself, and I'm sure she'd be glad to see you both!”

“Well . . . I guess maybe we could stop by sometime . . .” Chichi said thoughtfully.

“Or come to the tournament tomorrow.” Videl suggested.

“The tournament?” Gohan hesitated. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of his whole family showing up at the tournament if Turles _did_ try anything . . . but he had to admit it'd be great to have them watch him and Videl test their skills against the others.

Videl said, “Yeah. It'd be a great opportunity to see Gohan in action and the aliens will all be there. Maybe you can see they're not that scary . . . I think the newer ones, the Calamareens? I think they're just a lot of ordinary folk really. They don't even seem to have super powers.”

Chichi nodded, “That does sound nice. What do you think, Gohan?”

Gohan smiled and tied not to let his nervousness show, after all he wanted them to think everything was fine. He just said, “Sure . . . that'd be . . . great.”

He wouldn't tell them about Turles' possible plans for insurrection. Besides if things went well those plans would be over before they began.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Mai could barely contain herself as the car flew, but it wasn't just excitement that made her want to scream.

Naturally it was panic as well.

What if she made a mistake? What if she said the wrong thing? What if this whole idea was the mistake and asking him out had been saying the wrong thing?

_You need to play it cool,_ she thought to herself, _you're the elder in this relationship you should guide . . . oh my gosh I'm the elder and then some! Wait, that doesn't make any sense, but I'm_ old _! This is so inappropriate! I should have asked Captain Videl to come along as a chaperon, what will everyone think of me tomorrow?_

She smiled even though she was screeching in her own mind, _Tomorrow? Tomorrow? Never mind tomorrow, what will he think of me_ tonight _? What if I say too much? What if I say too little? What if someone better comes along_ during _the date? What if I see someone I recognize and they recognize what scandalous behavior this is?_

She took a few steadying breaths and reminded herself that really this wasn't their first date . . . well, it was but it wasn't.

_But the first one ended so badly!_ She thought, then scolded herself mentally again.

This was going to be fine. She knew it.

And Trunks deserved a night to relax, after all who knew how long things would be this peaceful?

Nerves and all Mai couldn't help but smile like a kid when she looked at Trunks though, and she mentioned to him, “I know having Sharpner as a chaperon isn't your idea of a good time, but I really am glad he's along.”

Trunks nodded, “I understand. Though really you were never in any danger of me behaving inappropriately you know.”

“Oh I know.” Mai said. “But it's not you I'm worried about, it's everyone else and what they'd think of it. With Sharpner along . . . well I know he's not harmless but he's on Erasa's side and Erasa's on our side so he's mostly harmless, right? Erasa hasn't tried to make us look bad yet so I don't think Sharpner will.”

“We could have gone out without anyone making us look like anything.” Trunks pointed out.

“It would have been tricky,” Mai told him. She frowned and explained, “Maybe someday it won't be a problem, but for now at least I think having someone along helps. The public is going to find out about this anyway, why not let them find out on our terms?”

“I don't know . . . I guess maybe I just don't see why a guy and a girl spending time together has to be public business.” Trunks admitted to her. Mai smiled, normally she'd have had to agree honestly.

But she told him, “You're no ordinary guy. When we're together like this I'm not just a girl spending time with a guy I'm one of the King's officers spending time with the hero of all earth, a hero whom the King would like to elevate to nobility I'll remind you,”

“I wish you wouldn't,” Trunks sighed and Mai smiled.

She told him, “You know there's an old expression about people and power. That those who seek it are usually the least capable of handling it or something like that but those who don't are usually better suited to it.”

“You think I'm well suited to power?” Trunks asked.

“I think so. Even as Prince Trunks of the Saiyans you don't let it go to your head, you only posture because you need to but at the end of the day you're still a teacher instead of a prince. You're still excited when your students do well, I can tell.” Mai told him and he smiled a smile so genuine she stopped a moment just to drink it in.

_It's nice just . . . talking with him like this,_ she thought.

“Thanks.” He told her. “I mean . . . I'm glad to know that you still see me and not a pompous Prince of All Saiyans.”

Mai smiled, “Of course. But all the same when we're together like this it does mean that . . . well people might get the wrong idea and it could reflect badly on you or on the King. That's what makes me nervous.”

“You're not worried about it reflecting badly on you?” Trunks asked.

Mai blinked, her first thought was to wonder why _she_ would matter, after all she wasn't anyone important . . . but then she understood that _obviously_ as a representative of the _king—_

“I mean I don't think it reflects badly on either of us, but I'm sure the Golden Warrior and the King can emerge from most things with our reputation intact. Aren't you worried about yours?”

“I don't have a reputation.” Mai said, amused that Trunks would worry about her that way.

It wasn't like she was important herself. It was who and what she represented that mattered . . . right?

“Sure you do, especially now that you're becoming a media darling.” Trunks said, “Erasa said people really respond well to you, in fact she gets complaints if she doesn't mention you in her articles now.”

Mai felt her stomach flip at the thought of that. Her face must have fallen because Trunks said, “But I mean . . . it's all a good thing, right?”

Mai smiled weakly, “Y-yes . . . uh . . . well . . .”

She wasn't sure how to feel about the sudden realization that she was actually . . . _someone_.

But Trunks smiled a warm smile that made her feel strangely better and he told her, “What you said about power though, it sounds like it could apply to fame too. Those who seek it probably aren't the sort who should have it but someone humble who wouldn't let it go to her head or anything, I bet she'd be just fine.”

Mai smiled and said, “I must be a vain woman though, because your complimenting me like that is . . . appreciated.”

Trunks smiled too and Sharpner cleared his throat from the front of the car. “We're here,” he announced, “but I've got to admit . . . the place is a little bit more run down than I'd have expected you to pick out, Miss.”

Mai smiled and said, “It should be just fine.”

In truth she hadn't ever been to the place before, but she'd had some words with her squad about her upcoming date and under the slew of recommendations she'd picked one that sounded just perfect.

At a place that sounded just right too, a place few people went where the lights would be low and where she and Trunks wouldn't be the center of attention.

Assuming anyone noticed them at all.

“I've never heard of this place,” Trunks told her, “It looks like a coffee shop.”

“It is a coffee shop!” Mai nodded, pleased that he didn't sound as if he objected to that. However she had to tell him, “At least in the day. But when evening comes in they change into a . . . well I hope you don't mind . . . but a comedy club.”

“A what?” Trunks blinked.

“A comedy club,” Sharpner told him, “some kind of Open Mic thing I'm guessing?”

“Right.” Mai said. She explained, “You go through so much stress and all . . . well I thought maybe you could take an opportunity to just relax and laugh for a while. I mean . . . you know, if you like.”

“That sounds great, actually.” Trunks told her, and she felt relieved.

Until Sharpner said, “Yeah, it's a great idea in theory but it might be hard not to get noticed.”

“What?” Mai asked, “Everyone's attention should be on the stage, right?”

“Right.” Sharpner said, “But what about the person on the stage? They're sure to spot you.”

Mai felt a lot less certain of her brilliant plan now. She asked, “Uh . . . but won't the room be darkened?”

“Not all the time. Besides, some performers scan the audience to find people to make jokes about, they might spot you.” Sharpner said. Now Mai was feeling _a lot_ less certain.

But Trunks smiled and said, “Well we'll sit in the back and hope they don't see us then. I still think it's a great idea.”

She smiled too. She was glad he thought so.

For all either of them knew it could be their last chance at carefree genuine laughs for a long time.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ The night goes on for Trunks and Mai, but what is Turles doing in West City? Find out next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .  _

 


	123. For the Fun

**Episode Forty-Three**

**'For the Fun'**

 

As with most Saiyan warriors who'd lived through the war with the Tuffles there was nothing quite as revolting to Turles as . . . . well, a Tuffle.

However he had to admit that Tuffle architecture had been such a constant in his younger life that it simply seemed to him to be the way buildings _should_ be. The way they _were_. The buildings of Earth were similar but just different enough that he could view them with some sort of confused level of disdain.

The race of minuscule beings had been terribly weak but they'd shaped the world he'd grown up in. The Earthlings were larger and stronger and by all rights he should have more affection for them but he couldn't help thinking their cities were boxy and ugly.

Yet at the same time he appreciated the fact that they were properly sized, sturdier—he'd been thrown through enough buildings by the Twins to know that—and they were full of people that didn't scream or run when they saw a band of Saiyans prowling down their streets.

But back in the old days a gang of Saiyans walking through a Tuffle city would have caused panic . . . at least back when there were still Tuffles to feel panicked of course. But dressed in their Capsule Corp. or “Crusher Corps” as he liked the call them, jackets Turles and his comrades blended in quite nicely.

They could almost pass for human except for their tails and with such a wide variety of Earthlings, many of them being covered in fur and having tails of their own who was to say they weren't just . . . different humans?

For his part Turles thought that the Earthlings could almost pass for his own kind instead. In fact if he just squinted a little bit and pretended everyone was wearing proper battle armor he could almost fool himself into feeling . . . at home.

He missed his own armor, he very rarely wore the 'street clothes' that Lady Bulma had provided them all. Of course he understood they might have been more conspicuous in their armor, but truth be told Turles felt strange and naked without his battle jacket. He much preferred to be seen as a warrior, and not as a civilian.

But he also understood not wanting to make a spectacle of himself. As it was the size of his group earned a few looks, though he didn't quite have everyone with him.

Tell and Kayle were “grounded” at Capsule Corp. HQ and Sharrot was probably still there with them, he didn't _care_ where Korrard was and who knew where Cauliflora and Rhubara had gone off to, but other than them he had every living full blooded Saiyan following in his wake.

But what were they _doing_ in the city?

Truth be told he had no idea, he asked Lamson, “Are we almost to this . . . thing yet?”

“Almost,” Lamson said, “Rhyce told me about it but she only took me once.”

Turles shrugged. Rhyce was the Earthling with the best Saiyan-like temperament so he'd go along with this outing idea of Lamson's.

Even Brassica was with them, eager to see this . . . _thing_ that Lamson was telling them about.

Though he didn't mistake Brassica's presence for support for his cause it did feel good to have the majority of his kind with him almost as if they did.

In a way it pleased him just to see how many of them there were now. Old and young, female and male the Saiyan race had gone from extinct to . . . well, they hadn't quite recovered but he didn't like the idea of 'functional' extinction. The idea that there weren't enough of them to actually come back.

It was just an Earthling idea, what did Earthlings know? There had never been very many Saiyans and as long as there was at least one Saiyan pair left they could make more, it wasn't hard.

In fact he would go even further and say that as long as there was one Saiyan left they could come back, after all they could have children with the Earthlings, Prince Trunks was proof of that as was Gohan.

But . . . then there was the problem of Prince Trunks and Gohan . . . they were so much more Earthling than Saiyan most of the time.

Prince Trunks had his moments where he seemed like a proper Saiyan leader but mostly he seemed to be almost peace-loving, and that just wasn't Saiyan-like at all.

He tried not to think about it. There was no point worrying about Prince Trunks, he was out with his people tonight.

His true people.

Lamson pointed to a large building in the distance, it was shaped like a dome, similar to the Capsule Corp. Headquarters but larger. “Here we are! I think you're going to like this!”

“We'd better, you dragged us all out here.” Quash scoffed and Turles shot him a threatening look. If anyone was going to hand out reprimands in his group it was going to be _him_.

Quash tried a disarming smile but Lamson said, “It'll be fine, old man. Now lets hurry up, it looks like it's getting crowded.”

It did indeed. In fact Turles could see there was an enormous crowd gathered around the structure flooding the place's four different front doors. As they got closer Turles started to overhear snippets of conversation and quickly he realized there was some sort of a fight going on.

They were going to witness a battle?

Surely not a real one of course, but a spectacle fight? That . . . might be interesting.

“Is this some sort of game?” Brassica asked Lamson and the younger female nodded.

“That's right, a contest between two Earthlings.” Lamson said.

“Who cares about that?” Quash asked. “Apart from the Earthlings trained to fight like us none of them are worth anything.”

“That's a stupid thing to say, Quash. I'd tell you to keep it to yourself but it's just as stupid to think, better to avoid it all together.” Brassica scoffed at him. “You can't judge a species' worth by how well they fight. After all, isn't Lady Bulma's mind superior to even that of a Tuffle?”

“Lady Bulma? Who cares about her mind?” Quash asked. “The real question is can she protect herself in a fight? Or would she need one of us?”

Turles gave Quash one last threatening look, “I'd rather you didn't talk about her in such a threatening way, she _is_ the wife of Prince Vegeta.”

“She _was_ , and I'm not threatening. It's just an observation, without us she's nothing so that means she's nothing just like the other Earthlings.” Quash said, unperturbed by Turles' ire no doubt knowing full well he would escape immediate reprisal in public.

Surprisingly Routz had no such reservations, or rather Lamson didn't because with a nod from her the larger Saiyan stepped on the back of Quash's foot sending the rotund elite face forward towards the ground.

Quash was obviously going to right himself but Lamson's hand shot out and she grabbed him by the tail, yanking back 'saving' him from the fall and illiciting a pained shriek from him.

Even though the elites were trained to resist the pain of having their tails pulled clearly that training had its limits. Coupled with the surprise of being pitched forward the sharp yank and the fact that Lamson was almost definitely squeezing his tail too tightly had been more than Quash could bear and a stark reminder to him that while he might have been an elite in the past now he was one of the bottom rungs of the ladder.

“Oh, sorry,” Lamson said without sincerity, “just trying to keep you from falling over _gramps_.”

“You'll yank my tail off!” Quash cried but Lamson had already released him. He jogged forward a few paces before scowling back at her, “And I'm not that much older! There's no need to call me _gramps,_ Brassica's the oldest one here and you're not showing _her_ that kind of disrespect.”

“I'm sure she would if she could get away with it. Get over it.” Brassica said evenly, going on ahead of the group, her interest clearly perked.

Lamson whispered to Quash so that she wouldn't hear, and Turles who was much nearer by almost didn't hear either, “And don't you dare speak an unkind word about the Earthlings again!”

“Why not?” Quash demanded, “Isn't that why we've agreed to risk our necks following Turles here instead of Prince Trunks? So we can take our rightful place _above_ them?”

“We're not ready for that yet,” Turles told him coldly, “and anyway I don't plan on some grand genetic purge. There's room in the Crusher Corps for anyone who can make themselves useful to me, and Saiyan or not there's no room for _idiots_ so be a little more _careful_ with how you speak about the Earthlings, Quash.”

Quash nodded slightly, but the proud fool couldn't leave well enough alone and dared to say, “Well it's a moot point until you learn how to become a Super Saiyan. And who knows, maybe a low-class warrior like you _can't_ no matter how strong you get.”

“What?” Turles demanded.

“The son of Kakarot pulled it off,” Lamson scoffed.

“I don't know Kakarot but if the Earthlings are as wonderful as you seem to think maybe that was what helped him manage it. All I'm saying is that we're taking an awfully big risk following you, and _I_ thought we were doing it because you were a _true_ Saiyan.” Quash said.

Turles clenched his fists and seriously considered knocking Quash's lights out.

But instead he just laughed and said, “I am a true Saiyan, and that's why I'll become a Super Saiyan. If you're lucky Quash I'll have forgotten this by then and maybe my first act after overcoming Prince Trunks _won't_ be to kill you for the fun of it.”

“We can only hope.” Quash said with a sneer.

Turles didn't know what possessed the elite to be so confident but he had to admit part of him liked it. Quash was the weakest among them apart from Brock and Okran but it was no doubt his Saiyan pride that gave him the nerve to speak that way to someone who could end his existence with the flick of a wrist.

Turles laughed to himself and thought, _it's not as if I'm that much different. As he is now Trunks could destroy me almost as easily as I can destroy Quash. Of course the difference between us is that I'm a true Saiyan, I_ will _kill Quash if he proves himself to be useless. But Trunks . . . I don't think Trunks would kill me even if he_ knew _what I was planning._

The group of them caught up with Brassica and entered the domed building, Lamson handling their 'tickets' but Turles didn't understand why a little piece of paper was supposed to mean anything.

But according to Lamson they told them where to sit and they had to follow them.

“So the Earthlings let pieces of paper tell them what to do?” Oni asked, inadvertently speaking out loud Turles' own thoughts.

Most of them laughed but Brassica said, “If this is anything like the games on Warworld it's to keep order. Of course there the Robusuta had a hierarchy that decided where everyone sat, but since Earthlings seem to mostly see each other as equals it makes sense.”

“Well aren't we heroes or something? Can't we use that to get ahead in the crowds, get better seats?” Quash asked.

“ _We're_ heroes.” Turles reminded him with, he'd admit, a bit of a smug tone.

“And no, I asked Rhyce the same thing.” Lamson told him, “She said that just wasn't how things worked. But it turns out with Saiyan eyes we'll see things just fine from anywhere in the stadium, so I saved money and got us seats in the nosebleeds.”

Turles liked the sound of that. _The 'nosebleeds' eh? Who would have thought the Earthlings have a bloodthirsty side?_ Of course it made sense that Rhyce would be the one to bring Lamson here, but it begged the question from Turles, “Say, why did Rhyce bring just you here and not Beeta and Kayle? After all she trained them too.”

“She did bring them, we just didn't talk about it to the rest of you because she didn't want Prince Trunks knowing we'd engaged in a violent extracurricular activity.” Lamson said with a shrug, and Turles smirked, liking Rhyce slightly more for keeping secrets from Trunks.

“How'd the others feel about it?” Routz asked.

“Kayle liked it and Beeta was . . . well, Beeta so who knows how she felt about it.” Lamson answered. “I wouldn't have mentioned it if I wasn't pretty sure everyone would enjoy it.”

And enjoy it they did. Lamson was right even from their seating which the Earthlings would have considered poor the Saiyan group could see the fights in perfect detail.

Turles had heard some of Videl's troops talk about 'wrestling' and that it was apparently all staged, he concluded that this 'mixed martial arts' thing must be far removed or these Earthlings were dedicated showmen. They put two men—or two women—in a big metal cage and had them go at it with vicious fervor. It lacked the ki blasts and raw power of a fight between Saiyans but the Earthlings made up for it in enthusiasm and willingness to draw blood on each other.

Fighters pounding their opponents senseless even after they hit the floor, using the cage itself as both a weapon and an evasive tool. There was something stirring about the bloodshed and Turles thought to himself with a bit of satisfaction that even if they weren't very strong the Earthlings' willingness to fight so aggressively with their fists proved they were still _far_ better than the Tuffles.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks had to admit he'd had his reservations about the evening itself but the comedy club had been a great way to spend it.

Sure enough no one had paid any attention to him or even noticed him with the lights out and he and Mai had been sure to move on before they came back on.

And whether it was some unwritten code of honor among cameramen or something else entirely it really did seem like the only person taking pictures of them that night was Sharpner. Apart from him they only encountered a few people on their trip from the car to the club and back again, no wall of flashing cameras and press, just normal people going about their everyday lives and for the most part leaving them to do the same.

Sure a few had approached them, some wanting autographs and some wanting just to talk to the Golden Warrior but Trunks didn't mind that so much. The autographs were embarrassing to be sure but if they made people happy he'd sign a few napkins or a forehead here and there.

Well . . . maybe no more foreheads, that had been weird.

But more importantly it hadn't felt overly intrusive, at least not to Trunks and he hoped Mai felt the same way.

She'd seemed okay with it, sort of trying to stay a pace back at first as if she were giving the people better access to their Golden Warrior but once Trunks had made it clear that they were there together she started politely fielding questions and even got a few that didn't relate to him at all, instead a few people were curious about what it'd been like to see the new aliens.

The trip from the club entrance to the parking lot hadn't been long but they did have a few people try to strike up conversation with them along the way and they'd talked to them all the while being wary of letting 'a few people' become a 'crowd' but mostly without the press there to stir up greater interest most people just said a polite 'hello' and kept on their way.

“What do you expect?” Sharpner had asked when they got back to the air car, “You're a celebrity sure, but to most people a celebrity is still just another guy or gal. And once most people realize you're on a date they don't want to be 'that guy' who doesn't let you get on with it.”

“Well compared to how it was before,” Trunks said, “this was refreshing.”

“I'd imagine so, never been much of a celebrity myself . . . not that the ladies don't stop and stare as I go by.” Sharpner said and Trunks wasn't sure if he was just kidding or not.

Mai however said, “It's nothing like walking down the street myself used to be but I think it's probably the best the Golden Warrior can expect.”

“Actually,” Sharpner said, “he could probably expect better. Don't get me wrong, I can't pretend to have ever worked with a celebrity on your level, not a lot of people save the world and all that but one thing that usually helps is exposure.”

“More pictures?” Trunks asked warily.

“Lots of 'em. And more interviews with Erasa. But also not living like a hermit in Capsule Corp. HQ.” Sharpner told him. “I mean get out there, live a little, meet people and let them see you're just a regular guy, huh? The more you shut yourself off the bigger the mystery gets, the more rarely you're seen the more people feel like seeing you is an opportunity they can't afford not to take advantage of.”

Trunks had to admit he hadn't considered what he was doing to be living like a hermit but really thinking about it he supposed it made sense.

He was just usually so busy training the others that he didn't have time to leave Capsule Corp. and since most of his needs and wants were attended to there he didn't often have _reason_ to leave. When he did sneak off it was usually to find solitude or to train others which meant going someplace where there wouldn't be anyone else.

So . . . in some ways he had to admit he did seem sort of like a hermit.

“Could just putting myself out there really make a difference?”He wondered aloud.

“It probably couldn't hurt,” Mai told him, “and it might help you too.”

Trunks would have to think about that.

Driving back to Capsule Corp. HQ with Sharpner now Mai seemed more relaxed both with their driver and in general. Trunks could guess she'd been nervous about potential crowds and maybe even how he'd react to her choice of venue but the public interest had been manageable and he'd enjoyed himself at the club and he told her so.

“That club was great. I guess I'm a little to sheltered to have gotten all of the comedian's jokes but just the laughter in the hall was such a nice sound it was contagious.”

“I agree,” Mai said, blushing slightly, “I have to admit I don't know if you're too sheltered or if his jokes were just too crass, but the crowd's laughter even made me feel more at ease with jokes that didn't work for me. That's how it was the other times I've come here too, it's relaxing just to laugh.”

Trunks smiled, “I definitely feel better because of it. I didn't think a place like this would even exist. I guess even after the end of the world people want to laugh, huh?” He said.

“Well the world didn't end,” Mai reminded him, “and thanks to you it won't.”

“It won't?” Trunks asked. “I get that it didn't, but are you still so sure it won't?”

“Yes.” Mai confirmed. “You've taken the proper steps, don't you think? I mean isn't that why you're training others? So that even a hundred years from now when you're gone the world will still have champions to keep it safe?”

Trunks smiled. “Yeah. That _is_ why I'm doing the things I'm doing but . . .”

“But what?” Mai asked.

Trunks shrugged. “Well it's just hard to feel like things can really be peaceful in the future. I mean this generation? Sure. I'm here, I can protect the Earth and I can train others . . . but isn't it just a matter of time before that all backfires?”

“What do you mean?” Mai asked.

“No, don't worry about it.” Trunks said. “I shouldn't be bringing down the evening with my worries.”

“Tonight's about relaxing and getting rid of your worries, isn't it?” Mai asked, “So why not share them with me?”

Trunks smirked, “I thought tonight was about asking me out before it was too inappropriate.”

Mai blushed, “Yes . . . but don't try to change the subject. Tell me.”

Trunks laughed sheepishly and told her, “All right . . . well . . . the truth is I've been thinking . . . Turles is just the first, isn't he?”

“What do you mean? Your first Saiyan student?”

“Well yes and no.” Trunks said. “He's just the first to take what he's learned and . . . you know, want to use it for selfish reasons. I feel like . . . mother's plan to bring the Saiyans back is a dangerous one, I don't know if I'll ever stop feeling that way. They've got me to keep them in check for now but look at Turles, thinking just because he's gotten a little strong he can rival me? What happens if a hundred years from now I'm not around to be the Prince of all Saiyans, what if my son or grandson is more like Turles than like me? Or what if someone like Turles comes along who can actually beat my descendant, what happens to the Earth then?”

Mai took his hand in hers for a moment, her cheeks turning red as she did it and she spoke in a slightly quiet tone as she said, “The world _always_ had the danger of some evil person conquering it or destroying it. Every generation has heroes and villains. Last generation had Son Goku and your own father who came first as the latter then became the former. This generation has you, its Golden Warrior and in time they'll realize they have your EDF as well.”

“And next generation?” Trunks asked, “What about them?”

“If it makes you feel better there's still plenty of time to prepare for the next generation. But at the risk of making you feel worse whether it were to arrive today or tomorrow in the end you can't control what the next generation will be like, you can do your best to influence it but when all is said and done they'll be their own people and make their own decisions. You never know, your own son might be a tyrant . . . maybe it'll be Turles' son who stops him and _saves_ the Earth.”

“That'd be quite the turnaround.” Trunks granted with a wry smile and a hope that such a scenario would never play out.

“Yes,” Mai acknowledged with an equally wry smile, “But the point is we can't know what the future holds, all we can do is do our best. Our best to make the world a good place and to raise the next generation to understand the values we fought for. It might feel . . . unnatural to the Saiyans to fight alongside us Earthlings, from what I hear even when they served the PTO they were still mostly segregated and on their own rather than integrated into Frieza's army . . . maybe they can't fight well with other species but I don't think that's true.”

“Some of them,” Trunks agreed, “but not most of them it seems.”

“It seems.” Mai said. “But how things seem and how things are can always be different, it's hard to know, isn't it?”

Trunks nodded, “I guess so.”

“So . . . maybe try not to worry so much about the future?” Mai suggested.

It wasn't the first time he'd heard that and it was just as unhelpful now as it had ever been. He was about to try to find a polite way to tell her that when she, perhaps reading his expression said, “I know that's not easy. But if you spend your whole life worrying about what comes after you you won't enjoy what happens during you . . . if that makes any sense.”

Trunks frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I mean enjoy what you've won of course.” Mai told him. “You fought hard to free this world and . . . when I see you talking to people it seems like you're happy just to see them . . . you know, living their lives and being happy. Am I wrong?”

“No.” Trunks admitted. “I'm glad to see them free of the terror the Androids presented. Even if it causes me a bit of stress I think on some level I'm glad they're free enough to _have_ celebrities, even if I sort of wish I weren't one of them.” He told her.

“So look around,” Mai told him, waving an arm to indicate the city street they were driving through, “look at it all Golden Warrior and know that it's because of you. Not because of Capsule Corp. or the King, they're all helping to rebuild the city but it's because of _you_ that they can even begin. It's because of _you_ that there's anyone left to _live_ in the city. Your power has saved this generation, you've even scared the PTO into playing nicely with us and don't forget that while Saiyans grow fast the Namekians are naturally strong too and while they might not grow as quickly I'll bet they'll always be around to give the Saiyans a second thought about conquering the Earth.”

“You mean . . . with the Earthlings and the Namekians we could have some kind of . . . balance with the Saiyans?” Trunks asked.

“Maybe. Time will tell, right? So try not to be so nervous.” Mai said. “Whatever will be will be, the future's not ours to see.”

Trunks smiled. “That's a nice thought . . .”

“And don't forget you've put a new Guardian in the lookout,” Mai added, “if something truly dangerous arises he'll be able to take action, won't he?”

“That's true . . .” Trunks said.

“So . . .” Mai said with an encouraging smile.

“So enjoy the peace.” Trunks smiled back and she nodded.

“That's right.” She told him.

_For as long as it lasts . . ._ he thought.

He frowned though as they approached Capsule Corp. HQ.

“What's going on?” He asked.

“Hmm?” Sharpner spoke up, “What do you mean?”

“Something's not right.” Trunks clarified as they air car got close.

“I don't see anything.” Sharpner said.

“But I feel it.” Trunks told him.

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

_**Next Time on Chronicles of Earth's Defenders . . .** _ _Trouble at Capsule Corp. HQ? Will Frigus succeed in his attempt to steal the 'teleportation device' or will Earth's Defenders be one step ahead of the Admiral?_

 


	124. Of Course!

**Episode Forty Four**

**'Of Course!'**

 

As the air car drove closer to Capsule Corp. HQ Trunks could sense that several of his students were 'flexing their muscles' so to speak, Rhyce and three of the Saiyans were pushing the upper tiers of their energy but he couldn't understand why.

They were supposed to be resting for the tournament, the only reason he could think that they might have powered up to their full strength was . . .

_The Arcosians,_ Trunks realized with a gasp.

“What is it?” Mai asked him.

“I think the PTO tried something.” Trunks said grimly.

“Tried something?” Sharpner asked, “What, you mean like . . . trying to blow the planet up or something?”

“Probably not something like that since they're still on it, but they might have tried to do some form of sabotage,” Mai said. Then she asked Trunks, “But what makes you think so?”

Trunks said, “I don't know them very well, but there should be three Arcosians, two stronger ones and one weaker one—relatively speaking . . . but . . . well maybe I'm wrong, but I think I'm only sensing _one_ of the stronger ones.”

“What happened to the other?” Sharpner asked.

“I don't know . . .” Trunks admitted. “Maybe they're just not using much of their power right now, or maybe they're . . .”

Mai seemed to guess where his mind was but she squeezed his hand reassuringly and said, “If there _was_ a fight, if anyone _is_ dead it doesn't look like it went badly for our side.”

“No.” Trunks agreed. But he knew very well that even winning wasn't always everything. If there had been a battle what would that do to the peace?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Frigus might as well have returned to the other floor with one eye closed since his main focus was on his scouter. He wasn't sure if activating the gravity controls on Genora would alert the Earthlings but it had been a handy way to make sure she didn't follow or further betray him without having to use any of his own energy and no doubt guarantee alerting them.

“That room she was guarding, that's got to be where the ship is,” Frigus reasoned.

“That seems plausible. Might I recommend you return to _our_ ship, Admiral?” Glacien suggested over the scouter's frequency.

“We're committed now, it's all or nothing Glacien!” Frigus whispered.

“I cannot help but feel like this is too much of a risk. You've already done more than--”

“Enough!” Frigus hissed as the lift arrived at the proper floor and he rushed out.

The power levels to rival his own were all still on a higher floor or in that place called the 'cafeteria' he _should_ be fine.

“I hope you've considered what happens after this,” Glacien told him.

“We've discussed this.” Frigus said as calmly as he could, “Now all that is required of you is to continue helping me through the scouter. I need to know how to operate that vessel when I reach it.”

“I will try.” Glacien said wearily.

Frigus chuckled mirthlessly and whispered, “You act as if you're the one risking your neck.”

“When instead I'm the one whose neck _you're_ risking.” Glacien grumbled.

The Admiral ignored him and reached the door that he had found Genora outside of. There was no obvious key pad or anything like that but the door didn't just slide open for him the way the other doors in Capsule Corp. had done.

“What do I do to open the door?” Frigus asked.

“Hit it for all I know.” Glacien grunted.

The Arcosian scowled but his scouter beeped an alarm, someone was traveling down the elevator and he had no time to waste. If hitting the door was the best Glacien could think up then hit the door he would.

He thrust his fist forward as lightly as he could while still calling it a strike, hoping not to arouse anyone's attention with the use of his strength but also knowing that if they hadn't sensed him yet they were unlikely to sense him now.

The door shot backwards, flying off of its primitive hinges and for a moment the Admiral's hearts were gripped with fear that he might damage the vessel inside the darkened room.

The door slammed into a computer console of some sort sending sparks flying and Frigus rushed inside picking up the door and shoving it back into place hoping no one would notice and knowing how insane the sheer thought of it was.

But perhaps at a quick glance . . .

“Forget the door! If you're found out you're found out,” Glacien snarled, “turn around and get a look into the room! If you've doomed us all for a supply closet I'll make sure they kill you fist!”

Frigus turned away, satisfied that the door would stay in place for a moment or two without him he surveyed the room he was in.

There were the consoles, primitive looking machines one of which he'd damaged by throwing the door into it but the others seemed active . . .

And there were the ships. Two of them.

One was shaped sort of like a large oval with a transparent top and seemed unlikely to house more than a few people but the other was much larger and more square in shape, like a box with a bulbous cockpit sticking out of one end. In the darkness Frigus couldn't make out color but he could tell that only the former was partially transparent and likely meant for just one operator, the other was more solid and likely meant to transport an entire squad.

Frigus grinned wolfishly and whispered, “Well Glacien I think we've done it!”

“Get a look at the consoles.” Glacien ordered him and Frigus snorted derisively.

“What? Why? I won't understand them.”

“I might, if the Appullatien was able to work on them I might understand what I'm seeing, now get a look at them!” Glacien ordered.

Frigus complied getting a good look at them but he was more than a little smug when Glacien finally conceded, “None of that makes sense . . . just inspect the vessels, see if the smaller one can be operated.”

“Why not the larger one?” Frigus asked.

“Suppose it needs more operators? That size must be for a reason, at least the smaller one looks like it's meant for just one pilot. If the mission is to get the technology to the Twins it doesn't matter which ship you take.”

Frigus nodded even though Glacien couldn't see it and said, “Roger. Hope you have better luck reading those controls.”

“For both our sakes, you have two large power levels catching up to you and we have three coming towards us.” Glacien said.

“Have Verglas try to stall the ones coming for you, I need you focused on helping me.” Frigus said.

“And what about the two coming for you?”

“Never mind them, once I'm in their vessel I'm sure they won't dare damage it by attacking me.”

The Admiral said, but he wasn't certain. He simply hoped it would be the case as he approached the ship, his hearts racing madly. For as little actual faith as Lord Frostburn was showing in him he was about to succeed where everyone else, even the precious Boreal had failed. He was about to outwit the Super Saiyan and steal for the PTO a powerful gift . . .

He was about to be responsible for the PTO's first victory on Earth.

He approached the ship, his scouter told him no one was nearby, whoever had been using the elevator had gone to the lower levels perhaps alerted by the activation of the gravity machine.

So at least Genora would provide a bit of distraction. With luck it'd be all he needed . . .

Whomever Glacien and the ship's scouters had been picking up must not have managed to get to a lift yet but that didn't mean he had all night to dawdle. Eagerly he reached out to touch the ship's surface and then . . .

Suddenly the lights in the room came on and an earthling hand grabbed his wrist and stopped him cold in his tracks. Though the grip wasn't powerful enough to hurt him he could sense from his attempts to struggle free that that was by design, his captor's strength was far superior to his own and all Frigus could imagine was that he was held by the Super Saiyan himself.

Only when he looked at his captor it was not Trunks, instead it was the giant Earthling with the green armor and black suit towering over him seeming to have appeared out of nowhere. Frigus' scouter didn't even read him as having a power level at all, it didn't even register a life-sign.

But there was no mistaking the monstrosity standing over him for a hologram, the grip on his wrist was too tight.

In a calm but firm voice the Earthling told him, “We ask that visitors not touch the equipment.”

And then over the intercom Frigus heard the voice of the Earthling woman Bulma. She said, “Well that was enlightening. So that's what you're really after . . . I have to admit I had my suspicions. It won't do you any good, their batteries aren't even fully charged. Sixteen, please meet with Telluce and Kayle at the elevator and bring the Admiral to my office.”

“Understood.” The lifeless Earthling reported and like a parent dragging their child to school Sixteen dragged Admiral Frigus out of the hanger through the ruined door.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The crushing weight lifted and Genora's eyes opened slowly to see the elderly Earthling called Roshi hovering over her.

“Heh-heh well it looks like I arrived just in time. Bulma's got a lot of things automated to her office console but unfortunately the gravity in these prison cells isn't one of them.”

Genora coughed finding it difficult to breathe otherwise she would have indignantly asked Roshi just how much of her hostage situation he and Mrs Bulma had watched before they decided to step in.

_Well I'm alive,_ she thought, _so they can't have waited_ that _long._

“Cat got your tongue? I don't blame you.” Roshi told her, “Clever trick you almost pulled there though.”

Genora nodded weakly and found enough of her voice to rasp, “You . . . watched?”

“Me? No.” Master Roshi said, adjusting his sunglasses.

“Then . . . how?” Genora wondered.

“I've been sensing energy longer than most of these youngsters have been alive. I may be an old man, but my senses work a lot better than the scouters those troopers on guard are using to boot. I knew one of the Arcosians had flown the nest even before we got the call from Videl's troops.”

Genora breathed a painful sigh of relief. Of course the ship had been watched, that made sense and she'd assumed that stronger members of the EDF would have been by sooner but at least Roshi had shown up at all.

“What happened then?” Genora asked.

“We knew they'd be up to something but we wanted to know what it was exactly. It was handy Telluce and Kayle were confined to the compound and not out with the other Saiyans tonight but Sixteen has been on guard.”

Genora nodded slowly, “I wondered why no one stronger was stopping him.”

“Like I said, we wanted to know what it was he was after.”

Genora realized, “Of course! The time machine! At least that's where I ran into him, he must be trying to steal it!”

Roshi chuckled, “Heh-heh, maybe. But of course even if he'd been able to figure out how to operate it since Turles and Lamson brought Brock and Okran back he wouldn't have been able to make much use of it.”

“Not the larger one,” Genora said, “but the smaller machine had enough of a charge for a one-way trip. He could have at least escaped.”

“Not with Sixteen in the room.” Roshi assured her, but Genora shook her head.

“Sixteen wasn't in the room.”

“Not until you led the Admiral away. You bought him the time to get into position.” Roshi assured her.

“And what will happen now?” Genora asked.

“Well my guess is we'll all sit down to have a nice long conversation about what being a good guest really means,” Roshi said with a wicked smile.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Bulma smiled wryly as Sixteen brought the Admiral in. She was sitting comfortably in her office with Chillax and Beeta.

Both of them stood stone-faced and grim, but the Admiral seemed more confused than anything. He tried to ask, “How . . . how did you--” he began but Bulma raised a hand to silence him.

“Up-up-up. We're waiting on the rest of your party, Admiral. I'm not interested in saying what I'm going to say more than once.”

The Arcosian dared to glare, “You think you can--”

“Yes.” Bulma interrupted him flatly. “I might not have the strength of a Saiyan warrior, Admiral, but don't think for a minute that that means I'm not a force to be reckoned with.”

“Clearly . . . but _how_? How did you know that I would--”

“I'm sorry but it takes a special kind of stupidity to think your ship wasn't being watched. I assumed you were working under the impression that we _were_ watching you, do you actually mean to tell me you didn't know?”

Frigus smiled wryly and said, “I thought at first that I'd run into someone. But when nothing showed up on my scouter . . .”

“Yes, funny thing about Sixteen is he doesn't have life-signs for your scouter to read. There was literally no moment from the one that you emerged from your ship that he wasn't watching you or that Master Roshi wasn't sensing you. Or did you forget that we had people who could do that reliably as well?” Bulma asked and the Admiral shrugged his shoulders.

“I never expected my mission to be an easy success . . . clever lulling me into a false sense of security though.”

“Not really.” Bulma said tersely, “Actually we were curious. I don't think you realize how sincere I was being when I said that I hoped you and my son were wrong about how this whole war is going to play out in the end. I don't think you realize how badly I wanted this ceasefire to be a genuine olive branch.”

_He probably doesn't even know what an olive branch is,_ Bulma thought, but she wouldn't take the time to explain it. Instead she told him, “The only reason I didn't have you stopped immediately was that I wanted your intentions to be pure, I _hoped_ that perhaps you were just hoping to have a private word with your son here . . . then when it became clear you were trying to avoid life-signs I ordered Sixteen to be ready to prevent any mischief.”

Admiral Frigus shrugged and said, “Did the door not count?”

“Don't get cute with me.” Bulma warned him.

Then he smiled more sinisterly and asked, “Did the Appullatien not count?”

“Genora you mean? She's fine.” Bulma said with a dismissive shrug, “Master Roshi was sensing you and he was in the elevator right after you left it to deactivate the gravity in Genora's cell. But don't worry, I think you'll get to know those cells very well in the near future.”

It was then that the other two came in escorted by Rhyce and Sharrot. Verglas smiled brightly and said, “Can I begin by saying--”

“No, you can't.” Bulma interrupted him, and he obediently fell silent.

Glacien at least had the good sense not to say anything. Like disobedient children the three super-powered aliens were escorted to seats across from her desk and they sat obediently.

Finally Bulma said, “Now that we're all here . . . let me make one thing perfectly clear: the war is over. It has to be, for your sakes, because you don't want it to continue. Not just because my son is so much more powerful than any of you but because you want to be able to enjoy peace, don't you?”

“I particularly would _love_ to enjoy peace.” Verglas said with a genuine-looking smile, but Bulma wasn't convinced.

The Admiral on the other hand said, “You understand that as powerful as your son is it only takes one of us getting lucky with a blast to end Earth, don't you? You're not in the position of power you think you are.”

“Maybe not. So then tell me, just what did you think you'd achieve by stealing our machines?”

“Obviously you have one advantage over us other than just power,” Frigus said, “we hoped to capture one of your instant-transmission vessels to retrofit our fleet and allow us to defeat the Galactic Patrol outright. Once we've defeated them I'm sure our Lords would be happy to allow Earth to continue existing as . . . a protected territory of our grand Empire?”

Bulma smiled slightly. _So they think the time machines are instant-transmission ships . . . that explains a little. Still,_ “I can't let you wipe out the Galactic Patrol. It's a pain but I'm acquainted with one of its members and I guess you'd call him a friend of the family.”

“Then you should tell your friend not to interfere with out affairs.” Frigus said evenly.

“Why?” Bulma challenged.

“Because it will end badly for him and all the rest of them if he doesn't.” Verglas said in a far more friendly tone, he almost sounded sincere.

“The attack on the GP will commence sooner or later with or without your technology,” Glacien spoke up, “but if you help us I'm sure Lord Frostbite will welcome Earth into the fold.”

“Just like Frieza welcomed Planet Vegeta?” Beeta snarled, catching Bulma off guard. She hadn't expected the calm morose Saiyan to be the one to crack.

But it was only momentary and she had herself under control again. Still the Chief Scientist nodded and said, “Yes, actually. Just like Planet Vegeta. Not a conquered territory, just a confederate state . . . what happens to you after that will hopefully be more positive, times have changed.”

“Earth's Defense Force will never go around conquering planets for the PTO,” Bulma said evenly, “you need to think of a new way of doing things.”

“How?” Frigus asked, he looked to his son Chillax and asked, “Should we all swear fealty to Earth's weak king like you? How can you stand there on their side after all the things you've told me? What happened to the young offier who wanted to be Frieza instead of living in his shadow?”

“He learned the value of others.” Chillax said quietly. “He learned that he isn't the center of the universe, isn't that what you wanted him to learn? Only I didn't swear blindly to my Clan, I swore to the people who fought alongside me, who would risk their lives for mine. From where I'm standing it's a far better decision than the one you made. Do you really think dad or Uncle Frostbite is going to lift a finger to help any of you now?”

Frigus didn't answer but Bulma smiled at the younger Arcosian and said, “Very well put, Chillax. Indeed, the three of you are in our hands now, in my hands. Before my son returns from his evening activities I'll have to have figured out what I'm going to do with you . . . and I'm looking for a reason not to let these four proud Saiyan Warriors do exactly what they've been dying to do since you arrived. Can you help me think of one?”

“I would be happy to try.” Glacien said with resignation.

“I am _always_ happy to be of assistance.” Verglas added with a friendly-looking smile.

But Frigus shook his head and said, “No. This failure is the end of my life one way or another. You'd do well to kill me now before the shock wares off and I do something truly desperate.”

“Noted.” Bulma said, and it made her skin crawl just thinking about what she was about to order. “Kayle . . . take him to the cells.”

“The cells?” Chillax asked, “They won't hold him.”

“They'll restrain his power level enough that he wont be able to blow up the planet,” Bulma said, “but I have something special in mind for him before we resort to handing him over to the King for execution.”

“The King?” Frigus laughed rudely, “you said you would hand me over to the Saiyans, didn't you? That would have been a threat I'd fear, but your Earthling King?”

Bulma smiled and said, “I _did_ say I'd let the Saiyans do what they've been wanting to do, but I didn't say that that would be to kill you. Kayle, there's no need to be gentle.”

“Yes, Queen-Mother,” Kayle said with a sort of mad glee in her eyes before she chopped down hard on Frigus' dome. His eyes bulged for a moment before rolling back into his head as he passed out and collapsed in the chair.

The young Saiyan female then handily lifted his unconscious form over her shoulder and said, “Want to get the door for me, Sharro?”

Sharrot nodded and opened the door, Kayle passed through still holding the Admiral's unconscious body over her shoulder but the Arcosian's already injured head only managed to take another blow as Sharro slammed the door behind her fellow Saiyan.

“Don't slam my door.” Bulma warned her.

Sharrot bowed her head slightly in apology, “I couldn't resist, it won't happen again.”

“See that it doesn't.” Bulma said then nodded to Glacien and Verglas and told them, “Now . . . as I was saying, this war is over . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

When he'd arrived Rhyce and Korrard had been standing guard over the PTO vessel, it was Rhyce who told him that the Ambassador and Chief Scientist had been escorted to his mother's office, but she wasn't sure about the Admiral.

Trunks had had a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he'd rushed to his mother's office and he was concerned to say the least when he arrived even though he could sense Chillax and the others and that his mother was still alive and well.

He could also sense that the two remaining Arcosians were in there with her . . .

But when he opened the door he saw things were peaceful at least. He walked in no doubt looking confused because his mother said, “Trunks? I wasn't expecting you home so soon. Something wrong?”

“I . . . sensed something was going on?” Trunks offered. “What happened to the Admiral?”

“Unconscious and in a cell, it seems our guests here had ulterior motives for coming to visit. Shocking, I know.” His mother said with a smile.

“Then . . . why do you look so cheerful?” Trunks asked.

“Well,” The Lady of Capsule Corp. said with a gleam in her eyes, “I've just helped our friends here realize the benefits of _being_ our friends, and tomorrow you're going to show them the consequences of being our enemies.”

“I am?” Trunks asked.

His mother nodded. “That's right,” she told him, “because tomorrow they're invited to watch the caliber of fighters Earth has to offer just in case they decide to misrepresent my offer to their leaders. Isn't that right, boys?”

“You have nothing to fear,” Verglas told her, “I wouldn't dare.”

“We can already see the power of your fighters from our scouters.” Glacien agreed.

“It's one thing to see it, it's another to actually see it. To _feel_ it.” Bulma told them and Trunks smiled.

“That's right,” he told them, “after all we wouldn't want you to think that Super Saiyans were the only reason you shouldn't attack Earth.”

“Oh I think we're starting to build quite the list . . .” Glacien sighed with resignation.

“Of course we're really not the ones you need to convince. You've got to convince the Twins.” Verglas pointed out.

“No, _you_ do.” Chillax said coldly. “You're the ambassador, aren't you? It's your job, isn't it?”

“I'm not _entirely_ certain, we've never had an ambassador before.” Verglas tried to smile innocently but Trunks folded his arms and that movement alone made the Arcosian jump in his seat and he quickly said, “But of course a demonstration of power might help me make my case!”

“Good.” Bulma said with a slight smile. Then she turned her full attention to Trunks and said, “You see, son? We've got this taken care of. After all, that _was_ the reason for starting the EDF, wasn't it? So you could actually take a night off once in a while? Go on, enjoy what's left of the evening.”

Trunks shook his head in astonishment and said, “I uh . . . don't think I have anything else . . . in mind at this point.”

“I do.” Mai said quickly, taking his hand and leading him out of the room before he could argue.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** Trunks and Mai let the evening wind down, but when things get explosive elsewhere an unexpected visitor bringing an unwanted surprise could change everything at Capsule Corp!

 


	125. Unbridled Lust

**Episode Forty-Five**

**'Unbridled Lust'**

 

A moonlit—if there were a moon anymore that is—walk through a park or along a beach would have been and ideal ending to most first dates, and Trunks had to admit he could see the appeal even if instead of the moon they had street lamps in the distance, and instead of a park or beach they had the gardens on the Capsule Corp. HQ grounds.

The garden was dimly lit by the lights from the streets as they walked. The damage done by training students was long since repaired and Trunks had to admit the colorful place took on a totally different appearance in the dim light, one he wasn't accustomed to seeing.

Mai said, “I have to admit, I thought a walk down the beach would have been a little bit more fitting, if a bit cliché. But since we have the time and the garden is here . . .”

“I was just thinking something like that, but don't worry about location. The company more than makes up for it and anyway even if it's a familiar path it looks entirely different the way it is now so . . . I guess you could say it's a familiar experience, but totally new at the same time. This is nice.” Trunks assured her with a smile. “Besides, we're close to home, which is important.”

“Really?” Mai asked, a slightly mischievous look in her eyes, “I didn't think it went _that_ well.”

Trunks shrugged, her joke sailing cleanly over his head at first as he instead told her, “Sure. In case they need me, you know? It's good to be . . . oh . . . uh . . . well I didn't think it went _badly_ , but I mean it's just a first date and all, I—”

Mai laughed and he relaxed a bit as she told him, “Actually Trunks I would have thought you'd be pleased that for one night they _didn't_ need you close to home.”

“Huh?” Trunks blinked.

“Your mother and the others . . . they didn'tneed you to solve every problem and save the world all by yourself tonight. They had a problem and they handled it, you didn't have to worry at all. This is what you wanted, isn't it?”

Trunks had to think about that. _Was_ it what he wanted? Of course it was . . . this was what he'd trained his team for, this was why he'd exposed himself as the Golden Warrior and called for students . . . this _was_ what he'd wanted, not to be the one who had to do _everything_.

So why didn't he feel better now? It was true he felt good, he felt relieved even but . . .

They had handled _this_ problem. That was great, but this problem wasn't Cell. It wasn't even in his league, this problem wasn't even on par with Frieza, even though it was at least related to him.

Mai might be celebrating a bit prematurely . . . his team had a long way to go . . .

But as if she could sense his doubt the—allegedly—older woman smiled and said, “Obviously this wasn't a crisis of the maximum magnitude, we still need you for those. But you see now, you don't have to do _everything_ yourself. You have help, you can relax sometimes.”

“I know.” Trunks assured her.

“You know it in theory,” Mai said, “but you have trouble putting it into practice, and I would have thought you'd be happier to see it proven.”

Trunks smiled and nodded, “You're right . . . I should be happier. I _am_ happy . . . but . . .”

“But what?” Mai asked.

Trunks shrugged and said, “Just because our people took care of the threat doesn't mean the problem was solved. And it just seems like us solving problems makes more problems down the line. Now we have a new prisoner, and just keeping him might put us at war again . . . and that would be a crisis.”

“It would.” Mai nodded. As they walked she reached out and took his hand in hers, squeezing it tightly she said, “But I think if it comes to that you'll be ready. Until then why not just enjoy . . .”

“What?” Trunks asked, wondering why she'd trailed off but when he looked at her she was just blushing furiously and quickly she pulled her hand away from his.

“S-sorry.” She mumbled, “I didn't mean to be that forward.”

“What?” Trunks was totally lost, he told her, “You weren't. And you're right, we've had this discussion before, I shouldn't try to put everything on my own shoulders.”

Mai shook her head, “That's not what I meant—but I mean you are right, you shouldn't be putting everything on your own shoulders, you should relax more and let your students carry some of the burden.”

Trunks smiled and said, “I'll relax more if you do.”

“Sorry,” Mai sighed, “I just got so caught up in the moment, I wasn't thinking.”

“I'm still not sure what it is you think you did wrong,” Trunks admitted.

Mai blushed and said, “I . . . behaved indecently by holding your hand.”

“What?” Trunks blinked, “You've done that before. You've done that before _tonight_ ,” he told her with a laugh, assuming this had to be another strange joke.

Whether it was or it wasn't Mai seemed a little more at ease and she aid, “Well y-yes . . . but we had a _chaperon_ those times. Now we're alone in a dimly lit garden with who knows how many lenses on us.”

“Ah,” Trunks nodded, understanding, “I see. So . . . it would be indecent of me to take your hand then.”

“Well . . . I mean . . . you know, it might _seem_ that way.”

“Right.” Trunks nodded. He smiled slightly and said, “You know, I always heard . . . that hand holding is only _really_ indecent if your fingers intertwine.”

“Really?” Mai asked, “I hadn't heard that . . .”

“Maybe it's newer,” Trunks suggested with a sly smile.

“It could be.” Mai nodded. “Or you're trying to trick me.”

“Who can say?” Trunks asked innocently.

Mai smiled back at him, she told him, “Are you asking me to hold your hand, Trunks?”

“Maybe . . . but I won't make you intertwine fingers if you feel like that's a bit too _intimate_.”

The Lieutenant laughed and took his hand, intertwining their fingers even though it made her blush she said, “On second thought, I think it's too dark for cameras anyway.”

Trunks smiled and said, “Well I'd hope if there were any cameramen still camping in the bushes they'd be more preoccupied with the giant alien spaceship parked across the street. But then again I guess you never can tell, especially if Sharpner and Erasa are typical of their lot.”

Mai nodded slowly, “Maybe. But I do think having them on our side helps with the rest of them.”

Trunks nodded, “I'll concede that so far. But if that's the case why be worried about lurking lenses?”

“Well I'm holding your hand aren't I?” Mai pointed out slyly.

Trunks smiled and nodded. _Indeed you are,_ he thought. They walked another circuit of the garden looking up at the starry sky. Trunks saw what seemed like a shooting star streak across the sky, for a moment he worried that it was another space ship but he scolded himself.

_Stop worrying about everything. Just enjoy the moment with Mai and try not to think about the calamities that are coming. They'll come when they come, and you'll be ready._

He wanted to believe that anyway.

Mai seemed to sense his unease and she told him, “Trunks . . . you know I didn't ask you out out of some sort of unbridled lust . . .”

“Of course not, you don't seem the type.” Trunks nodded. He looked at her and their eyes met, for a moment he forgot about the shooting star, he forgot about the problems with the PTO, he forgot about his problems with Turles. He asked her, “I know you said you wanted to do it before I became a Prince.”

“That's partially true. But I had a reason for asking out someone I could only ever date once, after all if things went well, and I hoped they would, wouldn't it become some sort of tragic romance? And if things went poorly . . . well who would wish for that?”

“Then why did you ask me out?” Trunks asked her.

Mai hesitated but only for a moment before she told him, “Because I knew if I did not I would regret it for the rest of my life. If I didn't have at least one chance to spend time with you in _this_ way . . . I'd never forgive myself.”

“Why?” Trunks asked.

She smiled at him and said, “Because of who you are. I don't mean the Prince of all Saiyans, or the Golden Warrior . . . but because you're Trunks. The person I've gotten to know over these past few months strikes me as the sort I could spend a lifetime admiring, more than that though the sort of person I'd aspire to emulate. You're an impossible ideal . . . but you're also very human.”

She shifted slightly and blushed a bit as she said, “You're young, you make mistakes and you try to grow and learn from them. But you're wise too, much wiser than someone your age would normally be, like me who you are inside and who you are outside don't quite seem to line up and I guess that makes me feel a little bit of kinship with you.”

Trunks might have blushed a little, he scratched his cheek in embarrassment and said, “W-well . . . thanks Mai. I don't really know what to say . . .”

“You don't have to say anything . . .” She hesitated a bit longer this time and said, “The thing is . . . you're the sort of person I could really . . . really devote myself to . . . if you get what I'm saying . . . and I just . . . wanted to do something before we called this a night . . . but I feel like if I do I'll never be able to move on from it.”

Trunks hesitated himself. He had a feeling he knew what she wanted to do, so he asked her, “Why do you feel like you'd need to?”

“Because you'll be a Prince, and I'll still be Mai.”

Trunks laughed softly and said, “So you're saying we'll be even once I'm a prince? Because the Mai I've gotten to know over these past few months is braver than some beings I've seen with a thousand times her physical strength. She's smarter than a lot of them too, and daring. More than that she's willing to tell me when I'm wrong and call me out for my bad behavior the way she did when I stowed away aboard the _Hope._ For as much as she might admire me she's been incredibly patient with me too, and I feel really grateful for that . . . honestly it feels like I'd have to accept being a prince just to be worthy of someone like that.”

Mai blushed deeply and said, “I . . . I don't know about that.”

“But I do,” Trunks told her, “and to tell you the truth I don't think being a prince would be enough . . . but if you're willing I'd like to continue seeing you and maybe together we'll figure out when I _am_ worthy. But . . . until then . . .”

He put a hand on her waist and leaned in to kiss her only to find her a step ahead of him. As he turned his head her lips pressed against his and she wrapped her arms around him.

Kissing Soda had been a surprise but kissing Mai was an explosion of sensation. Perhaps because he'd expected it—sort of—perhaps because he'd known Mai longer now than he'd known Soda then but whatever the reason the sensation was intense. A part of his mind couldn't get over how soft her lips were and how quickly he felt his heart beating in his chest.

For a moment again he was lost to the rest of the universe, nothing else mattered.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The mall place was everything Korrard had said it would be and more. Cauli had barely been able to contain herself going from store to store looking at all the things the Earthlings had made. From stores dedicated to books—an antiquated form of data-pads—and stores dedicated to clothing, or appliances the fact that Earthlings might find such places mundane showed just how fortunate they were.

For a Saiyan the idea of purchasing clothing was utterly foreign, in the time of the war if Cauli had wanted a new tunic she'd have had to go out and kill a beast and skin it for herself, and even on Warworld where her clothes had been provided for her by Lord Stobler she'd had to earn them.

And while she'd been impressed and pleased with being able to choose the colors of her Capsule Corp. jacket she'd still had little choice but to wear the jacket or her armor, it wasn't as if she'd had the sort of options that were available in this 'mall' place.

And of course there was the novelty store they'd mentioned, naturally Cauli _had_ to go in there.

And that meant Rhuby did too, even if she seemed disinterested.

But that was only the start of their evening together, and Cauliflora knew that even if Rhubara was disinterested in the novelty store there was one thing that never failed to perk her best friend's interest.

It might not have been the _best_ idea . . . and they would be cutting it close to curfew to say the least but with the way things were between them Cauli worried that if she didn't make some headway with Rhuby now before the tournament she'd never be able to focus enough to do well, let alone to beat Turles if it came to that.

She told herself it was worth the risk, besides from the mall the flight to the desert didn't take too long. They _might_ still get back in time . . . if not Prince Trunks would understand, she was sure.

“Shouldn't we be getting back soon?” Rhuby asked her when they arrived at a reasonably desolate spot.

“First this,” Cauli said, setting down her bags and taking off her Capsule Corp. jacket and folding it with a level of reverence that might have embarrassed her if she were with anyone other than Rhuby.

“First what?” Rhuby asked.

“You _know_ what.” Cauli said with a grin.

“Are you serious?” Rhuby laughed, “The tournament is tomorrow, we're supposed to be resting up for it!”

But the other girl did start to take her jacket off too. She might voice protest but Cauli knew her too well to believe any of it.

“Don't worry, you can rest after. This won't take long.” Cauli said with a wink.

Rhuby folded her arms, and sarcastically said, “Won't take long? Oh _that's_ what I want to hear.”

Nevertheless she carefully set her own jacket aside and placed set a rock on it to keep it in place. Smirking she said, “You're far too confident, Cauli.”

“Shouldn't I be?” Cauli smirked back, “You've never beaten me before. Why should tonight be different?”

Rhuby nodded slightly in acknowledgment, but it made Cauli frown. She'd hoped Rhubara would come back at her with some sort of comment but instead she was just quiet.

So she tried, “But hey, you'd better step up your game tonight. After all if you want to beat Turles it'd help if you're able to beat me, don't you think?”

“I suppose so.” Rhuby said evenly.

“Just one thing . . . we should decide the terms of this fight.”

“Terms?” Rhuby blinked, “You mean like 'don't break the planet,' or something?”

“If I meant rules I'd have said it, I'm talking terms. What am I going to get for beating you?”

“Who cares? It's not going to happen.” Rhuby said with a slight smirk and it prompted a reflective expression from Cauli.

She let her arms hang loosely at her side and said, “Then in that case once I win I get whatever I want, agreed?”

“What does that even mean?” Rhuby asked.

“Whatever I want!” Cauli laughed.

Rhuby nodded, “Fine, but when I beat _you_ I get whatever _I_ want.”

“Pity I'll have to spend the rest of my life wondering what that would have been . . . so then . . . let's get to it!” Cauli said, lunging forward.

She was a close-in fighter while Rhuby preferred to keep a distance and use blasts so she knew that closing quick and getting her companion into a fistfight would give her the advantage.

But Rhubara slid across the ground to the side of her, narrowly missing Cauliflora's fists and grabbing her ankle as she flew past. The other girl yanked her backwards hard pulling her off of her feet and hurled her into a large round boulder some thirty meters away.

Cauli spun midair and righted herself so that she landed against the rock instead of crashing through it, though the impact was still hard enough the punch a crater in the side of the boulder. From there the Saiyan warrior kicked off with a force that sent the stone rolling away as she went flying back towards Rhubara.

The other Saiyan already had crackling blue energy gathering in her hands no doubt preparing for her favorite Omega Blast, but Cauli wouldn't give her the time to fire it. She closed the distance again and let loose a flurry of blows that Rhuby deflected, her hands still burning with energy.

_Not only has she not lost the attack it looks like she's still gathering energy,_ Cauli thought, impressed but not quite worried. _I just need to break your concentration, that's all._

Between the two of them Cauli was the expert of close quarters fighting and she'd learned on Warworld to put some pageantry into her attacks so it was easy throwing a series of punches to distract Rhuby's eyes while Cauli's legs hooked hers and with a sweep sent the other girl off of her feet.

Cauli grinned triumphantly and considered giving Rhuby a taste of her own medicine and hurling her into the distance after that boulder, but that'd only _help_ her opponent. Instead she punched down hard on Rhubara's stomach, crushing her into the ground so hard that the crater swallowed the both of them.

_How's that for_ \-- Cauli began to think before she noticed that the blue light from Rhubara's hands still hadn't gone away but instead had gotten much stronger. She had a split second to realize what was happening before Rhuby blasted her.

She flew upwards into the sky but caught herself before she could go crashing down to the ground. She shook her head to clear it and scanned around for her opponent only to see that Rhuby was still in the crater beneath her charging another blast.

Cauli had only a moment to weigh her options, she could charge headfirst and hope to close the distance before Rhuby could blast her again or she could test her luck with an energy attack of her own.

She opted for the former and flew downwards with as much speed as she could muster, Rhubara raised her hands for the blast but before she could fire Cauli was on the ground in front of her.

She came up swiftly, raising her fist for an explosive punch that connected with Rhuby's chin and knocked her high into the air. The Saiyan warrior didn't let her get too far away, she caught her by the ankle and swung the other girl hard into the ground in a cloud of dust and dirt so thick that Cauli had to shield her eyes.

She had a moment to feel pretty impressed with herself. Brassica's training had really made a difference, she and Rhuby usually sparred _far_ closer but tonight she--

There was a flash of blue light and Cauli flew backwards hitting the edge of the crater and getting pushed by the power of Rhuby's blast into the ground.

It didn't feel like just one blast either, she felt wave after wave of energy hit her as if she were pressed up against a stone at sea being struck by a violent surf, each blast struck her as hard as any blow she'd ever felt and with the earth pressed against her it felt as if she were being pinned, unable to move or defend herself.

That only made her Saiyan blood run hotter and she started to feel more excited than she'd ever felt sparring with Rhuby or anyone else. She understood in an instant that the attack wasn't just hammering her like a wave it was coming in waves, broad but powerful waves.

_Her attack isn't focused on me specifically, she's just throwing energy in my direction,_ Cauli thought, _I'd never be able to push against it if she were certain of where I was, but maybe I can . . ._ With a roar that sounded to her almost like a primal scream she pushed back with her own energy though without the use of her hands it started by simply engulfing her entire body like a shield letting her—with some difficulty—push against the waves of energy long enough to use her hands to form a blast of her own.

Like Rhuby she wasn't entirely sure where her opponent was and even if she were it would have been hard to aim the blast since just moving through Rhuby's energy felt like being submerged in molasses.

So she took a leaf from Rhubara's book and just threw her attack in the general direction of her opponent,the resulting explosion as their energy merged was enough to throw the both of them back, Cauli rolled several meters before managing to get her feet under her, skidding to a stop for only an instant before she threw herself back towards Rhuby.

Part of her knew she was using too much energy. Unfortunately for the rest of her she was Saiyan born and raised to be a true warrior and what had started as a simple sparring match had quickly turned into a true contest. Cauli wasn't just reveling in her newfound capabilities, she was reveling in Rhuby's as well. She'd never felt this kind of power coming from her before, though they'd sparred a hundred times or more on Warworld they'd never been this intense.

And she could tell she wasn't the only one, Rhuby was charging towards her as well and when they clashed it was like the sound of thunder rolling through the desert, with flashes of light from their energy attacks and the clouds kicked up from their battle a part of Cauli recognized and wouldn't have blamed the Earthlings for mistaking them for a storm and even that realization only made things more intense between the two of them.

Cauliflora only came back down to earth when Rhuby told her, “Well then, ready to get serious?”

Cauli blinked rapidly several times. Hadn't they already been doing that?

In an instant Rhubara's aura burned twice as brightly as before and Cauli felt herself being blown away by the sheer force of it. She hit the ground and rose to her feet but the power she could feel coming from Rhuby was too intense.

_What_ is _this?_ Cauli wondered, _When did things change this drastically between us?_

But in an instant her bewilderment took on a different form when Rhubara's aura dissipated like the flame of a match that'd been blown out and the other girl fell from the sky.

Cauli moved quick, closing the distance in a heartbeat and catching Rhubara before she could hit the ground, it was only then she realized that her friend hadn't suffered some sudden grievous injury, but rather Rhuby had fallen out of the sky from _laughing_.

“You should have seen your face!” Rhuby managed to say, clutching her side and Cauli unceremoniously dropped her onto the ground.

“Har and also har.” She scoffed, but she felt a little better realizing that Rhubara's massive power increase had been a bluff of some sort and not an indication that the gap between them had widened so far so unexpectedly.

And after a moment Cauli started laughing too, helping Rhuby up and then pushing her over again she said, “I win!”

“You do not!” Rhuby said, still laughing.

“You're on the ground. Do you need me to pin you too?”

“This doesn't count! Anyway you pretty clearly gave up a second ago!”

Cauli looked away innocently and said, “Did I _say_ so? I don't remember that.”

The two laughed and Cauli sat down on the ground beside Rhuby, shoving her over one more time for good measure. After a while the laughter abated and the two sat side by side on the remnant of their battlefield. Cauli said, “Even setting aside that bluff at the end you were really something just now. I don't think you have anything to worry about in the tournament.”

Things were going well, the two of them were completely at ease and Cauli knew it was a calculated risk bringing up Rhubara's concerns about the tournament but the truth was the whole evening had just been a prelude to that very thing.

And Rhuby didn't suddenly shut herself off either, instead the other girl easily said, “It's not the tournament that scares me really. It's everything else outside of it.”

“What do you mean?” Cauli asked.

“The tournament is just fighting . . . I can do that.” Rhuby said, sweeping her long bangs aside she said, “But . . . but I don't know if I can beat Turles.”

“So what?” Cauli asked. “You once threw a fight to _Raditz_.”

“You are never going to let me live that down, are you?” Rhuby demanded.

“Is that something anyone _deserves_ to live down?” Cauli asked with an exaggerated look of revulsion. The two of them laughed and Cauli said, “Since when do you care about being on top?”

Rhuby was quiet for a moment, then she said, “Okran . . . she said Turles brought her back . . . to win me over.”

Cauli blinked, “What, you mean like . . . he wants to be your friend or something?”

She knew better but somehow the idea of Rhuby and Turles together was as revolting as the idea of losing to Raditz on purpose. Worse even, it simply did not fit in her view of the universe and she could not understand it and she felt a little angry even trying to picture it so she quickly stopped.

“She doesn't think its friendship he wants from me, and stranger still she thinks it's a grand old idea.” Rhuby said bitterly.

Cauliflora liked Okran less, which hadn't felt possible before that moment. She scoffed, “Well what does that old bat know? She was out of your life well before we ever left Planet Vegeta, don't let her pressure you now!”

“It's not just her,” Rhuby said, “Prince Trunks trained us to beat Turles in the tournament and Turles knows it, that means if we fail we're not just failing our Prince we're humiliating him with his rival.”

“Turles isn't on that level yet,” Cauli said, “but I can see what you mean. Even so you were hostile to him before he revealed he knew we were training with Prince Trunks.”

Rhuby shrugged. She said, “I . . . I know you said that if I can't beat him you would . . . but I guess . . . I worry sometimes that . . . if he beats me you'll be impressed.”

Cauli smiled and shook her head. “If he beats you I'll be mad. If he beats us both I'll be madder, and we'll take him down in the next tournament even if he _is_ a Super Saiyan by then. There's no way I'd let him or any one else come between us, nothing's that important.”

Rhuby said, “But someday . . . _someone_ has to, don't you think?”

“Why?” Cauli asked, “I mean . . . even if we did settle down someday, get mates and have kids . . . well it's not like mating has to _mean_ anything. My mother and father didn't mean anything to each other, most Saiyan pairings didn't. Friends are better anyway just think about it, there's _nobody_ who matters more to me than you do! I can't even fathom meeting someone I'd care _as much_ about, more than that I'd be terrified if I did!”

It was Rhuby's turn to ask, “Why?”

Cauli shrugged, “Because then that'd make _two_ people I'd die for! I don't even like spending the better part of the _day_ without you, when I thought you were dead on Goulder _I_ wanted to die, _after_ I killed all of them of course. I couldn't live in a universe without you in it, I'd probably end up as grouchy and miserable as my sister!”

Rhuby blushed slightly, looking away almost as if she were suddenly struck with shyness. She swept long strands of hair behind her ear and mumbled, “I . . . feel the same away about you.”

Cauli smirked but she felt her own cheeks starting to burn as well and she looked away too. She said, “Well . . . I mean . . . um . . . at least we agree then.”

“Yeah . . .” Rhuby said.

Cauli swallowed a lump in her throat, she felt entirely too vulnerable and she didn't like it but at the same time . . . well, she'd always sort of _suspected_ that Rhuby felt the same way about her, but to hear the other girl _say_ it . . .

It felt nice . . . nice and confusing. No True Saiyan Warrior would ever take any sort of comfort in this sort of . . . codependency, far from it she should be revolted by the feelings Rhuby stirred in her.

But when she glanced at the other girl their eyes met and . . . she didn't mind. After all, there was nothing new, she'd known she felt that way for a long time admitting it out loud now, or the way she had when they were with Gurein and Kodva the other night might be admitting to a weakness but it was okay because Rhuby had the same weakness . . . and it wasn't like their enemies knew.

Except, as it would turn out, the person who caught them both in his blast.

They'd been so distracted they hadn't noticed him as he approached, and his power level was low enough that neither had sensed him but when the white light from the space ship engulfed them Cauli felt her muscles tighten until she couldn't move.

The creature that emerged from the ship that restrained them folded his arms and said, “Well, well, well. Look what we have here, a pair of Saiyans is it? You're supposed to be extinct.”

Cauli couldn't answer, her mouth wouldn't move and she could barely breathe. This wasn't like the heavy gravity machines that they used in Capsule Corp. this was some sort of restraining field and judging by the fact that this little man's ship was identical to the one her sister Brassica used Cauli could guess easily enough who they were dealing with.

_Another bounty hunter,_ she thought, _no wonder he's got a powerful restraining field, he must need it for capturing criminals . . . and with Rhuby and I worn out from sparring and relaxed we were a perfect target!_

The little blue-faced creature laughed obnoxiously, he wore a skintight purple suit with white armor, he had strangely large yellow eyes but his mouth seemed normal enough as he laughed and said, “Well it's no surprise I was able to catch you. After all, I am a Super Elite!”

 

_**To Be Continued . . .** _

 

_**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** Who is this Super Elite and what does he want with the Earth? Will Trunks and his students be able to stop him, or will it take someone even more fearsome to get this newcomer to back down?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this episode runs long, I might have cut it in the middle of the Cauli/Rhuby fight however I really wanted to have the “Super Elite” reveal in this episode, rather than having to save it for the next.


	126. Super Elite

**Episode Forty Six**

**'Super Elite'**

 

“What now,” Bulma sighed when one of Videl's troopers came barging into her office.

She was still talking to Verglas and Glacien and she didn't want any interruptions, but the young woman was clearly distressed.

Bulma wasn't positive but she was pretty sure this was one of the snipers . . . Anise?

She was wearing a scouter so she'd probably been watching the alien ship, so when she said, “Sorry ma'am, can't find the Lieutenant or the Captain, but we've got a problem,” she had Bulma's undivided attention.

“Problem?” She asked.

“We resolved it,” Rhyce began then she quickly realized, “wait, you mean _another_ problem?”

“I . . . yes?” Anise tried. “We just had a ship come in, we didn't detect it on the scouters until it was too late.”

“Too late?” Bulma asked.

“I was watching Cauliflora—erm I mean the _young_ Cauliflora and Rhubara sparring through the scouter.”

“You can just call her Cauliflora, and what's that got to do with the ship? Did they attract it?” Beeta asked. Seeing as Beeta was a member of the King's Guard perhaps she was assuming control of her comrade, though Bulma wasn't sure where Captain Videl's troopers and Captain Soda's elites fell relative to each other on the chain of command.

Anise nodded, “It looks that way,” the soldier said, “they were fighting and their power was really impressive, for an minute there Rhubara got _huge_ but then this new level appeared and they both just disappeared.”

“What?” Telluce demanded, “Someone took those two out?”

“At the same time?” Sharrot demanded, turning on the two Arcosians, “Who else is with you?”

She was flaring and Bulma didn't want to lose face in front of her prisoners but she had to shout at Sharrot, “Calm down!”

Luckily the Saiyan warrior did so it didn't make Bulma look too badly.

“I can assure you, whoever attacked your comrades is not with us,” Verglas said helpfully.

“Whoever they were their power level wasn't high enough to take on either of them, it's still not.” Anise said.

“You can still see them?” Bulma asked.

“It's low but of course I'm paying attention to it now,” Anise said, “since it's low I thought you guys might not sense it so I came to report.”

“Good thinking,” Bulma nodded to her. She stood up from her desk and said, “Do we know where Turles and the others are? Brassica would want to know if her sister was just . . . taken down.”

“I . . . well the scouter reads them in the city on their way back, but Cauliflora and Rhubara were off on their own in the desert. That's where the ship landed, but now its headed here. Judging by its speed and the fact that Turles and his group aren't in any rush I think it'll arrive before they do.”

“ETA?” Bulma asked.

“I can't say.” Anise admitted.

Bulma nodded and said, “All right . . . Telluce, Sharrot, please take these two to the cells. Don't worry gentlemen, unlike the Admiral you'll be released once this crisis is averted, we appreciate your cooperation.”

“And you'll absolutely have it.” Verglas assured her.

“Actually,” Glacien said, “is there any way I could remain? I could be helpful. This _might_ be one of the bounty hunters sent by the PTO after all, it might do them well to know there is no bounty. And in any event I'm far weaker than almost any of your defenders, you can rely on me not to try anything.”

Bulma considered it for a moment, then she nodded. She liked Glacien a bit more than the other two, at least he was reasonably smart. Besides seeing how the Arcosian handled this could help her in dealing with the rest of them after it was done. She still wasn't totally decided on how to punish the Admiral . . .

“Beeta, go and get my son . . . please stress to him that the situation is under control, but I'd like him ready for whatever comes.”

The Saiyan woman nodded and headed for the door without another word but her partner Chillax didn't follow her. Instead he asked Bulma, “What about me?”

“You're one of our fastest,” Bulma reminded him, “So I'd like you to take a scouter and use it to help you more easily find Turles. Reach him and let him know that he and his group could be coming into a volatile situation but I don't want it any more volatile than it already is so tell them only to arrive ready to fight, but not to engage unless Trunks or I give them permission . . . and don't mention the loss of Cauliflora and Rhubara to Brassica.”

“Yes ma'am.” Chillax nodded and left.

Anise actually handed him her own scouter and said, “I'll just gather up the rest of the troops, shall I?”

“Of course,” Bulma said, blushing with embarrassment at not having considered what Videl's troops could have brought to the table in this situation.

She made up for it by saying, “I'd like you all to set yourselves up in key positions and use the scouters to keep an eye out for trouble or other ships. Once Turles and the Saiyans get back update them on the situation if Trunks and I are still indisposed with . . . whoever this is.”

“Yes ma'am.” Anise saluted rather casually and then headed off.

Bulma wouldn't hold it against her, after all the aging scientist wasn't in the military, Anise shouldn't have been saluting her at all.

_Still if you're going to do something you might as well do it right,_ Bulma thought, then she smiled to herself. _You're getting too used to this alpha wolf mentality. It's tempting to project that kind of confidence and never stop but you can't let yourself fall into that trap and lose yourself to it._

She glanced at Glacien and asked, “You're certain you don't know who this might be?”

“Very certain.” The Chief Scientist assured her.

Bulma nodded and sat back down behind her desk. She told Sixteen, “Fly out and . . . greet this person. Bring them to me in one piece.”

Wordlessly the Android nodded and headed for the window. Bulma was about to ask him to try the door or a balcony but it was too late and he just . . . flew off.

“Your giant is quite unusual.” Glacien commented.

“We're still working a few bugs out with him.” Bulma sighed.

But urgency wouldn't be one of them, it was less than a minute before Sixteen returned carrying the short alien pilot by the scruff of his white armored chest-piece.

“Oh. How disappointing.” Glacien said with a sigh.  
“Bulma! I was just on my way to inform you that your planet has shown increased PTO activity lately.” Jaco the Galactic Patrolman informed her, taking being carried by the scruff by a giant Android rather well in its stride.

Bulma blinked in surprise and said, “I . . . noticed. But I'm touched that you came all this way to help us.”

“Actually they were ahead of me so I waited a day to let the situation sort itself out. When the planet didn't explode or suddenly stop reading any lifeforms I assumed you'd taken care of things and it was safe for me to come and let you know that the Galactic Patrol was on the case!”

Bulma's eyes narrowed, “On the case indeed.”

“To think Frigus thinks it will require _strategy_ to defeat you lot.” Glacien scoffed.

“I can see the situation here isn't what I expected.” Jaco said. “You there . . . you don't seem that tough. You're under arrest.”

“I have diplomatic immunity.” Glacien said nonchalantly.

“You don't.” Bulma said evenly, but nodded to Jaco, “but he _is_ in Earth's jurisdiction so if he's anyone's prisoner he's ours.”

“Earth _is_ my jurisdiction.” Jaco reminded her.

“And given the Androids and the extermination of about ninety percent of the population I'd say you've done a wonderful job of ignoring it until now.” Bulma pointed out

“Other places are _also_ my jurisdiction . . . by the way, would your robot be so kind as to release me?”

Bulma sighed and nodded to Sixteen who released Jaco gently onto the ground.

“Were you waiting to see how that situation played itself out too?” Bulma asked dryly.

“I saw no reason to involve myself in Earth's planetary affairs, who am I to impose my will on its natural course of history?” Jaco said sounding for all the world like he really didn't see his non-involvement as a dereliction of his duty.

He said it with the sort of confidence that made Bulma wonder if maybe it really _wasn't._

So she was unprepared when Glacien asked her, “Do you really think this lot is better for the Galaxy than the PTO?”

She didn't manage to stop herself from laughing even as Jaco angrily insisted, “There's a difference between letting events play out naturally and exterminating a populace!”

“The way I see it you were no less apathetic towards this world than we are to any other, the only difference is that we're paid not to care about the sapient lifeforms of the worlds we conquer your job is the very opposite.”

“Yes well I have to be alive to do my job. So discretion is the better part of valor.” Jaco said easily regaining his composure.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Glacien scoffed but Bulma cleared her throat to stop any further bickering.

“That's all well and good, and Jaco it's lovely to see you again _however_ I hear you may have . . . eliminated two of my people upon your arrival?”

“What? Nonsense. I dealt with a pair of Saiyans who rather inexplicably showed up on your planet. Luckily they'd worn each other out and I was able to get the drop on them.”

“They were my people.” Bulma informed him.

“That's unacceptable! Saiyans are a galactic plague, they're as dangerous as the PTO you cannot keep them as pets!” Jaco informed her.

“But I do,” Bulma informed him, “and I don't like people bothering my pets. Are they still alive?”

“I stunned them and restrained them aboard my ship.” Jaco said, folding his arms and looking away, “They're in Galactic Patrol custody now, I can't give them back.”

“Why not?” Bulma asked.

“Because it would mean giving up the promotion I'm going to get when I turn them in.” Jaco said without shame.

“You see?” Glacien laughed, “Even now he's only thinking of himself. Typical of the GP, yet they think they have any right to interfere in our affairs.”

Bulma was regretting having Glacien around, though she understood the scientist might be trying for a good cop bad cop routine. She raised a hand to silence the scientist and said, “Jaco . . . those girls are Earthlings and they work for me.”

“I don't think so, they have tails and my computer scanned them as Saiyans.”

“Yes, some Earthlings have tails now and they might show up as Saiyans to computers too . . . advanced to understand the differences so subtle that they're barely worth noticing. But they girls belong on planet Earth, they're my son's students.”

“Your son? Yes you looked a bit haggard, I thought it was just you advanced age but childbirth at some point could explain it too.” Jaco said evenly.

“I'm having difficulty remembering why my sister liked you,” Bulma warned him.

“Oh yes, your sister . . . where is she by the way?” Jaco asked.

“Where do you _think_?” Bulma asked a little harshly, “What do you imagine happened to her while the 'natural course of history' played out?”

Jaco's expression withered a bit but it was barely noticeable.

Still it was enough that Bulma's own anger lessened and she said, “It was quick. But my son and others, others including those two girls you've arrested, are making sure it doesn't happen again. They're Earth's Defense Force.”

“Hmm . . .” Jaco rubbed his chin in thought for a moment then said, “So they'll make my job easier. Good. And you promise they're not Saiyans?”

“I promise that what they are isn't half as important as what they are not, and what they are not is a threat to you or anyone else . . . outside of Earth's enemies.”

Jaco hesitated a moment more before nodding and saying, “Well all right then. For the safety of Earth I will trade my prisoners for yours.”

“Done.” Glacien said to Bulma's surprise.

“Excuse me?” Bulma asked.

“Well it's a fair trade isn't it?” Glacien asked, “You relieve yourself of one problem and retain your two . . . _earthling_ fighters.”

“I suppose so . . .” Bulma said, raising an eyebrow at the Arcosian.

“Well that was easy.” Jaco said. “If you don't mind I'll just apply these space-cuffs,”

“No you will not,” Glacien scoffed, “I'm not the prisoner here.”

“I beg your pardon?” Jaco and Bulma said together.

Bulma continued with, “You're not bargaining yourself? You mean to bargain the Admiral instead?”

“Didn't you?” Glacien asked, “What do you plan to do with him otherwise? At least this way you hand him over to the GP removing him from the proverbial game board for a while without violating the ceasefire and I'm sure your friend here will receive quite the promotion for capturing the Planet Trade Organization's _Admiral_ instead of just some scientist _._ ”

“She's right, this is a good plan.” Jaco said immediately.

“He,” Bulma corrected, then looked at Glacien, “Right?”

“I don't think it matters.” Glacien shrugged. “If you want to get really technical by way your species would categorize it's neither.”

Bulma considered the deal on the table for a moment. Obviously there was the possibility that this was a gambit by Glacien to move Frigus from Earth, which they feared to attack and most certainly would fear to try to rescue a prisoner from, to the Galactic Patrol which she didn't doubt they planned to attack sooner rather than later.

But the fact that they really hadn't yet gave her some hope. _Maybe he'd be safer there than here . . . I'll make sure Jaco is aware of the risks at least._

It was then that Trunks came in and said, “What's going on?”

Mai and Beeta were with him and Jaco immediately noticed Beeta's tail. “Another . . . tailed Earthling?” He asked Bulma.

“Well she's wearing the uniform of the King's Guard, isn't she? Why would a Saiyan wear that?” Bulma scoffed. Beeta looked confused but wisely didn't contradict her.

Bulma knew Jaco wasn't stupid, he was playing along with her . . . and also probably recognized that Beeta would put him into the ground if he tried to arrest her, after all unlike Cauliflora and Rhubara she wasn't distracted.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks had never seen a creature like the little purple and blue alien before.

_They're certainly not a Calamareen,_ Trunks thought. His mother introduced him to Jaco and quickly caught him up on the situation as it had played out so far, leaving the young Prince totally perplexed.

“Why are you only now showing up?” Trunks asked, “The PTO have come and gone from this planet several times over the last year.”

“Actually I was on my way before,” Jaco said, “but I made the mistake of stopping somewhere for lunch and . . . my ship was . . . ahem . . .” The small patrolman muttered the next word under his breath and were Trunks not gifted with exceptional hearing he might have missed it, “stolen.”

“Stolen?” Trunks gawked, “Who would steal a Galactic Patrolman's vessel?”

“Masterminds no doubt, fiends without a shred of decency or compassion for the people I protect. I can assure you my investigation is ongoing but I'm close to a breakthrough. So close I can feel it!”

Maybe it was just a coincidence that at that very moment Turles and Brassica barged in at the head of the rest of the Saiyan group and things got truly unruly.

Surprisingly it wasn't because of Turles, but because of Brassica.

“Aha!” Jaco cried. “I told you . . . you there, one-eye . . . well, two-eye now . . . scarface! You're under arrest.”

“By you and what army little man?” Brassica snarled.

“Little man?” Jaco asked with what Trunks would very soon learn was only a deceptive calm before he drew his pistol and fired a blast powerful enough that Trunks himself had to intercept it and deflect it out of the window.

_I can see how he subdued Cauli and Rhuby, he's not much but his tech is something else._ Trunks thought to himself.

He gave Jaco a severe look and said, “There will be no need to fire on my people, sir. As the Prince of all Saiyans if you have an issue with one of my subjects I'd prefer you take it up with me.”

Trunks saw his mother hold her forehead as if she were exasperated but Jaco folded his arms and said, “What's that you said? Prince of all what?”

“He said Prince of all Spayin's, these fine young Earthlings belong to our veterinary kingdom. Just how much leeway do you really need to do what I know you want to do anyway and just ignore it?” Bulma asked.

“That's plenty.” Jaco said casually.

“This one sure doesn't put on airs, eh?” Mai whispered and Trunks couldn't resist a grin.

He said, “Okay Jaco, let's take this slow. So . . . you are supposed to protect Earth from the PTO?”

“And from Saiyans.” Jaco said.

“Right . . . okay, good thing we don't have any of those here . . .” Trunks said folding his own arms now and wondering just how much he'd need to bend for this guy.

He didn't like the idea of lying especially not in front of his people. No doubt Turles and the others would want him to loudly proclaim their presence and challenge Jaco to do anything about it and no doubt Turles would use the fact that he wasn't doing that to spread dissent among the ranks later . . .

But Trunks didn't want to have to find out what other tech Jaco had up his sleeves.

“So about the fugitive who stole my ship,” Jaco said, “if I have to take it up with you I'll be requiring you to hand her over. Really it's the same as me telling her she's under arrest, only now we have a middle man.”

“Yes, a middle man who isn't going to hand her over to you.” Trunks said. “See you said it yourself, the woman who stole your ship has one eye but Brassica here has two.”

“But she still has the scar, a damaged eye can be restored.” Jaco said, though Trunks sensed his determination had more to do with the fact that Brassica had called him little.

_Apparently that's going to be a taboo subject with this guy. Very well then,_ Trunks thought to himself before saying, “Earth lacks that kind of medical technology. Besides, I'm willing to bet all Earthlings look alike to you don't they? So it's easy to make a mistake, even for a giant among Patrolmen like yourself.”

“Such blatant flattery will get you nowhere,” Jaco said in a tone that clearly implied it would, “it will be enough just to call me a Super Elite, and you're right you ugly apes all look the same to me so I suppose even a Super Elite like myself could have made a mistake.”

“Then we're all good here?” Trunks asked everyone and Brassica shrugged.

“So . . . what _is_ this exactly?” Turles asked.

“A prisoner exchange.” Bulma told him.

“Yes, getting back to that,” Trunks said, “I'd be most appreciative if you released them.”

“Hmph. Well . . . I haven't officially agreed to this trade yet.”

“What trade?” Chillax asked.

“The Earthlings will be trading Admiral Frigus for the two . . . Earthlings that the Patrolman here has stunned and captured.”

_So his gun has a stun setting,_ Trunks thought, _that sure wasn't what he was about to use on Brassica though._

Turles shoved his thumbs into his pockets, dressed as he was in Earthling clothes it was an action that wouldn't have been possible in his usual attire, but even so Trunks was surprised by how alien the gesture looked coming from him. The young Saiyan said, “It's a good thing there are no Saiyans here, because if there were they probably wouldn't negotiate for the release of two of their kind . . . they'd probably kill you and just take them and keep their prisoner . . . officer.”

“Noted, I'll have to mention in my report how lucky I was that there were no Saiyans present.” Jaco said, nodding to Bulma he said, “I accept your trade.”

“You shouldn't!” Chillax said, “You think your people can hold one of mine?”

“By the last report of your Admiral's strength I'm confident that we would have no difficulty with that task especially considering he's already restrained . . . right, Bulma?” Jaco asked, looking to her for confirmation, probably of the restraint more than that capability of his organization but Trunks couldn't be sure how much of Jaco's posturing was just him and how much of it might well be systemic of the Galactic Patrol.

“He's restrained, and he's not as strong as the two you caught off guard so if you were confident in keeping the two of them for long you'll have nothing to worry about with him.”

“That's not really what I mean,” Chillax said, “I don't mean my father's personal strength. The PTO won't just let him rot in your prison!”

“A very good point, Chillax and one I was going to address, Jaco.” Bulma said with a nod.

“I don't see why they wouldn't.” Glacien said evenly. “He's failed in both of the missions that brought him here, and he was desperate enough to try to steal the Earthling's instant transmission vessel despite my warnings. Between the shakeups in the ranks and the Twins taking personal command of our forces in the near future I don't think your farther has much of a future of his own at this rate. He's probably safer with them to boot, if that's at all your concern.”

“Definitely,” Jaco said, “after his trial his execution should follow shortly but until that point very safe. Your father is it? Well maybe you can visit him.”

“So you can capture me too?” Chillax scoffed.

“Is there a reason I should capture you, Earthling?” Jaco asked, looking back at Bulma, “That _is_ the Royal Guard uniform on that one too, correct?”

Bulma sighed so Trunks answered for his weary mother.

“It is. Jaco . . . I don't want to impose on a Super Elite like yourself I'm sure you're very busy but . . . maybe you should try not to antagonize the King's Guard, you wouldn't want your visits to Earth to be . . . unpleasant.”

“Hmm . . . too late to avoid unpleasantness . . . but if you mean _additional_ unpleasantness then I suppose you're correct, Prince of all Spayin's.”

“You can just call me Trunks.” Trunks sighed.

The room grew quiet for a moment until Trunks decided to try to exert a little authority and ask, “So the release of my people?”

“Hmm? Oh sure.” Jaco said, pulling a small device out of his glove and pressing a button.

With that simple action Trunks went from begin unable to sense Cauli or Rhuby to suddenly sensing them just outside towards the parking lot and he said, “Brassica, please go get them. Sixteen would you please go and get the prisoner so we can trade him?”

“Do you not want me to do anything?” Turles asked.

“You're out of uniform, you're off-duty.” Trunks told him.

“So is Brassica.” Turles pointed out.

“She's outside of the chain of command.” Trunks said. “Anyway Turles I actually wanted to have a word with you. I'm sure you'll have concerns about how this has all played out . . . I want to make sure there are no _misunderstandings_ moving forward.”

“I think I understand things better than you give me credit for, but by all means. I live to serve . . . Prince of all Spayin's.”

It _could_ have just been a joke . . .

 

**To be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Trunks and Turles have it out, but will it come to more than words? And what does Jaco really make of the situation on Earth? As the night before the tournament's beginning draws to a close and the time for relaxation comes to an end do our heroes have more than just a tournament on the horizon? Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball COED!_

 


	127. Be Better

**Episode Forty Seven**

**'Be Better'**

 

They didn't have to go far before Prince Trunks said, “Okay Turles, now I'm sure you're annoyed that I didn't just paint the walls with Jaco's brains back there,”

“I told you I understand better than you give me credit for,” Turles told him. The Saiyan warrior shrugged and said, “It makes sense to me.”

Trunks frowned and asked him, “Are you just telling me what I want to hear?”

Turles frowned back, “Have I done something to make you think I'm an idiot? I haven't attacked the Arcosians have I? I've even accepted Chillax as being on our side, I'm not the sort of Saiyan who can't tolerate anything that isn't a Saiyan. I don't care what anyone is as long as they're strong.”

“That's very forward thinking,” Trunks nodded to him, “but that's not what I mean. I don't think you're stupid, but I don't want you to think I'm not living up to the Saiyan way, and I wouldn't want you to mistake me for a weak leader.”

_Just how much do you really know about me?_ Turles wondered. He folded his arms and said, “Prince Trunks I'll be very blunt with you . . . you're not a weak leader, you're not a coward, you're not stupid and you're not blind. You're also _not_ a Saiyan. Not a full Saiyan. You don't understand us well enough and unless you do you'll never keep control of us forever. We don't respect your blood just because you come from our King's line, that's a good reason to pay attention to you but it's not a reason to follow you.”

“Then why do you follow me?” Trunks asked.

“It's the same as what I just told you, I don't care what anyone is as long as they're strong. You're the strongest being in the galaxy, before you Frieza was and we followed Frieza.”

Trunks seemed troubled by that revelation so Turles added, “Of course we still followed your grandfather King Vegeta first and foremost but he wasn't as strong as Frieza . . . but he could have become that strong if he'd kept fighting and improving. Or his son, your father Prince Vegeta could have surpassed him and led us to victory over Frieza eventually . . . see we Saiyans are not blood thirsty madmen . . . not all of us anyway.”

The lavender-haired Prince frowned at him and said, “I don't think I understand what you're saying, Turles. You mean to tell me that the only reason you all follow me is because I'm strong?”

“You're strong . . . and you're Saiyan . . . mostly.” Turles shrugged.

“Brassica told me the story about my Grandfather, she told me how he united all of you and helped you conquer the Tuffles. I thought you all followed the royal line because of that, not because he was the strongest.”

“But he _was_ the strongest. Didn't she mention that that was _how_ he united us? He didn't negotiate with everyone, he killed more Saiyans uniting our tribes and clans than the Tuffles did in the entire war . . . but that's why he's so great. He wasn't afraid to do what had to be done he was smart and he was driven. Saiyans are a very driven race.”

Trunks nodded, “I get that. Okay, so fine you're telling me that royal blood doesn't mean much.”

“Of course it does. It means you're bound to be strong.” Turles told him.

The Saiyan warrior sensed that the Prince wasn't fully grasping what to him was as natural as breathing, so he tried to put into words a concept that practically went without saying. He told Trunks, “Listen . . . your mother is smarter than any Saiyan I've ever seen and she's brave. She spends most of her time bossing around creatures that could end her with a flick of the wrist as if she absolutely refuses to fear death . . . that is a quality worth following and it is a quality worth keeping around, even if she isn't physically strong.”

“Okay . . .” Trunks trailed off, clearly implying that he wanted Turles to continue.

So Turles continued, “So when that fearless woman tells that alien that we're not Saiyans and tries to play us off as Earthlings I know that she isn't doing it because he scares her. She's doing it because it's smart. Now I like to think that I'm pretty smart too . . . so I listen, and quickly I realize I understand. So I go along with it, Turles the tailed Earthling for as long as it takes.”

Trunks gave him a look that implied the Prince was skeptical, so Turles sighed and said, “Listen, I get it. That Jaco's a weakling but he was able to take out two of our best at once! There's no point puffing out our chest because he's not intimidated by brute strength, or if he is he doesn't show it. Like your mother he's more about intellect and gadgets. We should be wary of him, but it's also obvious he doesn't believe we're not Saiyans, he just wants to be able to tell his leaders that we're not. It makes _sense,_ we Saiyans were part of the PTO, we fought the Galactic Patrol and he's part of the force that tries to fight the PTO, that used to fight Saiyans. We can play his game and get things done without incident or we can brag about what we are for him and the rest of the galaxy to hear and as a reward have all of his allies flying down to attack us leaving us vulnerable to out other enemies.”

Trunks looked surprised and visibly relaxed, “Yes . . . I'm relieved to hear you say that! I thought for sure you'd be upset that I didn't bluster about Saiyan pride the way my father would have! But there's no need to throw our weight around when just being polite and playing nice can get us what we want without any risk. Jaco's just one member of the Galactic Patrol, we don't know how many others out there might show up if we give him trouble and if he wants to turn a blind eye to Saiyans on Earth we might as well let him. It might just be a pain in the neck for him, but it could be a whole lot worse for us.”

“ _And_ we're better off making a deal with them than we are fighting them, after all the enemy of my enemy and all that. We should make an alliance with the Galactic Patrol that will force the PTO to get serious in their peace talks or risk us joining their mortal enemies against them.”

Trunks went from looking surprised to looking impressed. He said, “I don't know if I'd take it that far, I'd rather we get both sides to stand down at least as far as Earth is concerned. So you mean to tell me that you're not bothered by the Saiyans not standing at the front of everything and cowing everyone we meet?”

“That wouldn't be the Saiyan way.” Turles told him. “We get to know our enemies before we destroy them. We learn what we can and keep what we like or what suits us. Only when the time is right do we destroy them.”

“Right . . . and sometimes we can recognize that they're not enemies, and don't need to be destroyed, right?” Trunks asked.

“What? Well there's a first time for everything I suppose,” Turles said with a wink. Trunks looked irritated and Turles quickly told him, “Don't get me wrong, you mean the Earthlings right? They're not our enemies. They're not like the Tuffles at all, or like the PTO, but the Galactic Patrol on the other hand? They'd demolish this planet if it got in the way of a space-lane just as the PTO would exterminate its population if another buyer came around. Earth would be safest if its enemies were exterminated.”

“But that's not how we do things.” Trunks said firmly.

“No, it's not how _you_ do things.” Turles told him flatly. “You're the Prince of all Saiyans, you're stronger than anything in the universe . . . and you're smart, not as smart as your mother but smart.”

Trunks frowned, “But I'm not a real Saiyan to you, am I? You said as much but you weren't just talking about my heritage, were you?”

Turles tensed, he wasn't sure if he should answer this question honestly. But the truth was if he was right about Prince Trunks, if he was right that Trunks couldn't lead their people moving forward then he _could_ answer honestly and survive. But if he was wrong . . . if he was wrong and Prince Trunks _was_ the sort of leader his people needed was he ready to die for it?

He folded his arms and thought, _We Saiyans don't kill our enemies until we've learned what we need from them. I still need to learn how to transform into a Super Saiyan . . . but on the other hand . . ._ He swallowed a lump in his throat and said, “You're right. I think you're a great many things, Prince Trunks . . . but you're _not_ a True Saiyan Warrior.”

Trunks looked at him in silence for a very long time, and Turles felt a grim sort of validation to still be breathing.

But Trunks said, “If that's what you think then you're not half as smart as you think, Turles. Or else you didn't learn enough from my grandfather.”

“I lived in his time, you were born years after his death.” Turles pointed out.

“But I know all the same from what Brassica told me. Even if she didn't understand it herself, King Vegeta knew what none of you seem to have figured out.”

“And what is that?” Turles asked.

“What it _really_ means to be a True Saiyan Warrior.” Trunks said.

Turles raised an eyebrow, “Oh? So you know something I don't? Why don't you tell me, the full-blooded Saiyan what it _really_ means to be a Saiyan Warrior.”

Trunks smiled and shook his head, “You lived in King Vegeta's time and you didn't understand it. You saw Planet Plant become Planet Vegeta and you didn't understand it. What can I possibly say to make you understand, Turles?”

“Try small words, maybe that'll work.” Turles said dryly.

Trunks smiled wryly and said, “What you didn't get, what Cauliflora didn't get, what Brassica took too long to get . . . being a True Saiyan Warrior doesn't mean being like every other Saiyan it means being _better_.”

“Well of course it does!” Turles shouted, amazed at this obvious bit of information that Trunks _thought_ was some revelation. “That's the Saiyan way! We always strive to be the best! That's why I'm going to overcome _you_!”

“No.” Trunks shook his head. “That is _not enough_! It's not enough to just strive to be the best, you have to be _better._ ”

Turles shook his head, actually feeling confused. “Try a different small word, maybe.”

“Be _more_.” Trunks told him. “Be more, be better than you are, be more than you started out as and make the world around you something bigger, something better. My grandfather looked at the scattered Saiyans and he wanted them to be more, he united them even if it meant killing some of them. He saw what the Tuffles had and he brought it to his people.”

“Cities?” Turles blinked. What was Trunks going on about?

Trunks shook his head, “Not just cities, Turles. They had _civilization_. My Grandfather saw what his people lacked, he saw something he wanted to bring them and he tried to do just that. Look at how far you all traveled under him. He united you, he forged you into one army with one purpose and you smashed an ancient civilization that had kept you in check for generations!”

Turles nodded slowly, feeling his warrior's blood rise at the memory of it, “He made us strong!”

“You were already strong,” Trunks told him, “he made you  _ better. _ He made you  _ more _ . You say I'm not a true Saiyan but I say I inherited more of that from my grandfather than you managed just watching him. Maybe it  _ is _ something in the blood . . . maybe my Earthling side lets me understand what your Saiyan side can't process.”

Turles folded his arms, “No . . . you just didn't understand the moral of Brassica's story. We didn't crush the Tuffles because we wanted civilization, we did it because we were stronger! We were stronger so we deserved what they had and we got it because we  _ were _ better!”

“You got it because you changed. You became  _ more  _ than wandering tribes, you became a kingdom! You became a nation able to conquer not just one world but whole alien worlds, a kingdom that was annexed by the PTO instead of subjugated by them! I see it now and that's why I have to do what I can to be the Prince you all expect me to be! There's no other way to help you and to make you better!”

Turles frowned, “I don't . . . I don't understand,” he was forced to admit. Make them better? Wasn't Trunks doing that with the training? Wouldn't he do that by teaching Turles to become a Super Saiyan?

Trunks nodded. “I know. But like you said, you like to think you're smart . . . so think on this and see if it doesn't make sense by the time the tournament is over, okay?”

Turles nodded dumbly . . . he thought to himself, _Be . . . better? But if I'm stronger than Prince Trunks . . . won't I_ be _better?_

What was he missing?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

There were questions for Jaco, confusion about just what he was and what he represented, anger about the ambush and overall something approaching a brouhaha, which Bulma was not able to tolerate. So by the time Sixteen arrived with the unconscious Admiral Frigus and Jaco applied some sort of stasis cuffs to him and flew him out the window Bulma announced loudly, “All right! It's past lights out, everyone get to bed and be prepared! Tomorrow's the tournament and you've got more than just each-other to impress, there's those new aliens after all and it wouldn't hurt if you all could put the fear of Earth into the PTO, no offense Glacien.”

“None taken.” The Arcosian assured her.

“Great. Now everyone, off to bed!” Bulma ordered.

“Does that include myself?” Glacien asked, “Should I return to my vessel?”

“Yes, you and the Ambassador are free to return to your vessel just remember you're being watched. Also I'd appreciate a lack of transmissions about Jaco's presence.” Bulma said.

“What about presents?” Jaco asked, returning from his ship to Bulma's surprise. She'd rather thought he'd just leave after he had the Admiral in his hull . . .

Her office cleared out as everyone went about their business now that the immediate crisis was averted, but Bulma and Jaco remained along with Sixteen and Mai.

Bulma asked, “So Jaco . . . just how long will you be staying on Earth?”

“Oh not long,” Jaco said, “now that I have a high profile prisoner to take back I should be heading back soon.”

Bulma nodded, “That's a shame. But you know what they say, it's best not to outstay your welcome.”

“That's a good point, it would be rude to just rush off. Maybe I'll stay for dinner.”

“Dinner?” Mai asked, “But everyone's already eaten . . . chef Asiago would have bedded down for the night by now.”

“Confirmed, Asiago is asleep.” Sixteen said.

“Interesting . . . is he a total automaton?” Jaco asked.

“Well . . .” Bulma hesitated, “I suppose he is, near enough that it makes no difference anyway.”

“Fascinating.” Jaco said. “Can I have him?”

“No.” Bulma blinked, surprised by the very request. She steepled her fingers and asked, “What do you want Jaco?”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” The little Alien asked.

“Not necessarily,” Bulma told him, “I'm just not sure what you want from us.”

“I told you, dinner.” Jaco said with a shrug. “Wake your chef up.”

“He needs his rest,” Mai said, “he worked really hard today to have food prepared for the tournament tomorrow.”

“Tournament?” Jaco asked.

_Oh no . . ._ Bulma thought, shaking her head, “It's nothing important,” she told him.

“It will be an elimination tournament coupling teams from the Earth Defense Force, King's Guard, and Crusher Corps. in non-lethal combat.” Sixteen said flatly.

Bulma glowered at the android, _I didn't tell you to say anything!_ She thought angrily, _You'd better not be developing some kind of dangerous free will, the world already got enough of that from your brother and sister!_

But the Android was incapable of reading her mind.

And if Jaco was capable of it he clearly enjoyed going against her wishes because he said, “Very well then, I'll accept your invitation to have dinner with you tomorrow while enjoying your quaint little tournament.”

“That's unnecessary,” Bulma said, “Mai go wake Asiago up!”

“ _Are_ you trying to get rid of me?” Jaco asked again.

“What makes you think that?” Bulma asked, then shot Mai a look that said, 'wake Asiago, wake him _now_!'

The poor girl seemed uncertain of what to do but she did head for the door. Jaco shook his head and said, “I'm really surprised at you Bulma. Are you saying you don't want me around?”

“It's not what I'm saying,” Bulma assured him, “it's just how I feel.”

Jaco scoffed, “Oh I see. Here I am, Super Elite defender of Earth and I'm not even welcome at a backwater Podunk little planet's silly little tournament? After everything I do for you?”

“Like what?” Bulma scoffed.

“Like look the other way with a determination that borderlines on caricature of myself!” Jaco pointed out.

Bulma sighed and said, “Okay, fine. But how many egg shells are we supposed to walk on during the tournament?”

“I don't care what you walk on, I'll be able to fly.” Jaco said with a curt nod.

“That's not what I mean,” Bulma said, “how far are you willing to look the other way once our tournament begins? When we have our people throwing the best they've got at one another what stops you from spotting some minor violation of some code we never heard of?”

Jaco shrugged, “Desire not to die? But I am curious to see just how well trained your Saiyans are. It would be my job after all.”

Bulma's eyes narrowed and she asked, “And why do you suddenly care about that now?”

“Maybe I shouldn't let the natural course of history play out so much.” Jaco said guardedly.

“Maybe you shouldn't.” Bulma agreed.

“Maybe I'm sorry I did.” Jaco told her.

“Good.” Bulma nodded slowly. She took a deep steadying breath and then said, “All right . . . you can watch the tournament but just keep in mind that I've got things more or less under control, all right?”

“Certainly.” Jaco nodded.

“All right . . . Sixteen, please go stop Mai from waking chef Asiago.”

“As ordered.” Sixteen said, leaving without another word.

Now it was just Jaco and Bulma alone in her office.

Maybe that was why Jaco asked, “So where _did_ all the Saiyans come from?”

“Rescue operations.” Bulma said evasively. “We studied the list of MIA Saiyans from the PTO database and tracked them all down.”

She didn't mention the time machines, she didn't want to risk that being _another_ thing Jaco would have to report to his superiors.

“I'm impressed. I didn't realize we'd missed so many.” Jaco told her.

“What do you mean?” Bulma asked.

“I told you, Saiyans are like a galactic disease!” Jaco said dramatically.

“You said 'plague' and so what?” Bulma asked.

Jaco shrugged, “So obviously we paid attention to them too. Those that Frieza didn't eliminate our own Galactic Patrol saw to . . . where we could that is.”

Bulma frowned, “You . . . just . . . killed them all?”

“The ones we could.” Jaco said simply. “It's part of the job, they're dangerous creatures.”

“That's true . . .” Bulma admitted, “but it's not like they can't be contained.”

“I never said they couldn't. I'm sure you're up to the task.” Jaco said in a light tone that told Bulma he didn't actually care if she was or not. “But our orders were orders. We couldn't let the Saiyans spread, once Frieza exterminated their main population—only decent thing he ever did—we had to help mop up. It's just as well I won't be telling my superiors about your little ranch, they'd be furious.”

Bulma sighed, “I can imagine. Just keep it to yourself then, if they perceive you as a threat they might get out of hand.”

“Noted.” Jaco nodded.

“And Jaco . . .” Bulma added.

“Yes?” Jaco asked, “Don't tell the Saiyans about the others?”

“No,” Bulma hesitated, then she asked, “Actually . . . can you give me a list of the Saiyans the Galactic Patrol found? I mean . . . you know, to cross reference with our own records. Our ships have a limited amount of fuel and all.”

“Ah, poor primitive things. Yes, very well I'll get that to you at some point, no need to tell me where yours came from, I don't want to have to explain to my superiors how I know that those worlds don't have Saiyans anymore.”

“Thank you, Jaco. And one other thing?” Bulma asked.

“Mm?”

“ _Don't_ tell a single one of them that the Galactic Patrol exterminated even more of their people . . . it's hard enough keeping them from wiping out the Arcosians.”

“Bulma, I am a Super Elite . . . we're not stupid.” Jaco said.

_I hope so,_ Bulma thought.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Gohan smiled feeling absolutely mischievous as he and Videl arrived at the doors of Capsule Corp.

“We're past curfew, maybe we aught to fly in through one of the windows.” He suggested.

“Or go down the chimney?” Videl smirked, “Being a Captain has its privileges,” she told him as she took a scouter out of her purse and put it on.

She pressed the button and said, “This is Captain Videl, who is on bird watching duty?”

Gohan quickly realized that 'bird watching duty' must be code for watching the PTO ship, and he got his confirmation when Videl's scouter radio crackled to life.

“Anise here ma'am. Lady Bulma just called for the lights out, everyone else is scurrying.”

“Well someone better scurry over to the door and unlock it for me before my boot scurries up your rear end, trooper!” Videl warned her.

“Yes ma'am!”

Gohan smiled, “You didn't have to threaten her like that, I'm sure she would have done it anyway.”

“She knows I mean it with love.” Videl said with a wink.

They didn't have to wait long before Cardamom, the sniper to Anise's spotter arrived at the door and unlocked it.

“Hey, Cap'n. Getting back late eh?” Card asked with a wink and Videl rolled her eyes which caused Card to smirk and said, “Oh I see, too worn out to talk. What about you, Mister Son, Son, mister golden Son?”

“Please don't ask me to shine down on you,” Gohan smirked. He asked her, “How long since you've met me were you waiting to use that?”

“Thought of it like _right_ after we caught that photographer guy, been kicking myself for taking too long ever since.” Card told him. “That's the moral of the story kids, never hesitate. I take it I don't need to tell you though, guess your evening went pretty well if you're coming back late eh?”

“Well,” Gohan said with a slight smile, “if you must know it went pretty well, I think. But we really should get our rest, big tournament tomorrow.”

“Right, right. Just don't get knocked out in the first round, I've got an awful lot of money on you two.”

“You do?” Gohan asked in surprise. Though he knew it might be partially due to loyalty to her captain he felt a little bit touched that Card would bet on him and Videl in the tournament.

Until the sniper said, “Of course! Always bet on a long-shot, eh?”

“Long-shot?” Gohan gawked.

“Yeah! I mean the Cap isn't really experienced with the whole super hero thing and you can't turn into a golden warrior in the tournament, you two aren't exactly in for a cake walk!”

Gohan smiled, “Oh I don't think it'll be a cake walk, but we're hardly the underdogs here. Don't you worry!”

“She's just playing with you,” Videl told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the doors with her, “Come on, enough of that. Thank you Cardamom, back to your post.”

“Aye aye Cap!” The sniper said, saluting and rushing off down the darkened hallway.

Once they were alone Gohan asked, “You don't really think the odds are against us, do you?”

Gohan knew they weren't but he didn't want Videl to feel intimidated.

Luckily she just shrugged and asked, “Who cares about odds? It's not like we haven't got some tricks up our sleeves, right?”

“Right,” Gohan nodded with a broad smile. “As long as you know that. Now we should probably get some sleep.”

“Of course. Just one other thing first,” Videl told him.

“What's that?” Gohan asked, turning to face her she put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him downwards and stood up on the tips of her toes in order to kiss him, but kiss him she did.

It might have been quick or it might have been long, Gohan wasn't really sure he sort of lost track of time while it was happening, when it was over his ears were ringing and he barely heard Videl say, “Like she said, never hesitate. She might be a goof ball, but she has good advice every now and then.”

“I guess so . . .” Gohan said, utterly dumbfounded.

Videl laughed softly and said, “Well you'd better get some sleep champ, we'll knock 'em dead in the morning.”

 

**To Be Concluded . . .**

 

**On the Season Finale of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Karuto and his comrades near Earth, but will they be welcomed with Jaco around? And as everyone gathers for the first match of the tournament are all of the fighters prepared to show their stuff to allies, enemies and those undecided?_

 


	128. Stand Together

**Episode Forty Eight**

**'Stand Together'**

 

Life aboard the _Arcoss Avenger_ had been tense for Karuto, and it wasn't getting much better.

He suspected it was that way for Kiwano too, they were outsiders after all. The entire crew seemed worried and uncertain, especially about their destination, and as they grew closer the crew did far less to hide the fear they were feeling.

But when Captain Sleet emerged from the healing tank he'd put up very little resistance to the idea once he had Karuto's assurances that they'd be accepted, and he'd even started calming his crew a bit.

If their Captain was going along with the plan then they would too, and that had been a relief.

After all, what were their other options, Karuto had insisted, and Sleet hadn't fought him on the subject.

But that had only diminished the open fear, not the tension.

Kiwano wasn't one for stories the way Konpeito had been and Karuto hadn't had much by way of stories to listen to to keep his mind off of his problems.

But he had spent the trip getting to know Pitaya and Sleet better. The two were a definite team, Pitaya never argued or contradicted his captain in public and Sleet for his part listened to Pitaya's council, that at least gave Karuto some hope that the two might fit in with the Earthlings, after all neither seemed to look down on other species exactly.

Which would be helpful.

But there was one other crew member he was worried about, which was why on one of the many days when he and Kiwano were more or less left to their own devices in the mess hall Karuto made the decision to ask Kiwano about the subject that worried him.

How would the Iwatian handle facing his former comrade, Konpeito again.

Karuto pretended to be doing his studies though in reality he'd stopped bothering with them a few days ago. After all at this point he was pretty sure that his academic career had come to an abrupt and premature end. There would be no graduation for a renegade.

“You know,” Karuto said, breaking the silence between himself and the large Iwatian, “if we're caught by one of the other ships I don't think Sleet and I will be any safer than the rest of you.”

“I do not believe that's correct.” Kiwano told him. “I believe you will be spared, no doubt I will be the one blamed for your departure.”

“No doubt . . . but still I don't think whoever finds us is going to take any prisoners, after all this isn't the first time I've helped the enemy so to speak.”

“No it isn't.” Kiwano allowed.

“Lord Frostburn wouldn't let me survive. He doesn't even want Chillax back after all, so I don't think even my father would be able to pull enough strings to keep me safe.”

“Perhaps that's so.” Kiwano said. “Why do you bring this subject up?”

“It just seems like being the same species isn't much help these days. You know what I mean?”

“Not really.” Kiwano said. “Members of the same species can turn on each other, that's nothing new.”

“Like Konpeito?” Karuto asked, grinning confident in the knowledge that Kiwano wouldn't recognize the expression on his face.

“Yes. And wipe that smug look out of your eyes,” Kiwano scoffed, dispelling the belief.

“Will Konpeito be a problem for you?”

Kiwano was quiet for a moment, then he said, “No. No he will not. I will be civil, I am no better than he is now.”

“You're no worse.” Karuto offered.

“I disagree.” Kiwano said, “I am here for lack of options. Konpeito had the courage of conviction, albeit the wrong convictions, to stand for what he believed. I . . .”

The Iwatian trailed off and Karuto had to ask, “You what?”

It was still a moment before Kiwano said, “I do not know what I believe. Not anymore.”

Karuto frowned and said, “You know that my kind aren't the strongest, we wouldn't need your tree if you were. We're not gods either, again we wouldn't need your tree if that were the case. So you don't have to be worried about defying us.”

“I know that. _However_ ,” Kiwano glanced at him, his simian features hardening in anger as he said, “I must accept that the spirits I believed in did nothing when alien invaders came and exterminated my people. By some cosmic coincidence we inhabited a world you wanted and that alone was enough of a reason to annihilate us . . . to exterminate us.”

Karuto didn't interrupt as Kiwano shuddered and grumbled, “When Little Oozaru came . . . well that was different.”

“How so?”

“For days we cared for that little creature and we learned things we would never have figured out without what I thought at the time was divine intervention. Not a god that little creature, no . . . but something sent by them to teach the Iwatian people. ”

“You were one of the hunters from Karuto's village?” Karuto guessed, “What did you learn from Rhuby—er I mean Little Oozaru?”

Kiwano frowned and said, “We learned that we could battle the knife tails and win, we learned that we could battle demigods and win, we learned that the might of the Iwatian people was great when it was united . . . or at least I thought that we learned that . . . but in the end it didn't help. Whatever lesson we were meant to learn nothing could have prepared us for the coming of your people, for the massacre of ours.

“So I thought then . . . your people must be the true gods, after all you sent the Saiyans did you not? So if the Saiyans were the messengers of the gods your people must be the true gods . . . it made sense at the time. The lesson seemed clear, only the strongest were fit to serve.”

“That _is_ the sort of lesson my people would have taught you.” Karuto admitted.

“Yes but it doesn't mean anything. Why serve? What is there to life when nothing remains but living? My people are gone, little Lord . . . and there was no reason for it. No lesson I can see . . . and no justice. So this tells me just one thing . . .”

“What's that?” Karuto asked.

Kiwano frowned even more deeply, an act Karuto wouldn't have thought possible. The great gray alien grumbled, “There are no gods. There is no justice. The universe is nothing but darkness and random chance . . . and so nothing matters.”

“Or everything matters.” Karuto pointed out.

“Spare me, I've heard such nonsense posing as deep wisdom before,” Kiwano scoffed, “everything will be dust someday and when it is no one will remember it. A million years from now no one will remember the Iwatians, no one will remember the Saiyans . . . perhaps no one will remember the Arcosians.”

The thought chilled Karuto, but he had to accept that it _was_ a possibility. His father and uncle might not realize it but wanting to continue the war with the Saiyans was going to jeopardize the survival of their entire species.

Not if Trunks had anything to say about it, Karuto felt, but _Turles_ on the other hand . . .

He might not be willing to let anyone live.

“Maybe that's true,” Karuto allowed, “but I don't think it's _entirely_ true.”

“Is that so?” Kiwano asked.

Karuto nodded. He said, “I know you didn't see it, but I know there is a giant dragon on Earth. If anything has the power of a god I would have thought it did, but believe it or not it was created by the Namekians, a race that my people would consider weak.”

Kiwano shuddered, “I don't deny that there are great powers out there, child . . . I just don't think they _matter_ anymore.”

“But,” Karuto said, “this dragon has the power to revive the dead. He revived Konpeito after all, and while he was dead Konpeito mastered a new style of fighting. That means a couple of things you might want to consider. First and foremost there clearly is a resting place after you die, and I find that thought very comforting even if I don't really know how it works, and secondly,” Karuto was saying but it seemed the first point had been enough because Kiwano was on his feet looking at Karuto with shock.

“The Earthlings can revive the dead? And not just their own dead, they can revive _any_ dead?”

“I . . . think so?” Karuto said.

“Then why hasn't Konpeito used this dragon's power to revive our race?” Kiwano demanded.

“He might have by now,” Karuto said, “I don't know. But I do know that the dragon can only grant so many wishes then he has to rest, that was what Master Roshi told me. Since Konpeito was brought back to life by one of the Dragon's wishes the most recent time maybe he didn't have time to ask for everyone else to come back too.”

Kiwano growled and said, “I will use this dragon then . . . that _must_ be it.”

“Must be it?” Karuto asked.

“I told you I can't see any lesson or any message in the destruction of my people . . . but now I can.” Kiwano said. “Without your people we would never have known we could travel the stars, and without such a catastrophe as the extinction of our kind why would we ever have sought out these Namekians and their dragon god?”

“So you think . . . this is a message?” Karuto blinked. He was careful not to sound doubtful, this was the most animated Kiwano had ever seemed and the little Arcosian understood that some people just needed something to believe sometimes.

“I believe this is the way forward,” Kiwano explained, “the gods were cruel but not so cruel as to leave us no way forward as I feared . . . if we can use this dragon's power to restore our race then our lessons were well worth it.”

“But if you restore your race what does it benefit them?” Captain Sleet asked from the doorway. “You said you learned the stars could be traveled thanks to your kind, but your race still lacks the know-how to do it yourselves.”

“That's true,” Kiwano said, “but we've learned many things now. We've learned that we are not alone in the stars but more than that we know now that even the united strength of our people isn't enough . . . no even before the gods tried to show us this, that was why it took the united strength of our kind _and_ Rhubara to defeat the Oozaru! The gods were telling us we cannot stand alone!

Kiwano laughed, it was a startling sound because Karuto was fairly certain he'd never heard it before, the great Iwatian slammed his fist down on the table so hard that it bent and Kiwano said, “The Iwatian people cannot stand alone, Konpeito realized it before I did! We must stand with others, as we stood with a Saiyan against the Oozaru as he stood with the Earthlings against your people, as _we_ will stand with the Earthlings against your people! The Iwatian people must go to Earth! We must stand with them, join them, together with them and other allies we can be strong!”

Captain Sleet shrugged, “I suppose it's as good a place as any if it is everything Karuto says it is. I suppose with a magic dragon that can bring a dead race back from the great beyond there's no reason to assume he couldn't move them all to Earth as well . . . but where does that leave our kind, Karuto?”

Karuto smiled, “I think we need to learn the same lesson Kiwano here believes his people had to learn.”

“Not to stand alone?” Sleet asked, “Don't we already know that?”

“No.” Karuto said. “Not many of us at least. We stand at the top, we stand _on_ others. But I think the lesson we need to learn is to stand _with_ them. Even if that means some of us standing against our own kind . . . just look at how you work with your second in command, you two are clearly a good team.”

“We are.” Sleet nodded. “Very well then . . . stand together . . . let's just hope the Earthlings and the Saiyans are willing to stand with us.”

“They will be.” Karuto assured him. “They're good people.”

Kiwano's excitement was infectious as well, Karuto couldn't help but wonder if maybe despite everything science told him there really _was_ some cosmic plan . . . after all things hadn't just led Kiwano and Konpeito to realizing the way to help their race in the future, but Karuto knew that his people too could benefit.

If many races stood together in mutual respect then there would be no need to fear one another. It was fear that had made cousin Frieza destroy the planet Vegeta, it was fear that made uncle Kalt turn on his own people, but in the end the finest cure for fear was knowledge . . . and familiarity.

If his people could become familiar with these other people maybe their future could be greater than anything Frieza ever imagined.

And even if it was scary Karuto couldn't deny that that would be worth fighting for even if it meant fighting his parents and his own people.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“Just so we're clear you're not planning on letting any _more_ Arcosians join your people here on Earth, are you?” Jaco asked and Trunks raised an eyebrow at him.

“There are a few with open invitations,” he said, exaggerating the number that Karuto represented, “what does it matter?”

“They don't pass for Earthling as easily as certain others do.” Jaco said. “But I suppose I can just leave those details out of my reports. My superiors don't need to know everything.”

“I'm glad to hear that.” Trunks said dryly.

“But what about this tournament? Will it be enough to scare your guests into leaving Earth alone?” Jaco asked him.

“Well it's going to start soon, so we'll see,” Trunks said, “but it's not about scaring the Arcosians. It's a chance for my students to show their stuff and really shine. It's also a chance for them to show the rest of these people what they can do.”

By 'these people' Trunks was referring to the motley collection that had gathered. What was once meant to be a fairly private tournament now saw the King and a large retinue of nobility in attendance, the Royal Guard was out in force as well to keep interlopers away from the ruins of South City where it was all being held.

The Namekians had come in surprising number as well, and a number of them had already approached Master Roshi—using Cargo as their spokesperson—about joining the EDF, no tournament required to convince them that it would be worth it.

The Calamareens on the other hand he would need to convince, and they had shown up in quite some number as well jabbering away in their strange language, Trunks was surprised though to learn that the Namekians could understand them.

Not _all_ of them, Bass couldn't or he'd no doubt have said so the night they arrived but Moori and some of the other sages seemed to have picked up the language in short order and were able to converse somewhat haltingly with the eager Calamareens.

It made Trunks feel better about the strange new aliens. If the Namekians could learn to understand them maybe the humans could too, and then maybe the Calamareens could learn to understand them too. Maybe this could all work out.

“It'll never work out.” Jaco said, shaking his head, “there's just no way.”

“What?” Trunks asked in surprise, realizing that Jaco was talking about something else, not reading his mind.

“Martial arts tournaments aren't an uncommon thing in the universe,” Jaco told him, “if you want to scare the Arcosians you need to make this more brutal. You should hold it on that empty red planet of yours and blow it up afterwards, that'll really get their attention. They understand the sort of power it takes to blow up a planet. So let them think your students did it on accident.”

Trunks frowned, “I'll avoid that, thanks. Anyway I told you it's not about scaring them. If anything I hope we can be friends with them.”

“Then you're trying to scare _me_?” Jaco asked him.

“Listen, I'd like to be friends with both of you,” Trunks said, “I want Earth to be a peaceful neutral place. A place where anyone can live and this tournament is about showing you and everyone else the sort of defenders Earth will have. The sort of power that will protect it.”

“Hmm. Is there going to be any food?” Jaco asked.

“You know there is,” Trunks told him, “they told you last night Asiago and his kitchen crew worked all day yesterday to get it ready.”

“I meant _now._ ” Jaco clarified.

“Are you sure you're a galactic patrolman and not a big child?” Trunks meant to think it but instead he said it out loud.

“Last time I checked.” Jaco said, then raised a finger, “But that's one warning young man, I'll let you off easy this time but disrespecting a Super Elite like myself is not suitable behavior.”

“Sorry, I'll keep that in mind.” Trunks said.

He saw Mai standing with the King and their eyes met for a moment. He smiled at her and she smiled back, and he thought to himself how bright the future seemed now.

The world wasn't quite set right . . . and there were still trials to face but he knew things were better now. He had powerful students, great warriors ready to protect Earth and to make it a place where anyone was welcome and to show the galaxy and its representatives that its guardians were some of the strongest.

It felt like so long ago that he'd been afraid for the future, worried that the next danger would be the last Earth could handle, that the next danger would finish the job the Androids nearly completed themselves and wipe he world free of life.

But now life on Earth was booming and not just Earthlings but aliens were able to make their homes and hopefully their comebacks on the once small insignificant little blue-green planet on the western spiral arm of the galaxy.

Trunks took a deep breath and told Jaco, “Well we're meant to have a light lunch then a banquet for dinner, but if you can't hold out that long you can tell Chef Asiago that I gave you permission to have some of his hard stuffed bread thingies early.”

“Are those good?” Jaco asked.

“They're the best.” Trunks lied.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Telluce had gotten used to the ruins of South City in the dark, but seeing the rubble and ruin for the first time in the daylight he had to admit it really was sort of nostalgic.

“Don't embarrass the family out there, brother.” Turles told him.

“Don't embarrass yourself,” Telluce said, “you're the one with a dead weight teammate.”

“There was a time I could have put you over my lap for that, boy.” Brock growled.

“I wouldn't advise trying it now,” Tell said with a smirk.

“I don't know, I wouldn't mind watching it,” Kayle said with a wink. Tell rolled his eyes and gave her a shove, but it was an affectionate one at least.

She dodged it and punched him in the shoulder. It hurt, there was no affection there.

Or maybe there was, she didn't break any bones after all. But Turles raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Obviously it's not my teammate you should worry about. You're not nearly as strong as me, I hope I didn't give you the impression that the Evil Twins are to be taken lightly.”

Telluce rubbed his shoulder and gave Kayle a look before turning back to his brother and saying, “I'm tired of you taking _me_ lightly, brother. I know what Kayle can do, I've seen her and Oni do it to you night after night while you three trained. But I'm not scared, I trust her. Maybe we'll see you in the ring before too long.”

“You'll have to make it past your first match before that,” Turles told him, then to his surprise he said, “but I'd like that. It would be good to fight you in this tournament.”

Tell was surprised and touched to hear his brother say that until Turles added, “I mean it wouldn't be as restful as a bye, but it'd be close.”

“Don't count on it,” Tell told him, “I'm not the same as I was when you got us off of Frago. It'd take a lot more than one punch to bring me down this time.”

“You _wish._ ” Turles told him.

There was a loud noise as someone the Earthling King had brought with him bashed a large disk that seemed to be made of brass or something, Telluce was pretty sure it was called a gong, and he nodded to Turles and Brock, “Well looks like it's time. You'll see what we can do, brother.”

“Good luck.” Turles grunted and Telluce headed for the large circle that had been cleared for them.

As they went Kayle whispered, “What's the plan here?”

“What do you mean?” Tell asked her, “We give them everything we've got of course.”

“You mean _everything_?” Kayle raised an eyebrow.

Across from them stood Sharro and Pastel, two worthy opponents and Tell said, “Of course! If we don't give this fight everything we've got we're going to lose. Sharro and I are too even, but if you hold back Pastel will knock you out.”

Kayle cracked her knuckles and said, “I might hurt you.”

“You already have.” Tell told her with a wink. “Like I told Turles, I trust you.”

“You were serious about that?” Kayle scoffed, but he could tell from the tone of her voice she was putting on a front. She wasn't able to hide the surprise completely. “Even though I'm one of the Evil Twins?”

“You're not that evil.” Tell told her.

“I might hurt your _girlfriend_.” Kayle pointed out.

Tell took a deep breath then said, “Well . . . just between us maybe Sharro sort of _is_ my girlfriend, at least if I understand the concept right. But she's also my teammate, that means I respect her and I know she's capable of great things. So you be careful or she'll hurt _you_. Besides, your Battle Rage is the only thing that'll let you stand up to Pastel's Kaioken, I know I can't do that.”

Kayle's confident facade faded a bit and she said, “You don't think it's too much? I might _really_ hurt you or someone else, I can't control it that well you know.”

“You'll be fine,” Telluce told her, “Sharro's not the only one capable of great things.”

Kayle's confident look returned full force and she smirked, “Well if you feel that strongly about it. Just don't go crying to me when I start using you as a club!”

“My body is ready.” Tell joked, but he really hoped Kayle _didn't_ start using him as a club.

The four combatants stood in the arena, Tell across from Sharro, and Kayle across from Pastel.

The gong rang again, and Prince Trunks cried, “Begin!”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

General Boreal stood on the bridge of the _Black Ice_ , his subordinates on either side of him as they surveyed the planet before them.

It was stunningly beautiful, a world of rolling plains and rivers filled with blue grass and clear water. Its native inhabitants were diverse, not just one race but several brought together by the joys of space travel and the protection of the Galactic Patrol.

That protection was now to become their doom.

There was no client, no buyer for this world. Its people weren't going to be offered the chance to join the Planet Trade Organization when they were done, the only survivors would be those that were _allowed_ to leave and spread the tales of fear that would bring the whole of the Galactic Patrol trembling to their knees before the might of the Frost Clan.

“They have not detected us,” Cooly reported, “Shall we hail them?”

General Boreal smiled sinisterly. He turned and looked at his officers then he looked to his Lords.

Lord Frostbite said nothing, silent as he'd been ever since his son was “kidnapped” by the rogue Captain Sleet and the crew of the _Arcoss Avenger_.

But Lord Frostburn gave him an eager smile and nodded. “Do as you please, _General._ ”

General Boreal nodded once and turned to Cooly. He said, “Don't bother, they'll know what's happening soon enough.”

The assembled crew on the bridge chuckled and Boreal watched the world on the view screen knowing that this was its final moment of beauty and peace.

To Icebreaker and Aurora he gave just one order.

“Begin planetary extermination.”

 

**Season's End . . .**

 

**On the Next Season of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The tournament rages as Trunks' students and Turles' Crusher Corps. battle for supremacy, but can anyone bring down Turles? And while the Earth revels in the power of its heroes elsewhere the PTO will be reveling in its villainous strength as their war for supremacy launches in full. When refugees are given no choice but to turn to Earth can the EDF muster the strength to protect them? And when the PTO aren't the only ones with a Tree of Might will the balance of power in the galaxy be thrown_ too _far out of whack? Will the Kais themselves become involved? New threats will emerge, ancient evils will awaken as the flow and buildup of of power becomes too great to ignore and Trunks and Turles will have to make the ultimate decision to stand against one another or stand together. The fate of the Universe may hang in the balance on the next season of Dragon Ball COED . . ._

 

**But First** _**. . .** _ _Planet Plant is hardly peaceful but total war? That's unheard of. The might of the Saiyans has never been enough to outdo the ingenuity of the Tuffles, but then again the Saiyans have never been united before. But when one Saiyan warrior looks at the state of his people and believes they can be more than they are he'll gather the force to make it happen, change their very way of life and change history not just for Planet Plant, but for the whole universe. With great warriors like Nappa and Bardock and brilliant minds like Zorn and Paragus at his side the warrior Vegeta might just be fit to tackle the Trials of the Crown._

 


	129. Trials of the Crown Part One

**Part One**

**'Night of Danger'**

 

“So I'm acting like a Tuffle to them.” Prince Trunks reasoned.

“Well you're acting like what they perceive Tuffles to be.” Cauliflora, or Brassica as she was calling herself explained to him. Then she added, “But it's a lot deeper than that, the hatred that rose between our people and the Tuffles. But that's not what I mean to tell you about, at least not by itself.”

“Then what is it?” The younger Saiyan asked.

_What will he think of us if he knows the full truth?_ Brassica wondered. _Will he still want us protecting the Earth with him if he knows how unlikely such an arrangement is to last?_

But who was she to deny him knowledge? Knowledge he should have had far sooner. She said, “You need to know the story of your grandfather. I was part of his clan when we still had clans, before he united us all.” She let her mind drift back to that time . . . for her it was so long ago, she'd barely been more than a child. “My father Zorn was one of his advisors just as I like to think I'm one of yours.”

“You are,” The Prince told her, and smiled at that.

She told him, “I think the best way for you to understand your Saiyan side and what it means to rule us is to learn about the first person to do it successfully . . . to date really the only person. I think I need to tell you the story of your grandfather and how he united us against the Tuffles. To tell you the story of the war for Planet Vegeta, Prince Trunks.”

“Well I mean I know most of it,” Trunks offered, then added, “And you don't call me Prince.”

Brassica shook her head at his ignorance. She told him, “I doubt you know it from the Saiyan perspective, Prince Trunks. Otherwise you wouldn't tell us not to call you Prince.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

It was a beautiful night when the young warrior looked down at the Tuffle city in the distance.

If he hadn't already been there the sounds would have drawn him in. Despite his state he recognized the sounds as alarm sirens. He knew they were meant to warn the Tuffles to get inside, to seek shelter. But to the Oozaru's mind it was just a loud offensive noise, a noise that needed to be silenced.

Every Tuffle child knew that on the night of the full moon the fearsome giants known as the Saiyans became even larger. Growing to a hundred times their original size and becoming covered in coarse dark brown fur the Saiyans, the planetary co-inhabitants of the Tuffles, transformed one and all under the light of the Planet Plant's full moon.

No Tuffle would be caught dead—or alive for that matter—outside the walls of their city on that night. It came just once a year to Planet Plant, though by the reckoning of a certain small insignificant blue-green planet known as Earth the measure of time was eight years. When it came the uneasy peace between the Tuffles and the Saiyans came to an end right along with it . . . but only for the night.

The Tuffles considered it an environmental hazard, but not an act of war. It was something the Saiyans couldn't help, they said. They took precautions and for the average Tuffle the night would pass without any trouble, as the Saiyans understood it the Tuffles regarded the nights of the full moon the same way the Saiyans themselves regarded a really bad thunder storm . . . not something you want to be caught in, but not really anything to worry about.

More an inconvenience than anything. It left the Saiyans, at least those who thought like the young warrior, with the impression that the peaceful nature and extravagant living of the Tuffles left them . . . somewhat oblivious.

Because the Saiyans were no indiscriminate thunder storm, they were no benign wildlife . . . they were warriors. They were _dangerous_ and to treat them otherwise . . . well that was an _insult_.

Still most Saiyans had no control of themselves in their Oozaru form and usually no recollection of anything they'd done. This wasn't enough to get the Tuffles to forgive them outright for their destructive behavior but it was enough that the far more numerous race never came down too hard on them.

For them it was enough that the Saiyans didn't mean it and didn't remember it that they considered it just an unfortunate inconvenience and the peace, or perhaps “indifference” would be the better word, continued.

But not every Saiyan was as clueless as the others. Not every Oozaru flailed wildly and indiscriminately.

They might be one in a hundred, maybe even one in a thousand but for some Saiyans the Oozaru was not some overpowering alter-ego . . . it was just a larger more powerful version of themselves.

And the Saiyan known as Vegeta was one of those rare Saiyans.

The Tuffles lived almost exclusively in their large cities with some—very few—living in farms or towns which were usually abandoned when the full moon came. The rampaging Oozaru could destroy a town or farm in a single night but the cities were well protected and hundreds, maybe thousands of Tuffle soldiers stood ready just in case an over-adventurous Oozaru actually posed a threat to their shelter.

Vegeta knew this, but he'd come anyway. He'd led his clan, his people here all the same and let them look into the light of the full moon just outside the rising walls of the Tuffle city on purpose.

He knew full well what he was doing attacking the Tuffle city, he wasn't content with simply destroying a town or a solitary farm he wanted to get into it with a real population, he wanted to fight thousands of the little scum and push himself to his greatest extreme while at his strongest.

But it wasn't easy. Because the Oozaru was too heavy to fly all the Tuffles needed to do was build walls too high for the great apes to jump over and too slick for them to climb, mostly the wild rampaging Oozaru would give up and wander off after their first attempts to get through the wall failed.

But Vegeta was no wild rampaging Oozaru.

Few warriors could remember their rampage, fewer still had any amount of control during it but perhaps that was because they fought against the beast's mighty mind. They treated the Oozaru as a totally separate entity that stole control of them and being proud Saiyans they fought to keep the beast from overwhelming them.

Not so with Vegeta, he knew better. He was one of the few for whom the beast's mind and his own found no conflict. He reveled in the Oozaru's strength and it made no effort to cease his own calculations and plots. They both wanted the same thing after all . . . to fight. To fight strong enemies and to triumph over them.

They were not two separate beings, they were one and though his attempts to impress this upon others failed spectacularly Vegeta's clan was at least starting to gain a bit of control . . . unfortunately they could practically only practice once a decade.

He _was_ the beast and the beast was him. A form of him without restraint, without discipline, a form of him that disregarded everything but his ultimate desires for combat and conquest. _See this hill? It is mine. See these rocks? They are mine. All these things are mine,_ The Oozaru seemed to say and Vegeta wholeheartedly agreed.

_And this is mine, that's mine, all this is mine. I'm claiming all this as mine . . . except that bit. I don't want_ that _bit, but all the rest of this is mine!_ Vegeta thought, having a bit of fun with the rampage and encouraging his primal self to turn his head and focus on what he _really_ wanted.

_See this wall? It is keeping me from what's mine,_ Vegeta thought and his giant simian bulk was hurled against the solid stone wall that encircled the Tuffle city with all of the Oozaru's might.

A few Tuffles actually lost their footing and fell from the wall, the Saiyan warrior couldn't help but laugh in the Oozaru's guttural voice, but the wall itself held firm against his might. The Saiyan chieftain felt annoyed, _Curse you wall! How dare you defy me!_

But he did not speak. Though he possessed the ability even transformed as an Oozaru it would serve no purpose as the others didn't seem to understand him and all it could do was let the Tuffles know he was special . . . and perhaps let them realize that this attack was no random act.

That could result in . . . repercussions. So it was silently that he raged against the wall for fulfilling its purpose.

Luckily he wasn't left to wage his war alone. His whole clan joined in, though they were just wild rampaging monsters they knew their alpha and they followed his lead. Their massive weight slammed against the city walls, beams that Vegeta's mind recognized as spotlights washed over them, sounds that he knew to be alarm sirens blared.

Different than the ones that simply warned the Tuffles that the night of danger had begun, these ones were a call to action. They were 'the beasts are too bold' alarms and the Tuffles swarmed out of their holes like little ants prepared to attack the monsters daring to attack their hill.

The pests lined their walls, though perhaps they had the foresight to strap themselves to something because no more of them were falling even as they leaned over the edge and began to fire down on the Oozaru.

Vegeta could see that they had several levels from which to fire down from and heavier weapon emplacements at the top of the wall, but his clan was too close for the heavier weapons. The Tuffles should have used them sooner.

As a Saiyan warrior Vegeta could have just flown to the top of the wall but as an Oozaru he could only try to jump as high as the first level the Tuffles were firing down from. The Oozaru might be able to jump high enough to reach the openings the Tuffles were firing from but it couldn't clear the entire wall in one jump, the wall was built obnoxiously high.

But it wasn't like that all the time. The Tuffle technology allowed them to elevate the wall as a defensive measure on the Nights of Danger, but any other night the walls were only high enough to keep wild beasts out without forcing the citizens to feel as if they were living in a bubble.

_Well keeping the beasts out_ is _what they think they're doing tonight,_ Vegeta mused as he leapt for the firing Tuffles hoping that the opening they were using to lean out and fire down on him from would make a good handhold so that he could scale the rest of the way up the wall itself.

If he could just get _inside_ of the city . . .

The small-arms fire, which might have bothered him normally were like pinpricks to the Oozaru but that didn't mean that a thousand pinpricks wouldn't be enough to get through the Oozaru's rage and register as pain.

Of course pain just made the Oozaru angrier, it made Vegeta even deadlier. More Oozaru were throwing themselves at the walls now, the noise of the sirens and the roars of his clan were drawing another clan to their side.

It was unexpected but appreciated, the Tuffles had to divide their fire now amongst even more targets as another group came barreling in.

This unfortunate group _was_ subjected to the heavier weapons fire though, but Vegeta could see that even the missiles did little to the Oozaru and he lodged that information away for later.

_May be useful information next time,_ Vegeta thought.

The Oozaru were almost identical, Vegeta could tell his kin by their scent but these newcomers were totally alien to him and his clan. At first this was no real problem, these new Oozaru hurled themselves at the city's wall and pounded on it the same as his own people, but Vegeta kept one wary eye on proceedings knowing full well what would come next if he didn't encourage them to start _climbing_ the way he was.

To do that he'd have to succeed. _If I can just make it to the top of the wall first . . . if I can do it they'll see and they'll do it too,_ Vegeta thought, willing the Oozaru to make the jump.

His strong hands managed to grip the lip of the opened floor, he started to pull himself up. He felt dozens of guns suddenly turn on his fingertips, and he felt the satisfying sensation of the Tuffles who hadn't managed to get out of the way of his giant fingers in time and who where instead crushed beneath them.

He gripped tight and started to pull himself up, his other hand gripped the gap in the wall and he started to rise, his tail twitching with excitement. He wanted to see the looks on the Tuffles' faces, wanted to see their terror and then he'd breathe a blast of energy from his mouth right into the wall, he'd slaughter them all and if he was lucky blast a hole through the whole thing.

Maybe then it would come tumbling down and his people and their new comrades would have an easier time . . . it occurred to him that he could become the Saiyan to sack a Tuffle city and that excited him so much that he almost didn't hear his dreams come crashing down.

But he _did_ hear it . . . the roar of one of the Oozaru.

Of course the whole pack of them were roaring but _this_ roar he recognized because it was the roar he'd been dreading, the roar he'd hoped to avoid.

It was a roar of challenge.

One of the dumdums had finally recognized that the other clan didn't smell familiar, they didn't smell right, that meant they were rivals . . . and rivals meant a fight.

A fight _way_ more fun than the sort a wall could put up.

_I don't need to worry about that,_ Vegeta thought, _just climb the wall! I won't need the rest of them once I'm inside, if I can I'll find a way to bring the wall down from the other side, I can still do this!_

But part of him knew it wasn't meant to be.

The challenge roars were getting everyone else's attention, it was no doubt what the Tuffles had been waiting for, hoping for, Vegeta actually wondered if that hadn't been the _point_ of the blaring sirens. Had the Tuffles _known_ to attract another clan?

_Clever little scum,_ Vegeta acknowledged, but then the Tuffles always were brilliant.

But he told himself they hadn't counted on him. _Just a little more! Look at me, stop looking at each other, stop fighting each other! Come on don't be stupid! The real fun's inside!_

One of his, he couldn't tell who from where he was, hurled a boulder at one of the strangers. Vegeta roared in frustration, _No, no, no! You idiot, you stupid beast!_

But it was too late. The Oozaru's short attention span had already been taken away from the minuscule irritating Tuffles and turned instead on the far more interesting, and far more worthy challenger.

Vegeta slammed his head against the wall in frustration before finally letting his grip slip so that he came crashing down on one of the other Oozaru—a stranger of course—who threw him off of its back and to the ground.

But Vegeta had all the might of an Oozaru with all the thinking and calculation of a typical Saiyan, he'd make short work of these others and hopefully get things back on track before the night was over.

_You idiots!_ The Saiyan thought in a rage, _you absolute idiots! You cost me this victory, I'll make all of you pay!_

But as above it all as Vegeta might like to think he was in the end the fighting was just too distracting. Try as he might to remember his real plan the other clan was just too much fun to brawl with and even when he could remember his scheme there was no convincing his clan to stop.

After all even if he could shout orders to them without the Tuffles realizing that he was doing it _they_ wouldn't understand him.

And with that the evening became . . . just like any other night of the full moon.

The Oozaru fought, the Oozaru destroyed anything they could . . . and the Tuffle cities stood firm.

By the time the sun rose and the Oozaru began to collapse, their blood lust sated and their weaker Saiyan forms emerging Vegeta had enough time to take one last look at the damaged wall and think _So close . . ._

It would be another year before he'd be able to try again . . .

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“Can you believe it?” The Tuffle King asked as he surveyed the damage to the wall, “I've never seen anything so terrible.”

Indeed, the scientist at his side had to agree. The place where the Oozaru's massive hands had gripped the lip of the wall that allowed their soldiers to fire down on them was grizzly. The bodies had been cleared away in advance of their king's arrival, but there wasn't really anything anyone could do about the mess . . .

Or the smell of death.

“It was almost like a concerted effort,” The general in command of the wall said, stroking his mustache.

The scientist known as Dr. Lychee stroked his own magnificent mustache, by no means intending to let himself be outdone, and said, “Everything we know about the Great Apes makes that unlikely, the Saiyans have no control of themselves when they transform.”

“Maybe not, but I'm telling you this one,” The general said, indicating the damage and so likely the Oozaru that had done it, “came at us like he had purpose.”

“Do you know which one it was?” The Doctor asked.

“Of course not! It was the dead of night and the things are all identical anyhow! Once it rejoined the others in the brawl we couldn't keep track of it even if we'd been trying.” The General grunted.

The King regarded Lychee and asked, “What do you think then? Could this be some kind of rogue? Or could the Saiyans be . . . learning somehow?”

_Saiyans? Learning? There's a humorous thought,_ The Tuffle scientist thought to himself but aloud he said, “Perhaps. Stranger things have happened. But I think it's more likely just a coincidence . . . you did say, General, that it rejoined the brawl, so our initial suspicion that drawing in more Oozaru to distract them was in fact, correct.”

“Yes we're all very impressed with your sound system, Doctor,” the General grunted, “but we lost more than a dozen brave soldiers last night, it was hardly foolproof!”

“I'm sorry General but those men knew the risks and this city's population of well over two hundred thousand is still very safe.”

“Not completely, we've still got to get the pests off our proverbial lawn,” The General grunted, gesturing over the edge of the wall where without having to lean too far over Dr. Lychee could see that the Saiyan brutes were all fast asleep.

Some further from the site than others but mostly they'd just fallen asleep wherever they'd been standing when the sun rose, the Oozaru hadn't strayed all that far from the wall it seemed.

Lychee _did_ allow himself to wonder if _maybe_ there had been some rogue making a concerted effort to keep his kind near the city, perhaps hoping to get through the walls . . . but what could that possibly achieve?

Surely the Saiyans didn't actually _want_ to get inside and wreak havoc, did they? What they considered a bit of fun was usually costly but they were so few in number that the general public was in favor of just ignoring them as long as they kept to their desolate wastes. If they caused some real damage that could change and their little bands would be hunted down like the vermin they were.

“Well,” the King said, “see about clearing them out then. Give them some food and water . . . some uh . . . new clothes, and send them on their way.”

“Yes your majesty . . .” The General grunted, but Dr. Lychee could see he found the order as contemptible as the scientist himself.

Though likely for different reasons. For the general the King was asking him to feed and clothe the giants who had cost him more than a dozen good men. No doubt he saw it as rewarding the bad behavior while the King probbly saw it as helping these poor unfortunate beings enslaved to their transformation.

But for the scientist the act was an empty gesture . . . true it cost the Tuffles nothing but a bit of water and some food and it would let them feel morally superior to the brutes but it would _not_ create good will, the Saiyans would not be grateful for the act they would just . . . take it and go.

And the next time they felt like causing trouble they simply would.

_There has to be another way,_ Lychee thought, _some way of . . . dealing with them . . . something better than just a sound system . . ._

Still his system _had_ drawn in more Saiyans to fight the Saiyans attacking them . . . maybe there was something to that . . . perhaps he could find some way to encourage the Saiyans to fight each other . . . maybe even wipe themselves out.

_Well . . . that might be going a bit far . . ._ he thought, but looking at the damaged wall again he decided, _still, no better than they deserve, the miscreants._

But he quickly followed after the King as he left, the old Tuffle asking him, “Do you really think this was all just some coincidence, Doctor? I don't want to just dismiss the General's concerns out of hand . . .”

Doctor Lychee shook his head, “I am a man of science my King. I will believe that Saiyans are intelligent when I meet an intelligent Saiyan, and I will believe the Oozaru can plan attacks when I see an Oozaru plan an attack. I won't say it's impossible, but the simplest explanation is that it was just a coincidence.”

“How many Saiyans have you met?” The King asked.

“Well . . . none.” Dr. Lychee was forced to admit. “What do you take me for, your majesty? I'd never _associate_ with those brutes.”

“Perhaps not . . . but I wonder if maybe we shouldn't give it a try.” The King said.

“Your majesty?” Dr. Lychee asked, surprised by the declaration. “You . . . you want to _meet_ them?”

“Certainly . . . I know some of our people have dealings with the Saiyans so why not invite them in for a chat? Learn a bit about them, maybe see if there's anything our science can do to perhaps prevent another dangerous attack like this.”

The scientist clasped his hands behind his back and answered, “My King that's a good plan, a very good plan _but_ I wonder if perhaps a bit of caution might be in order. _If_ the General is right and these Saiyans did this with a purpose would it not perhaps be prudent to . . . avoid extending the invitation for them to meet your royal self?”

“Nonsense,” The King chuckled, “Remember thanks to your sound system some of them came to our rescue!”

“That is a bit of an overstatement,” Dr. Lychee said in surprise. He thought to himself, _you're grossly anthropomorphizing them, they didn't come to our rescue the noise drew them in and they found a better fight!_

But he could say nothing to his King except, “Your wish is of course my command . . . but . . . perhaps for the sake of safety . . . you should speak to just one of them?”

“Just one of them?” The King asked.

“Yes . . . have him brought here under heavy guard, give him a quick interview and when your royal curiosity has been satisfied . . . send him away.”

“Hmm . . . yes, very well. That would be acceptable. But I want you there with me.” The King said.

“Me?” Dr. Lychee asked, feeling his stomach flip at the thought of it, he stroked his long mustache nervously, “why me?”

“You said yourself you'd never met an intelligent Saiyan . . . maybe today will change that.”

“I very much doubt it,” The Doctor said with a nervous chuckle.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

It was close to midday before Vegeta woke from his post-rampage nap, and it was to the sensation of cold water being poured on his face.

It was done by a being half his size, scrawny and wiry in appearance.

_A Tuffle,_ the Saiyan thought with disdain, but he smiled as he sat up and said, “Good morning . . . whoever you are. Must have been quite a night, did we end up outside of your town?”

“Our city, actually, Saiyan,” The Tuffle soldier scoffed.

“Oh no!” Vegeta gasped, “We didn't _hurt_ anyone, did we?”

“Spare me, we both know you don't actually _care_.” The Tuffle soldier said as two of his squad-mates dragged what looked like a large sack full of potatoes over to Vegeta.

_Are they seriously going to feed us?_ Vegeta wondered.

Still he retained enough of his wit to say, “Oh but I _do_ care. If we'd hurt your people it'd go badly for us in the end, wouldn't it?”

The soldier scoffed again, “Well you've got that right, Saiyan. There's over twenty thousand armed soldiers back in that city, your group barely numbers thirty.”

_Twenty thousand? Yeah right. You've got a lot of civilians but only about a tenth of the soldiers as you said, you're just trying to scare me and it isn't working,_ Vegeta thought but he gratefully accepted the potatoes and a large tunic as well.

He stood up and threw it over himself . . . it felt _nice_ . . . much nicer than the rough furs he and his people wore . . . the same furs that were usually destroyed when they transformed into the Oozaru.

Clever Saiyans tended to stash their clothes under rocks before the transformation but Vegeta had forbidden his people from doing so, he didn't want the Tuffles to think their attack was premeditated.

Another two Saiyans were approaching him and the Tuffle soldiers moved on to the next slumbering form, Vegeta taking a handful of food before they went. He regarded the two approaching Saiyans, one of them he guessed to be the leader of the other clan but the other he recognized as his friend Zorn.

“Look at this,” Zorn said, “they feed us _and_ clothe us . . . we might have to attack their cities more often.”

“Careful, don't let them hear you say that.” Vegeta warned.

“I wasn't born yesterday, of course I won't let them hear me say it.” Zorn said.

Zorn was of a similar size and build to Vegeta himself, but his hair was shorter. Where Vegeta's hair flowed upwards in a glorious spiky mane resembling a burning flame Zorn's hair was more akin to the spiny body of one of the small blue rodents than scurried around the deserts and curled themselves into balls . . .

What did the Tuffles call them? Sanix?

Something stupid like that.

The other Saiyan, the stranger though was a rugged looking young fellow, tall and imposing with a long face topped with spiky black hair that didn't cover the sides of his head, whether it was because he shaved it or if it simply didn't grow Vegeta wasn't sure, but this warrior looked too young to be naturally bald just yet.

Of course looks could be deceiving with Saiyans.

Still Vegeta nodded to this newcomer and they clasped hands. It wasn't a friendly greeting, it was a discreet way to see who was stronger and who, therefore, would be the one really calling the shots in this meeting.

Vegeta was easily twice as strong as this fool, so he didn't bother using his _full_ strength in the test. Instead he used enough to make it clear that he was the winner and smiled an unconcerned smile as he said, “Vegeta.”

“Nappa.” The other leader nodded. “Looks like my group and yours got tangled up last night.”

“So it does.” Vegeta agreed. He thought, _Your group ruined my plans,_ but he didn't say it.

There was no way for Nappa to know that or to have done anything about it so he'd let it go.

He also let Nappa's arm go and turned back to Zorn and patted his cream-colored tunic. He could see Zorn and Nappa were each wearing one of their own, Zorn's was a soft brown and Nappa's a light yellow. Vegeta said, “This is nice though . . .”

“Yeah, I didn't know the made clothes to fit us Saiyans.” Nappa agreed and Vegeta had to admit he wouldn't have guessed that either.

“Especially you,” Vegeta said, making an exaggerated show of looking up at the tall Saiyan, “you sure you've transformed all the way back from Oozaru, big man?”

Nappa laughed, though how much of it was from actually being amused and how much of it was from knowing Vegeta was much stronger than him the other Saiyan wasn't sure.

“It's _too_ nice,” Zorn scoffed, “I can't stand wearing it. It's . . . comfortable.”

Vegeta laughed, “Comfortable? You say that like it's a bad thing, Zorn!”

“I do,” Zorn said, “comfort breeds weakness, Vegeta!”

“Oh you exaggerate,” Vegeta laughed. Zorn was more of a thinker than a fighter, it was a useful trait and one that meant he was smart enough not to challenge Vegeta very often. Still he wasn't _just_ a thinker, he was still a Saiyan fighter and he had very firm ideas when it came to honor and the way of the Saiyan.

He was also less sentimental than Paragus, their clan's other deep thinker so Vegeta favored him enough to allow him his surlier moments. The young leader even liked the idea of this 'honor' thing. He ate some of the potatoes he'd grabbed from the Tuffles and said, “We'll get rid of them once we get some new furs, don't worry. I won't let our people get used to this,” though he had to admit _he_ certainly wouldn't have minded it, “Anyway we should gather our people and move on . . . last night was obviously a failure.”

“What do you mean by that?” Nappa asked.

“Oh I'll tell you about it,” Vegeta said, “You and your group should travel with mine for a while, we'll get to know each other, swap stories and the like.” _And hopefully at the very least get a sense of each other's scent so that next time maybe we won't end up fighting each other,_ Vegeta thought.

“Well sure . . . I mean it's not like we have anywhere better to be but are you sure your territory can sustain us all? You've got a big clan, mine is half the size of yours.”

“I have a very large territory. We'll hunt together, eat together, by the time I let you go you'll feel like part of the clan,” Vegeta said. But he thought , _That is_ if _I let you go._ There was a _reason_ his clan was large . . . and a reason his territory was too.

But Nappa would learn all about that later . . . and if he was smart he'd go along with it, if he wasn't . . . well Vegeta _was_ easily twice as strong as he was.

Vegeta was about to order his people to move out when another of his Saiyans came running over.

It was Paragus, he was dressed in a green tunic and carrying an armful of food himself as he said, “Vegeta, Vegeta! The Tuffles just said they want to talk to one of us!”

“What?” Vegeta raised an eyebrow in surprise and confusion, “About what?”

“I don't know, but they said they can't talk to us about it out here, they want one of us to go inside their city and talk!”

Zorn folded his arms and asked, “Do you want me to go? They might have some kind of punishment in mind, maybe they expect us to explain why we were so close to their city when we knew it was going to be a full moon.”

“If it's a punishment I'll handle it better than you,” Vegeta said, after all Zorn wasn't even as strong as Nappa . . . though that wasn't necessarily a slight if Vegeta's measure was right. Nappa was easily the second strongest Saiyan present, but Zorn was the third . . . Paragus might be the fourth, barring anyone impressive in Nappa's retinue.

“It's your decision, Vegeta.” Paragus told him, “But if it's some kind of trap we can't afford to lose you.”

Vegeta laughed, “Well I'll have to make sure you don't lose me then. I'll be back, just show me which Tuffle wanted to ask us questions.”

“This way,” Paragus told him and led the way towards a Tuffle in a fancier outfit than the other soldiers, “But he says he's only going to take you to the one who wants to talk to us. They called that one King.”

“King huh? That's a stupid name.” Vegeta said.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 


	130. Trials of the Crown Part Two

**Part Two**

**'The Tuffle King'**

 

**Age 789**

**Planet Earth**

 

Trunks frowned, “You mean to tell me that the Saiyans didn't even have the concept of a King until the Tuffles?”

“You have to understand the clans weren't large gatherings. The Tuffles numbered in the hundreds of millions but we numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Any clan leader could have called himself a King or called herself a Queen if they wanted to but it would have just been a meaningless title. Your grandfather _was_ our King.” Brassica told him.

“But this story . . . it takes place before the war?” Trunks asked.

“Actually no. While it's true the war ended with a full moon it lasted for ten years, though the Saiyans weren't united for all of it. The Saiyans didn't care much about the Tuffles at all for a _long_ time before the war began, our people mostly just ignored each other with just some farmers or small towns getting the odd visit from a rowdy rogue or a child looking for a handout.

“But what we consider the beginning of the war was actually the time that your grandfather first got control of his clan and started attacking the Tuffles. But while the Tuffles responded on a local level because it was just a few bands of Saiyans their King didn't realize how bad things were going to get, and no doubt he thought by befriending your Grandfather he could turn things around. The truth is your grandfather was hoping the full moon would be a turning point that would show all of the other clans that conquering the Tuffles was possible, that's why he chose their capital city . . . and because he was so far away from where he'd been causing trouble before they didn't realize our clan was the one that was attacking them elsewhere.”

“But he wasn't able to do anything that first full moon.” Trunks realized. “What changed by the time of the second?”

“We were _united_.” Brassica said with very noticeable pride. “That first full moon a band of twenty-some warriors threw themselves at a wall and failed to crack it. By the full moon that ended the war? _Every_ Saiyan was in position, _every_ city was surrounded or infiltrated. We even learned how to stop their walls from even rising in some cases, but we'll get to that.”

Mai spoke up for the first time asking, “Do you mean to say that Trunks working with the Earth King reminds them of King Vegeta meeting with the Tuffle King?”

“I don't think it's a non-issue for any of them, it certainly isn't for me,” Brassica said, and Trunks didn't miss that she said 'isn't' instead of 'wasn't' before she continued, telling them, “But I think it could be worse than that. The problem wouldn't be working with the Earthlings, the problem is not planning to destroy them or rule them after the fact. If the Earthlings can't prove themselves our superiors or our equals the others will likely think they're not worth having around.”

“That's horrible,” Trunks said, “How can the Saiyan people function by just . . . attacking everything they encounter?”

“Well given that the Saiyan people currently constitute less than twenty individuals, two of whom are technically the same individual I'd say it didn't seem to have worked out well, if that makes you feel any better.” Brassica said a little too brightly.

Trunks frowned, but Mai asked her, “But what about you? You made friends with aliens and you went around not destroying whole galaxies, right?”

Brassica shrugged and said, “As far as I knew I'd been the only one of us left for such a long time it didn't make sense not to be more indifferent towards others. Besides fighting on a hundred worlds hunting a hundred bounties I found a lot of species that were _tougher_ than me, it was my Saiyan ability to adapt and grow stronger along with Tathy's invulnerability that won out more than anything else. And thanks to that in the end I learned that brute strength isn't everything, people can have their worth in other fields.”

What she said made Trunks feel more optimistic, but he feared there was a 'but' coming.

“But,” Brassica said with a sigh, “The fact that you're _serving_ the Earth King may be a bigger problem than anything else.”

“Why?” Trunks asked, “Why can't they learn the value of others like you did?”

Brassica shrugged and said, “Because they're not me. They don't have fifty of your earth years roaming the stars with an immortal alien. They've already had to learn a lot about coexistence, but the truth is coexisting was never easy for us, and change takes time . . .”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

**Age 722**

**Planet Plant**

 

Dr. Lychee stroked his mustache nervously, trying not to let the worry show in front of his King.

“These Saiyans are being peaceful, aren't they?” The King insisted.

“Yes sire, but with all the reports we've received from other cities and with all the attacks on our farms and towns not lucky enough to have strong walls I am highly skeptical that these Saiyans just so happened to be caught just outside our city on _accident_.” The General said.

“I understand that, General,” the King said patiently, “but that's why I want to meet with this Saiyan. See what I can learn from him and perhaps if a friendship can be struck. If we can turn this band of Saiyans into allies instead of adversaries just imagine what we might do with others.”

“Others, sire?” Dr. Lychee couldn't help but ask.

“Yes of course!” The King told them, “We can civilize these Saiyans gentlemen.”

“But what about the full moon sire?” The royal Vizier asked.

“We can obviously think of some way of handling that in the future.” The King said.

“Sire,” the General said, “I don't know if we can contain this Saiyan . . . his battle power is nearly eight thousand, that's double what we've seen on any other Saiyan in the area, it might be the highest on record in fact!”

“It makes sense they would send their best to meet with our best, doesn't it?” The King's chief advisor, the Vizier said.

“Yes, yes, of course,” the General told them, “I'm just worried that their best would turn this throne room into a smoldering pile of rubble with one of those energy blasts of theirs! We have no countermeasure in the event of hostility, your majesty!”

“And that openness and trust will encourage our guest to behave himself.” The King said with a confident nod.

“Sire!” The General gasped.

“He won't trust it, he won't believe it,” the King elaborated, “he's sure to think we have something more dangerous waiting for him if he misbehaves.”

“Of course! The fact that we'd expose our neck to his proverbial blade will leave him too fearful to make the strike, he will be cautious instead!” The Vizier said.

But Dr. Lychee kept his opinion to himself.

It was an awful lot of risk to take hoping that the Saiyan had the capacity for longterm thought and wouldn't think he could just hold the King ransom or something. Or worse realize that even with a full cadre or battalion or whatever the military terminology for the forty-odd armed soldiers crowded into the audience chamber of the throne room, there was _nothing_ they could do to him.

Not before he struck at least.

At least the King had agreed to receive the Saiyan in the throne room. He'd wanted to meet the being outside where the size difference between their people wouldn't be as much of a hindrance. However the King had been convinced that even if it meant the Saiyan would have to stoop a bit to get through the doors the throne room was sufficiently high of ceiling to allow him to stand at his full height.

They hoped.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The streets of the Tuffle city were crowded with . . . well, Tuffles, what else?

But what surprised Vegeta was the fact that none of them seemed afraid of them. Despite the havoc he'd tried to wreak last night the failure was evidenced by how . . . excited the Tuffles were to see him.

Despite his sizable military escort people lined the streets talking excitedly about the barbarian wild-man off to meet this King guy, they even assaulted his eyes with little flash boxes, some had the nerve to want to try to stand besides him while one of their friends used the flash box on the both of them, but the Tuffle warriors—if they could even be called that, the bunch of weaklings—kept having to push them away.

But they never did it right, they were gentle and careful not to hurt anyone. Acting like that the mob would never realize who was in charge.

Vegeta had no love for the Tuffles but seeing these warriors fail so spectacularly at what would have been second nature to any Saiyan was just too much and he had to help them just a little.

“If you just kill some of them the rest will get out of your way.” Vegeta suggested loudly, this actually only elicited laughter from the crowd.

They were so unafraid of him and his kind, so out of touch with the reality of what he was to them that they assumed he was joking. The Saiyan's mind was reeling at the thought of that.

He'd met farmer Tuffles and they'd been rightly wary of his kind and their strength. But their city kin seemed not to understand at all, seemed to view it all as some kind of event staged for their benefit. Some of their warriors had died the previous night and they didn't care a whit. Could they really be so sheltered, he wondered.

The so-called warriors at least didn't laugh at him and doubled their efforts to keep the crowd back, no doubt fearing he'd start a demonstration, and frankly Vegeta was sorely tempted to do just that.

But he was more curious about this King person than anything so he exercised patience, and it was soon rewarded as he was led into a large building near what he guessed to be the center of the city.

It was massive and white. At first Vegeta thought that was odd, but then it occurred to him on a world like theirs with frequent dust storms and long rolling deserts it was almost impossible to keep _anything_ white. Red sand would stain it sooner or later but this building looked as if it were in its own dimension.

The Saiyan had to admit, without Zorn or Paragus or any one else around to think less of him for it, that _this_ was a show of real power.

This pristine white building on a world like theirs was, by all rights, an impossibility but this King of the Tuffles had such power that he could keep his home beautiful and clean.

Vegeta knew this wasn't a power over nature, it was a power over the people, and that was something he could respect and even aspire to.

_Someday I'll have something white,_ Vegeta thought to himself. Though he wasn't sure what he could possibly obtain, perhaps some white clothes? A nice tunic made from the fur of an albino animal perhaps?

He was distracted by those thoughts as a pair of doors large enough for a Saiyan were opened and the Tuffles led him into a large hall full of Tuffle warriors. The Saiyan grinned at them as he strolled through the center of the room. Many of them squirmed but all of them kept their eyes on him, looking up as he walked through.

These ones wore brown tunics over blue pants unlike the warriors outside who all wore blue tunics over their blue pants. Vegeta wasn't sure why at first, but then he realized _Ah, the elite soldiers wear a different color . . . yes, this allows anyone looking at them to know they're elite . . . very nice._

The Saiyan was less impressed when he was led into the next room which contained an old man sitting on a throne surrounded by old men in differing degrees of fancy dress though none was as fancy as the one on the throne.

Vegeta folded his arms, ignoring the Tuffle soldiers who tried to urge him further into the room and instead stood with his legs apart and letting his tail swish around he said, “You're King I take it?”

The whole assembly made shocked noises, one Tuffle wearing a version of the brown uniform with yellow . . . _things_ on the shoulders and jewelry down the chest that consisted of colored ribbons and gold coins puffed out his chest and cried, “Do not speak to the King in such a manner!”

“General, calm down,” the Tuffle on the throne chuckled, waving a hand at the old Tuffle, “I can speak for myself. Yes, I am _the_ King, Saiyan. What are you?”

“They call me Vegeta.” The Saiyan said with a shrug.

“Vegeta . . . and what are you to your people, Vegeta?” The King asked.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. He knew what the Tuffle King was asking but he decided to toy with him, answering as if he were confused he said, “Male?”

There was uneasy laughter. Ah the stupid Saiyan, it confirmed their view of things and made them feel safer, more secure.

“No, no, no . . . I mean in your . . . tribe? Your group out there, are you their leader? Are you their best fighter?”

“Yes.” Vegeta said with a confident nod.

“To which?” The General asked.

Vegeta made a show of looking confused again, “What?”

“I believe,” A Tuffle in brown—but not a uniform like the soldiers—with a long white mustache and a prominent widow's peak not too dissimilar to Vegeta's own spoke up, “your majesty, and my good General, that he is saying there is no difference between the leader of a Saiyan band and their strongest fighter. That corroborates with what our zoologists have suggested.”

_Zoologists?_ Vegeta thought angrily, _Zoologists? We're not animals you scum!_

But the anger only flashed on his face for a moment before he hid it away and said, “What's a zoo-gol-oh-jist?”

The mustachioed Tuffle gave him a scrutinizing look, and Vegeta hoped he hadn't been too slow to hide his anger. Luckily the others didn't seem to notice.

“Zoo- _all_ -ah-jist,” The King corrected him as if he were a child, “they're people who study the wildlife of the world, including your people.”

“We _are_ pretty wild. But what does 'study' mean?” Vegeta asked, and the Tuffles laughed again.

“It means to learn about something, just like I'm trying to learn about you now.” The King told him. “Do you have anyone like that? Saiyans who try to learn about things?”

“We all learn,” Vegeta said, “we learn by fighting.”

“So you're the leader of that group then . . . were you the leader of the first group or the second?” The General demanded.

“Huh?” Vegeta asked, and now the crowd chuckled again though this time Vegeta was genuinely confused by the question. “You mean was I here before Nappa's group? I don't know,” he lied, “we don't remember anything after we transform.”

The Saiyan put on a look of concern, “We didn't hurt any of your people did we?”

“As a matter of fact,” The General growled, “you _did_! Luckily you weren't able to actually get over the walls or this could have been a very different story!”

“Oh no, I wouldn't want your people being hurt! That would have been terrible!” Vegeta pretended to agree even though it was actually exactly what he'd wanted last night.

“Yes, terrible for _you_ ,” The General was saying but the King interrupted him.

“Enough! General please, this isn't the time. We can't hold the Saiyans accountable for things they have no memory of. It was an honest mistake.”

“Oh really?” The mustachioed Tuffle asked, stroking his mustache. “With your permission Majesty, might I ask this Vegeta just why he was so close to our city when night fell? Surely he knew that he would transform right next to us. Had our defenses not succeeded he could have done serious damage, so _if_ he doesn't want to cause us harm _why_ was he so close to us?”

Vegeta made a show of looking embarrassed, he looked around as if he were trying to be sure no other Saiyans were nearby to hear him and he leaned towards the Tuffle a little and whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear, “We don't know how to tell time.”

There was some laughter at that, Vegeta was shocked that there were some sympathetic noises too. Not from the soldiers, but from the other Tuffles.

“This is just terrible!” Someone said, “The Saiyans are a danger to us because they're _uneducated_!”

“If we teach them to be civilized they could be our friends!” Another Tuffle cried.

“Oh, I _like_ friends!” Vegeta said, “You mean you could teach us to be as smart as Tuffles?”

The King looked as if he were about to say yes, but the mustached Tuffle interrupted him and said, “Your majesty, I might suggest that that's unnecessary. I think that this Vegeta has all the education he needs . . . and I don't think his people need any tutoring from us.”

“Well for their role in the world I suppose that's true, Doctor,” The King laughed, “but still if the Saiyans want to learn how to tell time why not help them?”

“Your majesty . . . I wouldn't be so rude as to suspect _dishonesty_ from our esteemed guest,” the Doctor said, “but I do find it skeptical that the Saiyans are totally clueless about when the full moon will strike. Nevertheless perhaps rather than inviting them into our cities to learn we could send tutors to their communities to educate them in ways suited to their strengths.”

“Suited to our strength?” Vegeta asked.

“Why yes,” The Doctor said, giving him a stern look, “you Saiyans are very physically strong. And you do a lot of damage when you are Oozaru. I know the deserts must not have much food, what do you think your majesty of us offering the Saiyans food in exchange for . . . physical labor? Let the Saiyans learn to _rebuild_ the farms and towns they destroy. Perhaps in learning how difficult it is to create they'll be less eager to destroy. And perhaps slowly they can make something of themselves.”

“That's a tall order,” The General scoffed, “but I agree with the good Doctor, I think it's better to let the Saiyans work for us than it is to just give them gifts.”

The King scratched his chin and asked, “Well Vegeta, what do you think? Would your people be willing to help rebuild some of the things you've destroyed?”

Vegeta couldn't resist the smile that spread across his face. He locked eyes with the Doctor and thought, _You think you're using me, you think you're giving us unfavorable work . . . but learning how to_ build _your buildings will come in handy when it's time to bring them down._

Vegeta said, “I can only speak for _my_ people . . . but we'll happily accept.”

“What about the other Saiyans?” The King asked.

“Oh I don't know, I'd have to ask them,” Vegeta said, meaning it as a joke.

“How soon could you do that?” The King asked.

Vegeta blinked, “I . . . don't know. We don't actually organize.”

“Why is that?” The King asked.

“We're aggressive!” Vegeta said proudly, “We like to fight and making sure we spread out makes life a little more manageable, and it's easier on the local wildlife and resources.”

“Would you say you're a highly territorial species?” The Doctor asked.

“I suppose you could say that,” Vegeta shrugged, unsure of how that made any difference. “The reality of what we are is what we are, isn't it?”

“But you travel in family groups, don't you?” Another Tuffle, the one standing nearby to the King and dressed almost as nicely asked.

“We have clans, that's true.” Vegeta said. “But our clans aren't exactly family groups, not _everyone_ is related. Mostly it's just people we like to fight alongside, you know? Sure that might mean a brother or sister but usually when you see a Saiyan clan you have your chief and then you have all the warriors under him.”

“And women and children?” The King asked.

“I said, you've got the chief and all the warriors.” Vegeta told them. “All our women and children _are_ warriors. From the moment we're born we Saiyans have an urge to fight, we learn to stand and walk quickly and within a short time we're ready for battle!”

“So you don't have to care for your young for very long?” The Doctor asked.

Vegeta frowned, “No. Mostly we don't care for them at all, if they're too weak to manage on their own who needs them?”

The Tuffles laughed but it was an uncomfortable laugh that turned into a sort of awkward silence when, Vegeta supposed, they realized he wasn't telling a joke.

“Do you Tuffles take care of your children?” Vegeta had to ask.

“Of course we do,” The Doctor said, “Not just the mother and father either, the entire community works together to make sure the child grows into a functioning and contributing member of society.”

“What? Even if it's not their kid? If I were a Tuffle why should some other Tuffle having a kid become my problem?” Vegeta asked.

“Well a nurturing environment does a child well and having many teachers helps the child to absorb a wealth of knowledge and skills that his or her parents don't possess themselves to pass down.” The King informed him.

Vegeta shrugged, but he'd have to try to remember that in case he ever had any kids. _They'll be strong because they're mine, but they could learn from Zorn and Paragus too, it'd be like the three of us all combined into one Super Saiyan!_

“So if you're so aggressive what keeps your clans in check?” The Doctor asked, “How do you keep from just attacking each-other all the time?”

“Well the chief of course!” Vegeta said, “The toughest Saiyan calls the shots! If anybody doesn't like what he says they can try to pick a fight but a good chief never backs down and never loses!”

“And you're a good chief?” The King asked.

“I'm the best.” Vegeta said with a smirk.

“If all they go by is power I can believe it,” The General muttered, “I don't think I've ever seen a Saiyan with that kind of battle power.”

Vegeta was intrigued, “Battle power?”

The Tuffle general held up the small device he wore over his eye and said, “This is a scouter, it helps us to detect powerful dangers.”

“Like us!” Vegeta realized.

“Like you.” The General grunted. “It puts a numerical value to each threat letting us know how best to respond.”

“What, like a . . . power level?” Vegeta asked.

“Yes that's right, exactly.”

“What's mine?” Vegeta asked excitedly.

“Yours is over eight thousand.”

Vegeta grinned, “That sounds like a lot! What's Zorn's?”

“I . . . don't know who that is.” The General admitted.

“Can I see it?” Vegeta asked and the General gave the King a reluctant look but the King was nodding enthusiastically.

“Oh of course! Of course! We have so many, it's good to see you show enthusiasm about something! Yes yes, I say _keep_ the scouter!”

Vegeta put the ill-fitting thing over his eye and started pressing the button, he _did_ know Tuffle numbers, he'd learned that when he was younger because the farms were often a good source of food for Saiyan children and Vegeta had been no different.

It took a few button presses before he could filter out everything and zero in on just his fellow Saiyans outside the city walls. Most of the levels were around or else just under a thousand, but he could see Nappa—he guessed—sporting a power level of about four thousand, _Half what I am, just like I thought,_ Vegeta thought to himself scanning and seeing that there were a few power levels closer to two or three thousand.

He could guess that one of them was Zorn but he doubted Paragus was that strong so that meant that Nappa might have some standouts after all.

_Good . . ._

Vegeta turned back to the Tuffles and said, “You said I could keep this, right?”

“Yes!” The King said, “And with it perhaps you could spend some time trying to find your fellow Saiyans. Tell them that if they work for the Tuffles we will give them food and friendship.” The King said with a benign nod. The crowd clapped their hands for some reason, Vegeta looked around confused.

Then he said, “Uh . . . okay. I'll pass that along.”

“Splendid.” The King said happily.

“Right . . . well if we're going to be working together in the future I'm sure we'll have lots of opportunities to talk some other time . . . but I think I should go. If my people run out of food out there they might start to brawl!”

“Oh my! We can't have that. Go ahead then young Lord, and please find more of your friends and tell them that the Tuffles of this city will offer plentiful supplies of food in exchange for hard work.” The King said.

The fancy dressed one gasped, “Your majesty, you didn't really intend to call him a Lord, did you?”

“Why not? As the leader of his people does this young Vegeta not count as a Lord in your eyes?” The King asked and the crowd murmured for a while before finally making noises of agreement. The King nodded, “Then it is settled! Lord Vegeta it is.”

“Lord . . . is that like King?” Vegeta asked.

“It is beneath the King,” The fancy dressed Tuffle scoffed, “A Lord is beneath a King the same way you say your warriors are beneath a chief.”

Vegeta considered that. So a King was better than a Lord . . . well then what good was it to be a Lord? Still he said, “Okay . . .” and then headed out the door.

The Tuffles gasped and he heard murmuring about his not actually saying “goodbye” but Vegeta didn't see a need. Wasn't it obvious he was going by the fact that he'd gone?

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Outside of the city the small gathering of Saiyans spent their time waiting for the return of Vegeta eating the Tuffles' offerings, though not without complaint.

“I wish they'd give us some meat, don't you, Bardock?” One of them, a rotund individual with a messy bowl cut asked his average looking companion. Bardock, the average looking warrior he spoke to scoffed in response. His companion pressed and said, “Well maybe you don't need it as badly as I do, but these tatos aren't doing the trick.”

“Nothing ever does with you, Shugesh.” Bardock said, but he said it with a degree of affection. The two were friends, which was one of the best ways for young Saiyans to survive, though their level of camaraderie wasn't actually all that uncommon among older Saiyans either.

Though Bardock and Shugesh had gone through their first real growth spurt putting them firmly in the 'young adult' category that didn't mean their friendship had simply ended by any means. It was always good to have someone you could trust to fight alongside you.

“Hey, you Tuffles!” Shugesh shouted at the smaller creatures, “You got any gourd fruits? Or maybe some melons!”

“So what if we do?” One of the Tuffles answered angrily before his comrades could pull him away.

The Saiyans all laughed around the pile of food sacks and continued to feast. The full moon's rampage was taxing and Bardock had to admit that he didn't really disagree with Shugesh, something more substantial than a few sacks of tatos would be nice.

“So what do you think about these guys?” Bardock asked his friend.

Shugesh smirked, “The Tuffles?”

Bardock's eyes darted across from where he and Shugesh sat to the other group of Saiyans. Though everyone was sitting together in a circle around the food the two clans were still separated as they took each other in.

None of them could remember the fighting last night, but they all knew that their Oozaru forms had done battle . . . it wasn't really clear who had won since everyone on both sides—as far as Bardock knew—was alive and accounted for.

They might have been a little rougher with each other if anyone had died. Even though the Oozaru was uncontrollable having a member of your clan killed by some other clan was _always_ a good reason to fight and Saiyans loved reasons to fight.

Such as it was if this Vegeta took much longer and the food started to get scarcer there could be a brawl over who got how much of what.

Shugesh said, “A big group, no kids though.”

It wasn't exactly unusual for a Saiyan clan not to keep careful track of their young, their own group only had one with them. Usually, except for when they were still very young, youngsters either kept up or fell behind and were forgotten. Still it was surprising that Vegeta's group didn't seem to have _any_ youngsters though they had plenty of females.

“Vegeta looks young himself, younger than our chief.” Bardock said quietly. It actually occurred to him that Vegeta might not be all that much older than he was himself, but to already be leading a band . . . well that made him something special.

“Yeah. Seems strong though, no wonder he already has a clan to control.” Shugesh said, giving voice to Bardock's own thoughts.

“Maybe he hasn't had any kids yet,” Bardock suggested, “and maybe the ones his warriors have had haven't been good enough to keep up, especially with the full moon. He seems a lot stronger than everyone else he has.”

“He seems a lot stronger than everyone else _we_ have!” Shugesh said.

The pair's chatter was cut short when the one called Paragus stood up and pointed towards the walls of the city, “Look! Vegeta's coming back!”

“About time!” Chief Nappa grunted.

This Chief Vegeta flew fast though and made it back to them wearing one of the Tuffles' green monocles over one of his eyes.

It was ill-fitting but it seemed to do the job. He pressed the button on the side of it a few times and looked at all of them, shutting one of his eyes as he looked through the thing and seemed to stop on Bardock for a moment before saying, “Well Nappa . . . I have to say you've got yourself some tough warriors. But I didn't expect a brat to be your toughest.”

Nappa laughed and said, “Watch it, that's my boy you're talking about!”

“Oh yeah? What's his name?”

“Nappa, same as me!”

Vegeta seemed surprised, “You named your kid after you?”

“Why not? It's the best name I know!” Nappa told him.

Vegeta seemed to consider for a while before he said, “Huh . . . well I guess I can't argue with that logic. Though I think my own name is the best.”

“Then name your own brat after you!” Nappa laughed, and Vegeta laughed too.

But Bardock gave the younger Nappa a wary look.

He didn't miss that Vegeta had called Young Nappa their toughest . . . he didn't say “toughest after you.”

“Well if I ever have a kid I'll keep that in mind.” Vegeta nodded.

“I can't help notice you haven't got _any_ kids.” Nappa said. “Just take over?”

“Actually I've been running things for a while now,” Vegeta said with a grin, “and we do have a few youngsters we didn't bring along with us. They're with the rest of the clan.”

“The _rest_ of the clan?” Nappa gawked. “You mean there's more of you? How do you feed so many?”

“I told you my territory is big. Come on, let me show you where I call home.” Vegeta said.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 


	131. Trials of the Crown Part Three

**Part Three**

**'Escalation of Conflict'**

 

**Age 789**

**Planet Earth**

 

Trunks folded his arms and said, “From the sounds of it my grandfather was some kind of a con-artist!”

“How so?” Brassica asked in surprise. She held her King in high regard and considered her portrayal of him favorable to be sure, but she also saw no reason to lie so it was entirely possible that Prince Trunks was seeing things very differently having never met the man himself.

She'd grown up with the King after all, and she had the benefit of having lived through the context of their war. Brassica knew that Prince Trunks lacked that and his Earthling sympathetic side might well cause him to miss the moral of the story so to speak.

“He plays the Tuffle King,” Prince Trunks explained, “He gets him to give his people food with the promise of friendship. But he just plans to learn how to destroy their cities, and use their scouters while pretending to help them. I could understand, though not condone, if it were just the Tuffles but it sounds like he plays Nappa senior as well. He tells him he'll treat him and his clan like part of the family but I'm guessing the fact that younger Nappa would end up being my father's retainer means he just tricked him too and made them serve him.”

Brassica frowned and said, “There was no trick. Everyone served him, that's the point. That's what it means to be King of all Saiyans.”

“On Earth a King is a wise ruler who leads and guides his people.” Mai pointed out.

“This was not Earth, it was Planet Plant. Besides the Nappa with Prince Vegeta _was_ considered to be something of nobility, just like me. That's because his father agreed to serve the King, just like mine did, and the Nappa you knew of was no serf, he was a General of the Saiyan army just like his father before him. King Vegeta rewarded loyal service.”

Prince Trunks looked a little relieved and said, “Well at least there's that. But in that case how is that any different than what I'm doing? I'm treating them fairly aren't I? And I'm going to reward whoever wins the tournament, they've got a fair chance.”

“It's not only about what's fair. Yes he rewarded loyalty but he attacked other Saiyans when it was necessary. Turles is plotting against you, the others know it. It is necessary to attack him and to kill him. Do that and the others will fall in line behind you.”

“They're not wild animals,” Prince Trunks said, “they're individuals with their own ways of thinking.”

“Do you truly believe you have to tell _me_ that?” Brassica wondered.

“No, of course not. But you act as if they'll all just . . . behave a certain way. As if they can't act any other way. I want to change how they think, I mean at least with regards to seeing other races as something to be exploited, but even I know it has to happen on an individual basis, not as a collective.” Prince Trunks explained to her. “I can't just make one move and win the whole chess game.”

Brassica frowned because that last metaphor confused her a bit, but she felt like she understood the main thrust of what he'd meant by it. She told him, “The problem is if they don't see you as a leader why should they listen to you as individuals _or_ as a collective? If you don't figure out Turles is plotting you seem foolish and out of touch, he wins. If you _know_ Turles is plotting and don't discipline him you seem weak and afraid and he wins. Neither of those options will earn you Saiyan loyalty.”

“Then maybe I'm not cut out to be the Prince of all Saiyans.” Trunks suggested.

Brassica shook her head, “If not you then who? Turles?”

“If they're choosing him anyway,” Trunks shrugged but Brassica shook her head violently.

But it was Mai who scolded him, “You can't turn your back on your people because you're not popular. They're choosing Turles now because they've known him longer, he's one of them and he's telling them everything can be easy.”

“Is he?” Trunks asked.

“Yes.” Mai told him. “He's telling them they don't have to change, that just getting stronger is the only thing the Saiyan race needs to pull itself up from extinction. But that's not true, the Saiyan race needs to evolve and that's going to be hard. It's up to you to help them want it, that's what our King would do.”

Brassica nodded, relieved that it came from Mai. Not just because she'd said it better than Brassica would have, but because the old bounty hunter knew that the Earthling woman held a significance in her Prince's eyes whether as advisor or something else and that would help him to listen to the words rather than just hearing them.

“She's right, Prince Trunks,” Brassica said, “Our people need to advance further and unity will help with that. It's important to our people, without it we were just marauding tribes of barbarians, your grandfather saw that. As his grandson we _want_ to believe you're the one to lead us, but as the Legendary Super Saiyan and the slayer of Frieza you've got an even greater claim to leadership than just your bloodline.”

“But what can I do?” Trunks asked, “Killing Turles would just be a waste and it won't fix anything, another Turles will just come along down the line. Besides is it really 'do as I say not because it's right but because if you don't I'll _kill_ you'?If the price of unity is killing anyone who steps out of line it's not real unity at all.”

Brassica had to admit that was a difficult one to argue but she said, “The problem is that we need a focus. An enemy. You made peace with the PTO . . . you took away our enemy so we turn inward to find a new one.”

“And that's just another thing I'll have to change.” Trunks said.

“Are Earthlings any different?” Mai asked suddenly. “Even when the foe was just starvation or the elements earthlings came together to face it, I think that's what Brassica is saying. When you have greater concerns to deal with it's easier to ignore the little things that bother you about a person, when the PTO were a threat hanging over their heads and the force responsible for the extinction of their race Turles could ignore your merciful side but now that there's no other threat . . .”

Brassica smiled appreciatively at Mai, but added, “It's worse than that though, because now you're a barrier to dealing with the threat. Because our revenge is incomplete. That makes you the thing that they'll come together against . . . and you don't want that.”

“No, I don't,” Trunks agreed, “but what can I do?”

Brassica folded her arms and said, “Well . . . sometimes a leader has to make a sacrifice. Sometimes he has to do a little bit of evil in order to accomplish a greater good . . . King Vegeta was no different.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

**Age 723**

**Planet Plant**

 

Dr. Lychee had been hard at work when some of the King's honor guard had summoned him to the throne room. Since it was usual for the King's own guards to be sent on such an errand instead of some other servant the Doctor understood that discretion was probably called for.

This was something the King didn't want anyone else to know about.

And since it was unlikely that the King was summoning him in that way for anything positive the Doctor took along a bundle of the blueprints for the weapon he planned to work on and left his workshop for the King's palace in the dead of night.

The streets were so quiet and peaceful at night, the Doctor wished it could be like that every night.

Even on nights of the full moon.

Defenses and deterrents were one thing but he was confident now that the Saiyans would only understand one thing, and that was brute strength.

Not the sort of thing the Tuffles had any chance of ever bringing to the table against them but Dr. Lychee's new invention, when finished, would be more than up to the task. Perhaps that would ease whatever concerns his King had.

In any event they still had seven years before the next full moon and things would be manageable until then.

The Doctor was led to the King's private solar where the Tuffle King sat in a chair next to an electronic fireplace. Its artificial glow lit the room and provided warmth without the dangers of an actual flame. It gave the old Tuffle an eerie glow as he sat in his armchair reading over data-pads of information but none of this was unexpected.

It was only when the guard who had brought Lychee in wordlessly left closing the door to the solar behind him that the Doctor realized that his King's mood was even worse than he thought and their meeting would have to be even more secret than he'd assumed.

“Doctor . . .” The King said softly, “tell me . . . have I been too weak?”

“I don't believe so, my King.” Doctor Lychee told him, “What causes you to think such a thing?”

The King shook his head and looked back down at his data-pads, “I have given a tremendous amount of trust to Vegeta, as you know . . . but it does not appear that the situation with the Saiyans is getting any better, far from it in fact it only seems to be getting worse.”

“Worse, your Majesty?” Dr. Lychee frowned. He'd suspected as much but he knew he wouldn't get the information he really needed by playing the 'I told you so' card, he'd have to encourage the King to tell him what he needed to know.

So he said, “But aren't the Saiyans building things for us just as your royal wisdom envisioned? Aren't they helping with our farming efforts? The band that follows Vegeta grows every day leaving our capital region peaceful and violent unruly rogue elements have been effectively put down time and time again by the forces of those regional governors.”

Of course Lychee knew the reports weren't accurate, it was just what the public needed to be told.

But he didn't expect his King to say, “Things just keep escalating. The governor of sector nine exterminated an entire clan of Saiyans by trapping them in a cave and depriving them of oxygen, their young included.”

“An effective tactic it sounds like.” Dr. Lychee said.

“Yes, and one that other officers have expressed an interest in adopting . . . but they're not just eliminating the willful rogues of that band, they're exterminating entire bloodlines. We've stooped to killing innocents, Doctor . . .”

Though he thought, _there are no innocent Saiyans, even their young are aggressive monsters,_ the Doctor said nothing, waiting for his King to continue.

He was quite surprised when his King said, “Every day there's some new attack, some new act of violence or terror. It's as if we're at _war_ with the Saiyans. Vegeta assured me that eliminating those rogues would show strength and the other Saiyans would fall in line. But instead it seems that previously docile clans _become_ aggressive in the aftermath. It is as if . . .”

“As if Vegeta lied to you?” Dr. Lychee suggested.

It was what he'd long suspected. True Vegeta kept his growing clan under control in the capital region but it seemed to the Doctor as if all the Tuffles were doing by eliminating powerful Saiyan rogues was leaving the survivors of their clans to seek out the safety of Vegeta's. In other words attacking high profile targets as he suggested only seemed to make him stronger while it cost the lives of Tuffle soldiers.

True it cost the lives of Saiyans as well but they weren't _his_ Saiyans and the survivors often changed that by joining him.

It was why the doctor had actually been pleased to hear that the Governor of zone nine had simply exterminated the entire clan. If the Saiyans only understood brutality let a true show of brutality put them in line and let more still follow in its wake.

Besides this way Vegeta wouldn't get any more power from this move.

Dr. Lychee was thoroughly in favor.

But his King was not. The old Tuffle shook his head and said, “No, no, I don't think Vegeta has lied at all. But I suspect he's too open-minded for his own good.”

“What?” Dr. Lychee asked flatly.

“Vegeta sees the power of the Tuffles and treats us as if we are on the level of Saiyans, I think when the other Saiyans see Tuffles killing their kind they don't view it the way they would if it were done by a Saiyan.”

“I . . . I do not follow, your Majesty.” The Doctor said.

“In our own zone Vegeta has been building his peaceful cooperative clan. The Saiyans he defeats submit to him as a Saiyan but when our generals and governors attack Saiyans they have no one to submit to because it is a crowd of soldiers doing the fighting not the governors themselves. I think they must be holding a grudge over it, don't you?”

_You'd better not say what I think you're going to say . . ._ Dr. Lychee thought, and to head his King off at the proverbial pass he quickly said, “Well perhaps local warrior Lords are a bit much but I do believe there is merit to meeting the Saiyan brutality with equal brutality. What has been the Saiyan response to the exterminated clan in zone nine?”

The King shook his head, “Do you mean in zone nine, or do you mean Vegeta's people? Because I haven't told Vegeta yet that my people exterminated an entire clan of his own . . . I can think of no way to present that as anything other than a horrible crime.”

The doctor shook his head, “Then what is the local reaction?”

The King met his gaze and said, “Submission for now. The Saiyan bands in that region have been laying low . . . as I said, other officers are eager to put the tactic into practice in their zones. The Chief General wishes me to offer a commendation to the Governor of the Ninth Zone . . . to _reward_ the man for the act.”

“As well you should!” Doctor Lychee was unable to contain himself any longer, clutching the plans for his weapon he said, “Your majesty, don't you see? You said yourself that we are at war with the Saiyans, Vegeta and his kind _might_ be our allies but they're clearly a minority.”

“Every other time we've destroyed belligerent Saiyans the response has been to create _more_ belligerent Saiyans. This time we exterminate a whole group and the others submit, surely Doctor you don't think it's going to be _that_ easy. A retaliation may be on the horizon.”

“Why? The other Saiyan clans should hold no loyalty to the one that was exterminated, my King. Isn't that what we've learned from Vegeta? Saiyans only hold their own clan close to their heart, they care little for the fate of other clans. By destroying one clan you've put fear into the hearts of the other clans, fear that the Saiyans have been too bull-headed to feel until now!”

The Doctor stroked his mustache and tried to get control of his emotions. He cleared his throat and more calmly he said, “More to the point your Majesty one of your officers found a way to end Saiyan resistance without any cost in Tuffle lives. That _is_ a deed worth rewarding however unsavory it might seem. It is a small price to pay, my King for the pacification of an entire region.”

The King nodded slowly and said, “I thought so too . . . and that is what worries me.”

The Doctor relaxed a bit, glad to see his King was firmly grounded in reality at least he asked, “Why should it worry you your Majesty?”

The King frowned at him and said, “I envisioned a world of peaceful coexistence but it seems that I was wrong . . . and so it seems that I was a weak King. I allowed my people to suffer when a firmer hand was needed . . . and yet the hand is so firm that I shrink from the thought of it. Not because I particularly care for the lives of these Saiyans, as you say, it's a small price to pay. But I worry at the cost all the same to _us_ as a people.”

Dr. Lychee nodded slowly, “It is true such brutal tactics are contrary to our peaceful nature but I believe, your Majesty, that a few brutal acts carried out by a select few would spare the majority from the hardship of ever having to commit them themselves. Again, you say that it is as if we are at war with the Saiyans, well your Majesty I say that we _are_ and it is time to treat them that way.”

The King nodded slowly. “I . . . am forced to agree. I've already given the word that strategic clan elimination will be the order of the day from this point forward . . . but to exercise restraint and limit the tactic to clans that have exhibited aggressive behavior in the past, and not simply targets of opportunity.”

“A reasonable measure, my King.” The Doctor nodded. “But . . . why did you summon me for this? Is this not the sort of conversation you should have had with the Chief General, or your Royal Vizier?”

The King looked up, his face lit eerily from the artificial fire's glow as he said, “I would have thought it obvious . . . in every other instance Tuffle aggression has failed to result in Saiyan compliance. Instead it has resulted in Saiyan aggression. Only Saiyan aggression seems to result in Saiyan compliance.”

“Yes . . . except in this instance.”

“Yes . . .” The King said, “So far.”

The Doctor smiled and said, “You want me to be prepared if the Saiyans are simply too stunned to retaliate at the moment.”

“That is correct.”

“Then I have just the weapon to show you my King . . . though it is several years away from completion, I _believe_ I can have it prepared before the next full moon.”

The King shook his head, “I need a deterrent, not a weapon, Doctor!”

“This weapon _is_ a deterrent, your majesty. For what is a deterrent if not a method of instilling fear? Fear of a thing to prevent an act against that thing, correct? When the Saiyans come to know my Hatchiyack they will come to know fear as well, the Saiyans of the ninth region have only had a taste but I will give them a feast! I have the blueprints right here.”

The King nodded slowly and indicated a chair near the fireplace, “Show me.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Campfires held a special place in the hearts of Saiyans.

They were a place of warmth from the cold desert nights of Planet Plant, a place for cooking meat and perhaps most importantly they were a place for the clan to come together and share stories.

Bonding was an important part of life in a Saiyan clan. Saiyan warriors had to get along and enjoy fighting alongside each other after all or they'd all just go their separate ways . . . or kill one another.

Their large gathering congregated around a massive fire in the center of their little city.

It was nothing so grand as the ones the Tuffles built, just slabs of stone set—in some cases precariously—against each other to protect from the elements but Paragus was talking about building proper houses based off of what he'd been able to learn from his time watching the Tuffles and helping them to build.

It was just the sort of thing Vegeta was hoping for of course, a change that would give his people a sense of ownership of their land.

A warrior could build a fire anywhere, a clan could settle down for the night and enjoy the bonfire's glow anywhere. But a house to call their own? That was what Vegeta wanted his people to have, and he explained that to his closest advisors, Nappa, Zorn and Paragus as his clan, now over a hundred strong sat gathered around the bonfire in their stone and mud village.

“You see, Nappa, I want nothing short of the very best for our people. But that doesn't mean we need to scrape and serve the Tuffles forever.”

“I understand that,” Nappa told him with a grunt, “but I've been with you and your band for a year now, heck I'm _part_ of your band for better or worse, aren't I?”

“You are.” Vegeta confirmed. “Where would I be without General Nappa?”

The muscular Saiyan waved the compliment away, “The point is . . . you keep having us work for the Tuffles one day then send little groups to attack them the next day. It gets blamed on other Clans, and that makes them get into the fight or join us, and that's good . . . but there's so many of us now and we're still pretending to play nice with this Tuffle King.”

“Yes . . .” Vegeta said.

“Are we at war or aren't we?” The younger Nappa asked.

It was a fair question, Vegeta supposed. He said, “Make no mistake, we _are_ at war with the Tuffles . . . it's just that the Tuffles don't worry about us too much because there's not a lot of us and most of us just leave them alone except for when the full moon shines.”

“Yes but can you really fight a war if only one side even knows you're fighting it?” General Nappa asked. “We keep helping the Tuffles build things, but I just want to destroy it all! It's no fun building farms, but I love seeing them blow up!”

Vegeta shook his head and smirked, “That's normal, I don't think Saiyans are supposed to build. But we had to try it, didn't we? And anyway instead of roaming around now this isn't just our territory this is our _land_.”

“Well yeah, but . . . won't we just destroy it all when the full moon rises? So . . . this is just us playing at being like Tuffles, isn't it?”

Vegeta shrugged. “The moon is a long way away, Nappa. To tell you the truth I don't think we'll be here when it does rise, that's not what I want.”

“Then . . . why all this? Why the houses? Why any of it?” Nappa asked.

“To show the newcomers what we can achieve, and how we're different.” Vegeta said. “More than that to show them what we can have in the future once we rule this world.”

“But how do we do that?” Nappa the younger asked.

Vegeta ruffled the youth's hair and said, “By uniting our people of course! A thousand little tribes attacking the Tuffles from a thousand different places? It'll never work. The Tuffles are one united force with one leader who appoints lesser leaders to carry out his bidding. That gives them strength and everyone is united. If we want to defeat them we too must be united.”

“How will we do that?” Nappa the elder asked.

“Many Saiyans are content to just ignore the Tuffles,” Paragus said, “it'll be difficult to unite them all under your leadership even with the scouter you've gotten from the Tuffles. If we keep going the way we are it could be multiple moons before we're united.”

Vegeta smiled and said, “That's why they have to come to us, Paragus.”

The other Saiyan nodded and General Nappa said, “I know newcomers show up every day but they're coming because their best fighters have been gunned down by the Tuffle army, or because they heard we have food. They're not coming to help us unite the Saiyans. If we want a real war shouldn't we do something to make it all happen faster?”

“ _We_ won't have to.” Vegeta said. “We just have to be patient and wait for an outside act.”

He and Zorn could be confident because they'd already heard the news. But he enjoyed the looks of confusion on their faces all the same.

“What do you mean by that?” Paragus asked him finally.

Vegeta glanced at Zorn and dutifully his advisor stood up and shouted above the din or the campfire talk, “Attention, everyone!”

The entire assembly of Saiyans fell silent, they knew that when Zorn spoke up he did so under Vegeta's command.

Vegeta in turn enjoyed the degree of respect they were affording him by respecting his proxy.

The Tuffle King had his underlings . . . his people were all united and he was the leader of all of their leaders.

And Vegeta would be his Saiyan equivalent.

Zorn said, “Early this morning we got word from a new band that wanted to join us . . . in the place the Tuffles call Zone Nine there was a Saiyan warrior named Butarega, who'd razzed an entire Tuffle town singlehandedly.”

There was a series of cheers from the Clan but Zorn's solemn expression silenced further celebration as the Saiyan said, “We learned from some of their neighbors that Butarega's entire clan was wiped out by the Tuffles of Zone Nine. They trapped them in a cave while they slept and left them to suffocate. They couldn't even give them a proper death in battle.”

There was a stunned silence for a moment, then a warrior Vegeta knew vaguely, by the name of Bardock jumped up and shouted, “Are we just going to stand for that? Today it's Butarega but tomorrow it could be _us_!”

There was a low rumble of approval from the crowd, Vegeta couldn't hide his smile because that warrior Bardock had said the very thing he'd hoped someone would, the very thing he'd told Zorn to say if no one else was clever enough to make the connection.

Bardock might be sharp. He'd have to try putting Bardock in charge of some other lower Saiyans . . . see how he handled that.

He already knew from the mood and the reaction of his people that what he was about to suggest would work now. Vegeta stood up, and put a hand on Zorn's shoulder. The Saiyan leader shook his head and said, “No, Bardock, we're not going to just stand for it. It's all been fun and games up to now, but now things have gone too far.”

There were murmurs of agreement. General Nappa asked, “So what's the plan, Vegeta?”

Vegeta let his aura spark so that he burned as brightly as the bonfire as he shouted to his people, “We are going to spread far and wide the story of Butarega's fate . . . and we are going to take revenge!”

“Revenge? How?” Paragus asked.

Vegeta said, “You might have noticed that even though Zorn said we had new arrivals who brought us the news from zone nine none of them are here now . . . that's because I sent them back to gather all of their neighbors, every clan in the area and bring them together. All together they'll number over a hundred . . . and when we arrive that number will double.”

“When we arrive?” Paragus gasped, “You mean . . . all of us?”

Vegeta nodded. “The entire clan. No more small actions and no more covert attacks. The Tuffles have given us the rallying cry to unite around, and when the other Saiyans see the power we'll unleash they'll flock to our side as well.”

“And what power are we going to unleash?” Someone from the crowd of warriors asked.

Vegeta folded his arms and said, “The Tuffles of Zone Nine utterly destroyed Butarega's clan. We are going to utterly destroy Zone Nine.”

There was a deafening roar of approval from the Saiyan warriors, Zorn and Vegeta exchanged looks and the chieftain smirked glad that everything had worked out so well.

He'd known telling the Tuffles to eliminate powerful Saiyan chieftains—the sort he would consider rivals—would slowly increase his numbers as word of his strength and the strength of his clan spread but he hadn't thought that the Tuffles would go so far as to actually destroy not just one of his rivals but an entire clan.

But the effect was even better than what he'd expected. He'd thought that by the next full moon he'd have a force large enough to destroy the Tuffle capital but now he saw his chance to launch the war in earnest. Just like Bardock the Tuffles couldn't have acted any better in Vegeta's interest if he'd ordered them to himself.

But just like Bardock he hadn't had to.

Standing by the fire's glow Vegeta said, “Within the week we'll be in the ninth zone and we'll take with us any clans we can find, any who'll follow along. We will form a grand army of Saiyan Warriors and together we will unleash the full force of our people on the Tuffles.”

He grinned wickedly at General Nappa and said, “And then trust me, both sides will know that we are at war. Both the Tuffles . . . and all of the rest of the Saiyans.”

Vegeta hadn't told the Tuffles to exterminate Butarega's clan . . .

But he was very glad that they had.

Vegeta told his clan, “Sleep well tonight. Tomorrow, the war truly begins!”

**To Be Continued . . .**

 


	132. Trials of the Crown Part Four

**Part Four**

**'A Good Leader'**

 

**Age 789**

**Planet Earth**

 

“But if I know he's plotting and I show that I don't feel threatened doesn't it convey power?” Trunks asked.

“Power yes, but everyone knows you have power. It still makes you seem foolish to just tolerate it and they'll still be more likely to listen to Turles than you,” Brassica said. She saw he was starting to look crestfallen so she told him, “But you _can_ change how they see the world by showing them something different, that's what I'm trying to tell you. Your grandfather did that. Sometimes he had to make hard decisions, and you will too.”

“Hard decisions like killing Turles?”

“If that's what's necessary for the future of our people . . . yes. Being a leader like your grandfather means making sacrifices, sometimes those sacrifices are Saiyan lives.” Brassica said.

“But how can you say that?” Trunks asked, “It doesn't seem like he did anything but try to wage war on the Tuffles for the sake of it and _maybe_ get some innocents killed through his actions.”

“He may have,” Brassica admitted, “my father was never too clear on whether or not King Vegeta knew the direction things would escalate . . . and sometimes I think maybe that was a form of clarity in and of itself.”

“You mean you think maybe your father . . . knew and didn't want to talk about it?” Mai asked.

Brassica shrugged “Maybe. All I know is that the only Saiyan that King Vegeta trusted with _everything_ was my father . . . so I know a thing or two about what your grandfather had to do, Prince Trunks. I don't know how far he went in helping the Tuffles to escalate things, but he did _hope_ that they would.”

“What abut you?” Mai asked, “Where are you in this story?”

Brassica blushed, “I'm . . . not really sure. I don't remember too well, I was about three at the time. By the time I was old enough to have real memories the war was in full swing, but I do know I was _at_ the battle of zone nine. Even at age three there was no way I'd miss a scrape like that, if there's one thing you can say about us Saiyans it's that we love to fight!”

“I understand that Saiyans love to fight but you can't tell me that they're just that one-dimensional because _I'm_ not, and I can't be _that_ abnormal to the rest just because I'm half-human.” Prince Trunks told her.

Brassica frowned and said, “Okay, that's fair. I'm not trying to say that Saiyans only care about fighting . . . but we care about it a lot, and we tend to follow the people who are the best at it. If some outsider is better than us we'll even follow them, or let them follow us if they're fun to fight with.

“Right now Turles is seen as the second strongest after you and if he's telling them he's going to surpass you given how quickly he's growing it may well be true. So they have every reason to get in good with him while they can, if there's a change in leadership they'll want to be close to the new boss.”

Trunks still looked bothered but not in the way Brassica would have expected. He confirmed it by saying, “If I kill Turles all I do is show that I'm afraid of him actually surpassing me.”

“No, if you kill Turles you show you're wise enough not to let a future threat _become_ a threat. You show that you're a good leader because you'll look out for their futures too.” Brassica told him.

“But if I do that I show all of them that I won't let them reach their full potential if that potential exceeds my own.” Prince Trunks told her. “I'd rather they feel free to strive for the stars, even if it means they surpass me. But I'm not afraid of competition, I grow stronger why those around me are stronger because I can train more effectively.”

Brassica shook her head. “Your personal strength isn't in question. None of them doubt you're stronger, they're doubting you're truly Saiyan if what I've heard tonight is true. Part of being Saiyan _does_ mean killing.”

“It doesn't have to.” Trunks said firmly. “Not our own people at least.”

“Enemies _aren't_ our own people. You've killed enemies before, haven't you? Why spare Turles?” Brassica asked.

Prince Trunks frowned and said, “Because I don't think he _is_ an enemy yet. I think I can help him . . . see things differently. He has so much potential he could be a great hero.”

“Like you said his growth is really quick, even quicker than most Saiyans'.”

“The only ones who come close are Rhubara and . . . well, the younger you.” Trunks nodded.

“So why aren't they trying to take over?” Mai asked.

“Probably because Turles is still stronger than the two of them, so even if they're growing fast too they've got no reason to try to push his buttons.” Brassica guessed. She frowned and added, “Besides that . . . well we fought with the Fighters of Lord Stobler for a long time, even though Karuto took those two from just two years into their time by then I think we were already pretty used to it, and bringing our Sensei and Medic probably helped matters too. To put it bluntly, my younger self and Rhuby are older, more experienced, more mature than Turles.”

“All the more reason for me to give him a chance to mature. He's barely even what Earthlings would consider and adult, don't forget.” Trunks told her.

Brassica chose not to tell her Prince that sometimes leaders had to kill children, it didn't feel like an argument she could win at the moment.

So instead she said, “Yes . . . but as you said they have to change on an individual level too, and on an individual level Turles wants to overthrow you.”

“And I suppose you're going to tell me my grandfather just killed people like that?”

“Your grandfather was a wise leader.” Brassica confirmed.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

**Age 723**

**Planet Plant**

 

The column of Tuffle tanks moved through the desert in the distance like a tan river flowing over the red sands. Bardock might have thought they looked lovely but he wouldn't admit to it aloud.

“Looks like . . . what, a hundred?” Toma asked him.

“Easily. Still, nothing our band can't handle.” Bardock said.

“So we hit them now, the others will see the smoke on the horizon and launch the attack!” Shugesh suggested.

The Saiyan army had moved into the Tuffle lands of Zone Nine in record time. Bardock had made long trips before but nothing like this, the ninth zone was a long distance from the capital region but Vegeta's people had been so eager for what promised to be the biggest fight in the history of the whole world that . . . well why _wouldn't_ they rush?

Saiyans loved to fight and Bardock was a Saiyan through and through. When Vegeta had told him to take a handful of warriors and scout ahead he'd known just who to take.

He'd made a lot of friends since Vegeta's clan started getting stronger but the ones he'd most like to have at his back were of course Shugesh, a tall spiky-haired warrior named Toma, and a pair of females Fasha and Gine.

Gine . . . not so much maybe. She wasn't much use in a fight, Bardock usually tended to have to keep an eye out for her. So he figured instead of wondering about her while he and the others were off fighting he'd just bring her along with the group even if she wasn't much of a fighter. Who knew, she might even improve.

Still it was Gine who said, “Shouldn't we report it back to Vegeta?”

“What? Why?” Fasha asked, “They're going out of the city and into the desert, that means they won't be part of the battle.”

“But they could come back.” Bardock nodded to Gine, “She's right. If we attack now it'll just be harder on the others when they arrive. We should report to Vegeta that a portion of the Tuffles are leaving for some reason, but that the city won't be as heavily defended.”

Shugesh nodded, Bardock didn't mention how close to following his friend's advice he'd been. If Gine hadn't said anything they'd probably be knee deep in broken Tuffle tanks already.

_Already it's useful I brought her,_ he justified to himself. He then nodded to his fifth selection, a wiry kid named Beeta and said, “Get back to Vegeta, let him know that the Tuffles are sending a column of tanks into the desert.”

“A column?” The child asked.

Bardock scowled, not _really_ certain what else to call a big group of tanks. “Yeah, a column of tanks!”

“But shouldn't I say line of tanks?” Beeta asked.

“Tank brigade?” Gine suggested.

“Tank fleet!” Fasha piped up.

“Maybe a tank swarm.” Shugesh suggested.

“Tank column! Tell him it's a _column_ of tanks over a hundred strong headed out into the desert, he'll know what I mean!” Bardock ordered firmly.

“Aye.” The child saluted smartly then turned in the direction of the rest of their army and took off at top flight speed.

“I don't understand,” Toma whispered as he relaxed on the warm sand next to Bardock, “they've got those eye devices like the boss has, right? Can't they tell we're here? Why try to hide?”

“They probably know we're here but I bet they don't know _why_ we're here. If we don't interfere with their tanks they might assume we're friendly.”

“Stupid them.” Fasha smirked, sitting between the two of them. She glanced casually at Bardock and asked, “What if they're off to attack the army?”

“They might be on their way to investigate it at least,” Bardock allowed. “If they are they're in for a rude surprise.”

“Right but if they send word back to the city, the city we're waiting outside of . . .” Toma said.

Bardock nodded, “We might get attacked, that's true. But _if_ that happens we turn back towards Vegeta's forces and rejoin the main group. Until then we stay put and observe. Something else might happen that we need to report back.”

“Like what? What could be bigger news than a column of Tuffle Tanks?” Shugesh asked.

Bardock wasn't really sure to be honest.

“Well maybe they'll bring up their Oozaru walls.” Bardock suggested.

“To do what? When we're not rampaging we can just fly over them.” Toma said.

“Not every Saiyan can fly, we'd need to get enough of us over the walls and find some way to bring them down.” Gine said.

“Maybe we should be doin that while we wait.” Fasha suggested.

“Bringing the walls down?” Toma asked her.

“No, they're already down!” Fasha scoffed, “I mean maybe we should see if we can't find a way to stop the wall from rising, you know, break one of the mechanisms or just destroy the guard post.”

“Not a bad idea,” Bardock acknowledged, “do we know anything about Tuffle guard posts?”

“No . . . and the only one of us small enough to easily fit inside of one just flew off to warn Vegeta about the tank swarm.”

“Tank column.” Toma corrected.

“Yeah, tank column,” Bardock said. “You hear that Shugesh? Right now Toma is better than you.”

“Better at sucking up.” The plump Saiyan scoffed.

“I'll give _you_ something to suck up!” Toma snarled.

Bardock saw that things were about to get out of hand quickly and were they not trying to keep a low profile he might have allowed it just as a means of letting his friends blow off steam.

But Vegeta had trusted him with this mission and he wouldn't mess it up.

He cleared his throat loudly and made a point not to look directly at either Toma or Shugesh when he said, “If you don't cut it out I'll smash both your heads together so hard it'll sound like a thunder clap!”

In a few years this might have been an effective threat.

But as it was and with the lust for battle all but overwhelming them all it failed to have to commanding tone Bardock had intended and instead _both_ Shugesh and Toma lunged for him.

He jumped back a pace and reached out to try and make good on his threat, but then he heard Gine's warning cry of, “Get down!”

It didn't come quickly enough and the shot from the Tuffle gun grazed his cheek as he turned to look at what had her shouting in alarm.

The column of tanks was still passing by, but a small platoon of soldiers had come over to investigate them, and one of them had opened fire on them without so much as a warning.

Bardock grabbed his cheek in irritation and hissed to the others, “Follow my lead, or else!”

“Aye.” Both Shugesh and Toma whispered back.

Bardock raised his free hand keeping the other on his bleeding cheek he cried out, “Hold your fire! We mean no harm!”

“W-who are you? What are you doing here?” A Tuffle soldier cried out.

“We're just looking for work and food!” Bardock cried out, letting the Tuffles come closer.

“None of that today, you head back where you came from or things will get ugly!” The Tuffle officer warned.

“Uglier than they already are?” Bardock demanded, “Can't you at least tend to my wound?”

The Tuffles exchanged confused looks, it was a request they'd likely never imagined hearing from a Saiyan and a request Bardock had never imagined making of a Tuffle.

“N-no, you're lucky I m-m-missed your brains!” The first Tuffle shouted at him.

“Okay, he's mine,” Bardock whispered.

“W-what was that!?” The Tuffle demanded.

Bardock grinned wolfishly and shouted back, “Oh I'm sorry, what I said was--”

He'd meant to blast the Tuffle to finish the conversation but instead the back end of the tank column erupted in flame, tanks and Tuffles flying all over, the band confronting Bardock and his team turned in confusion then turned their guns back on the Saiyans in front of them.

Bardock didn't have enough time to think that Beeta couldn't possibly have told Vegeta and the others and returned already. He didn't have time to think at all.

It was time for action, and Saiyans excelled at that.

“As I was saying,” Bardock said blasting the Saiyan who'd shot him and the others fell on the rest of the platoon with reckless abandon.

Well for most of them it was reckless abandon, for Gine it was more like clumsy abandon, or just clumsiness with no trace of anything else as she tried to charge over the dune with the others, tripped and tumbled end over end sprawling helplessly in front of a pair of Tuffles with rifles.

They _probably_ wouldn't be enough to end her, but Bardock blasted the pair just the same and yanked Gine up by the belt of her tunic.

He was about to say something crushing like 'stay down if you're going to be useless' or 'was your mother a Tuffle?' but instead he decided he should try to be a good leader and just said, “Don't get careless!”

Gine nodded and luckily at least their troubles took a pause after Fasha finished off the last of their platoon.

The tank column was far more focused on the bands of Saiyans in the distance. Bardock was amazed that they'd managed to get so close without the Tuffles using their eye devices to detect them, but there were at least three different groups about a dozen strong each.

_Could be three whole clans that answered Vegeta's call and didn't know to wait,_ Bardock thought.

He glanced at his comrades and said, “Those tanks won't last long against that many Saiyans, they might try to raise the walls, let's make sure they don't.”

“How?” Toma asked.

“By making it a moot point!” Fasha cried, charging headfirst into the city itself.

Bardock shrugged and waved the group in, “Well . . . go after her!”

To himself the young warrior thought, _Females, nothing but trouble!_

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The explosions in the distance told Vegeta that either Bardock hadn't listened to his order to wait or some of the clans he hadn't brought under his command yet had tried to attack on their own. His scouter _was_ tracking Bardock's group but it was having trouble with the sheer number of Tuffle tanks and weapons in the distance.

Still the young leader had no choice. The battle for the ninth sector had begun. By the end of the day there would be no question as to whether or not the Saiyans and the Tuffles were at war . . .

And no Saiyans would be able to refuse, it'd be band together the way the Tuffles did or be annihilated piecemeal. This was the biggest fight possible for the planet and it was what Vegeta had dreamed of for years . . . now it was time to live his dream.

He wished he had a grand battle cry to shout to his army of over a hundred Saiyans as they obediently waited for orders.

Not a one of them would charge before he gave the word, but he knew they all wanted to. They were Saiyans, war was in their blood.

All he had to do was set them loose . . .

He nodded to General Nappa and shouted, “Go!”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The Tuffle city was . . . well, Bardock didn't have words for it really.

Everything was so shiny and bright and there was so much glass, the Tuffles—who were all barely better than knee-high to the Saiyans—fled like rodents.

Some tried to take refuge in their glass buildings, but Bardock's crew made them regret that—if they could regret anything that is—by bringing those buildings down.

“Haha, watch this, watch this!” Shugesh cried, winding up and then hurling a ball of energy at a nearby building at first there was nothing . . . and then with a loud cracking noise the whole thing shook and the windows shattered all the way from the bottom floor to the top.

Broken glass rained down on the Saiyans and the populace and Bardock tried not to laugh.

“Stay focused, team,” He told them, “don't lose your heads!”

“Oh come on, have some fun!” Shugesh cried.

“What's the point of all this if we don't enjoy it?” Toma agreed.

Bardock really couldn't argue with that. After all, just because he was supposed to be a leader didn't mean he had to be somber about all this, he was a Saiyan after all.

Fighting _was_ fun, so why not just enjoy it?

“All right,” he said, “I'll show you how it's done, Shu!”

Bardock licked his lips, tasting blood from the bullet wound on his cheek and then unleashed two energy balls just like Shugesh's on two separate buildings to the same result.

He laughed, “Hah! Double trouble, eh—ah!” He cried out in surprise as he was suddenly shoved out of the street just in time to avoid the blast that probably would have taken his head off his shoulders.

Gine had shoved him out of the way of the Tuffle tank's main gun, and despite the fact that he should have been embarrassed at nearly being caught off-guard Bardock couldn't help but laugh.

Hard.

Fasha and Shugesh blasted the tank together while Toma hurled a fancy car at a second tank approaching behind the first, Bardock shoved Gine off of him—not too roughly, she _had_ just saved him after all—and shouted, “I told you to stay focused!”

The sound of blasts and fighting filled the Saiyans' ears, he knew he and his team weren't the only ones in the city now, and he was confident that they'd stopped the walls from rising—at least in one section—when they'd destroyed the big gears and cogs that had trained to raise them up.

The rest of the Saiyan army—including those who didn't know how to fly yet—would have no difficulty getting over the wall now.

The city of Sector Nine, or Zone Nine, or Region Eight or whatever it was the Tuffles called it was utterly doomed.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Standing at the top of a segment of the city's wall that _had_ successfully risen with his advisor Zorn, Vegeta almost couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the damage that just sixty Saiyans had already wrought. By the time his army charged in the city's column of tanks had already been destroyed and many of the tanks and armored vehicles inside the city itself were wrecked and obstructing the flow of their comrades leaving them extremely vulnerable to the far more mobile Saiyans.

Only the Tuffle infantry was having any real luck, running through streets and ducking into alleyways, firing from rooftops or windows.

Now the battle was in full flow, though the Saiyan horde showed no discretion between soldier and civilian and a part of Vegeta wondered if that was really fair. Maybe he should have told his people to only kill the Tuffles that tried to kill them first . . .

But then once the blood lust hit too many of them would have disobeyed him out of sheer excitement. Then he would have had to either discipline them for something they couldn't help—and something he wouldn't want them to—or look weak in front of the horde . . . and he couldn't have that.

Besides truth be told a noncombatant was a foreign concept to the Saiyans, and he didn't want to have to try to explain it. The average rank and file warrior would never imagine that there would be Tuffles in that city who didn't _want_ to fight back, or who _couldn't_. They'd probably just assume they were all _really_ bad at it.

It wasn't out of stupidity, just ignorance. Saiyans, all Saiyans, _loved_ to fight.

But in the time he'd spent learning from and working for the Tuffles over the past year, Vegeta understood that his people and the Tuffles viewed combat _very_ differently. The Tuffles hated violence, they were _afraid_ of getting hurt and some of them would be utterly incapable of defending themselves in any way.

And, outside of Zorn, the young leader simply chosen not to tell anyone. Not even Nappa, or Paragus.

Saiyans weren't alien to the concept of sympathy, and he'd have none of it from his army. Clans fought without qualm because both sides would have fun, both sides would get stronger and even if a few died at least they'd die well.

But none of these Tuffles would have fun, none of them would get stronger, and as to the nature of their deaths . . . well, Vegeta doubted they _cared_ how well they died, he was certain they'd all rather be alive.

And many Tuffles _would_ survive to carry the tales of Saiyan brutality today, it wasn't as if he were trying to destroy _all_ the Tuffles. Some would escape, others would hide and still others would simply be allowed to flee once the Saiyans had had their fill.

And if anyone got upset, or felt they'd gone too far he could just hold up Butarega's massacred clan and say 'they did it first' . . .

_They did it first . . . because we told them it would work. Because_ I _had Zorn tell them it would work._ Vegeta thought.

And it had.

Just not the way the Tuffles had expected.

Going forward it would be the rallying cry that would help him light the fire across all of Planet Plant, Saiyans would join him or take their chances alone, and the Tuffles would deal with those bands either eliminating them as threats or weakening them and forcing them to turn to Vegeta for protection and leadership.

In time . . . perhaps even before the next full moon the Saiyan people would be united . . . no more clans and tribes, just one people with one leader . . . him.

It was a sobering thought as he watched _his_ warriors destroy the city.

But they'd been given orders that it seemed so far they were following. No destroying any warehouses or factories, nothing that might contain food or be spacious enough to serve as a dwelling after all of this was finished.

“You took your time getting here!” A gruff voice shouted. Vegeta turned his head to see a huge brutish looking Saiyan approaching him flanked by three others. All of them were strangers to Vegeta, locals he guessed.

The brute had a thick beard and a head of hair in the usual style, what Vegeta had come to think of as the 'low-class' style. He was enormous though, as big as General Nappa and so Vegeta might rethink that categorization.

“I got here just as quickly as I was supposed to . . . did my messengers not properly explain the plan to you . . .?”

Vegeta trailed off waiting for this Saiyan to offer his name.

Which he did, after a slightly too long pause. “Rugalan, leader of the biggest tribe in this region.”

“Not anymore.” Vegeta said lightly.

“What?” Rugalan scoffed.

“Do you have more than a hundred?” Vegeta asked.

“Well no, but I've got twenty!” Rugalan said proudly.

“Well I have a hundred and twenty,” Vegeta said with a dismissive wave, “and we're in the region now. So you're not the leader of the biggest tribe anymore.”

“Now listen here,” Rugalan scowled, “Don't think you can come in here and disrespect me, pipsqueak! I--”

“'Am about to make a horrible mistake?' Yes, I agree.” Zorn warned.

Vegeta smirked at him and shook his head. _No, let him,_ he thought, _it'll be a good example._

Rugalan however didn't seem to think very much at all and he shouted, “Look here, if we're going to get on that subject maybe I miscounted! Maybe Rugalan is the leader of a hundred and _forty_ , and Vegeta isn't the leader of anything! You think just because you toadied to the Tuffles in that capital district and got enough food to feed a big group you're better than me?”

“No.” Vegeta said. “I think I'm better than you because I'm better than you.”

Rugalan scowled and said, “Well look here, I was the one who attacked the Tuffle tanks before they got away--”

“Oh, _you_ were the one who messed up my plan!” Vegeta interrupted, “See I knew the tanks would come out to investigate my large group and that would give your smaller groups a chance to break into the city before they could raise their walls . . . luckily for you it seems _that_ part of the plan still went through, but instead of the tanks being ambushed by _my_ force and overwhelmed they were attacked by _your_ force . . . and you lost how many?”

Rugalan scoffed, “Tanks are a good fight, so I lost a few warriors, some oldsters and maybe a few of the other tribes lost some too. So what?”

“So what?” Vegeta scoffed, “So if you'd followed the plan you might not have lost any of them! You're an impatient fool and a terrible leader . . . do you know what I _do_ to terrible leaders?”

Rugalan's bluster seemed to diminish quite a bit and he said, “Well . . . next time I'll follow the plan then.”

Vegeta shook his head and said, “No. You see for terrible leaders . . . there _is_ no 'next time'.”

Rugalan growled and said, “What's that even supposed to mean?”

Vegeta showed him by lunging forward and punching him in the stomach so hard that the other Saiyan doubled over gasping in pain.

_Four thousand . . . you're nothing._ Vegeta thought smugly, enjoying the proof of the scouter's accuracy . . . he raised his fist and with it the soon-to-be-corpse of Rugalan and charged a blast with his other hand.

When the scouter told him that the energy of the attack in his hand was over eight thousand he hurled the coughing muscular Rugalan out into the abyss of dead air between the wall and the city's buildings with the war raging below.

Then he hurled his blast of golden light at the unfortunate foe who could do nothing against such a blast.

Vegeta smirked and said to Rugalan's cohorts, “That's what happens to bad leaders. Now . . . who is the leader after Rugalan?”

“Y-you are!” One of them cried.

Vegeta shook his head and scoffed, “Who said I wanted you weaklings? Which of you is the leader now?”

Another of the band, this one bearing a strong resemblance to Rugalan but lacking the muscle mumbled, “I-I am?”

“ _And_?” Vegeta snapped.

The new leader went down on one knee and said, “I-I humbly apologize for allowing my brother to ruin your plan, I ask you to forgive us?”

“And?” Zorn encouraged.

“And? Uh . . . and please let us join you?” The dimwitted Saiyan guessed.

Well at least he'd guessed right.

Vegeta nodded, “It'll be a burden, but I suppose since you all need good leadership so badly . . . I'll take you in. But you'd better be grateful . . . each of you will have to bring me ten Tuffle heads apiece before sunset, and they'd better come from you, I'll know if you lie!”

The trio rushed off without so much as a word of thanks, but Vegeta smiled all the same.

The battle would be over long before sunset . . . and when it was his army of over two hundred Saiyans—once he brought the other local clans under his full control—would have a city to call their very own.

And the Tuffles would know that they were at war.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 


	133. Trials of the Crown Part Five

**Part Five**

**'Any Alternative'**

 

**Age 789**

**Planet Earth**

 

Trunks had to take a seat, folding his arms unconsciously shielding himself from the story he was hearing.

“What do you mean the Saiyans conquered the city?” He asked, “Why did they need it?”

Brassica shrugged, “We didn't. But it had food and shelter and it was a good place to plant a proverbial flag. Saiyans knew to go there and Tuffles knew to stay away after that day.”

“There were Tuffles left?” Trunks asked.

“Of course there were! The war was still seven Earth years away from ending at the time, Prince Trunks. Zone Nine was just the first major victory, but the Saiyans would have a hard war ahead of them. Though we had strength and durability they had numbers and technology, we were more evenly matched than you might think.”

“Right, it's been mentioned before the Tuffles' technology was so good even Frieza adapted some of it.” Trunks acknowledged.

“Well it had to be. Remember we fought for ten long years, from your Age Seven Twenty to Seven Thirty this war raged with both sides being ground against each other like two stones constantly . . . grinding against each other.”

Mai shook her head and gave Trunks a sorrowful look, “It sounds as bad as the Androids for Earth, doesn't it? It's hard to envision with the way Saiyans were used to eradicate whole planetary populations that they had so much trouble taking their own world. With all the powers of the Saiyans . . .” Mai trailed off, shaking her head.

Unsure of anything else to do Trunks put a hand on her shoulder, but he didn't have anything to say.

How could his mother or anyone else for that matter not understand his reluctance to embrace his Saiyan side when it was a bloodline with a history like the one Brassica was telling him?

Brassica told them, “Back then not everyone had them. The Tuffles kept their walls up all the time after that and they started firing on any flying Saiyans knowing the majority who didn't know how to fly wouldn't be able to get over the walls. In their own way the Tuffles made us stronger not just because we got stronger from fighting them, but because we had to be stronger to beat them.

“We had to train our people, teach each warrior to fly, to use energy blasts and while we did that the Tuffles turned their beautiful glass and steel cities into fortresses, they struck out at our holdings they continued to exterminate wayward clans. That was what almost happened to Rhuby and Turles' clan you know.”

Trunks frowned and asked, “It did?”

“Yes. The future King had heard about the berserker blood that ran through their tribe and sent me and my father to try to recruit them. They were a big tribe, thirty strong because by that point, about six years after Zone Nine there weren't really any small clans anymore. Really the whole world had more or less fallen to its side by then, I think especially with the full moon coming both sides knew it was going to be all or nothing.”

“Then why were Turles' people not with the rest of the Saiyans already?” Trunks asked, wondering if maybe that information might help him find a peaceful way to deal with Turles.

Maybe Turles was just naturally rebellious, but it wouldn't amount to anything?

Brassica said, “They hadn't joined the rest of us because of how uncontrollable the battle rage can be, but the local Tuffles probably didn't know that and were worried that such a large group would join the main horde so they tracked them down and tried to put an end to them.”

“I thought only the Evil Twins had battle rage.” Trunks said.

“The Evil Twins are the only ones who have complete control over when they enter it,” Brassica explained to him, “but when they're pushed to their limit and it looks like the end any Saiyan can have that burst of desperate determined power. Still Turles' clan had a reputation for it, probably because of the Evil Twins.”

Trunks nodded, thinking of what it was like to become a Super Saiyan for the first time. _So . . . the battle rage, it's sort of like a . . . pseudo Super Saiyan state,_ Trunks thought, _that might imply that the Evil Twins could have an easier time learning to become Super Saiyans . . . and if it's in Turles' blood too maybe he could learn as well . . ._

Brassica shrugged. “But all the same when we arrived the Tuffles were already almost annihilated by those who'd managed to get _out_ of the cave-in. Battle rage doesn't make a Saiyan as strong as an Oozaru, that's a myth, but it _does_ make them a lot stronger than they are on their own, and they become as uncontrollable as an Oozaru. So our help was mostly a formality. All the same once they knew King Vegeta was happy to take the risk they were willing to join us.”

Mai asked, “So you made a Rome? Sorry, I mean you had a capital, you had a place where roving Saiyans could go and a place you could send your warriors out from. You became one people over time . . . didn't anyone else try to conquer cities of their own?”

“Tried and failed. Zone Nine fell easily because it was something unheard of, something that had never happened before. No one knew what to expect, much less how to respond at the time.” Brassica said. “When others tried to do the same they either got wiped out or, if they were smart enough to hit a smaller target, would still be stupid enough to destroy everything and have nothing to sustain themselves with.”

“Sustain themselves?” Trunks asked.

“Our people exterminated most of the population but we left warehouses and factories alone as much as we could. So as a result we had lots of food-stores and the means to make things like clothes. Minds like Paragus would go on to figure out how to build scouters What the Tuffles called Zone Nine would eventually become . . . well, Vegeta City, actually.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

**Age 729**

**Planet Plant**

 

The city of Zone Nine was a strange combination of blocks of ruin and rubble with a few half-destroyed or at least damaged buildings standing tall.

Most Tuffle residences had been destroyed, or else they served as homes for youngsters still small enough to fit inside of them. It was an odd situation but one that Vegeta approved of in a way.

The younger Saiyans were adapting to their situation well.

The warehouses that he had ordered left intact had further served a function as homes for many of the Saiyans, some fitting whole clans others just a few strong individuals and their entourages . . . rumor had it one was used to force captured Tuffles to fight to the death with knives, Vegeta hadn't had the time to look into that but it sounded hilarious.

Of course he had reason to be skeptical of that one, mostly the Saiyans hadn't taken to capturing prisoners. Most didn't see the purpose to it, the average Tuffle soldier didn't have anything more useful than a scouter to steal.

Still some Saiyans had built homes in the ruins as well, but that was mostly out of personal preference because there was still room to spare in the city that had been made to house millions of Tuffles.

As for Vegeta's own home, much like the palace in the capital city the seat of government for the leader of Zone Nine had had spacious halls and high ceilings in most rooms, so Vegeta had naturally taken it for his own. It required a bit of renovation, to be sure. Many of the doors were half the height they should be for a Saiyan and so they'd had to go.

Anyway it was fine, Saiyans didn't need _doors._ What was a door but a way of saying 'I'm afraid of things so I want to keep them out' anyway? Be it the elements or enemies doors were meant to protect the people on the inside of them.

It was utter nonsense of course, but it's what he'd told people so they'd stop asking him to figure out a way to build doors for their homes.He'd even taken out the big entryway doors that _had_ been large enough for a Saiyan to try and make the point even though he'd thought they looked quite nice.

He told the people it was so that every Saiyan in the city knew they could come to see him about anything at any time, no barriers between him and his people . . . but he also let it spread, mostly through Zorn's daughter Cauliflora and young Nappa, that _real_ Saiyans could handle their own problems and only came to their Chief with _real_ issues.

And since it was at least true that most Saiyans _could_ handle their own problems he didn't see a lot of visitors, which suited him just fine.

The war was on and it was fun. The price of victory was paid in lives, and so far the war had been _costly_ , but at least it was fun.

Still the Tuffles weren't proving to be the sustainable threat he'd once imagined them as. He'd thought because there were so many they could fight the Tuffles for eternity . . . but the cold realities of a planet-spanning war were starting to become clear as Vegeta watched the bustling streets of his city from the doorway of his home and thought _these are my people and in another ten years they might be the_ last _of our people._

The truth was that the war couldn't continue forever . . . because there just weren't enough Saiyans or Tuffles for that to happen. Eventually someone would have to win.

Vegeta knew next to nothing about how Tuffles reproduced, but Saiyans didn't breed in litters, and only about a third of Saiyan children born would reach adulthood simply because of the violent lifestyle Saiyans led.

There had probably never been more than a few hundred thousand Saiyans but now they were sure that number was much lower. After years of prolonged daily fighting Paragus had warned him that there might be _less_ than even _one_ hundred thousand Saiyans.

Vegeta didn't even know how many Saiyans were part of his band now, it was too many to count.

But even though the Tuffle city had been built to accommodate a species about a third the size of the Saiyans his band had yet to completely fill it, there was still room for many newcomers.

And since not every Saiyan left was coming to them Vegeta had started to send his best—armed with salvaged Scouters—to bring more Saiyans to him.

Which his faithful advisor had done, bringing in the remnants of the Chayatt clan.

He watched as Zorn arrived with the Saiyan that Vegeta assumed to be Chayatt, and he greeted them.

“Warriors, you are most welcome. Well done Zorn, Cauliflora.”

“It was nothing.” Zorn said. “They were more than willing to come along.”

“Did you have any trouble?” Vegeta asked.

Chayatt's clan was reported to be larger than the two-dozen Saiyans his advisor had brought before him.

“The Tuffles had tried to take us out,” Chayatt said, “we were in the process of . . . dealing with it when your people arrived.”

Zorn gave his chief a meaningful look that Vegeta knew meant there was more to that story than Chayatt was letting on, but he'd ask about it in private.

Chayatt was somewhat taller than the average Saiyan though not nearly as large as Nappa he was somewhat taller than Zorn and Vegeta. His skin was a dark grayish brown and his hair was of the ever-common low-class variety though with a few extra spikes here and there so at least he stood out a bit.

“In any case I'm glad you're here. With things the way they are the more of us sticking together the better.”

Vegeta held out a hand to Chayatt, who took it and said, “Agreed. Zorn here said you wouldn't mind our wilder tendencies but I've found that's usually only true of Saiyans who haven't seen them in action.”

“Which I can say I have.” Zorn said with a nod.

“Well . . . I'm not so sure about that.” Chayatt muttered, “But all the same we won't let the Saiyan race down.”

“I'd be amazed if you did,” Vegeta reassured him. Then he said, “But I'm sure you're tired after your journey. Cauliflora, why don't you take them to their new lodging and show them where they can get some food. After that bring General Nappa to meet with Chayatt and get his people squared away.”

The child nodded, and said, “Come on this way then. We have lots of space, so if you don't like what you see we can keep looking.”

“Compared to where we were I'm sure anything is fine.” Chayatt said. He nodded to Vegeta respectfully and followed after Zorn's daughter.

Vegeta however turned to Zorn and said, “Let's have a quick word.”

“Of course.” Zorn nodded and followed as Vegeta led the way into his personal home.

It wasn't in quite the same state of disrepair as other homes, largely because Vegeta wasn't prone to abusing it. All the same there was some notable ware on the walls and the portraits had been used for target practice long ago leaving the white hallways scorched and barren.

Vegeta said, “What happened?”

“The Tuffles were trying to exterminate them before I arrived, they killed four of his warriors and a youngster. Used their cave-in tactic but it didn't work this time.”

“Chayatt's people really do have berserker blood then? Tell me truly Zorn, were they as strong as Oozaru?”

“Bearing in mind I have no idea how strong an Oozaru gets . . . I doubt it.” Zorn admitted, tapping the green scouter he wore over his eye. “When we arrived one of them was sporting a power level of seven thousand five hundred, seemed like she'd broken her way out of the cave in but she wasn't really in control of her faculties.”

“So they rampage like an Oozaru without the power.” Vegeta sighed, and Zorn nodded.

“It's still a significant difference, her power level settled down to fifteen hundred after the fact. Pretty average for a girl her age, Cauliflora isn't much higher and I believe they're about the same age.”

Vegeta nodded slowly and said, “Well . . . good. At least they have that going for them.”

“Well that's the thing . . . I hate to say it but it doesn't seem like they can do it at will.” Zorn told him.

“You're joking.” Vegeta said flatly.

“I wish I were.” Zorn told him. “The girl didn't even remember being in a rage, and she couldn't replicate it later.”

Vegeta groaned and punched a hole through his otherwise lovely wall.

“Curse it all, Zorn! We need an edge if we're going to get this war under control!”

“I know, but what can we do? The full moon is coming, we're almost there.”

“But we can't rely on that. We still have no idea how to control our people once that happens, at best we'll have a herd of angry monkeys to point in the right direction but what can we do? Attack every Tuffle city at once? We don't have the numbers for that, if we split up there's a much higher chance their walls will hold! If we fail and the sun rises and they're all weak and vulnerable . . .”

“It'll be a massacre. I know.” Zorn told him.

Vegeta shook his head and said, “It'd be all or nothing but our attempts to push the Tuffles into just one or two cities have failed, and if we squander this full moon I don't know if we'll last until the next one. I must do anything I can to give us an edge before then.”

“What about Paragus' work?” Zorn asked, “Did he make any advances while I was away on my mission?”

“Of course he didn't!” Vegeta scoffed, “All the Tuffle factories he's using are any good for is making comfortable clothes. There was a time when I was impressed by such things, but now all I can think is that they don't even protect us as well as our furs! Anyway armor won't do us much good once we transform, it'll just break, besides the Tuffles might not be able to shoot holes through their own tanks but _we_ don't!”

“The armor isn't to protect us against each other, it's to protect the weaker Saiyans against the Tuffles. A Tuffle tank can still take a low-class warrior and their wall cannons can still bring down a flier, especially when they burst into those shrapnel clouds they do sometimes.”

“Armor might help but I just don't think it'll be enough.” Vegeta aid.

“Any edge can cut.” Zorn reminded him.

“Yes, but not every cut can kill.” Vegeta shot back.

“True. But we still have some time, I'm sure we'll come up with something.” Zorn said. “I remember when our two groups first met, I thought you were totally insane to just come strolling into my camp. I was young and thinking I'd have to prove myself . . . and then you said hello, and that you wanted to talk.”

Vegeta frowned, “I remember, I was there. Do you have a point, Zorn?”

Zorn laughed. Vegeta knew he was not oblivious but simply impervious to his leader's foul mood so he didn't take offense. The other Saiyan said, “I know, I know. But the thing is you made me listen to you, we discussed things that would have seemed insane then. And now look where we are . . . we've conquered half the world. Your vision, my planning, Paragus' intellect, Nappa's strength, even the rank and file warriors.

“We're all far more than what we started as. You've changed us as a people, Vegeta. Even if we're at the edge of a proverbial knife it was worth it to live in such interesting times. If a decade from now the Saiyan race is extinguished at least we burned bright for a time.”

Vegeta slowly removed his fist from the wall and said, “Well that's all well and good . . . but it's not enough yet. When I thought about starting this war I never imagined we could lose it.”

“But you imagined we could fight it.” Zorn told him. “That's more than I ever did. You changed our existence from just existing to striving for something. So don't doubt yourself, that same Vegeta that envisioned the war in the first place will envision the path the victory. The rest of us will help any way we can.”

Vegeta nodded slowly and said, “Thank you Zorn . . . but I'm having difficulty envisioning anything saving our fire from extinguishing at the moment . . . except . . .”

“Except?” Zorn asked.

Vegeta smiled suddenly and whispered, “The full moon . . .”

Zorn seemed puzzled, “The very thing you were worried about?”

Vegeta laughed and stroked his developing goatee, “Oh yes my friend . . . they very thing I _was_ worried about. Now I see how it can be our salvation! It'll be risky, perilous, all or nothing! It'll be . . . _Saiyan_.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The lab of Dr. Lychee was filled with papers so covered in writing and schematics that there was barely an open space on them. The Doctor had taken to scribbling extra notes on napkins and to anyone else it might look like utter chaos.

And it was in danger of being _exactly_ that, Dr. Lychee knew. One mistake and all of his notes, all of his plans could fall to disorder.

But he was racing against the clock, against the extinction of his very race.

The Tuffles were in grave danger, their numbers had been reduced from the hundreds of millions to mere millions, not even tens of millions by this war with the Saiyans and with the full moon looming closer and closer and with how much damage the Saiyan hordes were doing to the cities of the Tuffles, which now seemed like bastions of defense against an unstoppable foe, the Doctor knew if his Hatchiyack wasn't ready before the full moon's rise there was a very real chance it would never be ready.

That the Tuffle race would . . . die out.

It drove him to darker designs, more desperate measures. After all when faced with extinction any alternative was preferable.

Tonight like so many others he worked into the late hours fueled more by substance than sleep. His lab assistants had all gone home for the evening, but he labored on, unable to take himself away from the struggle that was making his grand concept a reality.

For years he'd been trying to prepare this final solution, and he knew other scientists were working on measures of their own but he knew none of them would be prepared in time.

_He_ had to be.

_He_ was the most brilliant Tuffle mind, if not him then who would save their race?

The public opinion was that the war might never end but the prevailing thought for those who knew better was that the war would end soon . . . with the extinction of the Tuffle race.

But that couldn't be, this was _their_ world. The Doctor thought furiously to himself as he worked, _Those Saiyans aren't even from Planet Plant! They're from beyond the stars, it's not just some old wives tale, it makes perfect sense! They're not natural, their transformation proves it! I've tried to think of natural ways to stop them but they're not natural!_

That was his problem all the while, he realized. Noise distractions, walls, these were things that might stop a beast, an innocent creature that had evolved to coexist on a world but not the Saiyans, no.

_They're a plague! A galactic plague! They_ cannot _coexist, they are like Arcturian Mega-locusts, they consume everything! If we Tuffles cannot stop them they'll destroy this world before too long!_

Madly he muttered out loud to himself, “We tried to befriend them! We were magnanimous! We showed them everything we could share with them, and it wasn't enough! No! They had to have it all! Well they're right, Planet Plant isn't big enough for the both of us, and I won't let my world be ruled by a bunch of lumbering barbarians who can barely bang rocks together to make fire!”

And so the Doctor worked furiously, his plans no longer to simply scare off the Saiyans or force some of them to flee. He knew he needed to destroy them. He had to devise a plan to eradicate _all_ Saiyans.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The role of squad leader had suited Bardock well over the years and though he didn't always fight alongside his team he fought alongside them often.

Over the years of the war Toma had settled into the role of second in command quite well, Shugesh and Fasha of course were the most reliable members of the group with Gine . . . well Gine tried in any event.

And besides, she'd saved Bardock's life and that had to count for something. So he kept an eye on her until it was just second nature to watch after her.

All the same the group had seen new members, even temporary leaders come and go. Bardock didn't imagine at first that this new tall muscular balding warrior brought before him would be any different.

His power level was a little bit lower than Toma's, but still quite high. He'd do.

“Well welcome to Bardock's Elites,” Bardock grunted, “I'm Bardock. What's your name?”

“I'm Borgos,” The newcomer said, “my clan was just brought in . . . but I must be in the wrong place.”

“What do you mean?” Toma asked, “You're new and we were expecting a new guy today.”

“Yes but I was told I was going to be joining a group of low-class fighters.”

Fasha laughed, Bardock grinned and let Shugesh explain, “That's just the name of our group. Saying we're Elite sounds good!”

“We're low-class warriors, whatever that means.” Toma agreed.

Borgos seemed to relax a bit and said, “Oh . . . okay then. So . . . what do we do?”

“Honestly? We sit around and talk until General Nappa sends us on a mission.” Bardock said with a shrug. “Or we can spar, but mostly everyone knows how they rank in the team thanks to the scouters and besides these days going into a real fight injured from a spar just gets you killed.”

Borgos grunted and took a seat somewhat away from the rest of them. There was a moment of silence before he asked, “So . . . what do you talk about?”

“All sorts of stuff really.” Gine said.

There was another moment of silence before finally Borgos asked, “Do you ever wonder why we're here?”

“Yamif and Radimons do that one all the time,” Gine said, pointing towards a pair of Saiyans standing on top of an old warehouse, one wearing orange and the other crimson. “They've never produced a satisfactory answer.”

“The real question now is when they'll stop beating around the bush and just get together. It's so obvious they're crazy about each other.” Fasha added.

“Only _you_ think that.” Toma sighed.

“Don't be stupid! Obviously _they_ think it too, they just won't admit it!” Fasha cried.

“Don't _you_ be stupid! They don't think it because it's not true, you're just seeing what you want to see!” Toma cried.

“They argue all the time!” Fasha insisted.

“ _We're_ arguing right now!” Toma fired back.

“When _you_ say that it only helps _her_ argument.” Shugesh said with an eye roll.

“You stay out of this!” The two of them snarled at him at the same time.

Bardock and Gine exchanged a look, this was an argument their group had witnessed frequently.

“Aren't they both . . . male?” Borgos asked.

“Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything!” Fasha insisted.

“Even if it _didn't_ the fact that it doesn't mean anything doesn't _prove_ anything!” Toma insisted.

“Um . . . okay. _Say_ , how long have you all been working together?” Borgos said, wisely leaving the previous subject.

Bardock nodded to him in acknowledgment, too often Toma and Fasha would end up arguing cross-purposes for hours.

Toma shrugged, his frequent argument with Fasha forgotten in an instant as he answered, “Fasha, Gine and me are all from the same group, Bardock and Shugesh were with Nappa from the start. Other than that we've had a few others come through but mostly it's just been us.”

“You've been with General Nappa from the start, but they still see you as low-class warriors?” Borgos asked.

“Well we sort of made Vegeta mad at us in the battle to take this city.” Gine admitted.

“We kept a portion of the wall open!” Shugesh scowled.

“And as reward for that Vegeta didn't kill Bardock for failing him.” Fasha said simply.

“He didn't fail him, it was that idiot Rugalan that ruined Vegeta's plan.”

“And Vegeta killed him. He spared me because I didn't directly disobey him, but things still went bad and I didn't win any prestige.” Bardock shrugged.

“So we're low-class warriors because we have no prestige?” Borgos asked.

“Like Toma said,” Bardock said, “we don't really even know what low-class means. But don't worry, as long as you can keep your own head above water and not drag us down we won't drag you down.”

“You can count on me.” Borgos nodded.

“And hopefully I can count on all of you!” Nappa shouted.

Bardock and his team snapped to attention in the presence of their General. Nappa glowered at them and said, “I overheard some what that, and you're right, you all screwed up when we took this city! But that was years ago, it's time for you to redeem yourselves!”

“What do you need us to do, General?” Bardock asked.

General Nappa cracked his neck and said, “Vegeta just cooked up a plan . . . and low-class warriors like you are going to be a _big_ part of it!”

 

**To Be Concluded . . .**

 


	134. Trials of the Crown Part Six

**Part Six**

**'In the End'**

 

**Age 789**

**Planet Earth**

 

“My Grandfather had a penchant for naming things after himself.” Trunks said dryly.

“Only your father,” Brassica said with a slightly sharp tone to her voice, and Trunks reminded himself that while he was criticizing _his_ grandfather he was also criticizing _her_ King.

“ _We_ chose to name things after him,” Brassica reminded Trunks, “whether he liked it or not, and I have no idea if he did or if he didn't. But I'll tell you one thing, if we do our jobs right you'll see them name a city after you, Prince Trunks.”

“I just don't want to be in a situation where they name a planet after me,” Trunks said, “at least not if it's Earth.”

“Not if it's Earth,” Mai agreed, “but you should want them to name a planet after you.”

Trunks blinked, “I should? Why?”

Mai, who had been leaning against the wall stood up straight and said, “Because you might be titled Prince but in function you're their King. A King should strive to do his very best for his people . . . I think in a way the Saiyan tribes sort of hint at what Brassica is trying to get across.”

“You do?” Trunks asked.

Mai nodded and looked to Brassica. She said, “Your tribes had one leader, male or female just one single authority figure. They were collections of individuals who got along reasonably well but on the whole were not to be questioned or second-guessed. The Saiyans were led by Kings before they knew what a King was.”

Trunks frowned and said, “Well . . . sure, but--”

“ _But_ ,” Mai continued, “the dominant Saiyan wasn't just a boss, he had to try to keep his people safe and provide for them. In other words the Saiyan tribe formed a sort of de facto family unit, and that makes sense considering Brassica said they mostly ignored their actual children.”

Trunks nodded, feeling like he was starting to understand what Mai was getting at, but not wanting to interrupt her again.

“It wasn't a rule,” Brassica said, “most parents didn't care. _Some_ parents would take an interest, usually if they were clan leaders especially, like General Nappa or my own father before they joined the King.”

Mai smiled, “Because the clan leaders were already used to looking after others, caring for their own young made sense!”

Trunks nodded and said, “It might even have been an incentive for some Saiyans to, maybe unconsciously, choose mates most likely to actually look after their young so they wouldn't have to. It's most likely that the primitive Saiyans were loners, or else lived in small troops like some primates on Earth but the hard conditions on Planet Plant made solitary life almost untenable, banding together became a necessity.”

Brassica shrugged, “I mean . . . probably? We didn't exactly have history books. But we weren't _that_ primitive.”

“You wore animal skins and lived in caves until you learned to build from the Tuffles,” Trunks said dryly, “unless our race came from some other world and just lost a ton of knowledge after they arrived on Planet Plant I think we can set pride aside and call our ancestors cave people.”

Brassica seemed like she was going to say something, but then she seemed to think better of it and just shrugged.

Mai said, “In order to form real civilization information needs to be passed from one generation to the next, with King Vegeta taking in such a large 'family' so to speak parents had more reason to look after their young, or at least less excuse not to bother and if they wouldn't someone else might. So it makes sense that the Saiyans would advance so quickly during and after the war!”

“They had more minds to put together, more flexible minds to teach and the Tuffles' cities as the building blocks for their civilization.” Trunks agreed.

Brassica laughed and said, “Listen, even if you're right that's all well and good but it doesn't help you. But I _will_ say that there's something to what Mai is saying about a leader needing to be like a parent, which does mean, Prince Trunks that you've adopted about a dozen adolescents and consistently tell them not to call you father and now are in a situation where most of them won't respect you as their father. How can you expect anything different after you've told them not to regard you that way?”

Trunks frowned and said, “Well I wasn't thinking of it in those terms.”

“Your mother seems respected,” Mai added, “and she's never once faltered on her stance towards them. She's not physically stronger, but she never shows them fear. She knows what's best for them and she tells them so.”

Trunks stood up and said, “So . . . then if I want to get them under control . . . _and_ if I want to at least try to spare Turles' life . . . I have to start acting like a father?”

“Not . . . necessarily literally.” Brassica said.

Trunks folded his arms and furrowed his brow in thought. He thought about Gohan . . . Could he just act like Gohan had with him? Not a father exactly, but a mentor, a father figure . . . was he up to doing that with the Saiyans?

With the EDF he'd tried to be more of a colleague and they Earthlings responded well to that but the Saiyans needed him to be an authority figure.

At least for now . . . until they could mature and get used to life on Earth as it was, or they could think of something else.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

**Age 729**

**Planet Plant**

 

The war with the Saiyans had been raging for so long that the reports of the latest location attacked or the latest city to fall had become something of a dark daily ritual for the King of all Tuffles.

He didn't trust the news he was hearing now.

“What do you mean there were no attacks?” The King asked.

“I mean . . . there were no attacks?” The Tuffle General offered. The old man seemed confused, he'd no doubt expected his news to be greeted with relief or joy even.

But the King felt none of that. Instead he felt distrust and fear, “They're up to something! They must be! Warn the remaining governors, tell them to put all their defenses on standby!”

“Uh . . . I . . . of course we already have my King. But with no attacks yesterday if the trend continues it may be possible that the Saiyans have simply . . . had enough?”

“Had enough? The Saiyans?” The King scowled at his General and shook his head, “Someone bring me a new General, this one is a fool!”

“Your Majesty,” His Vizier said, “No one is saying that the crisis is _over._ I believe all the General is saying is that there were no attacks for the past few days, the Saiyans clearly need to recover their strength the same as we do.”

“Yes my liege, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I thought the crisis had passed. As the Vizier says I only think they're trying to rest, they've been exerting themselves lately falling upon our remaining cities to no affect, ambushing our caravans for no reward. With this stalemate going for so long they might be demoralized and simply taking some time to recover.”

The King scowled, “Are you a fool? Am I the only one here who has eyes to see the obvious? Vegeta and his Saiyans would never just give up! Where is the Doctor? He has sense, where is he?”

“He's locked himself away in his lab, he hasn't emerged in months.” The Vizier told him.

The King settled down a bit, sinking into his throne and moaning pitifully he said, “Oh woe unto my people, even our greatest mind has not found our salvation yet! What will we do? No force of arms can overcome these Saiyans but to hide behind our walls can bring no victory. Tell me General, I beg you, tell me there is something we can do!”

The General seemed uncertain, or at least unwilling to venture his thoughts having just been so roughly reprimanded.

But the King's patience was thin these days. His people were dying out, and their foe gained strength the longer the war carried on. The reality that his race might go extinct weighed heavily on the King.

Just as no father would ever want to outlive his sons no king would ever wish to outlive his kingdom.

And yet the Tuffles, united in peace for generations had seen their empire, one that had spanned their entire world reduced to just a few holdout cities . . .

The King moaned pitifully again and wailed, “What can we do to save our race?”

“I can think of one thing, my liege!” The Vizier cried, “We must admit defeat! If we build a star ship and fill it to capacity then send it away to a world that can support us--”

“What world would that be?” The King demanded, “This is Planet Plant, this is our home, we cannot let it be taken by these invaders!”

“My King!” The Vizier cried, “We cannot oppose the Saiyans in the field only our defenses can deter them and the full moon is coming!”

“My King!” The General added his voice to the plea, “If all of our surviving soldiers united to attack the Saiyan City we still would not have enough power to destroy them. The Vizier's plan sounds mad but we are reduced to reliance on mad plans now!”

“No one could have predicted the power of the Saiyans,” A Tuffle courtier cried.

“We were a peaceful people, war has never been our way!” another courtier agreed.

The war having raged so long many Tuffle soldiers had become hardened fighters themselves the King shook his head and said, “No . . . no, I won't do it! We _are_ warriors now, we can fight them, we must fight them! I won't admit defeat! These barbarians were nothing but roving bands, _we_ taught them to farm, _we_ taught them to build, they live in _our_ ruined cities, they use _our_ stolen scouters, they would be _nothing_ without _us_!”

“And we will be nothing because of them.” The General warned.

The King sank into his throne again and sighed wearily.

“Then so be it . . . but how can we build a ship when we cannot gather the resources? The Saiyans would just attack our miners. Would we dismantle some of our tanks or portions of our walls? What would we use for fuel? How would we build it in time? Face it gentlemen . . . there is nothing we can do. We must succeed against the Saiyans.”

“Then . . . what is your order?” The Vizier asked, “What shall we do, your Majesty?”

The King frowned and shook his head. “Send word to the remaining cities . . . whatever it is that the Saiyans are doing we must take advantage of it. We must support each other. Keep the walls manned, keep the soldiers armed and let the people restore the walls as best they can and do what they can to keep their spirits up. This temporary peace will not last long, the moment we show a hint of weakness the Saiyans will strike. Continue to project strength and hope that somehow we will emerge the victors in the conflict.”

It wasn't the rousing speech they'd no doubt been hoping for, but what else could he say?

What else was there to say?

These were the final days of his species, he could feel it in his bones . . .

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

It would be only a couple of weeks later that Vegeta and his officers would stand together on a cliff facing one of the Tuffle cities at dusk.

It was a grand place, larger even than Vegeta City though not quite as large as the capital.

It was the second largest of the remaining Tuffle cities . . . and it was deep in what the Tuffles still considered their territory.

The Saiyans had bypassed two other cities to reach it, and they'd been seen doing it, of that Vegeta was sure. After all the Tuffles had scouters the same as the Saiyans.

Vegeta smiled and asked his men, “Do you think the Tuffles enjoyed their days of respite?”

“I would hope so,” General Nappa grunted, “Hate to think they spent all that time just waiting to die.”

“At least their wait is over.” Zorn said confidently.

“Do you think they'll be happy to see what we've made?” Paragus asked.

“Oh I'm sure it'll be a scream!” Nappa chuckled.

Vegeta nodded and grinned at Paragus, who was the only one to have brought a scouter. The King's loyal officer reported, “The two cities we passed have dispatched forces. It's a risky move, maybe they think they can trap our army between their three.”

Vegeta smirked, “As I expected. Of course I'll know if the plan is _really_ working if they turn back, but if they don't we can destroy those two cities afterwards.”

“It shouldn't be too hard if they've sent enough of their forces away. But they'll probably have enough left to defend the walls.” Zorn said.

“Oh I'm sure they will.” Vegeta grinned. He turned to Nappa and said, “Are you ready, General?”

Nappa grinned back and pounded his chest with his fists like an Oozaru. He roared, “Ready! Let's take the first step on the road to final victory!”

His shout was heard by the Saiyan army gathered with them. Ten thousand strong the Saiyan warriors gathered were about to embark on what could be the final march of their people, or the beginning of the end for the Tuffles.

A fact not lost on Vegeta.

He didn't have the scouter to know for certain but by his guess with around a million Tuffles in the city before them—about a hundred thousand of them would be soldiers, perhaps more now though when things were more peaceful he'd learned that only about ten percent of Tuffles even signed up to fight for their armies, a shockingly low number.

But if that were the case he'd assume the other two cities would have sent half their own forces, maybe all together the Tuffles that would fight them today numbered two hundred thousand . . .

It wouldn't be enough of course.

The Saiyan army was an impressive sight fully mobilized, Vegeta knew. It was almost a shame the Tuffles wouldn't see them this way.

His people had brought with them large spheres made from the ruined carcasses of Tuffle Tanks, some of them wore the armor Paragus had been helping to design.

Armor to help protect them against the blasts and shrapnel of the Tuffle guns as they flew.

For many of the Saiyans the armor was cumbersome and they'd never worn it before. The whole scene might look a bit . . . off. But this was just a test.

If it worked . . . the war was as good as over.

With mere months to spare until the full moon.

Vegeta nodded to Nappa and the Saiyans who weren't wearing armor piled into the spheres, those who _were_ wearing armor got into position.

Each sphere held ten Saiyans and would be carried by two who could fly. The low-class fighters in the spheres would be unleashed inside of the city _after_ the fliers got them past the walls.

It was a simple plan . . . and one the Saiyans had used before. It tended to work, but it was usually costly because once inside the city the Tuffles could overwhelm the Saiyan warriors but Vegeta hoped that the weight of numbers and their armor would make a difference this day.

That . . . and their secret weapon.

He told his people, “You only need to get past the walls. Once you're inside the city just be prepared! You all know the plan . . . today is the last day for those Tuffles!”

Vegeta could feel the excitement building inside him. He was a Saiyan . . . win or lose live or die he knew that this was what he'd been made for.

To be a warrior, to fight, to win to conquer.

He wanted to express it in words to the Saiyans but he knew he would fail. So instead he told them, “This is our time! We will fight and their wills will break when they see what we are capable of now! We will let them all know that their end has arrived! Show them no mercy, show them no fear, let your warrior's blood boil my Saiyan warriors!”

The army roared, it was a deafening sound and it fed the excitement in Vegeta's heart. He looked at the walls of the Tuffle city in the distance, they were just out of the range of its guns though the Tuffles had fired a few warning shots the guns were quiet now.

But he hoped the Tuffles could hear the roar of his people.

He hoped they knew what was coming for them.

He told them, “This is our next step! And though not all of us will survive to take the one that follows I don't think anyone can deny the warrior legacy we'll leave behind! Whether we live or die today our memory will endure, and the Tuffles will tell their children horror stories of our ferocity for generations if we let them live that long! We are Saiyans! We are a proud warrior race, and we will rule this world!”

The army roared in approval, stomping their feet and pounding their chests to raise an even louder noise as Vegeta raised his hand to signal the attack to begin.

“Now,” He said quietly, “now it all ends.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

As twilight set in Bardock felt nervous. He and Toma stood on either side of the sphere that their friends and a few others had loaded into as the Saiyan army prepared to make their assault. Bardock wouldn't let the others know he felt nervous, after all he and Toma would be able to see and react to anything that came, the rest of their team would be waiting inside the metal ball to be released unable to see anything of use outside.

The battle hardened Saiyan warrior wasn't sure what scared him more about his current role, he'd never been one of the fliers before, and he'd never been inside one of the spheres.

This was a tactic that had only been used a few other times and both of those times Bardock was just with the group that had waited for the elites in the spheres to drop one of the wall segments and let the rest of the army in, but this time there weren't just elites in the spheres it was the entire army.

Except for the portion that would be carrying spheres and the extra fliers ready to take over if someone was killed while carrying the sphere.

Bardock knew he was in danger, the heavy metal armor didn't make him feel any more reassured but surprisingly what he felt might worry him more was the fear of what would happen to his friends if he failed.

If he allowed himself to be shot out of the air . . .

He glanced at Toma and said, “Just remember what happens if you let yourself take a blast, alright?”

“I won't let you down, Bardock.” Toma assured him.

“We get inside, we drop the ball, we land and get this garbage off,” Bardock said, thumping the chest of his own armor to indicate what he meant by 'garbage' and Toma nodded in agreement.

The tall Saiyan grinned and said, “It'll be a blast, Bardock!”

Bardock nodded and said, “I just hope you're right. I just hope this plan works.”

They all waited for the massive armored form of General Nappa to take his place at their head, like all good Saiyan leaders Nappa would lead from the front.

So would Vegeta of course, and Zorn and Paragus and the others, but Nappa was the leader for their division.

No one would be waiting outside of the gates if the Saiyans had anything to say about it. Unlike the other times the plan didn't call for that.

Though once the metal balls were dropped the Saiyans inside were ordered to open them up and emerge as soon as they hit the ground. Even if they didn't make it into the city they were to get out of the balls and make themselves moving targets harder to hit for the Tuffle guns.

Fly over the wall if they were capable and feeling brave, but above all else they needed to get out of their metal spheres.

That was the order Vegeta had given them.

For this battle none of the old or very young had come along, all of them had remained behind in Vegeta City.

So if the Saiyans failed here there might still be some form of a future, but Bardock was realistic enough to recognize that they were gambling with almost their entire race because at this point that was what it was going to take.

The war had to end . . .

Nappa lifted off and almost automatically Bardock and Toma rose from the ground to follow him, lifting the weight of the metal sphere and their ten comrades inside easily—they were Saiyans after all—and the group began to fly in the dim light of the setting sun.

There was enough light for the Saiyans to see and the cover of darkness would have done them no good as it turned out because they had learned early on that the Tuffles had put scouters on all of their wall cannons.

But the low light was needed for a different part of the plan.

The Saiyans flew and almost immediately Bardock could hear the whistle and blast of the Tuffle guns. The flight from the top of the cliff would make the journey easier on the fliers but as they flew Bardock had to fight to keep his nerves in check.

_Don't fly past Nappa,_ he thought. The General was setting the pace, if every Saiyan just flew as fast as they could they'd arrive piecemeal.

For his part Nappa didn't set too slow a pace, but he also didn't fly as quickly as Bardock knew he was capable of.

The blasts from the Tuffle guns sent chills down the Saiyan's spine but he knew the armor was doing its job when he heard the sounds of shrapnel being deflected by his metal breastplate and mask.

It did its job very well in fact, few Saiyans were shot down as they flew.

It seemed to take a direct hit to take a flier out and if that happened one of the supports would catch the pole and help carry the sphere quickly.

It wasn't that the spheres were too heavy to be carried by a single Saiyan, but they were cumbersome and the two-carrier system meant greater stability and more time for a support to assist before the ball simply went plummeting to Plant.

When they reached the walls the support fliers sped ahead and began attacking the gun emplacements and Bardock had a brief moment to realize that they'd done it.

The city was already as good as conquered. It had fallen . . .

General Paragus' armor had done its job.

The whole army with maybe a few exceptions Bardock hadn't seen . . . had made it over the walls.

And if they'd done it here they could do it anywhere.

But more than that came what was to follow.

Bardock and Toma flew down to the ground quickly and their sphere cracked open. Borgos and Shugesh emerged first followed up by Yamif and Radimons, then Fasha and Gine.

There were four more in the sphere still but Bardock's attention was mostly on Gine. In truth she should have stayed behind in Vegeta city, but she'd insisted on coming along at least for this.

And Bardock would do what he could to keep her alive for this penultimate battle.

“Handy this stuff,” Toma said as he tore his armor off, “Wish we could keep it!”

“I'm sure Paragus will make more for the next assault,” Bardock said, “everyone spread out and watch for the signal, but keep yours heads screwed on!”

The army wouldn't have long to wait though.

Bardock wouldn't remember much of it later but it was only about a minute after the army made it over the walls that Vegeta's real strategy kicked off.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Vegeta stood on the walls when his Saiyans cleared them, he blasted Tuffles and turrets away and threw his armor off, shouting to the warriors with him to do the same.

Paragus had told him the armor should just break away but . . . well Vegeta didn't want to take stupid chances.

Most of his army were past the walls and it did occur to him that the armor had done such a good job that truly he didn't even need to resort to his secret weapon. He would have to see his warriors equipped with proper armor in the future.

But this wasn't just about winning the battle.

It was about sending a message.

A message that would break the enemy's spirit and leave them in terror. A message that would tell the Tuffles clearly that the Saiyans didn't need some special event to win wars.

They could make their own special events, they were the masters of their own fates now. Not even the lunar cycle, which had once been their master, was anything more than a tool to them now.

Vegeta summoned up the technique in his hand as did dozens of others. He'd taken no chances, all those he considered to be high-class warriors had been taught the technique once it had been perfected.

Reports were that it was one of the low-class Saiyans that had actually put the finishing touches on the technique, but Vegeta wasn't sure, it sounded like some kind of rumor to let the weaker Saiyans feel important, but whatever the truth might be the Saiyan leader threw his attack into the sky.

A ball of energy, a little orb of blue light.

And then with a flinch of his fingers it burst open.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

**Age 730**

**Planet Vegeta**

 

The rest of the war had gone more or less in a predictable fashion.

The Saiyans attacked, the Tuffles fought and the Saiyans won. In the end their technology, and their superior civilization could not save them from the barbarians at the gates. When the sun rose now it shone down on a world devoid of the Tuffles.

It wasn't quite what Vegeta had wanted . . . but in the end it had been the only option.

Once at war the Tuffles and the Saiyans had been utterly unable to stop. The fun of conflict gave way to a real threat and with that real stakes. Even if most of the Saiyans hadn't noticed or spared a thought towards it Vegeta had been unable to think of anything else.

Now . . . was it all worth it?

The Tuffles totally extinct, their cities ruins, their technological treasures left behind to be deciphered by smarter Saiyans than himself . . .

His people, brought together by a common enemy now lacked an enemy to unite against . . .

But was it _worth_ it? To see his people united and strong?

_I must do everything in my power to make sure that it was._ Vegeta thought to himself.

If Paragus and the other intellects could get a working space ship cobbled together they might be able find a new foe to fight, a new world to conquer this time with the security of their own home to return to.

Sitting in his throne as Saiyan after Saiyan came to him to swear their allegiance the new King of all Saiyans couldn't help but let his mind drift towards the future

If they could leave their world they could do anything. They could be anything. The Saiyan race was the most powerful and they should be proud of the fact. Though outnumbered and facing far superior technology the sheer strength of the Saiyans had overcome the Tuffles and pacified their home world. With the ability to unleash the primal rage of their their Oozaru hearts at will he knew there would be nothing that could stop them out amongst the stars . . .

What would they do? Where would they go? The universe was theirs . . .

They just had to reach out and take it.

As the last Saiyan leaders swore their fealty Vegeta stood up and heard Zorn cry, “All hail Vegeta, King of all Saiyans!”

Three times the crowd roared, “All hail King Vegeta!”

He nodded once to them when it was finished and the crowd went silent. He said, “We have a long path to travel ahead of us, the Tuffles were just the first step. Now that we've won the war there's no one left to fight! But we won't turn on ourselves, you've selected me to be your King and as your King I will protect you and guide you. I will lead you to new enemies and we will show the universe the might of the Saiyans!”

The crowd roared and King Vegeta looked forward to their bright future.

But of course the Saiyan Empire would last less than a decade. Before either of his sons would be old enough to assume the mantle of King from him the Saiyan race would suffer the same fate as the Tuffles; destroyed by a force far beyond their own power. A force too great to overcome without the help of some miracle, a legend from their past reborn from the blood of the very low-class warriors that Vegeta himself ignored.

But even that wouldn't be the end of the Saiyans . . . nor would it be the end of the Tuffles, though it would be many many years before Dr. Lychee's Hatchiyack would finally have its chance to claim the revenge its creator had so craved.

But Vegeta, King of All Saiyans, who was the first would also be the last to wear the crown.

 

**Tale's End.**

 


	135. Begin!

**Season Four**

**Episode One**

**'Begin!'**

 

The gathering room for the fighters afforded a decent view of the arena but Pastel was watching the stands.

There wasn't much of a crowd for the tournament, it was mostly a private event. In fact Pastel wouldn't have been surprised if the stands had been the sort one saw in a school gymnasium.

Of course that wasn't Bulma's style, she'd put in a real—albeit small—stadium with stone bleachers and roofing for shade. The whole place was sort of shaped like an oval around the arena itself, which was a raised white stone platform without any ceiling so that the fighters could fly if they felt the need.

It was either done with Capsules or what could be considered one of the hardest month's work money could buy, Pastel wasn't sure which but either way though it might seem extravagant for what had started out as just a fun little competition Pastel could definitely see the justification for going all out on the stands.

And anyway if this arena was still standing when they were done they could use it again even though it was a bit towards the middle of nowhere. No one lived in the ruins of South City anymore, in fact it was one of the first places that had been wiped clean of life by the Androids.

But it'd keep curious locals away at least. Especially since it was on an island away from the mainland. Everyone from the spectators to the competitors had to be flown in, and there were spectators of course. The King and his advisors, Capsule Corp. employees, Royal Guard, the new calamari aliens of course and . . . well, Pastel supposed the _other_ aliens. The Namekians, the Arcosians . . . but not the Saiyans.

Other than Master Trunks there wasn't a single Saiyan who wasn't in the tournament.

Sharrot, Pastel's partner in the doubles tournament seemed nervous but Pastel offered the younger girl an encouraging smile and told her, “You've got nothing to worry about.”

“I'm not worried,” Sharrot said, “It's just . . . I'm a little bit confused by the the line-up.”

Pastel folded her arms and tilted her head, “Yeah?”

“We fight Kay and Tell first,” Sharrot said, referring to the list which hung in the gathering room, “then we fight . . . either Kor and Rhyce or Bocan and Quash and on and on in tournament style, but in the last match they list Sixteen and Soda . . . but not their opponents.”

Pastel frowned. She tried to go over the list, asking herself what pair of fighters was missing?

First there was her and Sharrot against Telluce and Kayle, then Bocan and Quash against Rhyce and Korrard, Tathy and Prage against Gurein and Kodva, then Chillax and Beeta against Schip and Anavill.

That would close out the first half of the tournament, then things got really interesting with Gohan and Videl taking on Ribuai and Konpeito.

Not that Pastel didn't consider the other matches interesting, it was just that seeing the mentor of Master Trunks battle would be very interesting indeed. She'd never seen Gohan really fight, and against the living tank of the Royal Guard and the alien whose redirection powers had actually played a vital role in holding off the enemy at the battle of the bunker Pastel knew it wouldn't be a sure win.

And assuming he could defeat his alien opponents he'd take on either Cauliflora and Lamson or Oni and Routz, two teams where not only were both competitors Saiyans, but powerful Saiyans considered just below Turles, the strongest of the EDF apart from Master Trunks and _maybe_ Gohan.

They'd see for sure when Rhubara and Okran took on Turles and Brock, but the final names listed were just Sixteen and Soda.

Their opponents were listed as question-marks . . . did that mean they were getting a bye?

Pastel thought it strange, it wasn't as if there weren't enough fighters to fill out one more team to make a complete tournament. She knew Ganmo, Ayappa and Avaug, the noncompeting members of the King's Guard were off the table because they were performing security, but what about the Namekians? Didn't Cargo or Bass want to have a go? Or even some of the other Namekians she hadn't met, didn't they have a whole warrior caste?

It seemed strange to her, though at the same time she wondered if maybe the question marks meant they listed a mystery opponent instead of leaving the entry blank for a bye.

Pastel could see why Sharrot was confused. Unfortunately she had no answers to offer her so she just shrugged and told the girl, “I guess we'll find out. Maybe it'll be Master Roshi, or maybe Master Trunks is going to enter too and wanted to save it for the final round as a surprise.”

“Really?” Sharrot sounded excited by the prospect rather than intimidated, which Pastel found endearing.

She didn't quite share the Saiyan's eagerness to fight anyone anywhere anytime but . . . well she _almost_ did, and it certainly reminded her of a younger version of herself. She smirked and said, “If nothing else we'd better get a chance to beat down on Bocan and Quash. You're lucky, you get a shot at taking down your guy right off the bat but we'll have to wait for round two before I get that same opportunity.”

“I didn't know Earthlings were that aggressive towards their . . . guys?” Sharrot seemed to fish for the right word, finally just settling on the one Pastel had used herself.

Pastel felt herself blush, “We're not! At least most of us aren't, and those that are actually aren't considered to be decent people. But it isn't like I'm wanting to do him harm, I just want to compete against him . . . and win.”

“I can understand that.” Sharrot nodded, “It would be a simple win, I can take Quash easily and I'm sure you can beat Bocan.”

Pastel smiled ruefully, “I wish I could say I'm as confident in that as you sound. But truthfully Bocan won the tournament that Master Trunks held to see who could join the EDF. I wasn't part of that so I didn't get a chance to test myself against him, but he beat Gurein and Rhyce.”

“The both of them?” Sharrot asked in surprise.

“Well, not at the same time. But all the same don't underestimate him, he's quite the fighter.”

“I'll try not to.” Sharrot nodded.

The warning gong rang and the two nodded to each other.

It was time.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks watched as his students took to the field. He had to admit he was a little biased in favor of Pastel because he'd known her longer, and besides against one of the Evil Twins it would be a close fight.

But he was confident in her abilities.

The real fight would be between Kayle and Pastel though since their partners, Telluce and Sharrot respectively, were so close to each-other in power.

Part of the young warrior wanted to see Pastel triumph too because as an Earthling and a member of the EDF he knew she wasn't part of Turles' Crusher Corps, and therefore a potential traitor. He highly doubted that the same could be said for Telluce, Turles' brother, or for either of the Evil Twins for that matter.

In fact he was certain it couldn't, all part of the reason that Turles needed to lose in this tournament. He had to be taken down a peg in front of the other Saiyans before his dangerous talk was allowed to spread any further.

If Trunks could settle the doubts within the EDF without having to publicly attack Turles it would be preferable to allowing things to devolve to what could be considered a small civil war.

A civil war between less than a hundred people that would still contain enough firepower to end the world itself.

He took his seat to the right of the King himself while his mother, Trunks was grateful to see would be sitting between him and Jaco, who was actually rather enjoying the hard stale bread things Trunks had suggested he try.

This meant that she, rather than he, would have to listen to Jaco's suggestions and complaints. It also meant that with Mai standing guard behind to King and to his right she was pretty nearby Trunks as well.

Not that he'd noticed or anything.

The King of Earth smiled warmly at Trunks as the young Prince of all Saiyans took his seat and said, “I must confess, this seat is rather comfortable. But the arena seems a bit small, don't you think? I saw what the result of your fighting at the Bunker a year ago, wouldn't we want to be further from the blast zone if your students are going to be slinging balls of fire at each-other?”

Trunks smiled, “We'll be perfectly safe, I assure you. It's true the arena is small, but my mother's engineers built it to withstand the vibrations that come from our style of fighting. As fort blasts, well everyone's aware that they're not to use anything that would damage the stands.”

“But just in case,” His mother added, “I've installed a number of dampeners. It uses Dr. Gero's technology, or at least some of the technology that it seems he didn't end up using. Seemed like it was meant to absorb energy and store it in the Androids themselves, but I re-purposed it.”

“When did you do this?” The King asked, sounding intrigued.

“When I raided his lab several months ago,” Bulma said with a smile, “I found all sorts of plans and schematics.”

“I hope you didn't find any Androids too.” One of the King's advisors to his left said.

Trunks saw his mother's eyes flash irritation and she seemed about to say something but the King beat her to the punch with a good-natured smile turned in their direction and a reproving finger waved at his advisor.

“Now settle down General Herb. If there _were_ any other Androids there is no one I would trust more with such a device than Mrs. Briefs here.” the King said.

The General grunted an apology, and Trunks regarded the man he'd never met before.

He was short, no taller than the King himself really, and rather rotund. He had a rather fantastic mustache.

“You can never be too careful,” Trunks offered, “all the same if we did find any Androids I can assure you we'd remove their killer robot programing.”

“Well,” General Herb said, “I feel as if that is the very least we can expect, all the same I don't think I'd ever be able to trust something with that much power and no respect for the sanctity or life.”

_Well let's hope you don't figure out what Sixteen is then,_ Trunks thought. Although he did feel the towering Android possessed a sanctity for life.

At least the Sixteen of the past had.

“Are artificial lifeforms illegal on this world?” Jaco asked.

Trunks was about to answer but his mother beat him to it saying, “There's no law against it, but when the only two anyone's ever seen devastate the entire population and for lack of a better term _destroy_ the world as we all know it it does tend to make people a little uneasy.”

“Very much so, Generals in particular.” General Herb grunted.

“Very well. But let us not fret and go down the road of what if,” The King said reassuringly, “let us simply begin this wonderful tournament instead and revel in the skill of our great defenders.”

Trunks nodded and signaled Orenga to ring the gong to begin the first match. Genora and her siblings . . . clone . . . whatever they were, were going to be handling that sort of thing.

Still there was something in his mother's eyes that made Trunks wonder. The way that she'd reacted to General Herb mentioning other Androids . . .

_No, no way,_ he thought, _she's probably just feeling defensive of Sixteen. After all the only other Androids were Cell and Nineteen and Twenty. Seventeen and Eighteen must have destroyed this time-line's version of Nineteen and Twenty just like they did in Goku's past, and I killed Cell before I formed the EDF._

Trunks saw his students and his people rush into the arena, the two teams taking position on either side of each other.

Trunks stood up and as the gong rang again he called, “Begin!”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Pastel had her ideas about how the fight would go, and if she could she'd restrain having to use the Kaioken until the very last moment.

Kayle was one of the Evil Twins, but as Pastel understood it her berserk fury would turn itself against anyone other than her twin brother Oni, so as long as Telluce remained in the fight she wouldn't want to unleash her full power and risk injuring him.

Certainly not this early in the tournament anyway.

So as long as she could work on eliminating Kayle before Sharrot eliminated Telluce they'd be fine.

At least that was what Pastel expected going into the fight.

What she did not expect was for Kayle to start glowing red the moment Master Trunks shouted for them to begin.

The Saiyan Berserker was bathed in a blood red aura much darker than the red glow of the Kaioken.

_Oh crap,_ was about all Pastel had time to think before the Saiyan came charging towards her.

Luckily she was a martial artist trained by practical demigods among men . . . or literal gods, if that was what King Kai was, she hadn't given it much thought because the notion unsettled her more than a little.

All the same her body reacted far faster than her mind did, and she was able to throw herself out of the way of Kayle's first flurry of blows.

She tried to kick the girl's legs out from under her but it was like kicking a stone pillar.

Kayle didn't budge, instead she reached down to try to grasp Pastel by the ankle no doubt to do something dire to her, however the Earthling woman evaded the Saiyan's grasp and quickly somersaulted out of her reach, at least for a moment.

The battle rage, as the Saiyans called it, multiplied a warrior's power level by five meaning that Kayle, who on average was about as strong as Telluce or Sharrot—leaving her slightly stronger than Pastel herself—was now five or six times Pastel's own strength.

Which meant that the Earthling woman would have to not only resort to a level of Kaioken at the very limits of what any of them had achieved, she'd have to sustain it long enough to fight Kayle.

It was a daunting prospect, but what had they been training for if not to push themselves to the limits?

And besides, Bocan might be jealous of her skill if she could pull it off.

_Don't be overzealous,_ she warned herself, _this is only the first match. Kayle is a rampaging beast, you don't have to be stronger_ _than her, just strong_ enough _._

Strong enough to survive the blows and strong enough to leave an impact.

“Kaioken times three!” Pastel cried, surrounding herself in her own red light.

She didn't want to use the ability for more than a moment, and that moment would have to be enough.

She lunged forward punching Kayle hard in the gut, a blow that would have liquefied most people's internal organs only seemed to irritate the Saiyan, and it was still like punching a tree at least.

Kayle's hands grasped for Pastel's own but the Earthling woman had already pulled back from her punch and sprang forward, launching a hard kick to the back of the Saiyan woman's head. Kayle took the blow without flinching but by the time she'd turned around to face her opponent Pastel was already behind her again.

She was about to launch another attack when she was suddenly hit by a blast of red light.

Telluce had knocked her away from her opponent, ignoring his own in the process and Pastel did see Sharrot make him pay for it by bringing her knee high into his chest then dropping her elbow down onto the back of his head as he lurched forward in pain.

But there wasn't much satisfaction to be had since the blast had ruined Pastel's own attack pattern.

She deactivated her Kaioken knowing that the technique could destroy her as surely as her opponent could, and instead focused everything she had on recovering before she went flying out of the arena.

It turned out Kayle wouldn't let that happen though, neither the recovery nor the exiting of the arena towards the shameful safety of a defeat. The Saiyan woman rushed forward and grabbed Pastel by the front of her gi and hurled her into the center of the arena with a crash and a cloud of smoke. Even in the cloud Pastel could see the blood red light, she braced herself for the strike as Kayle charged in for her again.

This time Kayle's attack was slowed by a flurry of beams of golden light, Sharrot taking a page from Telluce's book and coming to her partner's aid.

Pastel couldn't see Sharrot from within the cloud of pulverized arena floor, but she hoped the Saiyan woman wasn't also meeting a similar reprimand for doing so.

Whatever the case the blasts were enough to slow Kayle, and Pastel rolled to her feet, shaking off the pain of her earlier landing and crying, “Kaioken times five!”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“Is that wise?” Videl asked Gohan as they watched the match from the preparation hall, “I mean isnt the Kaioken dangerous?”

“It can be, but as a user's body gets used to the strain they can use it more frequently and at higher rates of increase,” Gohan told her, but in truth he wasn't sure just what Pastel's rate was.

He knew that King Kai had hoped the Earthlings of the EDF would be able to make his technique as potent as the natural ability of the Saiyans to become Super Saiyans, but Gohan knew that that kind of mastery was still years beyond any of Trunks' students.

But it would be dishonorable to look down on a fellow competitor by doubting Pastel's mastery of her own body, and so he said nothing more than that.

All the same Videl looked concerned.

“I didn't expect Kayle to rage right off the bat!” Oni, Kayle's twin brother growled.

“She probably worried Pastel would eliminate her too quickly if she didn't.” Routz, his partner for the tournament grunted.

Gohan nodded in agreement, “It's likely that she would have too, this early in the tournament Pastel wouldn't want to use up very much energy. If she could have she'd probably have wanted to eliminate Kayle without having to use the Kaioken at all.”

“Not possible.” Oni said confidently, “My sister would have taken her without it.”

“Maybe.” Gohan acknowledged, “Just remember brute strength isn't everything.”

Oni shrugged and said, “If it's not everything it's at least most things, don't you think? At the end of the day the greatest plans in the world would mean nothing against a foe like you or Prince Trunks if either of you transformed into a Super Saiyan.”

Gohan scratched his cheek and said, “Well I mean just like any transformation Super Saiyan has its drawbacks. But I'll grant you the power difference is pretty extreme, it'd take an impressive opponent to last very long against us.”

“Once I win this tournament and learn the secrets of the Super Saiyan I'll master the technique so there are no drawbacks.” Turles said with a cocky grin.

“Spoken like a true amateur,” Gohan wanted to say, but it was the Arcosian Chillax who actually voiced his thought. Turles glared but Chillax didn't so much as flinch under his gaze and said, “Every real warrior knows that every technique has its benefits and its drawbacks. Mastering a technique doesn't mean you completely eliminate its drawbacks, it just means that you find a way to keep them from holding you back or making you vulnerable. You compensate and find a way to shield your weaknesses, you don't just ignore that they exist.”

Turles folded his arms but to Gohan's surprise he said, “Well . . . then I'll keep that in mind.”

For a fleeting moment Gohan thought that Turles might be mature and simply take the advice without feeling the need to make sure everyone knew how powerful and important he was but then Turles added, “Of course what you have to say will only matter if you can beat me, and you'll never get that chance.”

Some of the Saiyans laughed but one of them, Rhubara, scoffed and said, “For once we agree, Turles. He won't get that chance because you won't advance past me.”

Turles raised an eyebrow, “Is that a fact, Rhuby?”

“One fit to be carved in stone for posterity,” Rhubara nodded. “After all, as Gohan says brute strength isn't everything.”

“Oh, is he your teacher now too?” Turles taunted with a sneer.

“I haven't had any lessons, but we'd all be smart not to ignore the one who taught the Prince.” Rhuby said with a scoff.

Surprisingly this actually got a more sincere response from Turles who said, “You're right. Banter aside I shouldn't just disregard any advice anyone has for me . . . of course Gohan can't use his Super Saiyan transformation in this tournament. That means you'll be fighting closer to our level, won't you Master?”

Gohan wasn't really used to having Turles call him 'master' the boastful young Saiyan didn't really seem to show much deference to anyone lately, apart from Bulma at least.

Gohan nodded though and said, “That's true. But don't think I'll be an easy foe, I spent more than a few years holding off not just one but two opponents who were stronger than me. Fighting people closer to my own power level will be a relief compared to that!”

He didn't mention that he'd been a Super Saiyan almost every time he'd faced the Androids.

“Whoa!” Videl cried, pointing to the arena, “I don't believe it!”

Everyone else turned their attention back to the fight, and more than a few of them mimicked Videl's last statement, even Turles.

The first match of the tournament had finished.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Pastel had, at a rough guess, just thirty seconds to fight at five times her strength before she'd _need_ to stop.

That meant she wouldn't have long.

_The plan for dealing with a berserk Kayle if we did eliminate Telluce,_ she thought, _is our only play._

The advantage of being in a doubles tournament meant that it opened up some creative ways to win the match and Pastel and Sharrot had discussed strategies for most every situation they could think of in the time they'd had to train for the tournament, but fighting Bocan and Quash and Telluce and Kayle had been of particular focus for them long before they knew who their opponents in the first round would be.

They'd come up with a strategy for defeating the Evil Twins, and it wouldn't require Pastel to use the Kaioken for very long . . . but for the moment the problem was Telluce. Sharrot and Pastel couldn't very well work together against Kayle if Telluce was still in the fight, but at five times her usual strength Pastel could change that easily.

Telluce was distracted fighting Sharrot, and he'd likely never expect her to turn her back on a rampaging Kayle.

But Pastel loved to surprise people. Even if it was a little foolhardy she did exactly that, turning her back on Kayle and shooting towards Telluce using her ability to sense energy to guide her out of the cloud of dust.

As she emerged from the cloud she could see that Telluce and Sharrot were clashing in midair, their fists moving faster than her Earthling eyes could track so that all she saw were blurred lines of movement.

_It's tripy_ , she thought, _as fast as they're moving now I know_ I'm _moving faster._

It was no idle consideration, like a peregrine falcon striking a pigeon out of the air Pastel struck Telluce midair and grabbed him by the chest-piece of his Saiyan armor spinning him around her head twice before throwing him out of the arena with such force that he'd have no chance to correct his course or try to stop before he hit the ground.

Then she turned on Kayle secure in the knowledge that Sharrot would be able to back her up as the blood red aura burst from the cloud of dust and struck her in much the same way she'd struck Telluce.

But unlike Telluce Pastel stayed firm in place and instead wrapped her arms around Kayle.

She had maybe ten seconds left, not enough to fight . . . so instead holding her opponent tight she flew down fast and hard so that they both went slamming into the hard floor outside of the arena.

There was a moment of stunned silence from everyone, though for Kayle it was more a moment of being stunned by the collision with the ground. Pastel didn't blame her, in the slight panic of having almost no time left and trying to restrain the rampaging Kayle she'd gone down a lot harder than she'd meant to.

“Round one is complete, the winners are Sharrot and Pastel!” Pastel heard Genora announce over a loudspeaker.

_Great!_ Pastel thought as she fought to restrain the still rampaging Kayle, _Now someone help calm this crazy Saiyan down, because she doesn't seem to care that it's over!_

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Knowing the war has begun Karuto does something reckless before he arrives at Earth, meanwhile General Boreal revels in his newfound powers as the Frost Twins' offensive against the Galactic Patrol continues._

 

 


	136. To Earth

**Episode Two**

**'To Earth'**

 

The alarms in Galactic Patrol Headquarters blared and lights flashed. The moment the Galactic King had feared had finally arrived.

Though only one of the worlds under their protection was being attacked the nature of the attack was what prompted the response. This was an attack they had been anticipating and dreading for quite some time.

Ever since the Planet Trade Organization had backed off and retreated with nearly the entirety of its command structure to the world of Frago. The Galactic King had known they were up to something, it wasn't as if the Arcosians of the Frost Clan had just decided to hold a family reunion and turn over a new leaf on a forest planet after all.

They were up to something . . . and now he was going to see what it was.

But to attack a world under his protection directly? That was unexpected outside of their worst case scenarios.

“Which world are they attacking?” The Galactic King asked his Patrolmen.

“Viltvodle VI,” One of the officers answered, “Officer Yoko is on the scene, but we haven't been able to reach him to ascertain the situation--”

“He's already dead!” One of the other officers cried hysterically.

“You don't know that!” Another responded.

“Everyone keep calm!” The Galactic King cried, wiggling his tentacles angrily. He didn't need his Patrolmen losing their minds in a situation like this, and anyway it wasn't as if they hadn't known this was coming.

Al of them were on edge and now the worst was happening but that was no excuse to go to pieces.

“We know nothing of Yoko's situation, or the situation on Viltvodle VI!” The Galactic King reprimanded the Patrol.

“Nothing, your majesty, except that the PTO are attacking, and judging by the size of the fleet they're there in force,” a tall centaurian officer named Yuzu. Broad shouldered and bronze skinned with two long curved horns protruding from his bald head, brown and tan fur covered the equine portion of his body and he had a long metallic bull-whip looking tail as well which ended in a black blade.

The other members of the Galactic Patrol gave him a wide berth simply due to his massive size.

Yuzu said, “If we move now we may be able to respond in time to evacuate the people of the planet. We should all go now, if the PTO is there in force we must go in force as well.”

The Galactic king shrank back a bit and said, “Ah well I wouldn't be so quick to deploy every officer. This could be a trap or a diversion.”

He knew how it sounded when he said it, but the truth was that it was the truth. Viltvodle VI was hours away from Headquarters, if they'd known about the attack before it was launched they might have been able to do something but as it was if the Patrol moved in force they'd only arrive in time to try to protect the last fleeing remnants against any pursuit.

Not an unworthy goal of course, but that would leave the rest of their worlds exposed and with no one in headquarters to coordinate things it would be a disaster, the Galactic King was sure of it.

Yuzu understood of course. He inclined his head and said, “Then let me take an elite team. We can at least ascertain the nature of the threat and attempt to aid the evacuation, but we have to move quickly.”

“Ascertain the nature of the threat?” The Galactic King questioned.

“Whether this is an isolated attack to show their strength, or if this is a full invasion force.” Yuzu said gravely.

The Galactic King sighed and nodded, “Very well. Take three others with you and investigate. Find Yoko or some trace of him if you can, but make the evacuation of the people your top priority.”

In addition to Yoko already on the planet this would make a team of five elite patrolmen, a small army and a force to be reckoned with. Even if for all appearances it was a small one it was still a powerful force.

Whatever they could do to help the people evacuate would have to be enough.

“We should recall all others as well,” Bahn-jo, a tall white and pink humanoid Patrolman spoke up.

“Yes, yes, quite right! Recall all Galactic Patrolmen, when Yuzu and his team return, hopefully with Yoko and some fresh intel we can prepare for our counter attack with everyone present!” The Galactic King declared.

He'd hoped that declaration would result in a cheer but instead everyone was very grave.

He understood, still if his people kept their spirits up he'd feel more certain of things himself. They had prepared, hadn't they? He told himself,  _ we knew this was coming, we knew they were gearing up for a major offensive. _

But why attack just one world, he wondered, and why Viltvodle VI?

This was why he suspected a trap. He wouldn't send all thirty eight of his Galactic Patrolmen into the fray, even though he was confident in their ability to defeat anyone except the Frost Twins themselves and perhaps that General of theirs.

But Yoko was an elite agent, he shouldn't have a problem with whatever the PTO could throw at him, at worst he'd be outnumbered but Yuzu and his team should change that.

_ This is fine. We're fine. This is fine.  _ The Galactic King told himself

Though inside he suspected something was amiss.

_ If the worst should come to pass at least we have our secret weapon . . . it's a good thing Jaco found it,  _ he thought.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The  _ Arcoss Avenger  _ was near to Earth by the time the distress signals started to reach them.

“Looks like they've started,” Captain Sleet said, sounding almost regretful.

He meant that the Frost Clan and the Planet Trade Organization had started their invasion of the Galactic Patrol's protected space, Karuto knew. What the Arcosian child was less certain about was the regretful tone of Sleet's statement.

Whether he was regretful that the attacks were starting or that he couldn't participate in them Karuto wasn't sure, but he hoped it was at least a little bit the former and not the latter.

“Where did they hit?” Karuto asked.

“Viltvodle VI.” Pitaya, Sleet's second in command answered. The tall powerful looking alien shook his head and said, “Not even a world of warriors, just one with a high population.”

“A high population and a wide variety of different races,” Kiwano said. Having recently been reeducated by the PTO the Iwatian warrior knew better than most of them simply by virtue of having learned fairly recently.

“It's a bit of a travel hub,” Captain Sleet nodded, “We're getting distress signals from multiple ships trying to flee, seems they're not getting far though.”

It sounded horrible.

Karuto frowned, he didn't know the planet, his studies on worlds belonging to the Galactic Patrol's protectorate had been lacking at the best of times and now his studies had petered off all together.

Still he found himself moved by the very thought of those poor creatures being attacked for no good reason by his father and uncle.

He looked at Kiwano and thought  _ how many just like you or like Konpeito will there be this time? And how many like Korizato, who never made it off your world alive will there be once they're finished? _

Captain Sleet seemed to notice his upset and no doubt thinking him just an emotional child the Captain said, “Well . . . don't worry about the distress calls, Pitaya. Hail the Earth, let them know we're coming in and we mean no harm.”

“Wait,” Karuto said, “Please Captain . . . we can't just ignore Viltvodle.”

“VI.” Captain Sleet added. “And why not? They're not our people or our problem, besides there's nothing we could do. We're weeks away from them here at maximum burn and even if we could we're still in a PTO ship, the Galactic Patrol would blast us to atoms on sight.”

“You're right, we can't go there. Besides reaching Earth is more important,” Karuto acknowledged before adding, “But Captain, can you broadcast a message to the Galactic Patrol?”

“Probably. Why?” Sleet asked.

“We should warn them about the Tree, and its fruit. We should tell them that the only place where people will be safe is Earth.”

“Most of them won't even know where that is.” Pitaya pointed out.

“Most of them won't even want to listen to a PTO ship,” Captain Sleet pointed out, “even if we have you send the message yourself they won't listen to a kid and nobody else on this ship short of the Iwatian hasn't had the chance to build up a good sized bounty with the GP.”

“They'll listen, they have to. Besides, I'm sure they'll know where Earth is, they have to know the place where cousin Frieza fell just as well as we do.” Karuto said.

Though for them it likely had a very different meaning. It was probably a place of hope and happy thoughts rather than the black mark on their history and the terrible place that the Arcosians saw it as.

“If the bounty hunters knew the coordinates I'm sure the Galactic Patrol learned them too at the very least, and their evacuation efforts might be more successful if they have a place to send the refugees.” Pitaya acknowledged. “Waiting on your order Captain.”

Karuto offered his most adorable eyes and said, “Please? To save innocent lives . . . if for no other reason than to make you more acceptable to the Earthlings.”

Captain Sleet grumbled and said, “I . . . suppose it can't hurt to try.”  
“Are you sure you want to tell them to evacuate to Earth?” Kiwano asked, “Are you certain you can just invite people to Earth without asking the Earthlings first?”

“We're less than an hour away ourselves,” Sleet pointed out.

Karuto shook his head. It was better to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission. He said, “We have to do it. An hour could be all they need to wipe out that planet, and every minute we say nothing is just more lives lost and a minute closer to the planet's extermination.”

“Well I can't argue that,” Sleet admitted. He nodded to Pitaya, “Send the message. Warn the Patrol . . . but don't expect too much, kid. After all, they'll know who sent the message and they probably won't trust it. They'll think Earth is just a trap world or something.”

Karuto frowned, “I hope they don't, I know Trunks is the only one that the Frost Twins will be afraid of.”

“Not for much longer,” Pitaya said, “who knows how much of the fruit they ate.”  
That was a good point . . . but Karuto hoped it wouldn't be too much for Trunks to handle. The thought that just eating fruit could bypass the need for hard work didn't seem fair, and since the universe wasn't fair Karuto worried that that just meant it was true.

“Send the message telling them to go to Earth,” Karuto said, “they might not all listen but if any of them do then they'll be safer than anywhere else.”

“Earth might get overrun if you do that. Once word gets out even those the Earthlings might not want there, dangerous or unfriendly species might flock there not knowing that the Earthlings are the reason they would be safe there.” Kiwano pointed out.

Karuto didn't anticipate that. Again he didn't really know what kinds of species were protected by the Galactic Patrol's sector of safe space.

“You think some of the Galactic Patrol's refugees would be a threat to Earth but not to our people?” Captain Sleet asked incredulously.

“They don't need to be a threat to the Saiyans to be a danger to the Earthlings.” Kiwano specified.

Karuto frowned, “I have to hope for the best, Kiwano. Besides, it'll only be temporary until the crisis is over. Once I tell Mr. Trunks about it he'll go out and fix it, I'm sure! Maybe some of the refugees can go back to their homes before they even arrive at Earth!”

“Let's hope you're right, Little Lord,” Kiwano said.

But Karuto was pretty sure he was. Once he got the chance to tell everyone about what was going on they'd put a stop to it, and Trunks would make sure it wasn't done by killing everyone.

They'd make peace . . . somehow.

Somehow everything could work out . . . Saiyans, Arcosians, Earthlings and Iwatians, all of them could live in peace.

He had to believe that.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Peace was the farthest thing from General Boreal's mind however.

He stood with Aurora on a hill overlooking a city that had formerly had a functioning star port before Cooly and Icebreaker had destroyed the place.

Now it was just a bit steel and concrete jungle where the soldiers of the  _ Black Ice  _ hunted their quarry like children at play. Boreal's scouter could read the many many soldiers and the ever diminishing number of enemy civilians.

The Arcosian wondered briefly how any being could be satisfied with the life of a civilian. The life of one who did not fight, or who could not fight.

The thrill of real battle was always a pleasing one for Boreal. No tournaments or training, a real life or death fight was what the Arcosian's new powers had been craving and the sensation of finally having that was all too good to believe.

Though with his new strength it hardly felt the same. No life or death struggle this, gone was the sense of danger in its place just a cold superiority. In other words he was in no real danger, so there was no real thrill.

Instead this was just work. Satisfying work, work long overdue to be sure, but just work all the same.

At a fraction of Lord Frieza's power already Boreal could see why the old warlord had kept so many weaker flunkies around. Before Boreal had always taken a bit of enjoyment from the fighting and from the feeling of superiority but now he could feel the boredom that came from being  _ too  _ much better than everyone else.

Sure Frieza could exterminate a world himself . . . but it would be too much work, and the pulse pounding adrenaline of combat was denied to one as powerful as Boreal so it must have been so for Lord Frieza as well. Without the investment Boreal had in leading the campaign and fighting the Galactic Patrol he probably wouldn't be enjoying himself at all really.

_ A life all too mundane,  _ Boreal thought.

But invested in leading the campaign and fighting the Galactic Patrol he was, and so work he did.

Besides, at least that egg shaped Patrolman he'd fought had managed to get the drop on him with that flash attack of his. It might have helped him escape for the moment, but Boreal had given strict orders to his subordinates to report on any sighting of the Galactic Patrolman and let him deal the killing blow.

Even if the foe was closer to someone like Kalt in strength his gadgets would make for  _ some  _ kind of excitement, Boreal hoped.

Though for the moment it seemed the Patrolman's true strength lied in evasion.

“The planet is nearly secure, General.” Aurora told him, “Still no sign of the Galactic Patrolman. He might have been wiped out on accident with one of the larger concentrations of the population. When Icebreaker destroyed the star port would be my guess.”

“Let's not assume the worst, shall we?” Boreal said, “After all there are only thirty eight Galactic Patrolmen serving the Galactic King, each of them must have been chosen for a very good reason. Remember, though they never dared to challenge Lord Frieza they did hold us at bay these many years, so to think that this Patrolman was killed on accident . . . well it's just too unlikely.”

“Noted. Sorry, General.” Aurora nodded.

“What about the planet's population?” General Boreal asked.

The place had started with a population of more than a hundred million, after three hours of fighting the thousands of Planet Trade Organization soldiers must have succeeded in thinning the proverbial herd.

Or literal herd, Boreal didn't know or care what one called a large group of the many-armed natives of this planet, or the various sundry alien races that shared their world.

Aurora wore a scouter that covered both eyes and allowed him to both transmit to specific ships, or scouters, and relay information to the General himself in the field. The slender Arcosian would have tapped into the fleet's information feed to see the  _ Black Ice's  _ scouter information regarding the planet's sapient population before answering, “Ninety nine percent extermination achieved according to the fleet's scouters, Sundae and Gelato's teams stopped any fleeing ships so far. Do you want me to relay the order to start letting survivors escape?” Aurora asked.

Boreal folded his arms and considered. The Frost Twins were waiting and watching aboard the  _ Black Ice _ but they'd given him full permission to run the invasion however he pleased.

He said, “One percent of the population is still over a million beings, yes?” He asked.

“Yes, General.” Aurora nodded.

“That's far more than we need for the purposes of sending a message. When the population is reduced to one-hundred-thousand let the survivors begin to escape.”

“They may well run out of ships by then.” Aurora pointed out.

“Then I suppose they won't escape.” Boreal said slyly. “The Galactic Patrol will still know what happened here if they arrive to find a dead world.”

“General, if we do that how will word of our conquest of this world spread to the rest of the Galactic Patrol's territory? Surely the Patrolmen will just keep quiet about what happened wont they?” Aurora asked.

“Have we not been allowing their transmissions to escape?” Boreal asked.

The slim Arcosian nodded and said, “We have, but . . . if you'll forgive me General . . .”

“Go on?” Boreal urged. Aurora had stood by him loyally when he was the weakest of their kind, he wouldn't ignore his advice now.

“Well, some garbled transmissions won't tell the tale of terror quite as effectively as a ship or two full of people who think their escape was a near thing.” Aurora said.

Boreal considered that and then nodded. He said, “All right. Let's make this fun then . . .” he took out a coin and said, “Heads for Gelato, tails for Sundae.”

Aurora seemed confused, but Boreal flipped the coin, caught it and revealed the result in his palm. The silver disk had the image of King Cold on it, “heads,” Boreal nodded.

“Yes . . .” Aurora waited for an order.

Boreal laughed and told him, “Tell Gelato to continue destroying every ship, but to allow the one with the greatest amount of passengers to slip past him. Bonus points if he damages it badly enough that they think they're doomed.”

“Sir.” Aurora nodded and began relaying the message to Captain Gelato.

In truth it was the sort of order Boreal would have given sooner, but he didn't want to risk the Galactic Patrolman getting away. How splendid would it be if in this first engagement against the Galactic Patrol they managed to successfully kill one of the patrolmen?

With their new powers it was certainly possible, if not probable. Boreal could have done it before eating the fruit, but now fifteen times more powerful than before it would be a certainty . . . assuming that the patrolman's gadgets didn't get the better of him again that was.

With them it seemed strength wasn't everything, ingenuity was probably a large part of what drew the Galactic King's attention towards individuals.

_ Not the worst thing to be aware of actually,  _ Boreal thought,  _ suppose this Patrolman has a device that shields him from scouters . . . if that's the case where could he possibly be? _

Almost unconsciously Boreal began to march towards the city, leaving to come Aurora rushing after him in surprise.

“General?” Aurora asked.

“Come,” Boreal said with a sly grin, “I think we should investigate the city ourselves.”

“Investigate the city?” Aurora wondered. “For the Galactic Patrolman?”

“That's right. After all, there are thirty eight Galactic Patrolmen, Aurora . . . that's just too many.”

“Understood, General . . . there's still nothing on scouters.” Aurora told him.

Boreal considered a moment and then said, “Perhaps we don't have to find the Patrolman's life-signs themselves . . . we just have to find his life _ -line. _ We have to locate his ship, Aurora.”

“The Patrolman's ship . . . well surely  _ that  _ was destroyed by Icebreaker in the Space Port, don't you think?”

“I wouldn't be so sure. But that is the place he would most likely have kept it . . . come along.”

“Yes General . . .” Aurora said, sounding skeptical.

But Boreal felt confident . . . he'd find the rat in the place no one else would bother to look, in the ruins of the space port.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ The second round of the Tournament begins, and Rhyce gets a second chance to face Bocan in the arena. Has she learned enough to overcome the champ, and has her teammate Korrard improved enough to be an asset against a Saiyan elite like Quash? And will Yoko escape Viltvodle VI to warn the others in time, or will help have to find him before the General can? Find out next time on Dragon Ball COED . . . _

 


	137. Guardians

**Episode Three**

**'Guardians'**

 

The battle was over, but the rampaging berserker still took some calming down.

Trunks jumped in and with a single soft—for him at least—strike knocked Kayle unconscious before handing her over to Kazoo's team of Namekian healers.

Bulma shook her head in disappointment and Jaco, seeming to notice asked her, “What's the matter? Aren't you glad your Earthling won over the two Saiyans?”

“I am,” Bulma assured him, “but it was awfully quick, wasn't it?”

“Yes. Yes it was.” Jaco agreed. “Are the fights supposed to be longer?”

“Well they're supposed to be showcasing what they've learned.” Bulma said.

“If Pastel had let the fight run too long using the Kaioken could have just killed her again.” Trunks pointed out as he returned to his seat. “It's not as simple as transforming to Super Saiyan. Becoming a Super Saiyan is a taxing act, but it's still within the natural bounds of the Saiyan people. The Kaioken isn't so natural, you're trying to contain in a mortal coil the sort of power immortals wield. She's got to maintain control and focus while she uses it all while the strain it puts on her body threatens to destroy her.”

“Is that why you don't use it?” Jaco asked.

“That . . . and I don't know it.” Trunks said with a slight grin. Bulma didn't miss the little smile Mai shared with him too.

“If you knew it, could you use it while you're a Super Saiyan?” Jaco asked.

“I doubt it . . .” Trunks said, and Bulma knew he was worrying.

_He doesn't have as much ability to focus when he's a Super Saiyan,_ Bulma thought, _I hope he doesn't think that's a weakness._

But Mai said, “Gohan should know how to do both, I think. Maybe he will combine them.”

“That would be interesting.” Jaco nodded.

Bulma wasn't so sure it was possible, but her understanding of the Kaioken was limited.

“Where are they going?” Jaco asked.

“Hmm? The infirmary I'd expect.” Trunks answered. The winners were led back to the waiting area for their next match by the Namekian healer Kazoo, but Jaco was clearly referring to the two unconscious Saiyans whom Kazoo's team were carrying off on stretchers.

“I suppose that makes sense. And you're certain you don't need to post any guards over them?” Jaco asked.

“I keep telling you they're not Frieza's people anymore, they're ours.” Bulma told him.

“Yes, but they're still dangerous.” Jaco said.

Bulma shook her head and said, “So are you, but we don't have you under guard.”

“Of course not. I'm a member of the Galactic Patrol, you don't guard your guardians.”

Bulma was about to say something rather rude about Jaco's idea of guardianship but it was actually Mai who asked, “Wouldn't you feel more official if we appointed you a guard? After all all the most important people have them, isn't that right your majesty?”

The King of Earth chuckled and said, “Well I suppose that's so. Excluding those who are so powerful they more or less guard themselves.”

Jaco nodded sagely, “I _am_ a Super Elite, young lady. I clearly fall into that second category. Besides, why would I want some bumbling Earthling following me around?”

“Oh having bumbling Earthlings follow you around isn't the worst thing in the world,” Bulma told him, “After all I have Basil and Thyme. They get me coffee, take my calls, and so on.”

“I don't need any coffee, and my ship holds all calls for me.” Jaco said, holding out his wrist and showing them a bracelet with a blinking red light, “See? This means it's got some messages waiting for me already.”

“And that's normal?” Trunks asked.

“I'm a very important person.” Jaco said evenly.

“What if it's something important?” Trunks pressed.

“Things have been quiet since the PTO retreated to their jungle planet so I'm sure there's nothing that can't wait.” Jaco said easily.

Bulma wondered though . . . was Jaco saying that because he believed it, or was he just being too lazy to fly out to his ship and see what the messages were?

_I can bet which one it is,_ Bulma thought with a roll of her eyes. She shook her head and said, “Well, at least the next fight should be more interesting.”

“Yes,” Trunks said, “Bocan and Rhyce fought before in the Golden Warrior tournament, but I'll be interested in seeing which of them advanced more over the time between the Battle of the Bunker and the Dragon Balls reviving everyone we lost.”

“In other words you want to see if your teachings can rival those of King Kai?” Bulma joked but Trunks blushed and she realized she'd hit closer to the mark than she'd expected.

She smiled and said, “I'm sure she'll do fine.”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhyce grinned with a viciousness she hadn't expected to experience at someone else's victory.

“Th-that was insane!” Korrard whispered nervously.

“More intense than Saiyan tournaments, eh?” She asked with a grin, then added a quiet, “Nicely done, Pastel.”

“Well yeah . . . if we win we'll have to take _her_ on?” Korrard whispered to her.

Rhyce scoffed at him, “No. _When_ we win we _get_ to take her on, her and Sharro. Are you ready to show them what you've got?”

“I'll do my best.” The scrawny Saiyan said.

“I know you will, and it'll be enough!” Rhyce assured him.

“I hope so . . .” Korrard said nervously.

“Know so!” Rhyce insisted. “We're taking on Bocan and Quash next! Quash might not be much since he joined the training late, but Bocan was one of the best out of us Earthlings.”

“He is? But wasn't he one of the ones who died?” Korrard asked.

“Which only made him more dangerous!” Rhyce said, pointing at Pastel as evidence. “Besides even before that he beat me in the Golden Warrior's tournament to decide who'd get to join the EDF. And he beat my brother Gurein as well, he was neck and neck with Soda as the strongest Earthling when we fought the battle of the bunker.”

“You're not making me feel better . . .” Korrard said warily.

Rhyce folded her arms and thought, not for the first time, that Korrard was . . . really not a typical Saiyan. Even judged against the more mild mannered of them like Beeta.

“Sorry . . .” She told him. “I'm not trying to scare you, I'm trying to get you hyped for the fight! Aren't you excited for the challenge?”

“No.” Korrard said.

The nomadic girl raised her eyebrows and asked, “But . . . I thought it was in your blood to get excited for that sort of thing. Come on man, this is go time and we're up next, I need you to wake that inner fire and get mean!”

“I'm _not_ mean.” Korrard shrugged.

_Ain't_ that _the truth,_ Rhyce thought dryly. She cried in exasperation, “It's a figure of speech!”

“Well metaphors don't work well on the lower class.” Quash, the rotund Saiyan who had partnered with Bocan told her. Rhyce spun around, cursing the Saiyan superior sense of hearing because Bocan and Quash were clear on the other side of the room.

_Or maybe I said that last part too loud._ Rhyce thought.

She could feel herself blushing, but she decided to bury that under irritation. She scoffed at Quash and said, “He'll be more than enough to take you on, bucko!”

Quash laughed and said, “Is that so? Well I doubt that, but unlike your partner at least I get excited at the thought of an actual challenge. Of course I am a Saiyan elite, not some low class warrior.”

“Careful partner,” Bocan said with a grin, “you don't want to turn the whole room against you. Korry here ain't the only low class warrior, and anyway none of that matters anymore. Here on Earth we're all equal class.”

“Except me. I'm a Captain.” Turles said smugly.

“So am I.” Videl and Soda said simultaneously.

That did deflate Turles a bit, he asked, “What is a rank higher than Captain?”

“I don't know . . . uh, colonel I think?” Schip offered.

“Then after I win this tournament I will have Prince Trunks appoint me Colonel!” Turles decided.

“And what will change?” Rhyce asked, but Turles didn't answer her.

Instead the gong rang loudly and Bocan said, “Time to rock and roll y'all, you ready?”

Rhyce cracked her knuckles and said, “A rematch against you? A chance to show I'm better than Earth's champ, _and_ an uppity Saiyan elite? Let's do it.”

“Just you? No faith in your teammate?” Quash asked with a sneer.

Rhyce felt a little embarrassed. Had she already discounted Kor in this fight? _I shouldn't have done that,_ she thought and she said, “No way. When Kor kicks _your_ flea-bitten tail it'll show he's better than you. But his victory is my victory and mine is his, we're a team after all.”

“Good, you can share defeat.” Quash chuckled.

“If it comes to that.” Rhyce said. She glanced at Kor, “Anything you want to add?”

Kor looked utterly helpless, but he did offer up a “Uh . . . I'll . . . eat your soul?”

“That uh . . . no, okay, we'll just go with that.” Rhyce said quietly, then to Quash she shouted, “That's right, he's going to eat your soul!”

“The whole soul!” Sharro said as she returned to the waiting room with Pastel, “All of it! What are we discussing?”

Rhyce left Lamson to explain it as she and Kor headed for the arena along with Bocan and Quash.

“It's going to be rough,” Rhyce whispered, “but just remember everything I taught you and you'll make yourself proud at least.

“I hope I'll make you proud too.” Kor said, the nerves evident in his voice.

So Rhyce told him, “You already have.”

It was cliché, but he was a Saiyan so maybe he wouldn't know that yet.

“Wow . . . that was cliché, are you lying to make me feel better?” Kor asked.

“Absolutely.” Rhyce laughed, patting his shoulder as they entered the arena, “But you're here, and I think you can beat Quash. So maybe I really do mean it. Who knows?”

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Trunks was at the edge of his seat as the next match began.

Not because he wanted to compare his teaching style to that of King Kai exactly, more because he was fairly confident that it would be a close match-up with the Kaioken being the biggest decider between the two combatants.

Rhyce didn't know it, but Bocan wouldn't be likely to use it for an easy win.

Bocan wasn't the sort, he liked to challenge himself and see his opponents do the same. That was why Trunks had chosen him for the team, not because he'd won the tournament.

_This doesn't send much of a message to Turles,_ Trunks thought, _but this is more or less what the tournament was meant to be. Comrades testing themselves on the field of honor. If it weren't for Turles' little insurrection this tournament could have been something special._

Trunks frowned and told himself that it still was, even if he felt as if there were a grave undertone about the whole event.

The gong rang and once again he shouted, “Begin!”

At first no one moved, instead the combatants eyed each other warily but then Quash sprang forward with a speed that one wouldn't expect from such a round individual.

“My what agility!” The King gasped, “These Saiyans truly are terrifying in their prowess!”

“Yes,” Bulma said, “but that's what the enemy will think. As our allies we have nothing to fear from them, your majesty.”

Trunks shook his head, not so certain of that.

Quash unleashed a flurry of blows on Korrard, the younger Saiyan dodging and deflecting rather than trying to block no doubt knowing that the difference in raw power between the two of them would make any blow he blocked feel as if it had connected anyway.

Still Bocan and Rhyce didn't move for a while after their opponents began their battle. Trunks wondered why but then he realized both were gathering energy.

_It's going to come down to who gathers faster!_ Trunks thought excitedly. He could feel Bocan's power rising faster, but to his surprise and the appreciative roar of the crowd Rhyce's blast was ready sooner.

Instead of a large blast like the one Bocan was preparing Rhyce unleashed a barrage of weaker quick blasts in her “Sandstorm Barrage!”

The reason for the technique's name soon became evident as the scatter-shot nature of the attack quickly pulverized the ground around Bocan. The tall martial artist was soon engulfed by a cloud of dust from the arena floor, and that was when Rhyce sprang forward eager to press her advantage.

But Bocan hadn't stopped gathering energy inside the dust cloud, Trunks could feel it. Rhyce struck a dozen blows in the blink of an eye, moving like a madwoman trying to be everywhere at once and somehow within the cloud Bocan managed to dodge each blow even though he couldn't see them coming.

_She's striking everywhere almost at once, but he can sense her strikes and dodge them,_ Trunks thought, proud of both of his students.

At the same time Quash was getting a run for his money as well, Korrard wasn't going to overpower the rotund Saiyan any time soon but Trunks could see in mere seconds of fighting that Quash's flurry of blows was coming much slower.

He'd come on in an explosion of activity but his opponent had simply kept out of his reach while he waited for him to tire out.

_Still,_ Trunks thought, _Quash is an experienced fighter. He wouldn't just let himself be baited like this, and it's awfully fast for him to run out of energy . . . Korrard might be too inexperienced to realize that though!_

Then two things happened at once. Bocan unleashed his attack, and Korrard launched his.

Korrard, leaping above one of Quash's blows attempted to drop kick the older Saiyan in the head, and Bocan unleashed a wave of golden energy in a dome around him, blasting Rhyce back and clearing her cloud of dust.

Rhyce was thrown back, rolling along the floor of the arena but rising to her feet but Korrard wouldn't fare quite as well. His drop kick connected but Quash didn't react as if he'd been kicked. Instead he stood firm as a statue and grinned wickedly at the other warrior, grasping his leg by the ankle he spun him around twice then hurled him at Rhyce as she was rolling to her feet.

For a moment it seemed as if the two would go over the edge and out of the arena.

Trunks leaned forward in his chair, waiting to see the result . . .

Rhyce turned as she and Korrard flew through the air, a tangle of limbs. She managed to get one hand under her and fire a blast at the ground that slowed their momentum just enough for them to untangle and get control of themselves in flight.

“Come on,” Quash laughed, “That's not all you've got, is it Earthling girl? I expected better, but at this rate it looks like the low class warrior will prove more of a challenge!”

Rhyce glowered and looked to Korrard, “Trade?” She offered.

“Wh-what?” The Saiyan seemed perplexed by the very offer.

“I'm taking _him_ down!” Rhyce said, jerking an angry finger at Quash, “Trade!”

“No!” Korrard cried, “What can I do against Bocan?”

“Fight like a man!” Rhyce cried, grabbing the Saiyan by the collar of his armor and hurtling him towards the champion fighter while she herself charged for Quash.

Trunks shook his head and grinned slightly.

_She's learning . . ._ he thought.

“What are you grinning about?” Jaco asked him.

Trunks said, “Rhyce. She's known as a hot head, it's not a big surprise that Quash would goad her into a fight.”

“True . . .” His mother said carefully. Trunks could tell she suspected what he'd guessed, but since she didn't know his students as well as he did she hadn't fully arrived at the same conclusions he had.

“What Quash said to provoke her wasn't really all that much.” Trunks pointed out.

“No, I didn't think so either.” Jaco agreed.

Trunks grinned when he saw his mother's expression brighten as she realized what was happening too. Bulma said, “Rhyce is using her brain! She knows if she presses Bocan too hard he can resort to the Kaioken and end the fight quickly the way Pastel did. She must have hoped a chance to switch opponents would come up, giving her the chance to eliminate Quash so that she and Korrard can work together against Bocan!”

“But isn't Bocan more likely to eliminate Korrard before Rhyce can eliminate Quash?” The Earth King asked.

“Not necessarily, your highness,” Trunks said. He explained, “Rhyce knows Korrard isn't a match for Quash, but she also knows that Bocan likes to let his opponents give the fight their all before he eliminates them. He doesn't toy with them exactly so much as make the fight interesting enough that they feel like they've done well.”

“Korrard is displaying promise but not confidence. Bocan is likely to notice that and let Korrard last longer than he should,” Bulma sighed, shaking her head, “Unlike Quash who would just eliminate him then help Bocan against Rhyce Bocan is likely to let Korrard last long enough to bolster his confidence before beating him.”

“So if Rhyce can beat Quash before Bocan decides Korrard has had enough of a self confidence boost she and Korrard can double team Bocan.” Trunks said with a grin.

“But will it be enough to make up for his Kaioken?” Mai asked them.

“With the toll it'll take on his body he might not want to risk it,” Trunks said, “Pastel was fighting an opponent about five times her strength with no restraint, if she hadn't used the Kaioken she or Sharrot could have been seriously injured. Bocan probably feels that since he's already stronger than Rhyce and Korrard he won't need to risk it.”

“Which means that his good nature could be used against him.” Jaco said with a slight nod. “This tournament is becoming far more interesting than I would have imagined you Earthlings could manage.”

“Well we are full of surprises,” Trunks said, watching as the fight resumed. Just as he—and Rhyce—had suspected, Bocan wasn't immediately taking Korrard out of the fight, instead using the match almost like an impromptu sparring match letting the scrawny Saiyan warrior launch his attacks and getting a measure for his style.

“Won't his trusting nature take a hit if he loses though?” Jaco asked.

“Maybe. _If_ he loses.” Trunks said, “But bear in mind even if everything goes well and Rhyce eliminates Quash in time to double team Bocan unless Korrard is just faking being that inept Bocan might not have too much trouble winning anyway.”

“And if Korrard _is_ faking Bocan does still have the Kaioken.” Mai said.

Bulma nodded and added, “If those two underdogs can force him to resort to it that's a victory in and of itself.”

“Exactly.” Trunks said with a broad smile.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Nothing would have pleased General Boreal more than finding the Galactic Patrolman, but unfortunately for him the Omletticron known as Yoko was a master of evasion, especially when his life was on the line.

But his ship _had_ been at the star port, without it he wasn't sure how he'd escape from Viltvodle VI, or warn the Galactic Patrol that the Arcosians had grown so much stronger.

So much stronger it defied expectations. They weren't stronger than Frieza, he believed the Galactic King might still be able to find a way to defeat them but they had to know that whatever the Arcosians had done on Frago . . . well, evidently it had worked wonders.

He'd managed to take measurements of the power they had as well as download a sensor reading from his ship indicating the size and power of the fleet that had arrived. He'd sent the message to HQ, but for all he knew he was being jammed.

He'd have to get off-world somehow, but with the planetary extermination it didn't seem like any ships were getting away.

That was why he was so relieved when he saw the four streaks of light in the sky that he knew represented his fellow Galactic Patrolmen coming to his aid.

He knew it was risky, but he activated a homing beacon calling his allies to his side. The beacon might attract the PTO forces as well, but Yoko couldn't run the risk of the other Patrolmen running into trouble before he could get his information to the Galactic King.

Three of the shooting stars went off, no doubt hoping to aid in the evacuation but one of them did come in his direction.

He waited on baited breath for their arrival, when the ship landed and Patrolman Yuzu jumped out Yoko rushed over.

“Quickly, quickly, I have gathered this data for the Galactic King! You have to take it to him!”

“What about Viltvodle VI?” Yuzu asked.

“It's lost, it seems like the PTO's entire flotilla is here. But the power levels involved are even higher than our last record of the Frost Twins' power levels, whatever the PTO did on Frago it's changed everything!”

“Haven't you transmitted this data through your ship?” Yuzu demanded.

“My ship was in the star port, the star port was destroyed!”

Yuzu looked stern, “Are you certain? If your ship is intact and the PTO recovers it they'll have all the information!”

“So what? I don't think it's a secret to _them_!” Yoko pointed out.

“You imbecile, not just the information you've gathered here! _All_ of it! They'll know about the secret weapon!”

“Oh . . .” Yoko hesitated. “I'm sure it was destroyed,”

“Are you? Our vessels are much stronger than the average star port.”

Yoko nodded, “Fairly certain, yes. Anyway what can I do if it isn't? You don't expect me to risk digging through the rubble do you?”

“No, of course not . . . but make sure, activate your ship's self destruct function.”

Yoko nodded and pressed the key sequence on his wristband. There was no reaction so he said, “There, see? I told you.”

“It never hurts to check.” Yuzu grunted.

“But now what can I do? I'm stuck on this world without a ship.”

Yuzu shook his head and said, “No you're not! My ship is right there!”

Yoko frowned and said, “But how are we both going to fit in your ship?”

He didn't want to say anything rude but Yuzu was a very large creature.

Yuzu folded his arms resolutely and said, “I will remain behind and try to help the people of Viltvodle VI as best I can. Go Yoko, before it's too late.”

The Omletticron saluted his comrade but he needed no second bidding.

Yuzu was a lot stronger than him anyway. He jumped into the ship and keyed up the ignition sequence.

The ship rose, leaving its true owner behind. Yoko wasted no time in starting to transmit the data knowing there was every chance the PTO vessels would blast him out of the sky.

He'd never know if the data transmitted or not, because Yuzu's ship didn't get very far above the planet's surface before it exploded in a ball of blue-white flame.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _The tournament continues, but our heroes sense some unexpected spectators. Who could the strange visitors be? And will Karuto's arrival cause even more chaos?_

 


	138. Chapter 138

**Episode Four**

**'Dangerous Criminal'**

 

Trunks was at the edge of his seat as the battle carried on. He could see Rhyce had been right, Bocan could have eliminated Korrard quickly but instead he was getting a measure of what the scrawny Saiyan was capable of.

But Quash was giving Rhyce more trouble than she'd probably expected, the Saiyan elite holding his own. Even though Trunks could sense that Rhyce was the stronger between the two of them Quash's experience seemed to be making the difference.

Despite his admitted bias towards Rhyce he was pleased to see Quash do so well. Despite being a late addition to their number he had done a good job catching up just as Trunks' mother had suggested Saiyans would. Quash was a good example of why the Saiyans were a good idea on paper. _If only they could be trusted,_ Trunks thought.

Rhyce was blazing through rapid-fire strikes but Quash either took the hits or rolled out of the way before he could be pushed too far. He was careful to avoid the edge of the arena and far more agile than his rotund frame would have suggested.

Whenever he actually tried to launch an attack of his own Rhyce would stop it and the second time it had happened she'd caught his punch and nearly thrown him out of the arena.

Had Quash not caught himself midair and flown back at her the fight would have been over for him then.

“You're watching so intensely, but you're not cheering.” Jaco pointed out.

“I don't want to seem like I'm not impartial.” Trunks said.

“Why would you bother with that?” Jaco asked, “You _aren't_ impartial.”

“I am in the broader sense.” Trunks said carefully, “I'd be pleased if Bocan _or_ Rhyce won.”

“But you're indifferent to the Saiyans?” Jaco asked.

“Not at all, I just . . . don't know them as well.” Trunks said diplomatically. “Anyway I've spent more time training the others, I've got more reason to be interested in their performance.”

“ _And_ it would do the Saiyan ego some good to lose.” His mother said with a knowing smirk.

“Well . . . I didn't say--” Trunks offered but he stopped.

He frowned and focused for a moment. His mother looked at him and Jaco seemed to be watching him and the fight at the same time.

“For what its worth I would also like to see the Saiyans lose. But that's because they're dangerous.” Jaco said.

Trunks didn't answer, instead he focused harder . . . he could feel someone . . . someone powerful.

Trunks was so focused on the fight it wasn't until he was distracted by the conversation with his mother and Jaco that he noticed there was not one but multiple powerful beings nearby.

They hadn't been there before.

“Trunks?” Mai asked, noticing the change in his demeanor from the King's side which made the King take notice as well.

“Is there something wrong?” General Herb asked, standing up and drawing his sidearm.

“Trunks?” His mother asked now.

Trunks forced a smile and said, “It's nothing. I just got . . . distracted. Please General, relax. Everyone else please excuse me, I need to investigate something.”

Bulma frowned and jabbed Jaco with her elbow, “You're the cop, investigate with him.”

“What? Why?” Jaco asked.

“I _told_ you, because you're the cop!” Bulma said.

“Mm. Yes, you did say that . . . oh all right.” Jaco sighed. He jumped out of his chair to follow Trunks but Trunks wasn't leaving the booth, focusing hard on the crowd to see if he could pinpoint the power among them.

Was it one of the Namekians?

_It can't be,_ he thought, _this feels totally different . . . not menacing like an enemy, but not familiar or safe like a friend . . .what is this?_

He finally left the booth, Mai following along and asking, “Do you want me to check in with Captain Soda's security detail?”

“Yeah.” Trunks said, “Go ahead.”

Mai took out a walkie-talkie, and it actually surprised Trunks to see her using it when he'd gotten so used to most people using scouters to communicate.

Of course Mai wasn't wearing one so maybe that was all it was.

“Lets try to hurry this up,” Jaco said, “I don't want to miss the outcome of that match.”

“We might have bigger concerns,” Trunks admitted, “because what I'm sensing is stronger than most of my students.”

That got Jaco's attention.

“That's not possible.” The Galactic Patrolman said.

“Isn't it?” Trunks asked.

“There shouldn't be anyone that strong for light years.” Jaco said firmly.

“Like you'd know,” Trunks scoffed, “I know what I sense.”

“Well then where is it?”

“I can't tell . . .” Trunks admitted. He looked around, “I shouldn't be having this kind of trouble when they're this close.”

“How close are they?” Mai asked.

“Close.” A deep new voice said above her.

“Hello, Defenders of Earth.” Another milder voice said a little smugly.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

“I am reading high power levels in combat!” One of the bridge crew announced.

That was a surprise to Karuto.

Not the high power levels obviously. But the combat certainly was. Were they just training?

“How high?” Captain Sleet demanded.

“High enough that you should be worried sir.” The crewman answered.

“I'm reading a high concentration of high power levels in one place, the combat is happening there!” Another crewman said, “Confirming renegade Chillax and Chief Scientist Glacien are there . . . reading Commander Verglas as well.”

“What about Admiral Frigus?” Karuto asked.

“I'm not seeing him, sir.” The second crewman said.

“Bring us in,” Captain Sleet said, a wicked grin on his face, “This could be a good opportunity to endear ourselves to the Earthlings.”

“Can it?” Kiwano asked.

“If we jump in and help them defeat Verglas and Glacien? Of course it could.”

“What?” Karuto cried, “We can't fight--”

“Yes we can, it doesn't matter who's related to you once you turn traitor, which you have,” Sleet told him, “Chillax is there and yet we're not reading Frigus so take that as an example.”

“More importantly if it is a battle you could get your parent to stand down before he's annihilated.” Kiwano said more diplomatically.

Karuto frowned, “Okay . . . I guess we don't have a choice . . . but Trunks shouldn't need our help.”

“I'm reading the Saiyan,” Pitaya said, “he is not the strongest power level on the planet.”

“He _what_?” Karuto gawked.

“He is not the strongest power level on the planet.” Pitaya repeated. He turned to Captain Sleet and asked, “Do we still want to lend aid?”

Sleet had significantly less bravado now, but he nodded. “If nothing else we can see how bad things are. Maybe our ship can make the difference.”

“The ship?” Kiwano asked.

“If someone stronger than the Saiyan has showed up they might need help evacuating. We can hold a few.” Sleet shrugged.

The ship accelerated as she hit the atmosphere. To the people on the Earth they would seem like a burning ball of fire as they shot towards the world and the ruins of the place Karuto had learned to know as South city.

The ship's alarms blared both from the approach and from the battle taking place on the planet's surface.

Karuto shook his head, “What are those power levels higher than the Saiyan?”

“They aren't measured properly sire,” one of the bridge crew said, “but the Saiyan is—whoa!”

“What?” Karuto asked.

“The Saiyan's power level just shot up, it's multiplied, we can't measure it either!”

Captain Sleet's black eyes were unreadable, but he gritted his teeth and said, “Bring us in for a combat landing! All fighters prepare to . . . render aid to the Earthlings as best you can.”

Karuto could hear the borderline confusion in the Captain's voice as he said it, and he felt cold fear grip his heart as he braced himself, watching as the planet approached rapidly. The _Avenger_ was burning right for the battleground, breaking her speed to make a somewhat rough combat landing

If something was strong enough to be on par with, or even a threat to a Super Saiyan the little Arcosian didn't want to know what it was . . . but it seemed like he was about to find out.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhyce felt desperation building in her, Quash was an infuriating opponent.

She knew she was stronger, but he wasn't making her win easy. He met her blow for blow when he could and when she started to get too much of an advantage he'd squirm out of her way.

And she knew Bocan wouldn't tolerate Korrard forever.

She wished she could transform into a Super Saiyan the way Master Trunks could and make quick work of the match. Unfortunately that wasn't on her list on tricks, so all she could do was struggle against the Saiyan Elite and feel herself growing more and more frustrated.

Bocan said to Korrard, “You've got some promise . . . but you're not really a fighter, are ya?”

“Wh-what? I'm a Saiyan!” Kor said nervously.

“So what? I'm human.” Bocan said. “What you're born as doesn't force ya onto any path . . . you'll never beat me if your whole heart isn't in it.”

Rhyce saw Kor lunge for Bocan clumsily, saying, “My whole heart  _ is  _ in it! I won't let Rhyce down, she believes in me! If she believes I can beat you I  _ have  _ to!”

Bocan smirked and easily dodged the attack. He raised an eyebrow at Rhyce and asked, “Does she think you can beat me, or did she just pawn you off on me while she tries to eliminate my partner? Well . . . it'll be something you two can discuss from the sidelines after Quash and I win I guess.”

_ He's going to finish him! I have to do this now!  _ She thought. 

She hurtled herself at Quash for one more attempt, determined to finish him quickly if she could just land her hands on him only to find the Saiyan waiting for her.

The rotund squat Saiyan threw himself back letting her shoot over his head but before she could fly around and come back into the arena Quash grasped her foot by the ankle and tugged so hard Rhyce thought her shoe would come off.

It would have been better for her if it had though, because instead Quash brought her down hard, slamming her into the ground of the arena once, then raising her back up into the air and bringing her down again even harder.

He raised her for a third slam but Rhyce gathered her wits and gathered energy in her hands, bracing herself for the third slam which still hit her like a ton of bricks.

_ Or a stone floor . . . whichever. _

But the girl was able to hold onto the energy in her hands as Quash brought her up for a fourth slam she twisted in his grip and as he was about to bring her down again she blasted him in the face with her gathered energy.

He fell back clutching his face in pain screaming in surprise and agony, Rhyce had thrown more into the blast than she'd meant to.

But she couldn't help it, in that moment all she could focus on was getting out of his grasp.

All the same she had her opening now and she took it.

Charging for Quash ready to kick him out of the arena she was confident that even with the damage she'd taken she and Kor could still take Bocan if they worked together.

They could . . . they had to . . . they'd  _ both  _ worked too hard to be eliminated this early, they couldn't be, she  _ wouldn't  _ be.

She leapt for Quash ready to eliminate his pompous butt but then with a grunt and a crash she was flying in the wrong direction and no longer under her own power.

Kor had been hurled into her and they'd crashed in the air, flying away from Quash and towards the ground outside of the arena instead.

Rhyce struggled to right herself and Korrard, desperate that neither of them touch the ground outside the arena but it was hopeless.

Bocan's blast followed his flinging of Korrard, and Rhyce felt rather than saw the golden beams engulf her throwing the both of them into the far wall even faster and then washing over them like crushing waves slamming them into a jagged sea cliff. 

Rhyce and Korrard collapsed in a heap on the ground, her slightly relieved to have ended up on top since she didn't feel like her bones could take any more punishment.

_ If you're aching think how he feels,  _ she thought, managing to roll off of him at least before she raised her gaze to see what she expected to be total disappointment in Master Trunks' eyes as he declared her a loser.

Only he wasn't there . . .

She had just enough time to wonder,  _ Where did Master Trunks go,  _ before she blacked out.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

There were three of them hovering in the air above the arena exit.

They were dressed in strange clothes, they didn't seem like armor but Trunks had never seen anything like them before.

The three of them floated seeming to line up from shortest to tallest with the smallest of them the size of a young child, and the largest would give taller warrior Namekians like Bass a run for their money.

“What is this?” Trunks asked in confusion, “Who are you?”

“Watch your tone, Earthling,” the larger of the three figures warned. He was a tall, broad shouldered being who dwarfed his two companions. His skin was pink, it was clear he wasn't from Earth.

Then Trunks heard the loud boom in the distance and looking up he could see a ball of flame descending from the sky.

“What is that!?” Mai cried in surprise.

Trunks focused and could feel the powerful beings aboard the star ship.

_Because of course that's what it is. This is some kind of ambush!_ Trunks thought, and he responded the only way he knew how; with a flash of golden light.

He felt like going Super Saiyan was only more justified when his sharp eyes spotted the distinctive shape of the PTO command vessel slowly begin to emerge from the flames.

“You have until the count of three to surrender.” Trunks warned.

“Surrender?! You insolent--” The large pink man roared but his smaller companion raised a hand.

“Now, now, let's not let things get out of hand. Calm yourselves.” The medium humanoid with them said.

By Earth standards he was pretty short, but Trunks could sense a greater power from him than his large pink companion.

The smaller third being with them was too nebulous for even Trunks to sense and he wished Master Roshi were with him then to lend a hand.

“Calm ourselves? From where it stands it looks to me like yet another PTO attack. Now give me one good reason not to blast your ship out of the sky!”

The middle humanoid smirked and said, “You'd have a hard time with that, considering we didn't arrive by ship.”

Trunks didn't have time for riddles, he was just about to launch into an attack when of all people Jaco suddenly struck him across the back of the head shouting, “Are you insane!? Do you have any idea who that is?”

Trunks wasn't damaged by Jaco's strike, but it did catch him off guard enough that he didn't attack.

Sufficiently thrown off he looked back at the ship only to see it coming in for a rapid landing, Soda's security force had arrived but as dozens of PTO soldiers poured out of the alien vessel Trunks could see they were outnumbered.

“Mai, get my mother and the King to safety!” Trunks told her.

“I assure you they're quite safe.” The middle humanoid said, coming to land awfully near to Trunks. “Now why don't we all just settle down?”

Trunks didn't.

Maybe it was the hectic situation, maybe it was the sheer _power_ he sensed from this being, maybe it was the fact that being a Super Saiyan made his Saiyan instincts that much stronger but instead of sensibly backing down and reevaluating the situation Trunks struck.

The large alien intercepted the strike with a strength and solidity that Trunks hadn't expected.

His strike had been _stopped._

He had only a moment to stare in surprise before the pink skinned creature wound its arm back an growled, “Insolent mortal!”

The blow struck him hard in the chest, knocking the wind out of him for a moment. It was the hardest blow Trunks had felt since . . . since when? Since he'd fought in the past?

The young Super Saiyan felt the chilling realization of just how powerful his foe was. It was the strongest blow he'd felt since Cell.

_And it's stronger than Cell . . ._ Trunks thought with no small amount of panic.

He could hear Jaco shrieking in terror, but he didn't have time to worry about him he had to act.

Only he could stand up to these three.

He launched himself at the pink giant, and the blows flew fast and deadly. Any time they actually made contact the sound was like thunder as the Super Saiyan's strikes and blows landed against his solid, powerful opponent.

Trunks felt frantic, almost as panicked as Jaco seemed to be realizing that what might be the weakest of these beings was holding his own against the Super Saiyan.

If his friends joined in things could get ugly.

_I'm stronger than he is though,_ Trunks thought, reasonably confident that although his foe was holding his own when it came to actual strength Trunks himself _was_ superior . . . _if I can finish him quickly . . . just need to land a good blow!_

The pink giant ducked under one of Trunks' blows and didn't come up, instead he swept his thick arms at Trunks' legs forcing him to leap into the air.

He charged a blast in his hands, but he couldn't use his full force for fear of damaging the stadium and the innocents inside of it.

Still a lighter blast might be better than nothing. He prepared to fire when suddenly he felt Jaco holding him back.

“Stop! Stop you lunatic! You're _insane_!”

“What are you doing, Jaco?” Trunks roared in frustration.

“Saving your life you imbecile!” Jaco shrieked angrily.

“Don't be so certain, Patrolman.” The medium humanoid said with a somewhat wry smile. “How are you doing, Kibito?”

The pink giant scoffed and said, “He's more than I expected, I'll grant him that . . . but still an insolent mortal.”

“Well you can hardly blame him.” The lavender-skinned humanoid said, still smiling.

“It seemed like he was about to whoop you pretty good!” The third being spoke up for the first time, shaking her head—Trunks didn't want to assume anything, but she _seemed_ female—and saying, “But what else do you expect from such a dangerous criminal?”

“Dangerous criminal?” Trunks gawked, “Me?”

The short being locked eyes with him, brushing her pinkish-red hair over her shoulder she scoffed and said, “Yes _you_. Or did you think there weren't laws about meddling with _time_?”

“Meddling with time?” Trunks was totally confused now.

They didn't look like Jaco, but he guessed they must be more patrolmen. Perhaps higher ranking than Jaco, maybe that explained why he'd been so panicked. He asked, “Are . . . these friends of yours, Jaco?”

“Friends? Of course not!” Jaco cried, “Now bow your head!”

Trunks didn't, and Jaco wasn't strong enough to force him to. Instead he looked at the three newcomers, ignoring the PTO vessel that had landed behind them and the crew who stood watching them all nervously, he'd deal with that in a moment.

“I'm no criminal.” Trunks said.

“So you're not the one with a _time machine_?” The female demanded.

“Time machine?” Jaco cried, “I had _no_ idea!”

“Do not lie in front of us, Patrolman.” The giant, Kibito warned in an icy tone.

Jaco just squeaked in response.

Instead he asked the trio, “What . . . who _are_ you?”

“I'm the Supreme Kai,” the lavender-skinned humanoid said with a tone that sounded amused though his eyes betrayed a weariness as he looked at Trunks, “and like I said, I think we should all just settle down.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Are Earth's new visitors really who they say they are? What does the future hold for our heroes now that Karuto has arrived at Earth with his grave news? Find out next time on Dragon Ball COED . . ._

 


	139. Utterly Irrelevant

**Episode Five**

**'Utterly Irrelevant'**

 

Karuto wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Trunks meeting his match? It was madness.

Almost as mad as seeing a member of the Galactic Patrol on-wold, _when did the GP start caring about Earth?_ Karuto wondered. Even Tathy and Brassica stealing one of their patrol vessels hadn't lured them in before.

Then he thought, _Oh, maybe he's not with the GP. Maybe he's just doing what Tathy did before, and pretending._

Still he wasn't deaf, standing with Sleet and the others of the PTO crew when he heard the smallish humanoid declare himself the Supreme Kai . . . well Karuto wasn't one for believing in anything like that really . . .

But then these three beings of unmeasurable power were here . . . and one of them had just traded blows with a S _uper Saiyan._

So if they said they were the Supreme Kais who was he to argue? They could be whoever they wanted to be and he'd just keep his mouth shut.

Still his healthy skepticism came in handy as he approached nervously, hands in the air to show he meant no threat.

He said, “Uh . . . excuse me . . . but uh . . . I think um . . . if you plan to arrest Mr. Trunks or something, you might want to wait?”

“What? Why? Who are you?” The Galactic Patrolman demanded, then he jumped back in shock seeming to notice their ship and crew for the first time.

_I guess I can't blame him, he had bigger concerns._ Karuto thought. Still he kept his hands in the air and said, “It's just Mr. Trunks is the only one who can save the galaxy!”

“Yes. That's why we're here.” The one who said he was the Supreme Kai said calmly.

“You mean you already know that my people are wiping out the Galactic Patrol?” Karuto gawked.

“What? That's nonsense!” The Galactic Patrolman cried, “I would know if . . . oh . . . uh . . . excuse me, I'd better check some messages . . .”

_Maybe he really is with the Galactic Patrol . . ._ Karuto thought.

As the Patrolman ran off several familiar faces were coming out of the building behind Trunks. Karuto could see many of the Saiyans and Trunks' EDF coming to investigate, no doubt having sensed the battle between their mentor and the giant Kai.

Karuto knew some of them would hate themselves for missing it, it truly had been the stuff of legends.

_And scary,_ the young Arcosian thought.

“We're here to try to set things right,” The Supreme Kai said, “the imbalance in this universe needs to be corrected or more lives will be lost.”

Trunks scoffed and said, “If you want to set things right why don't you use some of the power you've got to help stop the PTO?”

“Because it doesn't work that way.” The Supreme Kai told him.

“Then stay out of my way while I do it.” Trunks warned them. The three colorful Kais had different reactions with the giant one looking outraged, the little one looking shocked and the Supreme one just smiling in amusement.

“And what will you do? Fight them?”

To the Supreme Kai Karuto nodded and said, “Mr. Trunks is still stronger than they are, so he can win. We just started to get the distress signals as we were arriving so they must have left to go to war not long after we ran away from them.”

“You ran away from them?” Trunks asked.

“Well yeah,” Karuto said, and knowing time was of the essence, especially when it came to keeping Mr. Trunks from getting arrested by the Kais he added, “We came to join you, I had to warn you all about what they're doing and how they're getting stronger! They have a magic tree that makes anyone who eats its fruit more powerful and they're giving out pieces of the fruit to all of our people, if they keep eating it they'll be stronger than you can ever hope to be!”

“That's right, and they wouldn't have the tree it if you weren't meddling with time!” The small female Kai snarled viscously at Trunks. Then she shot Karuto a glower and added, “And don't think I've forgotten about you either.”

“Me?” Karuto gawked.

“You used the time machine as well, did you not?” The Supreme Kai asked.

“Well . . . yes.” Karuto admitted. “But you can't arrest me, I'm not under your jurisdiction.”

“Everyone in this universe is under my jurisdiction.” The Supreme Kai said.

“Yeah, but I'm agnostic.” Karuto said proudly.

“What? What does that mean?” The giant Kai asked.

“It means I neither believe nor disbelieve in the existence of deities.” Karuto answered.

“That is . . . utterly irrelevant.” The Supreme Kai said, but he had an amused smile.

“We're standing right here, it doesn't matter if you believe in us or not!” The small female pointed out.

“Let's not discuss belief, this isn't the time,” Trunks said. “We have a tournament, I think my people should return to it while the rest of us discuss things in private.”

“If you like.” The Supreme Kai said with a slight nod.

“But you _are_ coming with me!” The female Kai warned Trunks.

“No, you're coming with me, all of you, someplace private, where we can calmly discuss things without causing a panic.” Trunks warned.

“You do not give orders, Earthling.” The giant Kai growled.

“It's fine, Kibito,” The Supreme Kai said, “we are guests on this world, after all.”

Trunks looked a little relieved. He turned to Mai and said, “Please uh . . . ask Master Roshi to preside over the tournament for now. Try to keep things going as if nothing's wrong, but let my mother and the King know what's happening. I'll take these three guests, and Karuto and his people to the banquet hall, mother had it built to fit the feast and all the fighters along with the spectators so there should be plenty of room for everyone.”

“Y-yes Trunks. But . . .” Mai hesitated then looked stern. She told the Kais, “If you attempt to apprehend any Earth citizens while I am gone you will be counted as enemies of Earth.”

“If we do take this Earth citizen what will _you_ do about it?” Kibito asked.

“Strength isn't everything,” Mai said. She jerked a thumb at Pitaya and said, “You can feel the strength difference between me and him. But I beat him with single move.”

Pitaya paled a little and seemed abut to argue but Captain Sleet gave him a light tap and subtly shook his head.

_Not the time,_ Karuto agreed.

Anyway it did seem to give Kibito pause for thought for a moment before resuming his surly demeanor, and that was enough time for the Supreme Kai to laugh and say, “Very well, we will not take any earth citizens in your absence. But be aware we did come here with the intent of resolving the problems that have been caused. If that does eventually mean apprehending Trunks or anyone else you will have to accept that.”

Mai stood a little stiffly and said, “If you want to solve anything you'll want Trunks on your side, not as your enemy.

“Thanks, Mai,” Trunks said with an affectionate smile causing Karuto to wonder just how much he'd missed while he was away. With a bit of hesitation Trunks added, “Brassica, I'd like you to bring Verglas and Glacien please. Turles, since your match isn't for a while I'd like you to come along too.”

“Me?” Turles asked.

“You _are_ a Captain. Don't worry, your match won't be for a while and Brock can come get you if this carries on that long.”

“Do you want me there too?” Gohan asked, “I did spend a long time with King Kai.”

Trunks seemed to consider that. He asked, “Did he . . . tell you anything helpful about any of these three?”

“I . . . don't think so, honestly.” Gohan admitted. “Really he never mentioned any of the other Kais . . . but I uh . . . know how to make them laugh?”

Trunks smiled and said, “That's okay. Please calm the other fighters down, reassure them that things are fine.”

Karuto was surprised that Turles was even hesitating to show off how important he was by going with Trunks and even more surprised that Trunks was choosing Turles to accompany him into these negotiations over Gohan.

_What's going on with that?_ Karuto wondered.

He knew he certainly didn't trust Turles to keep a level head during all this . . .

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

In fact Trunks _didn't_ expect Turles to uncharacteristically keep a level head when negotiating with Karuto's band of renegades from the PTO, especially if the discussion was going to involve them staying on Earth.

But he also knew he didn't want Turles in the back room with the other fighters spreading poisonous rumors while he had these discussions. Turles had heard enough to have all sorts of ammunition in turning people against him if he was left alone now. Better to have him nearby where Trunks could quickly undo any damage Turles could do.

Besides, Brassica would be there once she brought Glacien and Verglas.

Trunks just hoped his old mentor understood he wasn't sending him away out of dismissal, but in the hopes that he'd be a calming voice of reason to the other fighters who would no doubt be uneasy with these new revelations.

_Why did you tell them to continue the tournament?_ Trunks thought, _You should have halted it!_

Obviously he knew the answer of course. He'd wanted to play it off as if nothing was the matter, as if everything should just carry on because this whole thing was nothing he couldn't handle.

His bravado had just put him in yet another situation that didn't need to be as difficult as it was going to be.

The skull-faced Arcosian captain did order the bulk of his crew back to the ship though, so at least Trunks would only have a few people to keep track of.

Soda's security forces would keep an eye on the ship, and Trunks would keep an eye on the officers.

The skull-faced captain, the spike headed alien Mai had outsmarted on Fake Namek, a second Iwatian like Konpeito, and of course Karuto whom Trunks trusted just fine.

Of course there were the three Kais as well. They would be a bigger problem, but if it came to blows he didn't think there would be much anyone could do to help him even if they could go Super Saiyan so better to keep them away.

_You prepared for this day,_ Trunks thought, _you were just too slow. You knew sooner or later someone stronger than you would arrive._

But at least they weren't necessarily hostile. Though he wasn't comfortable with this claim that he'd broken some galactic law by using the Time Machine . . . especially because if it were true he was guilty. He _had_ used the Time Machine, and he'd kept using it.

But how was that a bad thing? Did the Supreme Kai _want_ the Androids to still be ruiling Earth? Did he want Cell running around?

What _did_ he want?

Trunks led everyone into the banquet hall, which for such a rush job looked pretty good, and smelled even better.

Although that had nothing to do with the rush job, in fact chef Asiago had spent days preparing for the tournament's feast.

The thus far unnamed Kai smelled the food and sighed dreamily, “Oh boy what's for lunch?”

“Discussion.” Trunks answered. “If we're all friends after this maybe you'll be invited to the banquet.”

She narrowed her eyes at him then smiled and said, “You should be trying harder to get on my good side. After all I _am_ the one whose domain you've been interfering with.”

“And who are you?” Trunks asked.

She tossed her hair back flippantly and said, “I'm the Supreme Kai of _Time_.”

Trunks frowned at the other Supreme Kai and asked, “If she's the Supreme Kai of Time . . . what are you the Supreme Kai of?”

The Supreme Kai smiled—he did that a lot and it was making Trunks uneasy—and said, “The Universe, not to put too fine a point on it. But you can simply call me Supreme Kai as you've been doing.”

Trunks nodded and said, “And the strong one is Kibito.”

“I can introduce myself, mortal!” Kibito scowled at Trunks but Trunks shrugged in response.

“Are you the Supreme Kai of something too?” Trunks asked, and Kibito seemed to blush angrily.

“I am the attendant to the Supreme Kai!” Kibito said.

“Attendant then.” Trunks said with a nod. He then said, “I'm Trunks, Prince of all Saiyans, this is Turles my Captain, shortly my advisor Brassica will arrive with the Arcosian Chief Scientist and ambassador.”

“But her real name isn't Brassica, is it?” The Supreme Kai of Time said with a smug expression.

“And I doubt your parents named you Supreme Kai of Time.” Trunks said evenly, refusing to surrender the initiative in these proceedings even though he didn't like being so . . . well, disrespectful to beings like this.

Not because they were so powerful but because he knew if he could get this business of his “crime” settled they would be useful allies to have. After all a lesser Kai had taught his people to use the Kaioken, who knew what these Supreme Kais could teach his people if he was respectful.

_And I will be . . . once things settle down._ Trunks thought. He nodded to Karuto and said, “Carrying on introductions, Karuto I know. But who are these others?”

Karuto nodded and said, “This is Captain Sleet and Commander Pitaya of the _Arcoss Avenger_ ,” Karuto said pointing to the skull-faced Arcosian and the spike head red giant respectively, “They disobeyed the Twins and had no choice but to turn rogue, so I brought them to Earth. And this is Kiwano, the guard assigned to make sure I didn't get into any trouble.”

“You can see I've done a fantastic job of that.” The Iwatian said dryly with a shudder.

Trunks nodded and Brassica arrived with Glacien and Verglas. Trunks introduced the newcomers to the room and then said, “Well then . . . welcome to Earth, Supreme Kais and attendant, welcome to Earth Planet Trade renegades. You've both arrived at rather inopportune times and I can understand and respect that you've both come with serious matters.”

“That's right, we have. But our matter once solved will nullify theirs.” The Supreme Kai of Time said. She was speaking in a serious tone and being neither aggressive nor childish, which took Trunks off guard for a moment.

“How is that?” Trunks asked.

“Because the reason their problem even exists is because you threw space time out of whack. Once we bring you in and fix the issue this time line won't even exist.”

“Unacceptable.” Trunks said flatly.

“Excuse me?” The Supreme Kai of Time gawked.

“I don't think you understand, this isn't up for debate.” The Supreme Kai said.

“You're telling me that if I go with you and give myself up to whatever punishment you have in mind this whole time line will stop existing? Everyone here except the three of you and me would just stop existing? How can you think my answer would be anything less than refusal?”

“They won't stop existing,” the Supreme Kai of Time said, “they'll go back to their actual places in time and their actual fates.”

“Unacceptable.” Brassica said.

“You made decisions, live with them.” The Supreme Kai of Time told her bluntly.

“I have. For fifty years. But that's not what I'm talking about,” Brassica said, “if everything snaps back in place everyone here really will cease to exist. Those who don't die in the past won't be the same today. Will Karuto be who he is now if he hadn't been stranded on Earth? Would Earth even still stand without Prince Trunks? Make no mistake, whatever time you plan to reset us to who we are now will cease to be.”

“Who you are now _shouldn't_ be.” The Supreme Kai of Time said firmly. “But if it's any consolation you will still be alive as a bounty hunter fighting alongside your strange friend. Turles here will be dead, but not for many many years from his current personal chronology.”

“You mean I got off of Goulder?” Turles asked.

“And started a really cool pirate gang!” The Supreme Kai of time said with a grin and a nod. “And even though you die, you die in battle like all Saiyans want!”

_Is she . . . is she trying to_ sell _this to him?_ Trunks wondered in surprise.

Turles for his part folded his arms and actually seemed to be thinking about it.

Trunks shook his head and said, “I'm with Brassica. I won't sacrifice _everything_ we are and everything we've become for your promise of what you think time should look like.”

“Time is my domain, I _know_ what time should look like!” She cried.

“What do you imagine the alternative is, if you can imagine one, Prince Trunks?” The Supreme Kai asked.

Trunks folded his arms and said, “I wouldn't trade my students for anything, Earthling and Saiyan alike and I won't let you turn the world back to one ruled by the Androids. We keep moving forward, which is what _I_ think time should look like and in the interest of that, Karuto please . . . you said the PTO have some kind of tree?”

“It's sort of a Tree of Might!” Karuto said, “They eat the fruit and it increases their power level by fifteen times!”

“Fifteen?” Turles gawked.

“Karuto . . . what are you doing?” Glacien asked.

“Trying to save lives.” Karuto answered a little sadly. “You didn't see, Frostburn even turned on Sleet here and nearly killed him just because he was angry. Da— _Frostbite_ didn't do anything, he just sat there looking irritated. They've gone mad with power, even if they can control it they don't know how to control themselves!”

“That's the prerogative of the Lord, Lord Frieza was the same way.” Glacien said, glaring at Sleet and saying, “You selfishly misled him just to save your own skin?”

“Actually,” Sleet said, “coming here was his idea and he'd already gotten on my ship and set our course when I got out of the healing tank. Frankly I was perfectly keen to do like the little female Kai was talking about to the Saiyan and form a band of space pirates. Maybe find a comfortable planet where the sea is just the right shade of pink and retire.”

“The tree,” Karuto interrupted loudly, “Is from Goulder, but it needs a planet with an abundance of life energy to grow. So the Twins went to Frago.”

“Frago? I remember that place.” Trunks nodded. “It was a lush forest world for sure . . . but one of those trees couldn't grow on Earth, right?”

“Not in its current state.” Glacien sighed. “It's too desolate . . . at least that's what we understand. And the tree didn't come from Goulder.” Trunks raised an eyebrow at Glacien but the Chief scientist shrugged and said, “In for a zeni.”

“I am surprised you know that expression.” Trunks admitted.

“If you're going to get information it might as well be accurate.” Glacien said, “After all I'd rather my species not go extinct . . . which is why honestly I'd rather these nice supreme beings just take you away and let us return to a time-line without you.”

“Because you'd have such an easier time with the Androids.” Trunks said dryly.

“That's not really my concern.” Glacien said.

“Well,” Verglas spoke up, “actually if you care about little Karuto there it sort of is. Trunks here spared your offspring, and Chillax as well. Those Androids, from what I've gleamed by Osmosis would have blasted the ship right out of the sky. Tell me, Supreme Kai of Time, is Karuto alive in the future you want to restore us to?”

The Supreme Kai of Time blinked owlishly and said, “Well I would be pretty stupid to say 'no' now, wouldn't I? You're framing this so that the only person in support of putting things right has a personal interest now in keeping them wrong if I say no.”

“So the answer is no, otherwise she would have just said yes.” Verglas said with a shrug. “Keep that in mind everyone, if we let her snap back time the child gets it!”

“Why are you helping?” Trunks asked the Ambassador.

“Because we wouldn't have bothered to discover the tree without you.” Verglas said. “The truth is our people were on a decline without it, and even now we owe our revitalization to it. So as long as we really can just avoid you we're coming out on top, I just have to use my Ambassadorial powers to convince you that you don't need to stop us from destroying the Galactic Patrol.”

“And how would you do that?” Trunks asked skeptically.

“Give me time.” Verglas said with a wink and a grin.

The Supreme Kai of Time pouted and stomped her foot. She said, “Listen, this is going to happen!”

“I don't think it is.” Trunks said. “See we have an expression here . . . something along the lines of 'you'll never take me alive.'”

“If that's what you want,” Kibito growled.

“Easy, Kibito,” the Supreme Kai said, though his smile was finally gone. He said very seriously, “So you believe you can salvage this time line?”

“More than that I believe the changes we've made make it a superior time-line.” Trunks said. “Even if they didn't have this tree of might they'd still be doing everything they were ding before, they'd just be doing it slower. But as things are I can stop them from doing it at all.”

“How?” The Supreme Kai asked.

“By showing them that peace is the way. We can all still grow stronger with peace, the universe is big enough for all of us!” Trunks said.

The Supreme Kai of Time folded her arms now and said with a wicked grin, “Do you want me to prove you wrong?”

Trunks felt a chill run down his spine. “What do you mean?” He asked.

“Do you want me to show you the future of Earth if you don't listen to me?” She asked.

Trunks narrowed his eyes and said, “If you can see the future then you know I won't listen to you.”

“Since I can see the future I know you'll want to listen to me.” The Supreme Kai said. She held out her hand and said, “Come on. I promise I'll bring you back . . . so you can tell them all how you changed your mind.”

Trunks hesitated . . . and then shook his head. “No. Nothing you show me will matter.”

“Are you sure about that?” The Supreme Kai of Time asked with sadness, rather than the smugness he would have expected from her given what he'd seen of her thus far.

Trunks nodded. He told her and everyone else, “The future isn't set in stone, I proved that by using the Time Machine. That's why you're angry, isn't it? I committed a crime, you had your ideas of how things should be and I frustrated them. But I've traveled through time and I know the future is what we make of it! If we take the easy way out, like one version of myself did by learning to destroy the Androids with a remote without working hard to be able to do it myself we won't be able to face our challenges down the road. But if we work hard we can do anything!

“Showing me the future is just going to make me frustrate your designs even more, so don't bother. We're going to move forward, we're going to use our time and our lives to make the world a better one for the next generation. That means we make sure there _is_ a next generation, no Androids ruling Earth, no extinction for the Saiyan Race, or the Earthlings, or even the Calamareens—don't act like the Androids would have spared their ships—or even for the Arcosians.”

“What?” Turles gawked.

“Not even for the Arcosians!” Trunks said firmly. He glared at all three of the Kais and said, “The universe is big, big enough for any number of races but there aren't _that_ many of them, are there? That tells me that life while not unique to Earth is definitely not common. It's rare and it's precious, every life and every species matters. So we will find a way to coexist and we move forward!”

The Supreme Kai of Time huffed in exasperation but the Universal Supreme Kai smiled again and simply said, “Well then, Trunks . . . tell me _how._ ”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ How will Trunks answer the Supreme Kai? And will his answer change when Chronoa tells him a tale? Meanwhile the PTO revels in their victory on Viltvodle VI, and General Boreal gets some interesting news. Will it change the course of things to come? Find out next time on Dragon Ball COED! _

 


	140. Trees of Life

**Episode Six**

**'Trees of Life'**

 

“How?” Trunks asked, “Didn't I just tell you?”

“No.” The Supreme Kai told him. “You spoke a grand speech, but you didn't tell me how you're going to make things better. I know you're a good man . . . but what about your successor? Will your son be a good man? Or if you don't pass the mantle on to your son will whoever you choose be a good person? Do you know the measure of a good person?”

Trunks nodded. “Of course I do.”

“Someone like you?” The Supreme Kai asked.

“Someone who values life. Someone who has the strength to protect others, and doesn't use it to abuse them. Don't you see, that's why I made the Earth's Defense Force, I wanted to find people I could trust to protect the Earth in case anything happened to me.”

“Okay. So you want people who will protect the Earth.” The Supreme Kai nodded. “Let us pretend you find them, and they are all everything you hope they will be. So how do you convince the Arcosians and the Saiyans to coexist?”

Trunks jerked his thumb at Turles and said, “My Captain here hates the Arcosians more than most. So much so that my wanting to spare them . . .” He hesitated, then decided not to out the knowledge that he knew Turles was plotting against him. He didn't know why. _Maybe I just don't want to make him feel backed into a corner,_ Trunks thought.

But he continued, giving Turles an appraising look and said, “So much so that my wanting to spare them has no doubt been a terrible burden for him after what they did to our people. A tragedy he no doubt feels far more keenly than I do because it's a loss he was there to experience that I wasn't.”

There was a hardness to Turles' eyes, but he didn't say anything. Trunks carried on, telling the Supreme Kai, “I know he probably doesn't understand, maybe even mistakes it for weakness. But if I can convince him I can convince any Saiyan. If I can convince the Saiyans I'm sure I can convince the Arcosians.”

“You haven't met them.” The Supreme Kai pointed out.

“I will.” Trunks said.

“It would be so much easier if you just cooperated.” The Supreme Kai of Time sighed.

Trunks shook his head and said, “This would be so much easier if the three of you used your strength and power to help. You're more powerful than I am, aren't you?”

“They're what?” Brassica gasped.

Karuto said, “The scouters on the _Arcoss Avenger_ couldn't calculate their power levels, but once you turned Super Saiyan they couldn't record yours either, Mr. Trunks. So you might not be weaker than them after all.”

The Supreme Kai sighed and said, “Actually . . . that's a very accurate assessment, Trunks. We _are_ stronger than you. To give you a frame of personal reference Kibito here is about as powerful as the being known as Perfect Cell was, and I am more powerful than he is. But the reason the ships cannot record our power levels is because our power is technically limitless, there is no number to be placed on it.”

Trunks said, “If you have that kind of power why didn't you use it to protect the universe?”

“I'm doing that now.” The Supreme Kai said.

His eyes were mischievous but at least he didn't smile again. Trunks folded his arms and said, “You know what I mean.”

“I do.” The Supreme Kai nodded. “Do you have any idea how big a Universe is? Do you have any idea how much work is involved in keeping it safe? I know you don't, so don't try to answer. The fact is I'm what you might call a naturalist, I am happy to let the Universe progress down its proper path without interfering. The sole exception is when there is a danger that could actually destroy this Universe.”

“So nothing short of the apocalypse gets you to act?” Trunks scoffed.

“That's right.” The Supreme Kai nodded.

“And that's what's going to happen if you keep up this way.” The Supreme Kai of Time said seriously. “You just . . . don't understand.”

“Do you think we came to Earth in the hopes of fighting you?” Kibito asked, “Of course not. If we wanted you destroyed there _is_ someone we would have sent in our stead. We came here to make you recognize the threat you pose and come with us willingly.”

“And we were forced to grow more powerful in preparation.” The Supreme Kai said with a slight smile.

Trunks folded his arms and asked, “The tree? You . . . you couldn't have . . .”

“Couldn't we have?” The Supreme Kai asked.

“If you were just going to take pieces of the fruit why didn't you tell the Arcosians to stop their invasion?” Brassica demanded.

“Why would we steal fruit from the Arcosians? Besides fruit is best when the tree grows in its native soil. Obviously we went to the source of the trees.” Kibito said.

“Obviously.” Trunks rolled his eyes, though it wasn't _that_ unreasonable a conclusion he didn't like that Kibito would just expect him to come to it when going to the only known tree made more sense.

But then the Kais probably knew of lots of trees, and the Supreme Kai of Time could probably just travel wherever whenever.

“How many pieces did you have to eat to get so strong?” Turles asked.

“Well if you're not from the world the trees come from you can only eat one piece every year.” The Supreme Kai told them, “to consume any more would kill you. But we only ate the pure fruit from its home world, we didn't want to risk corrupting ourselves with the wild fruit that grows on other planets.”

“Good for you.” Trunks said, “So you ate some fancy food so you'd be strong enough to force me to do what you want?”

“We did have a reason for it beyond simply wanting the strength to bring you in if you wouldn't come on your own.” The Supreme Kai told him. “At least Chronoa did.”

“It was just a matter of traveling in time to a point when planet Sadala was still around.” The Supreme Kai of Time, or Chronoa, Trunks supposed, said in a tone that suggested Trunks should be surprised what she was talking about.

Only he didn't. He had no idea what planet Sadala was.

“If my people's tree was from an alien world how did it come to be on ours?” Kiwano asked.

“The people of Sadala used these Trees of Life to Terra-form planets for them. By hurling the seeds across stars to worlds uninhabited by sentient life the trees would grow and change the planet to suit their people as well as provide fruit for the weary settlers.” The Supreme Kai of Time said, folding her arms and lowering her head she continued in a grave tone saying, “The King of Sadala was a very good man, Trunks. He wanted only the best for his people and they wanted to expand. To colonize other worlds . . . he knew that the universe was big, really big, you just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind bogglingly big it is and yet for all that there were only so many worlds that could support these Trees of Life that hadn't already developed sentient life. So even though the universe is big, just like you say, there were only so many places his people could go.”

Trunks frowned, identifying with the King of Sadala and wondering just what angle of this story the Supreme Kai of Time was going to use to try to manipulate him next.

She continued and said, “But unfortunately for them whenever they arrived at these worlds they found that their World Trees weren't doing what they were supposed to. Oh they were growing and making fruit . . . but they were sucking the planets dry, turning lush worlds into barren wastes. Only worlds massive enough that the tree couldn't strangle it completely, like Goulder, could have any native life survive. Naturally the people of Sadala were horrified when their settlers arrived and saw what they'd been doing to once vibrant worlds.”

“So they stopped.” Brassica reasoned.

“No.” The Supreme Kai said. “The trees on their world could grant strength and vitality over time. Eating the fruit would make one's personal improvement more effective, and the people of Sadala reveled in hard work.”

“They sound like a good people.” Trunks said.

“Oh I'm sure you would have liked them,” Kibito said with a rude chuckle.

Trunks frowned at him, but the Supreme Kai said, “ _However_ , the trees on these other worlds . . . their fruit was different.”

“In what way?” Trunks asked.

“It was the fruit you know. The fruit of Sadala unlocked potential, but the fruit of other worlds granted instant strength leeched from the worlds themselves,” Chronoa told him. “At the cost of life on these worlds the Trees of Might made the people of Sadala strong . . . some of them didn't want to stop, even though it cost these potential colonies everything at least they argued, they weren't hurting anyone really. They weren't sending the seeds to worlds with sentient life, just basic plants and animals . . .”

“Then how did it come to be on Goulder?” Kiwano asked.

Chronoa answered him, “Greed. Before they were horrified by what they'd done but at least they'd chosen to send seeds to worlds that weren't inhabited by sentient life . . .”

“That changed when they saw what the trees could do . . . and when they ran out of uninhabited worlds.” Trunks realized.

The Supreme Kai of Time nodded and said, “That's right. Even though the King of Sadala was a good man, just like you and even though so many of his people were good . . . it didn't take all of them to do great evil.”

“Obviously,” Glacien agreed, “it makes perfect sense. Even if the people at large would have resisted it would only take a few to rebel, especially with the power of the fruit to back them up.”

The Supreme Kai said gently, “As I'm sure you know, Trunks, it doesn't take many individuals to impose their will on the world if those individuals are stronger than the rest of it.”

Trunks got a chill just thinking of the Androids and nodded, “I know.”

The Supreme Kai of time nodded too and said, “But it wasn't just a few. It was thousands. Even some of the King's own children fought against him thinking that this was the future of their people. A terrible civil war broke out, the good people of Sadala battling the evil people who wanted to spread the trees across the Universe . . . some seeds were lost, some trees grew on worlds no one but the Kais ever knew about . . . and the people of Sadala became so powerful that they started to rival the Gods and traces of that power can be found in their descendants even today.”

“There are still . . . Sadalians?” Trunks guessed at a name.

“Well . . . most of them died when their home world was destroyed.” Chronoa said. “Since their colonizing efforts had failed with the trees killing the worlds they would have taken over they didn't live anywhere else and those few ships that survived didn't have anyplace else to go really . . . very few of the people survived, no civilians or scientists or anything like that . . . just a few hundred warriors who hadn't been on-world when it was destroyed.

“Luckily there was a world in range . . . and when they got there they found the world suitable and the people inviting . . . for a while. But a few generations down the line when their descendants knew the story of their original home as nothing more than legend and with their species innate desire to improve but no fruit to feed them and unlock their potential they turned to the only thing they knew how to do. The thing they erroneously believed made them stronger. They turned once again to war . . . and exterminated the peaceful people of their new home world.”

“No . . .” Brassica whispered. Trunks thought at first that she was horrified by the story, but he didn't understand why. Was the story of the Sadalians really so different from that of the Saiyans? Who was she to judge, he'd thought but when he looked at her he realized the look on her face wasn't one of shock or horror . . .

It was realization.

“Yes.” The Supreme Kai said, nodding to her.

“Yes.” Chronoa agreed. She looked at Trunks again and said, “The King of Sadala was a good man, Trunks. He wanted to do what was right, but he made the mistake of thinking others would be like him . . . and evidently that naiveté runs in the family.”

Trunks blinked and asked, “What are you . . . I mean . . . are you saying--”

“The people of Sadala were _Saiyans_!” Brassica cried.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The ruins of Viltvodle VI were burning and only the last few pockets of survivors remained to be tracked down and exterminated.

But that wasn't the work of a General. Boreal had left his subordinates to take charge of that while he waited for the arrival of the Twins who would be coming to see the end result of this first brave strike at their hated enemy.

Boreal had his own issues of course, the Twins weren't his favorite people after all but he would serve them . . . serve them until they saw fit to give him more fruit. Then he would grow stronger, he would surpass them, he would destroy them and lead the Planet Trade Organization the way _he_ wanted to.

He reclined on the remains of the Galactic Patrolman's vessel while he waited for his sovereigns as the star port burned around him.

Aurora, the only subordinate he'd kept with him laughed and said, “I never imagined we could do so much damage in such a short amount of time! This must be what Lord Frieza felt like all the time!”

Boreal laughed too and said, “Perhaps. But I think we've exceeded Lord Frieza's organization, don't you? After all, Lord Frieza never took a prize like this.”

“Let's not get too carried away, General. Lord Frieza could have taken care of this world.” Aurora said.

“No.” Boreal shook his head, “I don't think he would have. Oh he could have destroyed the planet, but going through the trouble of exterminating its populace and keeping the world? No, he'd never have bothered. Besides his people wouldn't have been strong enough.”

“No?” Aurora asked.

“Frieza was strong, but none of his subordinates were anywhere near him in strength. Lord Frieza had less than a dozen truly powerful subordinates, where we have an entire Clan more powerful than his very best. Our soldiers are stronger than his soldiers were and that means we can do things he would have regarded as too troublesome, too unworthy of his time.”

“I suppose that's true.” Aurora said thoughtfully.

“Besides with just a little more fruit we'll be able to surpass him as well,” Boreal told him.

Aurora nodded, “Yes . . . of course I think I can think of one or two people you'd hope to surpass first, General.”

Boreal smiled, “You know me too well, Aurora. But keep that to yourself for now.”

“Obviously. Still, the future of our race is bright indeed,” Aurora said, “once the war with the Galactic Patrol is concluded we can destroy the Earth . . . then nothing will stand in our way.”

“The universe will be ours and we will rule it like gods . . . angry gods.” Boreal joked.

Aurora smiled broadly and said, “I am excited at the mere thought, General. Still it's a shame we couldn't take this ship intact, it might have helped us to track down other agents.”

“Cooly and Icebreaker will handle the reports we've been getting, it's nothing for you to worry about. And don't bring it up to the Twins either, I don't want them unduly concerned.” Boreal said.

“Besides, you don't need one of our ships to find Galactic Patrolmen,” A cold voice said.

Boreal had to admit he was surprised when the centaurian creature leapt over some of the rubble, his long metallic looking tail gleaming and his Galactic Patrol breastplate barely showing any signs of damage.

_How did you manage to evade Aurora's scouter?_ Boreal wondered.

Was it some gadget or was the creature just too weak for the scouter's warning alarm to trigger?

Boreal's own scouter had not trouble reading the power level now that he was nearby. Two hundred fifty thousand . . . not bad. The Patrolman approached boldly and without fear, but Boreal could see he wasn't a threat . . . at least not now that Boreal had eaten the fruit.

_Of course like the egg-shaped Patrolman his power level might not be indicative of his real strength,_ Boreal thought to himself. All the same the General rose to his feet to meet this new challenger.

Aurora asked, “Do you want me to destroy him, General?”

“No. Let me. He'll be the best sport I've had since his little friend ran off, all I want you to do is make sure he doesn't escape like the last one. Besides, maybe he knows where that one went. I'd like to know that before I destroy him.”

“I can assure you I have no intentions of trying to escape . . . and that Yoko won't be a problem for you.” The Galactic Patrolman said.

“No, and neither will you.” Boreal said with a smile.

“What I mean is he's not on this world anymore. I gave him my ship.” The Patrolman said.

“Then you'll take his place,” Boreal told him, tilting his horned head over his shoulder in the direction of the wrecked ship behind him, “because his ship won't be able to take you anywhere.”

The strange alien being said, “I never intended to escape on his ship. I came here to see you, General. And as for Yoko . . . well he didn't get far. My ship suffered an unexpected self destruction.”

“Oh?” Boreal raised an eyebrow. “And why should I believe you, officer . . .”

“Yuzu. And you should believe me because it's true . . . and because there are three other officers on this world . . . and I can tell you where I sent them.”

Boreal smiled, he almost wanted to laugh. He had expected this sort of thing but not _this_ quickly. It had to be some sort of a joke, some poorly conceived ruse. He asked, “Is this what I think it is? Oh you poor fool . . . thinking you could sway us . . . our orders are to exterminate everyone on this world, including the Galactic Patrol.”

Actually they did have orders to spare a few individuals to spread the tale, but Boreal didn't see any reason the officer needed to know that.

After all, there was no reason for him to be one of them.

“I can see that, and I believe you have the power to do it. Not just here, but everywhere until you reach the Galactic Headquarters,” Yuzu said. “I could see it from even the limited information we were getting from the planet . . . the sheer scope of this invasion, it's clear you don't just mean to stop here, do you?”

“You receive no prize for guessing the obvious.” Boreal told him.

“No. But the Galactic Patrol is just too small, too weak to stop the Planet Trade Organization now. Like I said I could see that the moment our headquarters started receiving the reports of your strength . . . but we . . . _they_ do have something you aren't expecting.”

“Do they?” Boreal raised an eyebrow. “Something that can stand up to _our_ power?”

“And exceed it.” Yuzu said.

“Let me guess . . . is it the Super Saiyan of Earth? Do you really think we don't already have plans to keep him out of this until it's too late for you?” Boreal asked.

“No. Because I didn't know there _was_ a Super Saiyan of Earth. It was our understanding that the Saiyans were extinct . . . of course we had our suspicions about a few rogues, found a few survivors we had to eliminate over the years but it's been so long since anyone's seen a Saiyan. Frankly knowing that you see them as a threat only makes me think this information is even more important to you.” Yuzu told him.

Boreal laughed, “You mean you came with something _else_ to threaten us with? Something else that's going to stop us?”

“That's right.” Yuzu nodded.

“And yet we've never heard of it, and you've never used it, and worst of all you are betraying information about it _before_ I've tortured you? Oh this must be _something_ indeed,” Boreal laughed rudely.

“Go on . . .” Aurora said, but in a teasing tone.

Yuzu nodded as if he didn't recognize—or maybe just didn't care—that he was being mocked and said, “It's a failsafe, a secret weapon one of our patrolmen discovered . . . we'd kept it just in case we ever needed it.”

“And why do you think it will mean anything to us?” Aurora asked.

“Because it was designed by a race of incredible technological skill . . . and it's sole purpose as far as we've been able to determine was to exterminate the Saiyans.”

“Oh?” Boreal _was_ intrigued.

Aurora's mockery stopped instantly. The slender Arcosian cocked his head to the side in surprise and asked, “You have a failsafe weapon to eradicate the Saiyans?”

“It was designed for that purpose, but I think it could be used to destroy any powerful being.” Yuzu said.

“Then why are you telling _us_ about it?” Boreal asked.

This was the opening engagement, they couldn't have broken this Patrolman's spirit this early.

“Because . . . my home world is the nearest between you and the Galactic HQ now . . . and I know the Galactic King won't use this failsafe until he has no other option. That means by the time we stop you it'll be too late for my people. The Patrol will try to evacuate as many as they can, but they will have nowhere to go and many of my people will foolishly try to fight . . . I had to make a decision . . .”

“Betrayal.” Aurora nodded.

“Betrayal.” Yuzu said. He took off his galactic patrol breastplate and threw it to the ground. He said, “To save my people no price, not even my own life or my own dignity is too high. I am willing to defect and to help you capture this secret weapon if you spare my home-world and my people.”

Boreal looked at Aurora who shrugged and said, “I . . . I mean the Twins will be here soon, I don't know, General . . . do you think they'll want to know about this?”

“I think they'd want to hear what this fine young quadruped has to say . . . besides, as a General I can accept a surrender or two at my own discretion, don't you agree, Aurora?”

“Certainly, sir.” Aurora nodded.

“Good. Now order someone to bring some proper armor for our new recruit,” Boreal said as he sat back down on the Galactic Patrol vessel wreckage and said to Yuzu, “Yuzu is it? Well then come a little bit closer and tell old General Boreal all about this big bad scary secret weapon. And of course it goes without saying that your people's very survival depends on this information being worthwhile . . .”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ Gohan attempts to lay others' fears to rest as Trunks negotiates with those weirdly powerful beings. The tournament continues but how are those who've already lost handling their defeat? Find out next time on Dragon Ball COED! _

 

 


	141. Unpredictable

**Episode Seven**

**'Unpredictable'**

 

The tournament had been put on pause for a moment as everyone tried to make sense of what had just happened.

For some the concern that there was a threat to their world made continuing to wail on each other seem utterly ludicrous, for others the idea that they had grown at all seemed laughable compared to what many of them had just _felt_ when Trunks and the bigger Kai battled.

Gohan had to admit it was a little bone chilling to feel just how far Trunks had come. _If_ he's _afraid of someone being too strong for him to beat maybe we all should be,_ Gohan thought to himself. Trunks was beyond anything Gohan had experienced in life or beyond it, and if he wasn't mistaken the 'Supreme' portion of the Supreme Kai's name implied that Trunks was only slightly below what the most powerful being in the cosmos must be . . . right?

Were there beings stronger than the Supreme Kai?

“I'm not really used to sensing energy, Gohan,” Videl told him quietly, “but I could feel Trunks' power like a sort of . . . pressure on my chest making it hard to breathe. His opponent was the same. How do you all function with this sort of raw strength running through you?”

“It's just natural for us,” Gohan said, “as we develop and grow. It'll feel more normal for all of you when you develop as well.”

“Develop? Prince Trunks is like a thousand of Frieza!” Okran said with a shudder, “It's no wonder he killed the old tyrant. Turles doesn't even compare!”

“The power of the Super Saiyan sure is something,” Lamson said carefully, “but I don't think it's that unstoppable. That pink guy was holding his own.”

_Better than that, he was giving as good as he got._ Gohan thought. _But Trunks was only getting started . . . I'll bet if they'd kept going Trunks would have come out on top._

At least some part of him wanted to believe that. Maybe some part of him _needed_ to believe that.

Either way there were more than a few concerned persons in the back room now, but Gohan tried his best to assure them that things were going to be okay.

“Listen,” he told them, “Some of you have met King Kai, well these Kai are just . . . sort of a few pay grades above him. It make sense that they're powerful, but if anything how powerful Trunks is should show you what a mere mortal can do.”

“Yeah, a Saiyan mortal.” Prage said with a shudder.

“Don't talk like that,” Chillax told him, “you're already powerful enough that your own people would have seen you as a demigod, never mind the fact that you don't even have any transformation ability. I'm with Gohan, don't be discouraged, you should all be _en_ couraged. That can be _us_ if we try hard.”

“Exactly!” Gohan said.

“You mean assuming any of us live that long. Suppose they destroy Prince Trunks?” Lamson suggested.

Gohan shook his head firmly, “They wouldn't be here to hurt Trunks. They're good guys, you know? I'm sure the fight before was just them testing him. Maybe they've got some sort of mission they need him to perform.”

“That must have been some test for some mission!” Anavill said, “I've never felt anything like that.”

“It's been a while since Master Trunks has had to go all out,” Bocan acknowledged before nodding to Gohan and adding, “But Master Gohan here is right, the Kais don't seem like an enemy.”

“Well what do we do?” Rhubara asked, “Do we stand by to assist Prince Trunks if this wasn't just some test?”

“And what are _you_ going to do?” Okran scoffed, “Are you _trying_ to die? You'd be like a fly to them!”

Rhubara scoffed and said, “An Oozaru can make for a pretty big fly you know.”

“That's right!” Lamson said in surprise, “We haven't even been taking the power of our Saiyan blood into account! If we have to we can transform and we'll all be ten times stronger!”

“Not all of us.” Bocan pointed out.

“Just stay out of our way then.” Lamson said evenly.

Bocan scoffed but Gohan stepped in and said, “Hold on. Let's be real, even at ten times your current strength most of you wouldn't be a lot of help. None of us would, not even Brassica and me as Super Saiyans are quite on that level. We might be able to slow them down a bit and help Trunks but we wouldn't be able to stop them. Besides, she and I would be in complete control of our Super Saiyan transformation, would any of you be in control of the Oozaru?”

Quash raised his hand and said, “Beeta and I would be, we are elites after all.”

Gohan nodded to acknowledge the fact but it was Beeta who said, “Not that it'd matter. You heard Gohan, we'd be nothing in that fight. Big flies are still flies.”

“Well a swarm might be able to do something . . .” Quash muttered but he clearly wasn't going to pursue the argument.

“So what are you saying? We're helpless?” Cauliflora asked.

Gohan shook his head, “No, I'm just saying it's pointless to try to fight these people. We're lucky they're our friends instead. Take comfort in the fact that the Kais are on our side and just do as Trunks asked; carry on with the tournament.”

“It's all well and good that they're on our side. Still shouldn't we wait for Trunks before we continue?” Tathy asked, “I mean it seems rude to carry on without him.”

“You're just saying that because you didn't do anything to prepare for this tournament and you know Gurein and Kodva are going to knock you right out!” Cauliflora teased.

“You're as mean as you are mistaken young Cauli,” Tathy scoffed, “I'm not the same Tathy you knew in the past, I'm much more powerful.”

“Really? Because you feel _exactly_ the same.” Cauli grinned.

“My power level may never _feel_ any different,” Tathy explained, “but believe me, my capabilities are always developing. That's part of what makes me so dangerous. I'm unpredictable . . . and also functionally immortal, but _mostly_ it's the unpredictable part.”

Gohan smiled and said, “Well then why not go ahead and show us? Come on you guys, let's not just wait around all day. This tournament isn't for Trunks to see how much you've grown, he already knows. It's for _you_ all to see, and so that the King and our new friends and allies can see the sort of might defending Earth.”

“Compared to the might that just arrived on it?” Quash asked.

“Yes.” Gohan said simply. “If anything think of it this way: this tournament is so impressive the _gods_ showed up to witness it.”

“Oh . . . I rather like the sound of that.” Quash nodded.

“I wouldn't go calling them gods,” Brock spoke up for the first time, “they're flesh and blood it seemed to me. They're just another powerful race, like Frieza's people.”

“Arcosians, and agreed.” Chillax said. “They're not mystical beings, they're aliens just like any other. Even if they start with an advantage we'll overcome them, that's what it means to be a fighter!”

“Well said,” Gohan said, “now who's up next?”

Tathy sighed and said, “I am, I am, all right I guess I'll beat young Cauli's human friends . . . rather not do it on an empty stomach, hint hint.”

“Who are you hint hinting at?” Cauli asked, “None of us has any food.”

Tathy sighed as if hers were the most painful of existences and said, “All right then. Come along Prage, let's rack up our quick win.”

“Quick win?” Gurein raised an eyebrow, “She's awfully confident.”

Cauli slapped him on the shoulder and said, “Ah she's just psyching you out. She's a career fighter after all, she knows the advantage of getting into her opponent's head.”

Chillax smirked and said, “I don't know, Tathy never struck me as the sort to make empty boasts. She doesn't seem to have the personality for it, she's much too straightforward.”

“Thanks.” Kodva said with a wink, “Very reassuring.”

“Suck it up, buttercup!” Soda said, “Get out there and make Blue Team proud!”

Kodva grinned and said, “Sure thing, cap. You ready, Gurein?”

“As I'll ever be.” Gurein nodded.

Gohan smiled as the four fighters marched for the arena to the applause from the crowd.

It was uncertain at first, but it grew in enthusiasm.

“Seriously though, how do you see this one going?” Cauliflora asked Rhubara.

“It'll come down to the Kaioken. I think Kodva and Prage can more or less cancel each other out, but it'll be on Gurein to find a way to get Tathy out of the arena before his technique become too taxing.” Rhubara whispered.

“Exactly how I see it.” Chillax nodded. “Tathy's a lot more powerful than she reads as.”

“I had no idea you and Tathy were so close.” Cauliflora said with a playful wink.

Chillax shrugged, “We had time to get to know each other while I was a prisoner.”

“And he turned on his people for her.” Anavill pointed out.

“That's kind of romantic, isn't it?” Soda teased her partner.

Gohan would swear Chillax blushed, though he couldn't quite tell. The Arcosian scoffed and said, “Please. My race doesn't even reproduce that way.”

“Neither does Tathy's.” Cauliflora teased.

Gohan felt relieved when the other fighters discussed the fight rather than the Kais, but he wasn't about to join in with the ribbing. Instead he watched the fight and considered that his comrades weren't wrong.

Tathy was a lot more powerful than she seemed and while Prage and Kodva were fairly evenly matched it really would come down to Gurein and Tathy.

So far with Pastel and Bocan the graduates of King Kai's school had done very well against their opponents, even though Bocan had won without resorting to the Kaioken. Would Gurein be the one to break that trend?

If the Kaioken was an unstoppable force and Tathy's invulnerability made her—proverbially speaking—and immovable object . . . well, Gohan was curious to see just how it would turn out.

It'd be a good distraction for him and the rest of them as they waited to see what would happen at least.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

Rhyce came to to the sound of applause and the voice of Master Roshi announcing the next fight.

“Gurein and Kodva of the Earth's Defense Forces versus Tathy and Prage of the Royal Guard Elite Team!” The Turtle Hermit announced, causing Rhyce to sit bolt upright in her stretcher.

_My brother's fight is next!_ She thought. _I can't miss it, I've got to see how Gurein does! I need to see his Kaioken technique!_

But a small green hand smacked her in the forehead and said, “Down dumdum! I'm not done with your injuries yet.”

“What? What's going on?” Rhyce demanded, “Injuries? I feel fine!”

Kazoo scoffed and said, “You have my healing prowess to thank for that, I _was_ the Medic of Stobler's Stable for quite some time. Nevertheless you're not back to a hundred percent just yet.”

“But my brother's fight!”

“If it's any good you'll still be able to catch the tail end of it. The beginnings of fights are always boring anyway, you won't miss anything. Just a bunch of people standing around groaning and grunting and powering up while rocks float in the air, you can always skip the first twenty minutes of a real fight.”

“What are you _on_ about? No fight lasts that long!” Rhyce said.

“I said a _real_ fight, you Earth dumdums don't have those.” Kazoo said, shaking his little green head and looking off into the distance, “the pageantry of a _real_ fight . . . utterly lost on all of you. A good fight is fifty percent set up, posturing, threats and promises of violence before clashing briefly then staring at each-other intensely to cover up for the fact that the fighters are actually catching their breath before they start again. Repeat until the crowd is at the edge of their seats desperate to see _how_ things will end.”

Rhyce frowned and said, “So I guess there's no wondering how mine ended.”

“That's right. You lost, obviously.”

“That Kaioken is really something.” Rhyce muttered.

“Indeed. Too bad your opponent didn't use it on you.” Kazoo said with a bit of a snide grin.

Rhyce felt her cheeks burn, “H-he what? Bocan beat me without it?”

“He most certainly did.” Kazoo told her simply. “What did you expect? It might as well have been two on one.”

“That's not fair!” Rhyce scolded Kazoo but Korrard, who was sitting in another cot not far from her being tended by one of the other Namekian healers spoke up for the first time.

His head was hung in shame and Rhyce could see why she hadn't noticed him until he spoke up as he had his back turned to her and his face hidden from view.

“He's right,” Korrard told her, “I wasn't any help to you. It's all my fault, I couldn't even hold Bocan off, he was far too powerful for me. I'm just . . . not the sort of partner you should have had.”

“Don't beat yourself up,” Telluce told him, “you have no idea how much stronger you _have_ gotten, Kor.”

Telluce and Kayle were there too, though they seemed to have recovered from their injuries.

For Tell it made sense, Kor was his friend and teammate.

For Kayle . . . well, Rhyce wasn't sure what she was still doing in the infirmary.

Was she just embarrassed about losing the way Rhyce was feeling now?

Nevertheless Rhyce did throw in, “Yeah, Kor. It's not your fault, you did great.”

“She's right,” Kazoo said, “it's not your fault, dumdum, it's hers. If you were going to take a healer into the fight with you you should have based your strategy around it instead of trying to use him as a fighter. I mean really it's obvious.”

“A healer?” Kor mumbled, “What are you talking about? I'm a Saiyan, we're . . . we're all warriors.”

He said it without conviction, as if he were worn out just repeating the line.

Rhyce frowned but Tell said, “Maybe . . . it's not so bad, Kor.”

Korrard turned to them all and frowned, “Not so bad? You're telling me it's not so bad to be a Saiyan who isn't even Saiyan-like, a healer instead of a fighter? That's not so bad?”

“Why would it be?” Kazoo asked. “I'm small and my brother is a giant, I'm a healer and he's a fighter. We came from the same source, but we're different. It takes all sorts to make a diverse and wonderful race, even if you Saiyans all look alike to me I suppose you need some form of diversity.”

Rhyce frowned and said, “You know . . . for as long as there have been warriors there's always had to be healers.”

“But that doesn't mean I should be one of them.” Korrard said, looking away and avoiding eye contact.

“Why shouldn't you?” Kazoo asked. “You're the only Saiyan I've seen with a healer's aura or a healer's power. You're far better off letting me train you to be a healer than you are trying to throw punches your heart isn't behind.”

“I don't . . . I can't _train_ as a healer!” Korrard said.

“Don't be stupid, of course you _can._ Besides, I could use the help, many hands make light work.” Kazoo said evenly.

“But . . . it's not the Saiyan way.” Korrard said.

“And what _is_ the Saiyan way?” Kayle snapped suddenly. “What does it even mean? What does it matter?”

“Saiyans are a race of warriors, it's . . . it's embarrassingto have healing powers.” Korrard said.

“Pfft. Stupid Saiyans.” Kazoo scoffed.

“But they _are_ powers, and if you've got them then they're _your_ powers!” Kayle argued. “Don't you think I'm embarrassed about my battle rage sometimes? Don't you think I don't know that a _real_ Saiyan warrior is supposed to have some measure of control? But today I fought and I even had a measure of control—I mean I didn't harm my teammate at least,”

“Thanks for that.” Tell said dryly.

Kayle punched him in the arm so hard he tumbled over one of the cots and a Namekian healer rushed over crying, “Not in the infirmary!”

But Kayle shook her head and said, “The point is my battle rage is part of what makes me who I am, I never abandoned it I just tried to grow from it. Me and my brother both, we own what we are and it makes us powerful. Own who you are even if it's not proper! What's more useful these days, another middling fighter or a healer?”

Korrard stood up and said, “But I'm still a Saiyan, don't I deserve a Saiyan's pride too? What makes you different still falls in line with what we are as a people, sure you're a dangerous warrior but you're still a warrior. Your problem is different than mine, yours is that you hurt too well, mine is that I don't want to hurt at all!”

Rhyce interjected and said, “Well hold on a second. You said you don't _want_ to hurt. So . . . do you _want_ to heal?”

Korrard looked ashamed and said, “I . . . I don't know! I don't think about it! I just know I'm useless as a fighter, and I'm sorry!”

Tell stood up and dusted himself off saying, “You know Kor, you can't just hide behind the Saiyan way when it suits you. If you were worried about being a true Saiyan Warrior you wouldn't apologize, but here you are doing just that.”

“Well she deserves it,” Korrard said, “she believed in me and I let her down.”

Rhyce frowned and said, “I never believed in you as a fighter, Korrard. I just believed you could be more if you tried . . . the truth is you _do_ have more of a healer's heart and even if you think it's not very Saiyan of you . . . well, why is that such a bad thing? I mean if Turles is your idea of a true Saiyan then who needs them? I like you better the way you are.”

Kayle shook her head and said, “We're the last remnants of a dead race, so who's to say we don't make our _own_ way, Korrard? Why should Turles decide what we do or who we are?”

“What do you mean?” Kor asked.

“I mean I'm tired of there _being_ a Saiyan way!” Kayle said angrily, “Here we stand, the glorious defeated, the _losers_ , the ones who couldn't measure up to the Earthlings whom Turles keeps _telling_ us are soft. He keeps _saying_ that Prince Trunks is too soft but whose students have defeated you and me, Tell? And whose student helped Korrard become as strong as he _did_ become? It sure wasn't Turles.”

Rhyce frowned and said, “You know . . . maybe we all just need to take a moment. I mean I'm someone whose emotions run pretty hot myself, so I can identify with you all in this heated moment . . . but I'd just like to impart a bit of Earthling wisdom if you'll let me.”

“Go on.” Tell said, sounding relieved that she was cutting through the argument.

Rhyce said, “Losing isn't that big a deal. I'm disappointed but . . . I'll live. Even losing I was still chosen by Master Trunks to join the EDF . . . and I've lost a lot of the time since then. Losing isn't defeat unless you let it break you . . . but as long as you come back you can come back stronger, smarter, wiser . . . you can be more even if that means being something else.”

She looked at Kor and said, “If you _want_ to be a warrior Korrard then I'll help you even after this. We'll train as much as we need to, I'll help you as best I can to be what you _want_ to be . . . but if you really aren't devoted to fighting maybe that's _why_ it's so hard for you. I mean . . . maybe you _want_ to be a healer and maybe that's not such a bad thing. And if you want to be a healer then I'll back you on that too, no matter what anyone says.”

“So would I.” Tell told him, “So would Sharro or Routz or Lamson, you know they would.”

“Me too.” Kayle said simply. “And my brother if I explain it to him.”

“Beeta is Beeta, she doesn't care about anything, and who cares about Quash?” Tell added, “I mean in the end Kor there are so few of us left I think you'd have the votes so to speak. Anyway you never had a problem patching the rest of us up in the field . . . so just imagine how well you could do if you weren't having to hide it? I mean you saved us on the mission to fake Namek because you could heal and you didn't really get any credit for it!”

“He did?” Rhyce asked.

Tell nodded and said, “That's right. That blast from that exploding ship should have ended us all. Of course we didn't come to on our own after a few minutes, if it weren't for Kor being able to heal us up one by one we'd all have just been lying there in agony for about forever.”

Rhyce hadn't known all that. She'd known that Schip said it was thanks to Kor they'd recovered, but she'd just assumed that it was because Kor had roused them all after recovering sooner having been the furthest from and least affected by the blast.

But now it all made sense . . . they'd recovered because Kor had healed them. He'd healed them just enough that they'd recover consciousness on their own and he wouldn't run out of energy bringing them back. Some of the Saiyans and even Schip, who'd helped to train Kor understood what had happened but others, Rhyce included, had just assumed that they'd recovered on their own because of how much stronger they'd all become training in such heavy gravity.

Tell carried on saying, “Some of us might have even succumbed to our injuries but we bounced back better and stronger because of your healing ability Kor . . . and that's with you just doing what comes naturally. Imagine if the Medic here actually _trained_ you, you could probably do amazing things, you could probably even be a better healer than him!”

“Don't get carried away there, dumdum. I know you want to encourage your friend but there's no real way to surpass perfection.” The Great Kazoo said, shaking his head disdainfully at Tell before turning to Kor and saying, “But I can at least help you reach a similar level of perfection to my own great and glorious self whenever you're done moping about the job you want instead of the one you were _born_ for.”

Rhyce smiled encouragingly at him and said, “You should decide for yourself what your own way is. Don't let the Saiyan way dictate things for you . . . none of you should.”

Kor frowned and said, “I'll . . . think about it.”

“Don't strain yourself.” Kazoo said dryly. He nodded to Rhyce and said, “Very well, you should be fine. Go ahead and watch the match . . . and take these three useless savages with you, they're all good to go.”

Rhyce nodded and said, “Thanks uh . . . medic.”

“No need for thanks . . . just worship me as though I were a god!” Kazoo declared with a maniacal laugh before clearing his throat and saying, “Also hurry along, you wouldn't want to miss the fight.”

Rhyce nodded and wanted to rush off to see her brother's match.

Still she put a hand on Korrard's shoulder and said, “I don't blame you for our losing. It's okay to lose sometimes. It helps us grow, right? Earthling and Saiyan alike.”

Korrard nodded, “Yeah . . .”

“Come on then, let's go watch the next match. We'll see if it's my brother's turn to grow.” Rhyce told him with a wink.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ Turles' mind is running a mile a minute as he learns these revelations about the trees, and his people. Can he think of a scheme to make this work to his advantage? But will Trunks finally glimpse the future and see what this broken time-line will bring? Or will the Prince of all Saiyans resolutely refuse to subject himself to spoilers? Find out next time! _

 


	142. Earth is Doomed

**Episode Eight**

**'Earth is Doomed'**

 

“What I want to know is why Trunks wouldn't want me there to help.” Bulma said sharply.

“No doubt he feels this is a martial situation,” Master Roshi told her. The old man adjusted his sunglasses and explained, “After all you're one of the last people he'd want in harm's way.”

The turtle hermit didn't mention that that was also probably the reason Trunks hadn't encouraged Mai to attend as the King's representative.

Though the King had taken it quite differently, proudly deciding that Trunks was warming up to his own role as a royal representative of Earth in these proceedings.

“We should carry on as if nothing's wrong,” The King told Bulma, and Roshi agreed.

With all the excitement at first Master Roshi was relieved to be able to simply begin the next match. “Gurein and Kodva of the Earth's Defense Forces versus Tathy and Prage of the Royal Guard Elite Team!”

“It's going to be an interesting fight at least,” General Herb commented, “Some of these EDF against the Royal Guard.”

“The Royal Guard Elites under Captain Soda,” Bulma pointed out, “Don't forget that they got their start in the EDF.”

“Well we can see if the students surpass the masters then, won't we?” General Herb said with a smug smile on his face.

“Remember we're both devoted to the protection of Earth,” the King said calmly, “there's no need to be competitive about which force can do it better. The only competition that's appropriate here is the competition between the competitors, let their talents shine through and speak for themselves.”

“Yes, your majesty.” General Herb said a little stiffly.

“Of course, Sire.” Bulma nodded, “Anyway it seems like a pretty good bet the EDF forces will win, Gurein has the Kaioken after all.”

“Ah yes, that skill he learned in the afterlife. Explain to me again why you chose to revive certain people but not others?” General Herb scoffed.

“When did I ever say that it was?” Bulma demanded, “We revived _everyone_ who died at the battle of the Bunker, good and bad alike.”

“Yes, but why not revive everyone who lost their lives during the Androids' reign?”

“That wasn't possible at the time.” Bulma said, shaking her head, “Do you genuinely believe we wouldn't have done it if it were?”

“ _Do_ you, General?” The King asked.

Roshi noted that there wasn't really any rebuke in the old dog's voice, more a genuine curiosity. Roshi could surmise that the General's presence was probably more to do with political propriety than anything else since the military ministers would want a top brass to watch the tournament.

Still the old Master was glad that the King seemed to be genuinely interested in the man's opinion anyway. It was the sign of a good King to be able to entertain the opinions of all of his vassals and weight them properly.

 

General Herb shook his head slowly and said, “No . . . I suppose I don't. My apologies, that was uncalled for.”

“Very well then. No harm done I hope?” The King said, to which Bulma nodded and the old dog nodded back and said, “Then let's focus on the fight in the arena, no more fighting in the stands if you please.”

Master Roshi smiled and did just that, turning his attention to the battle taking place.

Prage seemed concerned as he battled with Kodva, though Tathy seemed positively bored battling Gurein.

_She's waiting for him to use the Kaioken, but he's hoping he won't need it,_ Master Roshi thought.

The old Master watched the fight but he had to admit it was hard to focus on it wondering what was going to happen with Trunks and these Kais.

His relief was diminishing, and soon he couldn't help but wonder if he should really be presiding over the tournament, after all a man of his age and experience might be more useful in the negotiations—assuming that really was what was taking place.

_Then again someone needs to watch these young'uns and make sure they're coming up right, now more than ever it should be clear we'll never know when we'll need them._ Master Roshi told himself.

But it was still difficult. He could tell just from a glance that Mai was feeling the same way, maybe she wondered why Trunks hadn't asked her to be part of the negotiations after she carried his messages to the rest of them.

Roshi felt like he knew; she was under the King's command, not Trunks' and besides as he'd thought earlier if Trunks had a soft spot for her he probably wouldn't want her anywhere near harm's way.

But would the young lady understand and accept that?

_Well that remains to be seen. But she doesn't look like she's having any easier a time focusing on the arena than I am,_ Roshi thought to himself.

He could see it was the same for the fighters themselves as well, and that wasn't a good sign. If they couldn't focus on their battle instead of wondering what was coming next from Trunks and the Kais they were all bound to make mistakes.

Like the one Prage made. It wasn't immediately obvious, Roshi could only tell really because he could see where the purple alien's eyes were darting. The Turtle Hermit shook his head ruefully as the purple alien took a split second to glance to his left in Tathy's direction at just the wrong time.

Kodva was launching a no doubt devastating punch on his right side with the golden glow of energy building in his fist. The former monk probably couldn't have anticipated Prage's distraction but his own strike landed at the perfect time to take advantage of it.

Prage took the hit to his now very surprised face, and then the energy blasted him in the head throwing him in the air to the roar of surprise and excitement from the gathered crowd.

Kodva leapt into the air, probably hoping to eliminate his opponent only for Tathy's arm to stretch far and grab Prage before Kodva could strike, and yank him back towards her with speed and force that, had she succeeded in slamming him in to Gurein might have broken more than a few bones for both of them.

But Gurein's attention was on her telescoping arm and he saw the incoming alien with enough time to leap to the side so that Prage was saved from Kodva's strike, but still went down hard to the arena floor.

Though he didn't fall out of the ring, so at least there was that.

But he was definitely visibly dazed.

“Not bad,” Kodva was saying, but then Tathy flung Prage at him with what could have been all her might, the stunned purple alien flew towards the stunned earthling, and the two collided in the air going hurtling towards the ground outside of the arena.

“Well . . . that's unexpected.” Bulma said with an owlish blink.

“Did she just use her teammate to eliminate an opponent?” General Herb stared in shock.

“And eliminated her teammate in the process, General.” Mai confirmed, though she seemed less bewildered by the move. Instead she glanced off towards the exit that led to the dining area and Roshi guessed that that must have been the one that Trunks was on the other side of.

“Her partner was stunned,” Roshi explained, “he likely wasn't going to recover in time to help her and she didn't want to be double teamed.”

“Still . . . it's not something a member of the King's Royal Guard should do. We never sacrifice our comrades needlessly.”

“Well I suppose if you don't like it you can always demote her.” Master Roshi suggested.

The General looked a little pale and shook his head, “No . . . I'll leave discipline for Soda's unit to the Captain herself, no need to micromanage.”

“I couldn't agree more, General.” The King nodded.

“The fight isn't over yet.” Master Roshi said, “She might turn your opinion around.”

“Let's hope so, we wouldn't want the Royal Guard shown up in its first match of the tournament.” General Herb nodded.

Roshi nodded back, then smiled and said, “But you know it could end at any moment and I'm feeling pretty parched. Mai, do you think you could fetch me a glass of water before I have to announce the next match up?”

Mai seemed surprised by the request, then his reasoning seemed to dawn on her and she seemed almost relieved.

Still she looked to the King for permission, which he granted with a nod.

“Go ahead, I'm probably the safest I'll ever be in this place.” The King told her.

“Yes sire, thank you sire.” Mai bowed to the King, and then to Roshi, then to the room in general before rushing off.

The General shook his head and said, “Maybe I should have a word with Captain Videl too, for her XO to go _thanking_ your majesty for being sent on an outsider's errand? It's quite unseemly.”

“Perhaps.” The King nodded, “But I think my Royal Guard should always be eager and pleased to serve the public as well as myself. Don't you, General?”

“I suppose so. The Lieutenant is simply . . . exceptionally eager.” The General nodded.

But Roshi's true motivations weren't lost on Bulma, who smiled slightly and whispered, “Good job.”

Roshi smiled and turned his attention back to the fight. He told himself that there was no way Trunks was in any trouble, but maybe it'd set Mai's mind at ease to see so for herself.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

These colorful people were saying many strange things, and Turles was trying to understand. He understood the fact that he'd been taken from a different time, obviously. He'd had time to get used to that idea. But the idea that he was supposed to have stayed in that time and had a different fate? And the idea that his being where he was at all defied fate?

Well how powerful could fate be if it was so easily defied? What did any of it matter if such a simple act as going with Prince Trunks had frustrated it?

What good were these god-like-beings if they couldn't control and shape fate to their whim instead of coming and pathetically _asking_ that Trunks just go along with what they wanted?

And it seemed he wasn't the only one confused.

“Saiyans?” Prince Trunks asked.

“It makes sense . . .” Brassica whispered, looking at Turles, “Do you remember on Goulder?”

“Goulder? What about it?” Turles asked. He was actually still trying to figure out how he would have gotten off the world. What would he have done to escape alive?

Especially since whatever it was it _had_ happened in this time-line, but the Iwatians themselves didn't seem to have any record of it, at least according to Konpeito.

“The tree,” Brassica said, “when I was transformed into an Oozaru and I was starting to get control . . . I remember the Oozaru . . . it . . . sort of recognized the tree.”

Turles shrugged helplessly, “I . . . I wasn't anywhere near that kind of control. I still don't remember anything about my time as an Oozaru.”

“I remember.” Brassica said firmly. “At the time I just thought it was because the tree was so massive . . . but the Oozaru recognized it, I'm sure of it now.”

“How?” Trunks asked.

“The Oozaru is an awakening of our more primitive side,” Brassica shrugged, “Maybe on some level . . . some primitive part of our brains recognized the tree and its fruit?”

“And craved it . . .” Turles said. “But these trees . . . our people—or the Saiyans from Sadala thought they would . . . make worlds into new versions of Planet Sadala?”

“No, not entirely.” The Supreme Kai of Time said, “they thought that any world where the tree could thrive they could too, and the tree would make sure there was breathable air and stuff. It wouldn't remake a planet. And unfortunately in the end it _unmade_ a lot of planets.”

Trunks folded his arms and said, “I just don't understand this. Are you telling me that because my people had problems in the past I'm not allowed to let them have a future?”

“I'm saying they had their shot and they blew it _twice_!” The Supreme Kai of Time told him. “History repeats itself every time and the Saiyans have proven time and time again that they don't even need a large number of miscreants to cause trouble. Just a few strong Saiyans can destroy peaceful worlds whether the rest of them agree or not.”

Turles knew he wasn't supposed to but he felt proud of that. Saiyans were a powerful race, and it only took a few of them to change the course of history.

In Prince Trunks' case it only took one.

No wonder these god-beings were asking Trunks politely to go with them . . . Turles realized in that moment that if these things were gods then that meant that Saiyans could well be more powerful than the gods. After all with a simple act, an unintentional one at that, Trunks had defied their carefully laid plans.

And Turles had too.

He smirked to himself and thought of how the others had wanted to avoid frustrating the time line for the sake of science. He'd broken those rules bringing Okran back but now that he knew that these incompetent god things were running the show Turles had no further reservations on the matter.

_I can go back in time and grab whoever I want. What are these three going to do, scold me?_

More than that Turles had ideas for these trees. His mind went back to the pouch of seeds he'd found on Goulder, the pouch he'd brought back with him . . . suddenly the Arcosian tree didn't seem like such a threat. After all, the Arcosians could only eat one piece each year, but the _Saiyans . . ._ they could eat as much as they wanted, after all it was made for them.

“It's true that just a few strong Saiyans can destroy peaceful worlds, a few strong Saiyans can be a real hassle.” Prince Trunks said, “But just a few _good_ strong Saiyans can destroy the miscreants. That's how society functions. You can't just refuse to let us move forward because of the path that brought us this far.”

“If it were the fate of the Saiyan people to get another chance I'd give it,” The Supreme Kai of Time said calmly, “but I'm telling you that this last chance will be the worst. The universe will _end_ because of this. You will destroy everything.”

“Me?” Trunks asked, “Or my people?”

“Both.” The Supreme Kai of Time answered. “You _are_ your people. Trunks, I've resided over more extinctions than you can ever know, more than you can comfortably imagine I'll bet. I know that asking you to let the Saiyan race go extinct again isn't an easy ask, but I'm making it all the same because I know you're a hero. A true hero who understands that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

Prince Trunks lowered his gaze and seemed caught in thought, but Turles refused to let his soft heart strike now.

He said, “You can't seriously consider this! Everything we've done, everything _you've_ done has been to defy destiny. Don't let her break out the word 'hero' and suddenly change your mind!”

Trunks seemed to snap out of a daze and nodded to Turles, “You're right, I won't.”

Turles was surprised that it had been so easy. _I guess good old fashioned Saiyan sense wins out sometimes._ Turles thought.

The Supreme Kai of Time shook her head and said, “Listen, Turles here isn't exactly the first person you should be trusting, Trunks. I know you already know that.”

_Does he?_ Turles wondered.

Trunks said, “I trust Turles to be Turles, Miss Supreme Kai of Time. If that means he and I will come into conflict down the road I'll deal with that. But I know he has the potential to be a great Saiyan warrior, and a great defender of Earth.”

Turles smiled smugly, and nodded. Prince Trunks wasn't as stupid or trusting as Turles had thought, he at least understood that Turles presented a threat.

“But you say you trust Turles to be Turles. What about Turles makes you think that any of what you said is what he wants?” The Supreme Kai asked.

Trunks actually looked as if he might not have an answer for that.

But Turles did.

“Don't talk about me like I'm not standing right here,” He said, folding his arms and glowering at the three colorful Kais, “You want to know the truth?”

“I know the truth.” The Supreme Kai of Time sighed.

“The truth is I'm a Saiyan first and a defender of Earth second, and that's always going to be the case.” Turles said firmly. “I will try to restore my people, but Earth is the planet we live on now. Now maybe you think because we couldn't coexist with the Tuffles we'll just eradicate the Earthlings but this very tournament should be proof to you that we wouldn't.”

“How so?” The one called Kibito asked.

Turles scoffed and gestured towards the arena. He asked, “Can't you feel it? The strength coming from that place? Maybe because Prince Trunks is so strong he mutes it for you, but walk into that stadium and watch the fighters. Feel the power coming form Earthling and Saiyan alike, the Earthlings are strong! They're not as strong as Saiyans, but then again nobody is. But they have a Saiyan's drive, they're worthy opponents and they'll be strong allies. So we'll share their world and they'll treat us as equals the way the Tuffles never did because we _are_ equal.

“The Earthlings aren't smaller or weaker than us like the Tuffles were, they're not all smarter and we're not all stronger. That's balance, and someday for all I know a strong Saiyan _will_ try to destroy the Earthlings. Or maybe an Earthling will decide they need to destroy all the Saiyans. All we can do is teach our fellow Saiyans and the Earthlings to work together and that's just what Prince Trunks has been doing . . .” Turles though very carefully before saying, “And even when I've encouraged my fellow Saiyans not to forget who and what they are, I've never encouraged them to think less of the Earthlings who fight alongside us.”

“And what about the Earthlings that don't?” The Supreme Kai asked.

Turles hesitated, “Well . . . if I said anything about them I'd take it back now,” he decided. Though it wasn't really true . . . he just didn't _care_ about those Earthlings. They weren't important.

“There.” Trunks said, “You see? Just you coming here has changed things.”

“Turles was actually never that xenophobic of a Saiyan actually, didn't you hear me say he was leading a team of space pirates?” The Supreme Kai of Time sighed wearily. She carried on telling them, “It amazes me that you mortals can think you know better than us. I mean honestly, Time is my business, it's in the title for crying out loud, and here we are telling you we know the future and here you are insisting we don't.”

“Because you don't.” Brassica said simply. “I'll grant you might have an _idea_ , and we're frustrating the idea you liked better. But we're not forcing things down a darker path, just a more uncertain one. Isn't that right?”

“What? No! Of course it isn't!” The Supreme Kai of Time insisted.

“Yes it is.” Brassica said firmly. “You coming here at all proves it. Because you didn't know the answer Prince Trunks or Turles or I would give you. You didn't know that we'd say 'no' a hundred times out of a hundred, even if you showed us that everything we did resulted in the end of the universe we'd still try harder. Warier maybe, but all the same we'd continue because that's our existence.”

Turles nodded in agreement, “Even if you think the destination is the same we can choose how we travel down the road. And maybe we'll spot a turn you didn't expect.”

Trunks added further, “More than that . . . you coming here and telling us all of this will change things immensely. Because now we'll be working even harder to make sure things go well . . . and over time you'll see that this is all worth it.”

“For you. For Earth. Not for the time line.” The Supreme Kai of Time said.

“We won't stop existing just because you expect it from us.” Trunks said firmly.

The Supreme Kai of Time glowered at him, then finally sighed.

“All right . . . I guess . . . I guess I can't really force you to behave. Fine then, let's just . . . hope for the best.”

Trunks seemed relieved and said, “Thank you. You'll find that as mortals that's all we can ever do, you'll get used to it.”

The Supreme Kai of Time shook her head and said, “I guess so. But I guess if I'm going to risk the time line being frustrated at least I can rest easy in the knowledge that the ones doing it are good people . . . what do you say?”

She held her hand out for Trunks to shake.

Trunks was already reaching out to take her hand when Turles noticed the stern look the Supreme Kai shot the Supreme Kai of Time, but he didn't put two-and-two together until it was too late.

In his defense he'd never have expected that just the act of taking the Supreme Kai of Time's hand would cause Prince Trunks to wink out of existence.

Brassica went Super Saiyan and sprang forward, grabbing the diminutive Kai by the front of her outfit and lifting her off the ground, “What did you do?” She demanded.

The one called Kibito intervened, putting a hand on Brassica's shoulder and squeezing tight, Turles was amazed to see Brassica's golden aura dissipate as she fell to her knees crying out in agony from the strength of Kibito's grasp.

Turles had never imagined he'd see a Super Saiyan so thoroughly or quickly . . . _shamed_.

“Calm down now,” The Supreme Kai of Time said, “If you go hurting me I won't be able to bring Trunks back.”

“Then you _can_ bring him back?” Turles demanded.

“That's right. And I will. Once he's learned his lesson.” The Supreme Kai of Time said calmly.

“And how long will that take?” Brassica demanded, glaring at Kibito through the pain she no doubt felt.

“As long as it takes.” The Supreme Kai of Time said. “You'll just have to wait and see. I think you'll find as immortals that's all we can ever do. You'll get used to it, I'm sure.”

Turles folded his arms again and said, “If he comes back you really think he'll trust you after this?”

“If he doesn't trust me he won't come back.” The Supreme Kai of Time said, she looked at the Arcosians and said, “How long will Earth last without him?”

“Not . . . very long.” The one called the Ambassador said evenly.

“And so you have it. Either Trunks agrees to behave . . . or Earth is doomed without him.”

“And your idea of 'behaving' is him agreeing to let you unmake our time line, dooming our existence.” Turles said with a glare.

“I can see why it seems like a lose-lose for you, sure.” The Supreme Kai of Time shrugged.

She might look innocent and childlike, but Turles couldn't let himself be fooled. This was a clever creature and convincing Prince Trunks not to go along with her designs might not be as easy when he returned as it had been just a moment ago.

The Supreme Kai stepped forward and put a hand on Brassica's shoulder, and Turles could see the pain she'd been put through by Kibito faded from her face. _A healer?_ Turles thought, logging the information away for later.

“Lets all try to calm down,” the Supreme Kai said, “I promise you Trunks won't be harmed on Chronoa's little excursion and when he returns he'll be free to make his own decision, even if it's not the one we're hoping for.”

“Pfft. Yeah . . . but I mean _obviously_ he's going to make the right one.” The Supreme Kai of Time scoffed.

“Well just see about that,” Turles said, “We Saiyans make _plenty_ of horrible decisions. In my opinion Prince Trunks is a champion at making bad calls.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ What will Trunks see in the future, can he figure out some clue to help him prevent it? How will Mai react when she sees he's gone, and what has the Supreme Kai suddenly shaken? _

 


	143. Get Mad

**Episode Nine**

**'Get Mad'**

 

Trunks didn't know what happened but he knew he'd been tricked almost immediately.

In a flash he was somewhere else and the banquet hall was gone leaving him no longer in the cafeteria of the stadium instead standing in the middle of a ruined city.

He scoffed and whispered to himself, “If you think some ruined buildings are going to scare me you obviously didn't see my childhood.”

Not that he ever enjoyed the telltale signs of wanton destruction that he'd grown up seeing. All the same it didn't take much for the Saiyan to figure out that this was the Supreme Kai of Time's doing. _I can be anywhere in time or space,_ Trunks thought, surveying his surroundings and contemplating shouting for help just to see what happened, though he decided against it, and told himself to investigate in silence for a while.

As one of the strongest beings in the known Universe he didn't feel as if anything in this place was too likely to pose a danger to him, but of course he knew better than to be careless. Chronoa must have sent him here in some attempt to convince him to do what she wanted, but how would he get back?

Could he just get sent back by lying and shouting out that he'd agree?

_Best not to risk it. She might not take me back, she might just wink us all out of existence._

Trunks folded his arms and tried to focus. At first he was fairly certain he was on Earth, but he didn't know where. As the young Prince looked around however he began to realize that if he was on Earth it certainly didn't look like it. The buildings were wrong for one thing. Trunks had grown up in the ruins of West City he knew what Earth's ruins looked like. These buildings lacked the domes, spheres and squares of Earthling architecture, instead these buildings seemed to tend towards pyramid structures.

It seemed strange to Trunks but it was also evidence that he was on an alien world.

_Well what does this teach me about Earth's future?_ Trunks wondered, then it occurred to him that it was entirely possible that the reason this didn't resemble Earth was because Earth had been conquered.

He'd never really bothered to learn anything about Arcosian architecture, or even the architecture of the Calamareens. It left him unfortunately wondering just what might have happened with no way of finding out it seemed because he couldn't sense any other powers anywhere near him.

He didn't feel like he could even sense life. All the same he doubted Chronoa would just send him to an empty world for no reason whatsoever.

_But then what do I really know about her?_ He wondered. The truth was he didn't know much . . .

Trunks gave that some serious thought, and he tried not to let the fact that she had just teleported him someplace far away from where he wanted to be affect his opinion.

She was the Supreme Kai of Time, she had some plan for the universe, or at least she had some idea of what the optimal outcome would be . . . and Trunks had to admit he could understand her looking at Earth as a small or even insignificant piece of a much larger puzzle but the problem was it wasn't insignificant to him.

_But it might not be to her either, after all she did come to Earth to try to convince me to let her have things her way . . . and with her two friends being as strong as they were it's not like they needed my permission . . ._

Trunks considered that for a moment. _Didn't they say they ate the fruit of the Tree of Might? So . . . maybe they_ did _need my permission before they ate it? No, they ate the fruit from Sadala . . . that was supposed to be different they said . . . did she send me to Sadala?_ Trunks wondered, but he dismissed it.

Sadala was destroyed they'd said. They didn't say it was abandoned . . .

Trunks looked around, he had to try to figure out what was going on on this world . . . why had he been sent here?

He stopped actively trying to search for energy—though he kept his senses about him—and inspected the ruins.

He felt like the damage was definitely made by ki blasts, it looked a lot like what would be left of the Earth cities after the Androids attacked even if the buildings didn't.

_So . . . this was done by ki blasts, at least that's what I think,_ Trunks thought, _but . . . well what does that tell me? Lots of people have that ability . . . could this be a world taken by the PTO?_

He didn't know, but it _felt_ similar to Earth. The gravity was the same, the sun shining in the sky was of the usual size and color the air was breathable . . . but he couldn't sense life . . .

He decided to fly up out of the ruins. He looked around as he rose but for miles it was just more of the same.

Ruined buildings and no signs of life.

_Or death,_ Trunks realized.

There were no corpses or skeletons, no gore stains or bleached bones . . . what had happened here? Was this just . . . some intentionally demolished region of some city or other?

He rose higher still above the wreckage of the city though it stretched for miles in every direction. He felt like he could see the edge of the city line on the horizon . . . but he stopped himself for flying towards it.

_I might be in the city for a reason,_ he thought.

He surveyed the city ruins and briefly wondered if Chronoa had sent him to Planet Vegeta to see the handiwork of the Saiyans but he dismissed that as well because the gravity felt more like Earth's.

He was caught up in thought when the blast came, and still sensing for life he might not have noticed it if not for the flash in the corner of his eye.

Trunks dodged out of the way of the blast just in time to see the lance of golden energy fly off into the sky past him. He followed the line of fire and spotted what seemed like a human standing atop a pile of wreckage.

Not sure of what he was dealing with the young warrior went Super Saiyan and flew down to meet his new attacker at top speed.

The man below, because Trunks was fairly sure that that was what he was, or at least a humanoid, was ghostly pale, almost silver in complexion with long black hair tied in a braid he wore over his shoulder. He had the other shoulder covered in an armored pauldron held in place by a leather strap or bandoleer, but otherwise his torso was completely bare. He wore gloves and boots but around his waist other than his belt he wore what seemed like some sort of a green dress or perhaps the lower half of a robe.

He was enormous, much taller than Trunks though that alone wouldn't have disqualified him from being an Earthling, Trunks knew of several very large Earthlings. Even so this man's silver skin, and lack of life-energy despite being in the throws of combat and firing energy blasts left Trunks with an uncomfortable feeling. The cold grip of paranoia began to claw at the back of Trunks' mind as he wondered if this man were an Android..

The pale man didn't hesitate to blast at Trunks again, and Trunks dodged far more easily now that he was powered up. His stoic enemy didn't seem all that bothered and just carried on blasting without even a hint of fear.

Could there be _more_ Androids?

_But why would the Supreme Kai of Time send me to fight more Androids?_ Trunks wondered. _Surely she'd know that showing me a future with Androids would only convince me that what I'm doing is right. If there are_ more _Androids then this is all the more reason I should be keeping the future world I've made with Earth's Defense Force to keep it safe!_

But Trunks told himself he needed to calm down, he didn't know anything about this man it was insane to just assume he was an Android without cause.

This was probably an alien world, perhaps this man's species, despite looking like Earthlings, was just a tall silver skinned race that didn't emit life energy, or at least not in any way that Trunks could sense.

The Super Saiyan needed to get control of the situation. He called out to him as he flew down, “Stop firing at me, I just want to talk! I'm not your enemy!”

_Yet,_ Trunks thought darkly as the muscular being fired another blast anyway.

He was standing on the remains of what was once a large triangular pyramid, though now one of its sides had completely caved in so that it looked almost like a folded piece of paper sitting on top of a pile of junk. It offered a good vantage point of the ruins for miles around, he probably would have spotted Trunks even if he _hadn't_ started flying straight up.

_Is he some kind of guard?_ Trunks wondered. _Well whatever he is I can't let him keep attacking me, I have to try to subdue him and get some answers!_

With that Trunks hit the roof hard right in front of the being, and the building began to collapse entirely. Before it could Trunks grabbed both the silver giant's hands at the wrists. He then jumped up about a dozen feet into the air from the rooftop and spun around a few times before releasing his opponent to go hurtling at high speed for the ruined ground smashing through the remainder of the collapsing pyramid as he went.

Mentally chiding himself, Trunks thought, _I shouldn't have done that, I don't know how strong he is, I don't know what kind of damage he can take!_

It was just so hard to control himself in the moment, being a Super Saiyan just seemed to naturally make him wilder and what he'd meant as a minor attack could well have just cost the first thing he'd encountered in this strange world its life.

But the youth needn't have worried because his opponent rose from the ground and dusted himself off casually.

“Are you ready to talk now?” Trunks asked, “I don't want to fight you! I just want to know where I am and--”

Trunks was cut off when his opponent fired another blast, but this one went straight up into the air with no clear indication that the giant man had any intention of hitting Trunks with it.

It burst in the air like a bright yellow flare.

It wasn't bright enough to blind Trunks but when he saw another such blast in the distance he recognized the giant was calling for assistance.

_Great, since I can't sense them who knows how many of his kind there are around here . . . and who knows what I can and can't do before I go too far?_ Trunks thought.

He tried reasoning again shouting, “I don't want to fight any of you! I just want to know who you are and where I am! But if you push me I'll do what I have to to survive!”

Of course it dawned on Trunks that maybe these beings couldn't even understand the words he was saying.

_But if that's the case there won't be any answers they can give me . . . maybe I should just back off and keep searching the planet for lifeforms,_ Trunks thought.

But disengaging without killing someone would only get harder once the big man's assistance arrived, it could be now or never.

Trunks was about to turn and fly away when the large muscular warrior launched himself into the sky after Trunks and began throwing punches that the Super Saiyan was able to dodge, though not with complete ease.

_Whoever he is he's good,_ Trunks thought, _I don't want to meet his friend. All right then big guy, have it your way!_

Trunks rushed in past the punches and launched a blow of his own straight into the man's insanely hard stomach, doubling him over. The Saiyan punched the man's powerful jaw and sent him crashing down to the ground again.

Both blows had felt as if they'd struck something more metallic than organic . . .

_Calm down! I'm not going to take this as proof he's an Android,_ Trunks thought, worried that his imagination was just getting the better of him. _Who would even have built him? Mother said there weren't any Androids besides Sixteen and she only activated Sixteen because of what I told her about the past and the Cell Games. If there_ were _other Androids she would have had Soda destroy them or . . ._

Or she would have left them where they were until she could master reprogramming them?

_No . . ._ Trunks thought.

Had his mother . . . found more than just Sixteen?

Had some future catastrophe seen them _activate_ more than just Sixteen?

Trunks couldn't believe it, he had to be wrong and he told himself that he was looking at what was probably an alien world through an Earthling's grasp of history.

_You know nothing about this place,_ he told himself.

That was when the second Android arrived, and when Trunks saw him he felt confident in referring to them as Androids.

Mostly because this one, tiny in comparison to his companion and small by any measure really, had strange purple skin and wore a truly ridiculous outfit that Trunks could have mistaken for alien.

But he could never mistake the Red Ribbon emblem on the man's obnoxiously large bow tie.

All restraint left the Super Saiyan then and he launched a flurry of violent attacks on the smaller Android even as it tried to strike at him. He easily used his superior reach to grab the Android by its wrist and pull it in close so he could knee it in the stomach, but rather than releasing it and letting it fall to the ground he punched it hard in the face with his other hand then spun it around and hurled it towards its companion who was himself flying back up to the fray.

Trunks was already charging a blast when the two of them collided, he said, “I don't know or care how you got here, I won't suffer any of your filthy kind running around destroying innocent people!”

The way they'd just attacked him how many people too weak to defend themselves had these two killed, he wondered.

Had they exterminated this entire world?

Was that what the Supreme Kai of Time had wanted him to see? That the EDF would be consumed not by Turles' rebellion but by more Androids?

Had his people not been enough to stop these two? Or were there more?

Unable to sense them he got his answer just after he fired the blast he'd been charging for the two Androids he'd been fighting. A strong blow interrupted his beam before he could obliterate his two opponents and sent him tumbling out of the sky.

He recovered before he could hit the ground and saw yet another Android floating in the air smirking at him. _Three? There are_ three _of them?_ Trunks thought angrily.

“Well well, what have we got here?” The newest Android asked with a sinister grin. He had long white hair and a muscular physique but like the others Trunks didn't sense any life from him. He was wearing dark pants held up by suspenders and a green vest. His cap—because as odd as it seemed to Trunks, he actually wore a cap—proudly displayed the emblem of the Red Ribbon Army.

How had Gero had so many of these monstrosities, Trunks wondered.

_Well the ones I knew were Androids 17 and 18, so it stands to reason there could be at least fifteen others,_ he thought bitterly.

He wished he'd worn his sword, but it seemed he'd be using his bare hands to dismantle these metal monstrosities.

_All right then. No reason to be afraid of getting them a little dirty then._ He glared up at the Android who'd spoken and said, “I'm giving you one chance to tell me where I am and what you three are doing here.”

“And if we don't tell you?” The speaker asked with a rude smile.

“I'll get mad.” Trunks warned.

“Get mad then.” The Android taunted.

_Well, never let it be said I'm not a Saiyan-man of my word,_ Trunks thought, and he shot for the Android like a bullet from a gun clashing with him midair matching blow for blow at speeds Trunks hadn't had to fight at since . . . well, since Kibito to be honest.

But he could tell this Android wasn't as strong as Kibito, none of the three were, at least not from what he'd felt of their attacks so far.

_That's fine,_ Trunks thought _I don't need three fighters that strong teaming up on me. But I don't think the Supreme Kai of Time sent me here to be destroyed . . . but I think these three are overdue for it whether she sent me a thousand days or a thousand years into the future!_

No longer concerned with getting answers from these three, Trunks launched himself into battle with the full force and fury of a Super Saiyan.

 

**Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z**

 

The Supreme Kai, or Shin to those who knew him well, had to confess that he hadn't been expecting Chronoa's little trick, but he also wasn't about to reprimand her—insomuch as he was able—in front of the mortals.

It was important that the three of them present as unified a front as possible in dealing with this bunch, especially the Saiyans.

He'd never seen Kibito so taxed in battle before as he was when he fought with Trunks, and though Shin was not exactly the martial type he'd nearly felt as if he might have to step in. His old attendant and friend had held his own well enough but where Kibito had been fighting at his maximum Trunks it seemed had only been building up momentum as the fight wore on.

Truly the Saiyans were a terrifying people, though Shin was still pleased that the three of them had come themselves instead of risking waking Beerus. The God of Destruction might not have handled the situation as . . . delicately as Shin would have liked.

Of course it was a hard thing to ask any people to let their world die, to let their people die, but if they knew the dangers that were presented by letting Earth return to its previous state of life and more importantly life energy . . . well they might just be willing to acquiesce.

After all it was them or the universe, wasn't it? A thousand Saiyans couldn't stand against the monstrosity that was lurking sealed away on planet Earth . . .

The group was headed for the doors to watch the tournament when the Earthling female in the military greatcoat from before arrived then, looking around in confusion immediately and asking, “Where . . . where is Trunks?”

“Prince Trunks has been . . .” The Saiyan called Brassica hesitated, seeming to be looking for the right words to explain the situation.

“I sent him away,” Chronoa said simply.

“Sent him where?” The Earthling woman asked.

“To the far flung future where he'll stay until he's had a chance to rethink his position.” Chronoa said with a smile.

With surprising speed the Earthling woman had a shotgun in her hands and pointed towards Chronoa's head. Shin was surprised . . . though if he were being honest he couldn't exactly _blame_ the Earthling all circumstances considered.

“Bring him back.” The woman said flatly.

“When he's ready.”

“We're not negotiating, bring him back.” The woman said firmly.

“Uh Lieutenant Mai, I don't know that you want to uh . . . agitate these fellows.” The Arcosian ambassador Verglas spoke up.

“Oh I don't know . . . I wouldn't mind seeing what happens.” The PTO renegade Pitaya said gruffly, and his skeletal-looking Captain shot him a disapproving look.

Still none of the Arcosians made any attempt to physically intervene in the situation, instead all of them stood by and watched.

The Saiyans were a different story though. Brassica and even Turles dutifully placed themselves between Mai and Kibito, whom they kept a clear watch on.

It made Shin smile. Even though they knew they stood no chance against him. After all Trunks had fought him to a draw and they'd seen it, and Brassica had been defeated in a single squeeze to boot. Even so they were still willing to put themselves in harm's way for this Lieutenant Mai.

So Shin gave Kibito a very subtle shake of his head to indicate that he should not make any threatening moves.

Chronoa was going to be fine.

The Supreme Kai of Time scoffed and said, “Listen Missy, the truth is I can't just snap my fingers and bring him back. He'll come back when it's _time_ for him to come back.”

“And when is that?” Mai demanded.

“I'unno. Give it a minute.” Chronoa shrugged.

Knowing that her answer was not the sort anyone would ever want to hear, much less someone holding a firearm, Shin decided to step in before the situation got any more volatile and said, “You have my promise, Miss Mai, that Trunks won't come to any harm wherever he is. If that were a danger Kibito and I would never have agreed to Chronoa's proposal.”

“And just what was her proposal?”

Shin smiled and said, “I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you this . . . none of you are going to stop existing outright. Your existence will simply _change._ But unfortunately there are dangers to letting the Earth restore itself in this way. The Supreme Kai of Time asked me to assist her in convincing you to . . . allow her to correct the errors in this time line.”

“What errors?” Mai asked.

“I told this story. Someone want to catch her up?” Chronoa asked.

“You didn't tell us much,” Brassica said, “if you're going to ask us to give up everything you could at least help us to understand why instead of just telling us that time is your domain over and over again.”

Chronoa blinked in irritation then looked to Shin much like a child looking to her big brother to stand up for her.

Which was ironic because she was so much older than he was.

Shin smiled mischievously and said, “If you like . . . well to put it plainly, the Androids inadvertently saved the universe by devastating the population of Earth. After the Saiyans had failed and the PTO forgot about the world the danger the planet poses was getting to be out of control. Unfortunately your ingenuity won out and you not only destroyed the Androids you started to rebuild, which wouldn't have bothered us very much . . .

“But not only did you start to rebuild, you started to expand. The truth is that Earth is incredibly important in the grand scheme of things, but as you welcome more and more people to call it home and entertain more and more energies here you're running a terrible risk and it's one I personally am not willing to allow.”

“And what does that mean?” Turles asked him.

“It means that Earth could well become the center of the Universe . . . but if it does it's even more likely than it was before to be the _doom_ of the Universe.” Shin explained. “I'm afraid I just can't be clearer than that for now. But when Trunks returns perhaps I can go into greater detail.”

“You mean perhaps you'll have to because he still won't agree with me,” Chronoa scoffed, “but you're wrong. He will. I've seen it.”

Shin smiled a humoring smile. Though he knew she was all talk he wouldn't state that fact in front of the motley collection in front of them.

Still Mai did lower her firearm and say, “And he won't be hurt?”

“Not badly?” Chronoa offered. “He'll be fine! He's a big boy, he can take care of himself plus I'm watching over him.”

“You're right here! Or are you going to tell us you're omnipotent?” The young Arcosian Karuto demanded.

Chronoa scoffed and waved a dismissive hand, “Well not _me_. But me. You know, future me.”

“Future you?” Mai demanded.

“Yeah. You gotta think four-dimensionally.” Chronoa said. “Now can we watch the fights?”

Mai seemed about to argue but Shin smiled and patted her hand comfortingly, “I _am_ the Supreme Kai, I've promised you he'll be safe and I meant it. There's no need to fret.”

She still seemed uncertain but Glacien said, “If nothing else the tournament might help them to see that Earth won't be threatened by whatever it is they think is going to happen to it. After all, Trunks wanted to use these fights to intimidate us I'm sure they'll at least please these Kai.”

_Oh you poor thing,_ Shin thought, _to think powers such as these would reassure us. But at least it should be a worthwhile distraction._

With that the group did finally emerge from the banquet hall to take a place in the stands with Earthlings, Namekians and Calamareens. Shin relaxed a bit and turned his gaze to the arena to take in the two fighters . . .

And he tilted his head to the side examining one of them more closely. “What is . . . what is that?” He asked cautiously.

“Hmm? That's an arena. We were looking at it earlier, silly.” Chronoa laughed at her own joke.

“What is what?” The Earthling Mai asked, knowing that Shin was obviously referring to something else.

Shin pointed to the fighter in the arena . . . its skin was blue but its energy _felt_ the same . . . there was just so much less of it . . .

Kibito tensed and asked, “Master, is that a . . .”

“Oh!” Chronoa said, “Right, her! I forgot to mention that part . . .”

Shin gave her a stern look and asked, “Did you _really_?”

The Supreme Kai of Time just smiled mischievously in response.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ Trunks lays waste to the future that Chronoa has sent him to, but was that part of her plan all the while? As the Warrior of Time and the Supreme Kai of Time finally have a chance to discuss things plainly will either be able to convince the other? _

 


	144. I'll Be Blue

**Episode Ten**

**'I'll be Blue'**

 

High above the ruined streets of a perhaps long dead, but certainly long abandoned city four beings of neigh immeasurable power battled.

Like angry demigods their blows struck with the sound of thunder and they shot beams of energy at each other that crackled through the air with the force of a thousand lightning bolts. Their blasts left entire city blocks nothing but smoking craters, turning an already long devastated ruin into little more than a pockmarked landscape.

Through all this as the fighting continued the excitement only grew for the combatants, or at least for one combatant.

Trunks was trying not to revel in the battle, but it was difficult. When his giant silver opponent tried to grab him in a full nelson opening his stomach up to be assaulted by the smaller purple combatant Trunks let his Super Saiyan aura blaze so fiercely that his enemies were blown away by the sheer force of power he was exuding.

The third combatant came at him from behind as they fell away, blasting him several times in the back. The first shot hit home, singing the back of Trunks' jacket, maybe even burning through it—he couldn't look back to see—but the other blasts he deflected one after the other, trying but failing to direct them to hit his other two opponents as they corrected themselves in the air and flew back at him.

The smaller purple one reached him first as the third opponent started to fly backwards, keeping distance between himself and Trunks, which Trunks thought might be the smartest thing he'd done since they'd met.

Trunks dodged or deflected blasts and blows as the two combatants fought with what he would have thought impossible precision with the smaller foe never getting in the way of the medium man's blast while the blasts never prevented the smaller opponent from launching his attacks.

It wasn't until the silver giant came into things, again trying to attack Trunks from behind that he was able to surprise the big man by quickly using a burst of speed to dodge out of his path, willingly letting a blast from the medium fighter scorch his shoulder in the process, and managed to take the big man from behind and blast him in the back with a golden beam so powerful that even as the Android was thrown away from the force of the blast there was enough energy to scorch the little man in front of him as well,

The move caused both of them to fall towards the ground again, though as before they didn't fall far enough to impact the ground and started to fly back at Trunks. But Trunks instead had gone after the medium man, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye and lashing out with a side chop that, had he been wielding his sword, would have been a fatal stroke for the Android.

But the Android dodged by a hair, and then launched a counter that Trunks was barely able to dodge in time himself, and then the other two were on him again.

The battle was a tough one, and close too. Trunks hadn't fought such powerful opponents in a long time, there was no denying that these three were Androids.

_But all this means is that I have to tell mother not to activate any Androids after Sixteen, right? Then this nightmare future is averted. And anyway what does showing me this help? If I hadn't used the time machine to rescue my world from Seventeen and Eighteen what would have stopped them from activating these three?_

None of it made sense, but as he'd reasoned before, that was no reason to let these three continue to function and torment the innocent.

They didn't seem to have the ability to absorb his energy, which Trunks thought of as a good thing because he was putting out an awful lot of it. Blasting in a manner that they might take for indiscriminate Trunks fired beam after beam of energy into the ruins around them causing domes of golden light to obliterate the rubble, disintegrating it and gradually turning their battle ground into a vacant lot.

Or a field of craters not totally unlike the old pictures he'd seen of the lunar surface before the moon was destroyed by Piccolo.

There was a method to his madness though, he wasn't just getting rid of the city ruins as some wasteful show of force, or to lay to rest whatever poor spirits might have been left to rot in the place. He did it to remove the element of cover that the labyrinthine ruins presented for his opponents if they should recognize at any point how outmatched they were.

Because he couldn't sense their energy it left the Androids with fewer places to hide of jump out at him from in that event. With three opponents if one or two of them decided to run once he destroyed the first of them he didn't want to have a hard time catching up to them.

And he definitely didn't want any of them getting away.

He didn't even need to blame his own blood-lust for that, Trunks knew that even if he'd been born completely human he wouldn't want to let any of these Androids escape him to keep causing damage. Especially not given the history he had with Seventeen and Eighteen.

But the practical reasons for all of it aside the near cataclysmic magnitude of their battle was starting to get to Trunks. He was excited and he wanted more and more. Just like when he'd been fighting Kibito he felt his strength rising and rising to meet this challenge as if there were no bottom of the proverbial cup.

_But that has to be hubris,_ Trunks told himself, _you have your limits, you know that! If you keep up like this you're in danger of finding them out in the worst possible way!_

Perhaps it was the increased excitement of being a Super Saiyan, but Trunks found it difficult to focus on his more rational thoughts. Not just because it was a mistake to over-think during a fight, but because it was difficult to think about anything other than the fight.

It was as if deep down he was _happy_ to be fighting them.

Had he missed this feeling? Had he missed being challenged? Had the Saiyan in him missed being _unleashed_?

Was it because of his hatred of Androids, or had fighting even with Kibito awoken his Saiyan lust for battle?

What ever the cause Trunks found himself reveling in the battle to the point that when he defeated the first of the foes—the large silvery man—he was actually a little disappointed.

He'd broken the Android's arm off and thrown it away, grabbing the giant's braid as he tried to fly after it to retrieve it—an act that would have been pointless panic in an Earthling opponent but for all Trunks knew just sound tactical thinking for the Androids, perhaps he _could_ reattach it.

But he didn't get the chance as Trunks yanked him back by the braid and kicked hard at the base of his neck, severing his head and sending his large muscular mechanical body plummeting to the ground beneath them.

The disappointment that with one foe defeated the fighting would almost surely be nearing its end left him feeling annoyed, even cheated a little. How dare the biggest of them go down so quickly?

_I wasn't_ done _with him yet,_ Trunks thought angrily, but then the sheer insanity of the thought dawned on him, and luckily that was enough to shake him from his blood-lust.

At least enough to make him remember that he wasn't there to have fun, he wasn't even there to fight these Androids. He glared at the other two and asked, “Are you satisfied? Or do I need to destroy you too? Just answer my questions and we don't need to fight!”

“Stranger I don't know why ya even bother,” The long haired one in the vest told him, “if we wanted to talk we'd have done it. All we want to do is destroy you.”

“Well what's your designation, Android? How many of you do _I_ need to destroy? Tell me that at least.” Trunks said in a tone so menacing even he was surprised by it.

Though the taller of the two remaining Androids was floating in the air calmly talking to him his companion had not slowed his assault, launching a flurry of blows at Trunks which the Super Saiyan easily deflected as the other Android spoke to him.

“Alright. Name's Thirteen, the short fella tanning your hide is Fifteen and the guy you left in pieces on the ground was Fourteen.”

“Sorry to dismantle you out of order,” Trunks said dryly, then managed to grasp Fifteen by the face and hold him out so that his short arms and legs couldn't do Trunks any damage as he said, “Now how about you cooperate before I break your little buddy too?”

Thirteen just grinned sinisterly and said, “Do it. See what happens.”

“Are _you_ going to get mad?” Trunks asked with a derisive laugh.

“Oh I'll be blue as a huckleberry if you break my little buddy,” Thirteen told him, his grin not diminishing at all as he urged, “Go on . . . do it.”

Trunks scoffed and said, “Well then, if you insist . . .”

Trunks meant to squeeze until he'd smashed the Android's small face in, but as he felt the metal begin to crush under his might the little Android managed to kick him hard in the elbow, forcing Trunks to let go of his face.

But the Android's face still had the telltale mark of Trunks' hand showing that had the creature not escaped when it did the destruction would have been total.

A small part of Trunks was tempted to leave the thing alive—so to speak?

Let it carry on functioning with a squished face, see how many people it terrorized then.

_Actually it would probably horrify a lot of people. Before he was just short and silly looking because of that hat, but now without the hat he's even worse and with a smashed face he's like some creepy undead thing!_ Trunks thought, _Better to put him down like the mangy dog he is!_

He launched himself forward meaning to do exactly that, but Thirteen intercepted him and the two of them began exchanging blows at a speed Trunks wasn't used to moving at.

He was capable of it, but it wasn't normal for him and Trunks all but had to scream at himself, _Don't enjoy this,_ as the fight started to pick up in steam again.

But he couldn't afford to lose himself in the moment, he needed to end this battle and destroy these Androids.

He still didn't feel as if he were even close to running out of energy, but he also didn't want to run the risk of even more Androids showing up. After all he didn't know anything about numbers one through twelve, for all he knew they were _all_ running around posing a threat to all life.

_Did Gero unleash his monsters on the galaxy?_ Trunks wondered, _Did he test them on alien worlds? It seems mad, but I'm still pretty sure these ruins aren't like anything on Earth so am I on an alien world that's just very Earth-like? Or did these monsters leave the planet after they exterminated life on Earth?_

Trunks had so many questions but he knew if he were going to find answers they wouldn't come from these two.

_So let's end this,_ Trunks thought grimly.

Fifteen was already damaged so he focused his efforts on Thirteen instead, keeping a close distance to avoid letting the Android blast at him again.

Though if Trunks had expected the Android to specialize in blasts over punches and kicks just because his blasts were powerful he was in for a rude awakening when his fists met with Thirteen's. This Android was noticeably stronger than the other two.

But that wouldn't matter, now that he only had two opponents to face Trunks was having an easier time of the fight even if he was finding Thirteen stronger than expected.

It was still difficult to tell their power without being able to sense it of course.

Trunks had expected Fifteen to start blasting him from a distance the way Thirteen had before, but the smaller Android never stopped trying to get in Trunks' face, it was almost like he _wanted_ to be destroyed.

But Trunks' Super Saiyan bravado wasn't interested in the small fry, he wanted the bigger fish, he wanted to be pushed to his limits and then find out that he could go beyond them.

Because if he could do that then maybe he could have beaten Kibito, maybe in the event that he'd have to fight the Supreme Kai and the Supreme Kai of time he _could_ defeat them.

He was a Saiyan, he was a Super Saiyan, heck perhaps even _the_ Legendary Super Saiyan since _he_ had been the one to kill Frieza even if Goku was the first to defeat him.

_I can do this, I can do anything, I can even take on the Kais themselves if I have to, because_ nothing _is going to stop me from protecting the Earth!_ Trunks thought with an anger so powerful it burst out of him in the form of a blast attack that was unlike the usual golden blasts of light, but far more like a sphere of energy that reminded him of his father's Galick Gun attack.

Whatever it was though the blast threw both Androids out of the sky.

It sent Thirteen falling to the ground seemingly completely disabled and unable to stop himself from hitting the ground and leaving a huge crater as he did.

But Fifteen was able to correct himself before he fell and come charging back at Trunks.

With Thirteen either destroyed or disabled Trunks finally gave Fifteen the focus and attention he deserved.

It was over quickly, Trunks lunged forward midair and grabbed the little clown by his ridiculous bow tie then blasted his head clean off his shoulders, leaving the body to plummet to the ground just as Thirteen's had done.

Trunks was about to go down and check on the other Android to make sure he was destroyed when he heard a strange sound.

It barely registered over the sound of blood pumping in his ears but as he slowly calmed down and came to his senses proper he recognized it as the sound of applause.

Or at least of one person clapping.

He looked up, following the sound and saw the Supreme Kai of Time slowly descending towards him on a cloud.

It wasn't the Flying Nimbus, but it seemed to be holding her as she floated down all the same. When she reached eye level with Trunks she said, “That was really something.”

“You!” Trunks cried.

“Me!” She responded happily.

“Why did you send me here? What am I supposed to learn fighting these three?”

Chronoa shrugged and said, “Well you'll know it when you learn it, duh.”

“Duh?” Trunks repeated her own word in shock, “Duh?! What kind of a Kai says 'duh' like some miscreant teenager!”

“Hey watch it mister, I could just leave you here all together you know.” Chronoa warned him.

Trunks tried to get control of his temper and said, “Sorry then . . . but I just want to go back to my own time. Look if it helps I promise to track down and destroy every Android except Sixteen, and if you tell me Sixteen's the one who activated these three then I'll ask my mother to peacefully and painlessly deactivate him until I can track down what ever lab these three are hiding in then--”

“I don't even know what you're on about,” Chronoa said, “but if you're wondering about these Androids, well yeah they're from Earth. But they're not the reason past me sent you here.”

“Past you? So you're not even the same Chronoa I was speaking to?” Trunks asked.

“Of course I'm her! I'm just her in two hundred years, that's all!” The Supreme Kai of Time said, “I had things to do you know! I couldn't just abandon time and space to follow you on an excursion when I already knew I'd be here to meet you. I'm like the most reliable tour guide I know!”

Trunks sighed and decided not to ask her how she knew she'd be there in the future if the version of her who'd sent him here hadn't _come_ to the future before, or had her future self gone back in time to tell her past self?

Did she exist at all times simultaneously?

He didn't know, he didn't understand the Kais or their nature or why this one had sent him two hundred years forward in time.

He asked her, “Can I ask . . . why you thought this would help me agree with you?”

“What this? The Androids laying waste to another world?” Chronoa asked. “Well I thought it would help you to see the futility of what you did. You didn't really change much, in the end it's still the same problem with a different flavor.”

“Are you telling me none of what I did mattered?” Trunks asked.

“No, don't be stupid!” Chronoa said, “I wouldn't have taken Shin and Kibito to talk to you if none of it mattered! Al of it matters, but making things go the way you want isn't always the right thing. Sometimes you need to suffer adversity to become stronger right? Well sometimes bad things have to happen so worse things won't. Earth needed to have its life energy reduced so that an ancient evil wouldn't be awoken.”

Trunks frowned and asked, “Then why don't we just leave Earth itself if that's all it is?”

“Oh did you have a planet in mind? I hear Mars is very nice, or it _was_. But in your time I think you'd find it a little inhospitable.” The Supreme Kai of Time teased him.

“Besides,” She added in a more serious tone, “how do you know that leaving Earth wasn't exactly the reason these Androids laid waste to this city on this world rather than one on Earth?”

Trunks shrugged and said, “I don't. I didn't even know they existed.”

“No you didn't . . . but you certainly didn't hesitate to take care of them, did you?” Chronoa asked.

“I guess not.” Trunks said, feeling himself blush a little but the Supreme Kai of Time stomped on her little cloud causing a bolt of lightning to shoot out from it as she scolded him.

“I'm not praising you! You saw a threat here and you dealt with it . . . that's the way things should be.”

“Okay . . .” Trunks frowned, “But isn't that what I've done on earth? I mean I recognized that being the only one with power like mine was a danger to the Earth if anything ever happened to me so that's why I trained the EDF, that's why my mother started trying to bring back the Saiyans.”

“And I can understand why you'd do that,” Chronoa said, “But somewhere along the line you forgot that having more people with power like yours puts Earth in danger too if they're not the right people. You were against your mother bringing the Saiyans back as a race . . . you thought they couldn't be trusted, right?”

Trunks felt a little bit sheepish and he said, “It's not that I thought they couldn't be trusted . . . more I didn't think they'd care enough to protect humanity. I more or less thought Saiyans would look after themselves first and others last if ever.”

“And you changed your mind?” Chronoa asked.

“Well sure. Knowing Brassica, and training Cauli and Rhuby, having time to get to know them all just a little bit better I can see they're all different. They want different things, they all share a love of combat but it's not the only thing that matters to any of them.”

“And what about Turles?” The Supreme Kai of Time asked.

“Turles?” Trunks asked back.

The Supreme Kai pointed at the smoking craters beneath them and said, “You saw a threat and you dealt with it. Why don't you deal with the threat that Turles poses?”

Trunks frowned and said, “I am dealing with it. I mean I haven't killed him if that's what you're asking, but why would I? He's still just a kid, and there's still time for him to turn back from what he's doing.”

“You think so?” Chronoa asked.

Trunks folded his arms and said, “I hope so. That's why I don't just confront him openly about it, or attack him directly. I don't want to make him feel like he's backed into a corner without options, I don't want to make him feel like he _needs_ to follow through with this rebellion otherwise I _will_ have to deal with him the way you're suggesting . . . but that's not something I want to do until I have to, or until he gives me reason.

“I won't just kill him in cold blood,” Trunks explained, “He's not threatening Earth . . . he just doesn't like the way I'm leading the Saiyans and thinks he can do better. I'm not the Saiyan leader he wanted or expected, I don't follow the Saiyan way but . . . well, I've got to try to show him that there is no Saiyan way, not really. Like Brassica said, it's a lesson she learned too late, but if Turles can learn it, if the others can learn it there's hope.”

“Oh yeah?” Chronoa asked.

Trunks nodded and said, “Yeah. I mean . . . every Saiyan should decide for themselves what they want their future to be, that should be the Saiyan way. Working together with Earthlings to create a safe home for all our people, both Earthling and Saiyan, Namekian and whatever else.”

“That's what you want.” Chronoa said.

Trunks nodded, “That's right, that's _my_ Saiyan way. And I know Turles won't just accept it overnight, but for now his main gripe with me is that I made peace with an enemy I was strong enough to destroy . . . but if I can help him realize that peace is sometimes even more powerful than destruction maybe I can get through to him.”

“You mean maybe you can teach him to be more like you.” Chronoa suggested.

“That's right.” Trunks shrugged. “He's strong, incredibly strong. He could be a powerful hero of Earth, with him around I could even settle down and retire from being Earth's mightiest hero . . .” Trunks trailed off and considered the chilling possibility that maybe everything he was saying . . . was what had led to the world Chronoa was showing him.

She smiled slightly and said, “It was a beautiful dream Trunks . . . but you know not everyone's like you. Not everyone can be trusted with the king of power you have . . . and not everyone deserves it.”

“So what are you saying?” Trunks asked, “That I shouldn't even try to protect Earth?”

Chronoa shrugged and said, “What am I saying? I'm saying that _you_ Trunks, are the Defender of Earth. It's got to be you. You can't pass the buck off, certainly not to someone like Turles. But anyway none of that would have mattered if you hadn't tampered with Time in the first place. Turles wouldn't be there to be a danger, the idea of using Androids for Earth's protection would never have occurred to anyone, the idea of using Saiyans from Planet Vegeta wouldn't have occurred to anyone.”

Trunks shook his head and said, “No games. Tell me plainly what you want, because I won't condemn my students to lives hiding from Seventeen and Eighteen again, or to lonely deaths on forgotten worlds betrayed by the forces they thought were their allies.”

“But that's what happens to them, Trunks,” Chronoa told him. “Sometimes stories are sad and short . . . but that doesn't devalue them. Sometimes stories end when you wish they'd continue and sometimes the way they end . . . isn't what you want.”

Trunks told her, “I won't just agree to undo my existence. Don't you understand that the journey I've traveled . . . who and what I am, it's all part of the experiences I've had, the people I've met. People like Soda, or Mai, people who've changed my world for the better. None of that would have been possible if I hadn't defeated Seventeen and Eighteen, and if I hadn't gone back in time Cell might have absorbed them or even if I'd found a way to stop them Cell might have killed me after I'd done it.

“It's only because I went back in time and fought there that I was strong enough to take on the Androids and then to kill Cell . . . so no matter what you tell me I know that was a good thing.”

“Fine. Let's say it was.” Chronoa sighed.

“So . . . so let me go back!” Trunks said in exasperation.

“No. Not yet.” Chronoa said.

“Not yet?” Trunks demanded, “Why not?”

“Because we're not done here yet. You still don't understand, and until you do I can't let you go back. It would just doom the universe.”

“I don't understand!” Trunks shouted.

“Duh! I just said that!” Chronoa said, her serious tone gone and the childlike demeanor returned. “Okay, no more time freeze, good luck Trunks!”

“Time freeze?” Trunks gawked. What was she talking about?

Had she . . . been freezing time while they talked?

He blinked and she was gone . . .

But as Trunks reminded himself that he'd been about to tend to something important he saw the flash of light from the crater where he'd left Android Thirteen and soon he saw something he hadn't expected.

_So he was being literal when he said he'd be blue . . . great._ Trunks thought without enthusiasm.

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**Next Time on Dragon Ball COED . . .** _Shin, the Supreme Kai has some stern words for present-day Chronoa, but why is he so upset? And as Tathy and Gurein's fight concludes which of them will be standing triumphant? All this and more in the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball COED!_

 


	145. The Majin

**Episode Eleven**

**'The Majin'**

 

It surprised Mai when the one called the Supreme Kai asked her, “Can you tell me about that fighter with the blue skin?”

“I suppose so,” Mai said uncertainly, then decided to add, “Trunks could tell you more _if he were here_ of course.”

“Of course.” The Supreme Kai said patiently.

“He'll be back when he gets back!” The Supreme Kai of Time cried, “Stop worrying about it! I wouldn't send him somewhere just so he could get himself killed you know!”

“That's so very comforting,” Mai said sarcastically. Then she frowned and folded her arms as she addressed the Supreme Kai, “Her name is Tathy. She arrived with Brassica here, but now she's serving with the King's Elite Royal Guard. What else do you want to know?”

“Where is she from?” The Supreme Kai asked.

“She was with me on Warworld.” Brassica said.

The Supreme Kai asked her, “Where was she from originally?”

“Warworld I think.” Brassica shrugged. “If she's from anywhere else she's never said. But if you mean her species then she doesn't even know where they come from, but there were several on Warworld for a while, she's just the last.”

“The others were all destroyed?” The Supreme Kai asked with poorly concealed relief.

“In the arenas. But death never took with Tathy, she figures her kind must die when they stop having fun.” Brassica shrugged.

“She was definitely created on the planet if that's what you're wondering.” The Supreme Kai of Time said, then she asked, “Is there popcorn or anything?”

“No.” Mai said flatly, and honestly.

“Snacks?” The child-like Kai asked again.

“Uh . . . I know Trunks gave Jaco some hard stale bread things but I think he finished them off.” Mai offered.

“How do you stage a competition without popcorn or snacks?” The Supreme Kai of Time scoffed.

“Perhaps they didn't want the other mortals to spoil their appetite.” Kibito suggested.

“That's all fascinating. But what do you _mean_ she was made on Warworld, Chronoa?”

“I mean exactly that. Her creator made her there, and then he left her there. Her and all the rest, he'd gotten what he needed and then he split!” The Supreme Kai of Time said.

“Don't tell me you have a problem with Tathy too!” Brassica complained.

“None of it will matter once Trunks gets back.” The Supreme Kai of Time said confidently.

“I certainly hope you're right . . . so do any of you know if Tathy has ever mentioned this creator of hers?” The Supreme Kai asked.

“No.” Brassica said flatly, folding her arms over her chest she said, “I don't pry into Tathy's past.”

“It's not exactly a topic of discussion any of us has brought up with her,” Mai told him, though she felt like she should follow Brassica's lead with regards to Tathy and try to be a little less accommodating with information, especially if the Supreme Kai had some issue with her. She suggested, “Perhaps you could ask her yourself once her fight is over.”

The Supreme Kai shifted uncomfortably and said, “Is there any way to speed it up?”

“Not without cheating.” Chronoa told him.

“Why didn't you tell me a creature like this was here?” The Supreme Kai asked a little harshly.

“My Lord,” Kibito said, “I don't understand . . . surely you don't feel threatened by this creature, its power is minuscule.”

“ _Her_ power is a lot greater than you'd think just from sensing her.” Brassica said confidently. “She's been my partner for decades, we've taken down powerful bounties and she's the only creature I've encountered so far that I can't kill, even at my wildest.”

“But its— _her_ power feels . . . perhaps only a tenth of your own.” Kibito said, and Mai couldn't help but smile approvingly when the massive being corrected himself politely when referring to Tathy.

_At least he's willing to be polite._ Mai thought.

“It's true Tathy doesn't seem like she can exude too much, and she takes a very long time to increase her upper limit . . . but the best way to describe her is a bottomless well. She does tire, it just takes an insanely long time.”

“That's troubling . . .” The Supreme Kai muttered. “Does she have any sort of regenerative ability?”

“Yes . . .” Brassica said hesitantly, going from boasting about her friend's ability to suddenly sounding cautious as if she were back to suspecting the Supreme Kai wanted to do something horrible to Tathy.

Mai had to admit she felt the same way. She didn't completely trust any of these Kai creatures, not with Trunks missing. But this one's interest in Tathy didn't seem friendly.

Despite that he didn't come off as overly menacing either, he seemed more . . . stressed. Perhaps even wary.

The Lieutenant frowned and wondered why the Supreme Kai didn't already know these sorts of things about Tathy, or about any of them. If he was the sort of being she had more or less gathered he was supposed to be then shouldn't he know everything? She wondered if the Supreme Kai knew much of _anything_ when it came to the EDF and Trunks and his people . . .

Mai couldn't help but wonder if there was something about Tathy's species rather than Tathy herself that made the Kai uneasy. She felt suddenly as if she'd guessed it when she asked, “Brassica, is Tathy immortal?”

“Maybe? Like I said all the other ones like her died, but she figures it's because they got bored and didn't want to go to the effort of pulling themselves back together after their losses.” Brassica said.

It was the scientist Glacien who said, “If you need Earth to have less life energy an immortal being could be a wrench in the whole operation, no? Especially if she starts reproducing.”

The Supreme Kai chuckled and said, “Are you suggesting an individual would reproduce on its own?”

“There's many ways she could. Hybridization with one of the other species on this planet, or perhaps she even reproduces asexually the way my own species can and the way those Namekians do. An entire race of immortals would make keeping Earth's life energy low quite impossible, wouldn't it?” Glacien asked.

Mai looked cautiously at the Supreme Kai who just smiled and said, “I suppose it would. But if things get that far out of hand I think the day is already lost, so trust me when I say that that is the last thing I'm worried about.”

He sure sounded like he knew what he was talking about, he sounded confident when he spoke to them.

But not when he looked at Tathy, not when he talked about Tathy.

_He knows something, but what does he know and what doesn't he? How much do we know that he doesn't and why won't he just tell us what he knows and save us all the guessing and the frustration?_ Mai wondered.

Alternatively she wondered what the Supreme Kai of Time _didn't_ know about the blue jelly alien. She acted smug when it came to Tathy, like she knew everything but wasn't going to tell anyone.

Maybe that's why her companion was still bothering to ask Brassica and Mai instead of her.

Maybe he just knew she wasn't the sort to give up information.

Which seemed a strange thing to Mai since the child-like being didn't seem to have any reservations about speaking.

“So she seems extremely elastic, sort of like . . . chewing gum maybe?” The Supreme Kai asked.

“She's a sort of a slime I guess?” Brassica said cautiously, “I mean that's how she describes herself. And I've seen her regenerate from a puddle so . . . it makes sense.”

“Does she have any transformation ability?” The Supreme Kai asked her.

“What, you mean like becoming a Super Saiyan or something?” Brassica asked, then said, “Not that she's ever shown.”

“No, I mean has she ever been able to transform something into something else?” The Supreme Kai asked her.

Brassica scoffed and said, “You're not making any sense. Why don't you stop beating around the bush and just tell us what you really want to know?” The Saiyan woman asked, mirroring Mai's own earlier thoughts on the matter.

“Easy, Brassica,” Mai reminded her. “Let's keep things civil.”

The scarred Saiyan woman snorted then said, “No, Tathy's never transformed anything into anything else. What would that even be like?”

The Supreme Kai shook his head and said, “With that energy . . . I'm sure of it . . . perhaps she's never tried. That could be to our advantage.”

“Tried what?” Brassica demanded angrily.

“You say she's as powerful as you even though she doesn't seem like it?” The Supreme Kai asked.

“She's not saying anything more until _you_ start answering some questions,” Mai interrupted before Brassica could get angrier, “because it sounds like you might mean our Tathy some kind of harm.”

“No, not necessarily . . . sorry, not at all.” The Supreme Kai said, though he had the look of a child who'd been caught misbehaving. He looked almost sheepish and said, “I just worried that maybe things were . . . worse than I expected. I didn't think there'd be anything more frightening than Trunks today.”

“Frightening? You think Tathy's scary?” Mai asked. She glanced at Brassica who just shrugged. Mai said, “But you're as powerful as Trunks aren't you? Why would Tathy bother you?”

Chronoa said, “Fights aren't all about power level, a skilled fighter could defeat a much more powerful opponent. That's what Gurein has to do if he wants to beat Tathy, see. She's drawing out the fight, using that bottomless well you mentioned and if he doesn't realize it and get a one-hit KO PDQ he's SOL!”

Brassica shrugged and said, “Well that's true enough. Tathy's just making it a good show since that's how we were trained on Warworld. Once she's had enough she'll eliminate Gurein quick as you like.”

The Supreme Kai frowned and said, “She might. But if what I suspect is true he'll be lucky to escape her alive.”

“Oh now that really is too much!” Mai said incredulously, “Gurein is in no danger, Tathy isn't bloodthirsty at all! The most aggressive I've ever seen her get is when there's only one dumpling left and the Saiyans are eying it, and even then she's never hurt anyone.”

The Supreme Kai looked at her and for a moment she felt as if he were trying to read her expression, perhaps for any hint of a lie because he asked, “Is that a fact? Even against rowdy Saiyans she doesn't do harm? Well then at least there's that . . .”

Unexpectedly he suddenly turned on the Supreme Kai of time and demanded of her, “But just how long did you know she was here?”

“As long as she's been here, I told you've I've been watching Trunks for a while now.” Chronoa said casually.

That troubled Mai to no end. She said, “If you've been watching Trunks you have to know he's a good man!”

“He sure is. He's a hero. That's why I know he'll make the sacrifice to do what's right.” Chronoa said.

“No. Not my prince. Not _that_ sacrifice.” Brassica said resolutely.

“You can deny it all you want, but he's going to agree.” Chronoa said simply.

“Agree to what?” Mai demanded.

“Undoing this time-line.” Brassica said. “She wants Trunks to let her erase us all.”

“Not erase!” Chronoa said angrily, “Stop misconstruing what I'm saying!”

“I'm not misconstruing, if you don't plan to erase us I must be misunderstanding,” Brassica said, “Because to me undoing all the time travel and reverting us to an earlier point would be erasing us as we are. Everything we've experienced everything we've done so far and everything we hoped to do.”

“Oh . . . well it's not exactly like that. Anyway you'd still be fine, you and your friend would still be bounty hunters. And you,” She indicated Mai, “Should be fine too. You'd still know Trunks and everything if that helps.”

“I doesn't!” Mai said, “Knowing Trunks is wonderful and all but being part of the world he's trying to make is far better than simply _knowing_ him! He saved our world and he's doing everything he can to rebuild it . . . you three came here to ask him to undo it all?”

“Something like that.” Chronoa said simply. “You've got to think on a galactic scale. I mean Earth is just one tiny insignificant place you know.”

“If it's so insignificant why are you here? Why do you care?” Mai asked.

“Earth _is_ insignificant . . . except for the danger it poses to the rest of universe.” The Supreme Kai said, and then he said to Chronoa, “And you should have told me about all this! Are there others like her still? On other worlds?”

“You're upset about the wrong thing,” Chronoa said with what Mai would almost dare to think was a sly smile, “you're angry that I didn't tell you about a blue slime alien? Isn't keeping track of life in the universe _your_ job, Shin?”

“Don't try to turn this around on me, I'm upset you didn't tell me about one of Bibidi's creations running rampant if you knew about it!” The Supreme Kai snapped.

“Bibidi's creation?” Kibito asked in surprise, “My Lord are you certain? I took tthis creature to be some sort of experiment but . . . if it—she was made by Bibidi there really is no excuse for this, Supreme Kai of Time!”

“It's _fine_ , she wasn't made by Bibidi!” Chronoa said, “You need to calm down, you're embarrassing yourself in front of these mortals and with the tone you're taking I've got half a mind to let them remember it once I set the time-line right..”

Despite what she said the Supreme Kai actually looked relieved. He asked her, “You mean . . . this is all some coincidence? So she wasn't made by Bibidi to replicate Majin Buu?”

“No, of course not!” Chronoa said with a wave of her hand.

The Supreme Kai actually blushed and said, “Then . . . I'm sorry I almost lost my composure. It's just the energy feels so similar . . . and her appearance, even if she isn't the right color . . .”

“Yeah well experimentation means things don't always turn out the right way, right?” Chronoa said.

“Experimentation?” Both the Supreme Kai and Mai asked, but it was Mai who followed up with, “What do you mean experimentation?”

“And what do you mean about her not turning out the right way? How is she supposed to be?” Brassica demanded.

“Well I mean obviously she's not quite how her maker envisioned her.”

“Her maker?” The Supreme Kai asked nervously, “But you said it wasn't Bibidi . . .”

“Yeah. Not Bibidi. Babidi. _Babidi_ made her to try and replicate Buu.”

Mai blinked and then turned to Kibito and asked, “Is . . . is she trying to joke?”

Kibito actually looked back and Mai and shrugged his shoulders, “I . . . I don't know. I . . . hope so, mortal.”

“Babidi!” The Supreme Kai demanded, “What do you mean Babidi?”

“I mean Babidi, the son of Bibidi.” Chronoa said simply.

“I know who he is!” Shin cried.

“I don't.” Mai pointed out.

The Supreme Kai looked nervous now, he turned to Mai and said, “Bibidi was a powerful sorcerer eons ago. He created a monster of unimaginable power and Babidi is his son. But _that_ thing--”

“Tathy, _she_ has a name!” Brassica said in an angry growl.

“ _Tathy_ then,” the Supreme Kai said in a tone that actually sounded just as dangerous, “is . . . some attempt to make another monster! To make another Universe Destroyer!”

Chronoa sighed and said, “She's an attempt by Babidi to make more Majin. He made her on Warworld because it was out of the way and not many people would think it out of the ordinary if a new powerful alien started wiping the floors with the world's champions, but he could never make one that strong.”

“Never make one . . . you mean there _are_ more?” Kibito asked now, in a more respectful tone than his master but still his incredulity showed through just a bit.

“He made several experiments and entered them into the arenas . . . they were all very powerful but they weren't on the level of his father's creation,” The Supreme Kai of time said seriously. “When he learned all he could on Warworld he went to other planets and made them there, but most of his experiments failed. He never realized the one he'd gotten right was still on Warworld where he'd left her so eventually he gave up.”

“And you're saying that one he got right is Tathy? That's what Tathy is, some . . . universe destroying experiment?” Mai asked, looking at what she had until then just assumed to be a slime alien.

Was it so strange to imagine that Tathy was exactly what she said she was? After all Mai had seen all manner of different alien beings since she'd followed Captain Videl on this assignment . . . why was seeing one of them as some sort of scientific experiment a bridge too far?

Chronoa explained, “Tathy was the only successful experiment, she properly replicated Buu's regenerative abilities and as such she's functionally immortal. But she lacks his same kind of raw power, Tathy could destroy a planet, maybe even a whole solar system but she could never destroy a Galaxy the way Buu could.”

“Do you three have _any_ good news for us?” Brassica scoffed.

“Well Babidi _never_ successfully replicated the sort of raw power Majin Buu possessed. No one can, so no one can make another Majin Buu.” Chronoa offered.

“Oh . . . I'll take that as good news.” Brassica shrugged, “Even though I have no solid idea what you're talking about.”

“I'm glad I'm not the only one.” Mai admitted.

“I'm following some of it,” Karuto piped up. “So there's Bibidi, Babidi, and Buu, and Tathy is supposed to be just like Buu but she's too weak to destroy the universe. Don't we know about Majin Buu?” The little Arcosian asked his parent.

Glacien shook his head, “Majin Buu was a fairy tale, just a story.”

“Like Super Saiyans.” Captain Sleet said slyly, speaking up for the first time.

“That's about right.” Chronoa nodded to him.

The Supreme Kai asked, “ _Is_ she as great a threat as Majin Buu?”

Chronoa shrugged and said, “I mean it depends on what you mean by that. Like I said, power level isn't everything. Babidi wanted something weaker while he experimented, maybe he even thought a Majin of his own creation would be easier to control than trying to use Buu, but when he left her behind he showed how shortsighted he was. He failed to account for one massive strength his own creation had _over_ Buu.”

“Chronoa . . .” The Supreme Kai growled.

Chronoa explained, “Because Tathy is immortal Tathy can keep fighting no matter what happens to her. The worst anyone can do is incapacitate her for a while, but she'll come back and she remembers what she's experienced, it'd be harder to take her down the same way twice. More than that even though it takes her longer to increase her power she doesn't ever have to hibernate the way Majin Buu does, so couple that with eternity and _someday_ she might surpass him . . . if she really really tried really really hard?

“Even though she doesn't _seem_ as powerful as some beings she's leagues smarter than Buu and that ability to learn and benefit from experience means she's got the potential to be far more dangerous than even her . . . well, I guess you could call him a big brother.”

Brassica said, “You mean to tell me that Tathy is one of the most powerful beings there is?”

“No. I mean to tell you that invulnerability makes her one of the most dangerous foes there is.” Chronoa answered.

Brassica smiled wolfishly and Mai could guess that he Saiyan Brassica was thinking about how much fun it would be to battle with her old friend now.

Actually Mai wouldn't doubt that all the Saiyans would want to fight Tathy once they learned that she truly was indestructible. Instead of simply thinking that no one had found her limit yet even despite the difference in power if Tathy could stand up to the likes of Brassica or . . .

Or Turles . . .

Mai shook her head in amazement and asked Chronoa, “You really think she's that . . . uh . . . promising?” Mai asked, trying to use a word other than 'powerful' to describe Tathy.

“I think so.” Chronoa said. “She's not a threat. In fact she could be really useful _if_ Trunks doesn't agree to undo the damage of the Time Machine.”

“What do you mean?” The Supreme Kai demanded.

“Like I said, Babidi never managed to make his own Majin Buu . . . so that means he's still bound to come to Earth to use theirs.”

“To use ours?” Mai gawked, “Wait, what? You mean there's a--”

“ _The_ Majin Buu currently resides on Earth. And if he is awoken he can destroy all life in the universe.” Chronoa said simply. “That's why the Androids were a good thing you see . . . if Babidi still had so much life energy to gather on Earth he might have come by now to start harvesting. Buu needs life energy to wake up, and if Earth has too much of it, if it's ever too _easy_ for Babidi to gather up what he needs to unleash his monster it's bye bye galaxy.”

Mai shook her head in shock, “You mean . . . because of this monster we Earthlings should just roll over and accept extinction?”

“Again, you've got to think on a galactic scale.” Chronoa told her. “Earth . . . really is just one planet.”

Mai stared in horror at the little creature and then she looked to the arena in time to see Gurein finally resort to his Kaioken.

The technique bathed him in red light and he went at Tathy hard and fast throwing a flurry of punches and kicks so quick that Mai couldn't even see them as anything other than a blur of movement.

But Tathy managed to dodge most of it, what she didn't left deep impacts on her the sort that Mai would liken to a dent in a car.

Even having just heard that Tathy was invulnerable Mai winced at the sight of it, the crowd gawked in amazement at the raw power being unleashed.

And then Tathy knocked Gurein out of the arena.

It wasn't through force or anything like that, Mai could see she let Gurein do most of the work himself.

Tathy let his high speed barrage blind him or perhaps at the speed he was going even Gurein couldn't accurately see what he was doing or how close to the edge of the arena he was until Tathy flattened herself out into a puddle, then emerging from the pool that was herself feet first behind Gurein she kicked him over the edge of the arena and onto his face.

Taking her humanoid form again still covered in dents she next almost comically blew into her fist to briefly inflate like a balloon, popping out all of the “dents” before returning to her normal shape as a stunned sounding Master Roshi announced her the winner.

Mai stared in surprise and heard Kibito whisper, “She . . . she just swatted the Kaioken aside like it was nothing . . . her opponent had multiplied his power level by six times and he didn't do any better against her than before he used it!”

“Even if you multiply something by six unless it's infinity it doesn't count for much when you put it up against infinity.” Karuto pointed out.

“What?” Kibito blinked.

“He means if Tathy has no limit to the damage she can take then it doesn't matter how much damage you can deal.” Mai translated.

Brassica confirmed, “If it's not enough to take her out of the fight she's just going to bounce back . . . but then it was the same way when the Arcosian General attacked Earth. Even though he hit Tathy with enough energy to incapacitate her it only slowed her down for a minute, then she was pulling herself back together.”

The Supreme Kai said, “She might be your friend, but this is still a chilling amount of power, I hope you can see that. And I hope you can see why we can't let Babidi resurrect Buu.”

“Can't we just find it and destroy it while it's . . . you said it hibernates? So it's sleeping. Let's kill it in its sleep!” Brassica said, and Mai found herself nodding.

“It beats extinction.” She said.

“You can't! Disturbing Majin Buu in any way might wake him up! Without the life energy he might be a bit weaker but he'd gather strength on his own at that point and we'd all be doomed!”

“This doesn't leave us many options.” Mai said.

“It leaves you one.” Chronoa suggested. “Hope Trunks is the hero I hope he is.”

 

**To Be Continued . . .**

 

**On the Next Episode of Dragon Ball COED . . .** _ Trunks battles Super Android Thirteen, will the fight be enough to push the Super Saiyan to his limits? Or will it be just another Android-destroying walk in the park for the Earth's greatest defender? And when the dust settles what answer will he give Chronoa? _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Omegadramon2 on the other site for their suggestions on Tathy's origin story. It ties things together far better than my original idea.


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